Boris Johnson

Our leaders are avoiding proper scrutiny due to the changes in the way politicians communicate during the pandemic. The social impact of COVID is self-evident. It has touched the everyday aspects of each of our lives, from simple tasks such as shopping, to meeting family members on Zoom, to (not) socialising with friends. Each of […]

Boris Johnson has sidestepped calls from Labour to rule out tax rises for families and businesses in next week’s Budget. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer insisted “now is not the time” for tax increases given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. But instead, Johnson took aim at previous Labour Party policy and Labour-run councils. Speaking […]

Boris Johnson should “have a word” with Conservative MPs doubting the accuracy of data behind his road map out of lockdown, according to Sir Keir Starmer. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, the Labour leader said he backed the principles of the plan but warned Covid scepticism could risk it all. He explained: “One of the […]

Bookmakers have given their verdict on the likeliness of the UK attempting to rejoin the European Union. Betfair now believes the odds on the UK re-entering the bloc by 2026 stands at 5/1, as frustrations around the Brexit agreement grow.  By contrast, the firm believes there is a 10/1 chance of Brexit not being reversed […]

Legislation is currently making its way through the UK parliament to repeal the controversial fixed-term parliaments act, which sets the period between general elections at five years and limits the prime minister’s power to trigger an election earlier. An earlier election is possible if two thirds of MPs vote for it or if the government […]

Boris Johnson had to ask German leader Angela Merkel to put herself on mute after she inadvertently interrupted his remarks to a virtual meeting of G7 leaders. As with many video conferences throughout lockdown, the prime minister’s address from 10 Downing Street did not get off to a smooth start. While French president Emmanuel Macron […]

Dominic Cummings urged Boris Johnson to scrap the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), an inside source has revealed. Johnson was being told the disband the committee over fears some experts were leaking information to the press in order to pressure the prime minister into pursuing tougher coronavirus restrictions. A source told the Mail that matters […]

There is an urgent need to reboot security cooperation with the EU in the wake of Brexit deal which has left the UK “less safe and less secure”, a group of former Tory MPs have told Boris Johnson. The prime minister is being accused of “not being ambitious enough” after his deal shut down access […]

Boris Johnson has created a minister for Brexit post – months after claiming he had got the issue “done”. Former negotiator Lord Frost will become an unelected member of the cabinet, overseeing the future relationship with the European Union. Downing Street said that the Conservative peer will become a minister of state in the Cabinet Office, reporting […]

A majority of the public is unhappy about the post-Brexit trade agreement that Boris Johnson secured with the EU, a new survey has found. The report, published by the British Foreign Policy Group, an independent think tank advocating for a stronger UK global presence, shows that under a quarter of respondents believed the prime minister’s […]

Boris Johnson said he felt “like OJ Simpson” as he struggled to pull on a pair of gloves. The prime minister made the reference to the moment in Simpson’s murder trial when the US actor and sports star had difficulty putting on gloves thought to have been used in the killing of his ex-wife, Nicole […]

Boris Johnson has denied that he once claimed devolution was a “disaster” to Tory MPs. The prime minister said he had benefited from devolution himself by equating his experience as mayor of London to that of the administrations governing Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Johnson was speaking from a mass coronavirus vaccination centre at Cwmbran […]

A senior Tory MP has ridiculed Boris Johnson’s plans for a 25-mile undersea tunnel connecting Scotland and Northern Ireland – calling for ministers to focus on the issues surrounding the Brexit deal instead. The tunnel – dubbed the ‘Boris Burrow’ – could cost £10 billion to create and was seen as a compromise to a […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson is preparing to ditch the government’s “stay at home” messaging as reports suggest he will relax England’s lockdown restrictions next month. Officials are looking to drop the “stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives” messaging as the country moves away from lockdown restrictions. Despite telling the public to take reports […]

Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart and Dame Julie Walters have joined some of the biggest names in British theatre to urge Boris Johnson to change post-Brexit visa rules to allow more flexible travel for artists. In a letter from the Equity union, the new rules are described as a “towering hurdle” for the industry. […]

Boris Johnson has claimed he has had “fantastic conversations” with new US president Joe Biden during an interview with an American TV network. In an interview with CBS, the prime minister said that UK and US thinking had been coming together on a range of issues in recent weeks. “I’m very delighted, to have a […]

Senior Conservative backbenchers have urged Boris Johnson to allow Covid-safe weddings to resume from March 8 before permitting unrestricted ceremonies from May 1. Thirteen MPs, including 1922 committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, Covid Recovery Group vice-chairman Steve Baker and ex-minister Tim Loughton, have backed a campaign seeking to pressure the Prime Minister as he considers […]

There is not a journalist alive unaware that Boris Johnson struggles with the truth. Yet this seems to make them less questioning not more, says ALASTAIR CAMPBELL. With an admitted bias born of being columnist and editor-at-large, I would argue that The New European has been among the very best new additions to the UK media […]

Downing Street is reportedly preparing for Boris Johnson to fight Andy Burnham at the next general election. Sir Keir’s leadership has been called into question over the past 10 days following a series of poor polling numbers – sparking speculation of a leadership challenge if the numbers do not improve. Now Downing Street believes that the most […]

No 10 has defended the use of taxpayers’ funds to pay photographers to capture Boris Johnson’s dog frolicking around in the snow. Downing Street defended the use of three “vanity photographers” to stage Instagram-style photoshoots of Dilyn, the canine Johnson shares with fiancee Carrie Symonds. The photographers – two civil servants and a special adviser – take […]

Boris Johnson was cut off mid-sentence by the Commons speaker after he “teased” the SNP’s Westminster leader during Prime Minister’s Questions. Sir Lindsay Hoyle interrupted Johnson half-way through his response to Ian Blackford about a £20 uplift to Universal Credit. Blackford asked the prime minister to make the uplift – brought in at outset of […]

Britain risks being “cut off from the rest of the world” if border measures are tightened even further beyond the new quarantine plan, Boris Johnson has claimed. The prime minister urged Labour to get behind the latest measures, which come into effect from Monday and include up to 10 years in prison for people who […]

Sir Keir Starmer said he would not take advice from a prime minister who “wrote two versions of every column as a journalist and who proposed Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize”. Sir Keir and Boris Johnson had been debating whether to extend the eviction ban set to expire on February 21 when a row […]

Downing Street has refused to publish an impact assessment on its Brexit deal with the EU, despite producing similar reviews of other trade deals. The prime minister’s spokesperson dismissed calls to publish the analysis, saying it had already set out the details of the deal “and the opportunities and benefits it provides the U.K.” “We’ve been […]

Labour is demanding that Matt Hancock condemns a report published by a right-wing think tank and pay back the donations he received after it said there is “no reason” to be grateful for the NHS. The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) used a report to also claim there is “no rational basis” for the public support […]

A senior Tory MP has criticised the “very blokey mentality” of Boris Johnson’s government.  Caroline Nokes, who chairs the Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee, also said there were some “serious questions about the calibre of the women” invited into top positions. She told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour: “I think it’s still a very […]

Former Labour MP Glenda Jackson has said former prime minister Theresa May was treated badly by the country because she was a woman. The actress and former MP, 84, told the Radio Times the previous Conservative leader was poorly treated by her own party, as well as others. She made the comments while discussing her […]

Just four per cent of the public think Labour has got worse under Sir Keir Starmer, fresh polling has shown. According to an Ipsos MORI poll commissioned by the Evening Standard, 48% of participants think Labour has changed for the better under Sir Keir while 36% believed he “has what it takes” to become prime […]