News and Opinion

Cabinet minister Michael Gove has said there is “an opportunity to look back” at government decisions made during the pandemic as he dismissed concerns it should not have allowed households to mix over Christmas. Gove suggested the government was not to blame for a spike in infections after Christmas during an interview on Good Morning Britain (GMB). No […]

A Tory minister has refused to say if one of their MPs should lose the whip for “completely out of order” comments about Covid-19 statistics. Swayne was interviewed by a US anti-vaccine campaigner and urged an anti-lockdown group to persist with their efforts, suggesting official data should not be trusted. He said he is a […]

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has claimed that Boris Johnson is a ‘huge asset’ to Scotland. Gove was interviewed by BBC Breakfast after they pointed out that a rise in support for Scottish independence was down to Johnson’s Brexit project and his handling of the pandemic. Asked if he thought he was an “asset” or […]

Michael Gove has insisted it is safe for Boris Johnson to visit Scotland. The senior Cabinet minister told BBC Radio Scotland: “It is the case that the prime minister will be operating in a Covid-secure way. “There will be no danger to anyone’s health as a result, in fact quite the opposite, what the prime […]

Tory Brexiteer Sir Desmond Swayne has been accused of spreading “dangerous misinformation” about the coronavirus after he reportedly said that the infection and mortality figures had been “manipulated”. In comments reportedly made in November, the lockdown-sceptic Tory MP told the group Save Our Rights UK that the UK was “bouncing round at the typical level of […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY on the life of Astrid Lindgren, creator of a children’s classic. It’s nearly two decades since the death of Astrid Lindgren but in her Stockholm apartment at Dalagatan 46 it still looks as if she’s just stepped out for a moment. A lightweight jacket dangles from a coathanger in the hall. A typewriter sits […]

TIM WALKER remembers a meeting with Malcolm Muggeridge, an encounter which has haunted him since revelations about the journalist and broadcaster later emerged. Malcolm Muggeridge – St Mugg, as he was known in his day – admitted to me that he had been an actor all of his life. His credits included I’m All Right Jack and Heavens […]

He’s only been gone a week, but what are the prospects of a return for Donald Trump in 2024? Last week, as he took to the podium one last time as president, Donald Trump hinted at his return: “We love you. We will be back in some form.” The question now is just what form […]

It is no exaggeration to say that the next Scottish Labour leader will play a pivotal role in deciding whether Scotland becomes independent. MAURICE SMITH reports on a party still coming to terms with the scale of the task ahead. Anas Sarwar must be a glutton for punishment. The 37-year-old has been tipped for Labour Party stardom […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY on the remarkable story of Helga Weyhe, a shopkeeper who operated in gentle defiance of both the Nazis and the communists, to satisfy her customers… unless they liked detective stories. There’s a tangible stillness hanging over Salzwedel, a small town halfway between Berlin and Hamburg. Time seems to pass more slowly there, emphasised by a […]

A Brussels politician has recommended Boris Johnson “pay for EU workers to stay” in the UK in a direct swipe at the government’s voluntary scheme to repatriate them. Former Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt said it was Britain’s “loss” and the EU’s “gain” after hearing about a scheme by the Home Office to pay EU nationals to voluntarily return […]

An SNP MP is proposing a bill to parliament which he hopes would end the “growing culture of secrecy and cronyism at the heart of government”. Owen Thompson says that the Ministerial Interests (Emergency Powers) Bill would “force government ministers to answer questions about any personal, political or financial connections they may have to a […]

Jeremy Corbyn has lost a bid for disclosure of documents from the Labour Party ahead of an anticipated High Court claim over his suspension. The former leader of the opposition is considering legal action over his suspension from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), which could see him seek “an injunction to restore the whip immediately”. […]

Boris Johnson is “the worst PM” and must resign soon, Alastair Campbell has suggested in an article savaging the prime minister’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Campbell, The New European‘s editor-at-large and former Downing Street director of communications, said it was “hard to overstate the scale of the catastrophe” over which Johnson presides. In an opinion piece […]

A Spanish MEP is lobbying for the European Union to include the flag of Europe on coronavirus vaccines which are produced in the EU 27 countires. Domènec Ruiz Devesa is campaigning for the blue and gold star logo to feature on the vaccine boxes and delivery vans where the jabs have been produced to promote […]

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has urged Boris Johnson to follow his own coronavirus advice ahead of a planned trip to the country – to work from home and avoid unnecessary travel. The SNP politician said her Tory opponent is “welcome” any time as prime minister of the UK, but reminded him of his advice […]

TV host Piers Morgan has been priced at 6/1 to become an MP by the end of 2031 – and 10/1 of becoming one by the end of 2021. The Good Morning Britain (GMB) presenter made headlines this week after a minister abruptly left the show mid-interview. Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey terminated an interview […]

What an odd and, in many ways, sombre prime minister’s questions this was. Odd because Keir Starmer was appearing virtually from home again having been forced to self-isolate after coming into contact with a Covid carrier (Boris Johnson managed this time to suppress his guffaw at the fact that Starmer lives in – ha ha! […]

The UK government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been “defined by a lack of leadership, last-minute U-turns, mixed messaging and devastating policies”, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has claimed. He said: “Last night the PM claimed we truly did everything we could to avoid the deaths of 100,000 people across the UK from Covid-19, […]

Boris Johnson has used Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to call for Sir Keir Starmer to apologise over his coronavirus stances. Sir Keir said he would be speaking to bereaved families on Wednesday and asked the prime minister what message he would like to send to them. Johnson responded: “The message I would give those families is […]

AstraZeneca (AZ) has denied pulling out of an EU vaccine conference, its chief executive has said as a row over supply continues to heat up. Chief executive Pascal Soriot withdrew company officials from a planned meeting with EU representatives on Wednesday, Sky News reported. The company denied the claims though – and said it was still scheduled. This comes as the […]

The Home Office has launched a voluntary repatriation scheme for EU nationals living in the UK. The Guardian has learned EU citizens are being offered financial incentives to leave the UK, months before the deadline to apply for settled status. Since January 1, EU citizens have been added to the government scheme which promises to pay […]

An expert has warned that Brexit negotiations with the EU could continue for half a century – as Britain tries to improve the existing deal it has agreed. Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, told the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that the UK could end up like Switzerland – a […]

The European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen has said that Donald Trump’s time in the White House may have permanently damaged democracy. Speaking about Trump’s US tariffs, she told the Davos Agenda summit: “A year ago, my bilateral talks revolved primarily around the question: Would the US government impose punitive tariffs on European carmakers? […]

A Tory former minister broke the ministerial code when he began working for a PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) firm shortly after leaving government, the UK’s anti-corruption watchdog has said. George Freeman MP, who was a former health minister and member of Boris Johnson and David Cameron’s government, failed to register with the watchdog before accepting a […]

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot has given an optimistic prediction for the UK’s coronavirus vaccine rollout as he sought to explain the problems being faced by the EU. “By March, the UK will have vaccinated maybe 28 or 30 million people,” he said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica. “The prime minister has a […]

Boris Johnson is “gaslighting the nation” when he says No 10 has done all it could to minimise coronavirus deaths, a Sky News presenter has said. Niall Paterson also accused the prime minister of being tone-deaf. Interviewing housing minister Robert Jenrick, Paterson said: “The words of a prime minister when 100,000 people have died with […]

Good Morning Britain presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid have rejected Boris Johnson’s claim that the government did ‘everything we could’ stop prevent the UK coronavirus death toll reaching 100,000. Communities secretary Robert Jenrick was left to defend Johnson’s remarks at the latest Downing Street briefing, where the prime minister appeared to deny his decisions […]

Senior Tory backbencher Tobias Ellwood said numerous government policies have contributed to the UK’s death toll from coronavirus. The Commons Defence Committee chairman was asked on BBC Two’s Newsnight programme if the infection rate was contributed to by locking down too late in March, the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, the Christmas relaxation of […]

The UK could see another 50,000 deaths from coronavirus, a scientist advising the government has warned, as the prime minister said he was “deeply sorry” for every life lost. Boris Johnson insisted he takes “full responsibility” for the response to the pandemic and said “we did everything we could” to minimise suffering as the government’s […]

Boris Johnson has claimed that the government “did everything we could to minimise loss of life” as the UK’s coronavirus death toll reached 100,000. Speaking at the latest Downing Street press conference, he said it is “hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic”. “I’m sorry to have to tell you that today the […]

Measures in the government’s new environmental protection legislation could be used to ban people from driving cars, a Conservative MP has claimed. Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) said the so-called precautionary principle in the Environment Bill – where actions could be taken by the government to stop environmental damage – could restrict people’s […]