Boris Johnson

Sir Keir Starmer has slammed Boris Johnson for not understanding his own coronavirus restrictions during this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), as the prime minister called for more support from the Labour leader. On Tuesday, the prime minister contradicted government advice and told people in the North East they could continue to socialise in groups of six […]

A chef has been praised for his subtle dig towards Boris Johnson during a BBC News interview on new coronavirus restrictions in the North East of England. Max Gott, head of the Bistro Forty Six, remained professional about the prime minister while appearing on the rolling news channel – but viewers realised he had still […]

Piers Morgan has called Boris Johnson a “drongo” and a “bumbling fool” as he reacted to the prime minister’s confusion over the latest Covid-19 restriction rules. The Good Morning Britain presenter said Johnson was the “captain of the Titanic taking us down” as he renewed calls for him to go. He told viewers: “He not […]

Boris Johnson’s controversial Brexit bill has cleared its final Commons hurdle – with Tory critics choosing to abstain. Former prime minister Theresa May and two ex-attorney generals, Geoffrey Cox and Jeremy Wright, were among 21 Conservatives who did not vote for the UK Internal Market Bill at third reading on Tuesday evening. While some, including […]

Boris Johnson will be joined by his medical and scientific advisors later for a coronavirus press conference – his 21st time since the pandemic started. The prime minister will be flanked by chief medical officer for England professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. It is not clear if anything particularly significant […]

Council leaders have said government restrictions in the North East lack clarity. Boris Johnson issued an apology after he failed to clarify precisely what the new restrictions would mean for around two million people in Northumberland, Newcastle, Gateshead, North and South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham. Gateshead council leader Martin Gannon said, although he was […]

In a field outside the Suffolk village of Barton Mills, a ‘Boris 4 PM’ billboard left over from last December’s general election has finally been replaced. The new advert reads ‘Primevil: Screaming Won’t Help’. There can be no better illustration of how dreams have turned to dread for the prime minister and his inner circle. […]

Boris Johnson has told a reporter he is “fitter than a butcher’s dog” after being asked if was still suffering from the effects of Covid-19. Speaking at press conference in Exeter, the prime minister brushed aside concerns by MPs in his own party that he had still not fully recovered from his bout of coronavirus in […]

Boris Johnson has been forced to apologise after giving the wrong advice on coronavirus restrictions in the North East. Johnson was asked to explain the new rules when it came to pub beer gardens in response to questions after delivering a speech. Boris Johnson’s ‘clarification’ of rules for North East adds He said: “In the North […]

A former Tory minister has claimed that Boris Johnson “doesn’t really believe in Brexit” and that once he has achieved a deal he will be gone. George Walden, a former minister and Tory MP until 1997, said due to the pandemic the prime minister will deliver on his goal to “get Brexit done”, and that he will […]

Nothing focuses our attention on our national identity more that an existential threat to our homeland’s existence, such as warfare, radical constitutional change, or the effects of a lethal pandemic on national health and economic self-esteem; nothing, that is, except for baking competition held in a plastic marquee in the grounds of an English country […]

A Tory MP has likened Boris Johnson to King Theoden from The Lord of the Rings and accused him of being “under the spell” of his special adviser, Dominic Cummings. Former European Research Group chair Steve Baker said Johnson needed to be “woken up” from his “slumber” as he suggested his advisers like Cummings were in control […]

No 10 has rejected calls to ban the sale of alcohol in pubs, restaurants and supermarkets after 9pm. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said the government’s 10pm curfew was “doing more harm than good” because people were holding house parties once pubs shut and risking a further spread of the virus. Speaking on BBC Radio […]

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle could stop Tory rebels voting on an amendment that would curb the government’s emergency powers. Sir Lindsay is refusing to allow MPs a vote on the amendment out of fear it would be breaking house procedures. Around 50 MPs have signed an amendment by Sir Graham Brady, chair of the influential […]

More than 50% of Britons do not believe Boris Johnson will negotiate a good Brexit deal with the EU, a poll has revealed. A survey by Ipsos MORI found that 58% of the public think Britain will not receive a good Brexit deal, the Evening Standard has reported. Just 26% think the government is well-prepared […]

I have tended to avoid Dominic Cummings in my columns here. Mainly, because often the best way to deal with attention-seekers is to ignore them. Also, even at the subconscious level, perhaps I turn away from situations in which a right-hand man to a prime minister is getting too much media coverage for his own […]

Boris Johnson’s restrictions for pubs will not apply to bars in parliament. Despite requiring pubs to close at 10pm, and encouraging drinking establishments to collect data for the track and trace system, the Times reports the same rules will not apply where politicians frequent. That is because parliament is using a loophole which claims “workplace canteens […]

A senior Tory MP has claimed that Boris Johnson ruled out a second national lockdown to prevent chancellor Rishi Sunak from quitting. Number 10 has denied a rift between the prime minister and his chancellor, but there are fears the pair are at odds about how best to deal with a second wave of the […]

Former Commons speaker John Bercow has warned Boris Johnson against sidelining parliament by pushing through coronavirus laws without a vote or debate before they are enacted. Bercow told BBC Radio 4’s World This Weekend: “Parliament has been unavoidably constrained by Covid-19 but it should not now avoidably constrain or hamper itself. Debate, scrutiny and votes […]

Comedian Michael Spicer has said the incompetence of politicians in recent years handed him his career “with a little bow on top”. Spicer shot to fame in 2019 with his satirical sketches about a political adviser speaking in the ear of public figures as their interviews, using real-life footage, invariably fall apart. However, the 42-year-old […]

Boris Johnson is lining up former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre to become the new chair of broadcasting watchdog Ofcom. The Brexiteer critic of the BBC is said to be lined up to replace Lord Burns, who is expected to leave before the end of the year, the Times reports. The news comes as fellow Brexiteer […]

Boris Johnson has called for an ‘early warning system’ to alert countries about the possibility of a pandemic – like the one the EU has in place that the UK is set to leave from the end of the year. Johnson is to make a speech on video link via the United Nations General Assembly […]

The president of Italy has hit out at Boris Johnson over remarks the UK’s Covid infection rate was worse than Italy’s because Britons loved their freedom more. Sergio Mattarella said his citizens “also love freedom” but that they “also care about seriousness”. Johnson claimed the UK’s infection rate was higher than both Italy’s and Germany’s because […]

Campaigners have staged a protest outside Matt Hancock’s health department urging the government to put the coronavirus test and trace system into public hands. The We Own It campaign group said its research showed that the public did not agree with the use of private firms, pointing out they have so far failed to get […]

Public health experts have warned Boris Johnson against pursing herd immunity or mimicking Sweden coronavirus response. Independent SAGE – an independent group of scientists who provide advice to the government – has warned Britain is in a “dangerous place”. The committee released a report in which it advised against the strategy of herd immunity or […]

A Tory MP – who previously claimed they had ‘got Brexit done’ – was ridiculed when she tweeted again to say she had voted again to get it done.Dehenna Davison, the representative for Bishop Auckland, sent the tweet after the Internal Market Bill passed – which could override key aspects of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.The […]

A Tory Brexiteer has been given a haranguing online after posting a speech justifying Boris Johnson’s violation of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (WA). Desmond Swayne MP said it was fine for a country to break international law “when that obligation is interpreted in such a way as to undermine the very integrity of that country”. […]

The DUP’s chief whip in Westminster has labelled MPs who voted against or abstained from Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill “agents of the European Union”. Sammy Wilson, a fervent Eurosceptic who supports the Brexit pressure group Leave Means Leave, said he failed to understand why MPs would choose to vote against the prime minister’s internal market […]