News and Opinion

Prime minister Boris Johnson has told a Commons scrutiny committee that an inquiry into Dominic Cummings breaking lockdown rules would not be ‘a very good use of official time’. In Johnson first appearance in front of the liaison committee since becoming prime minister last July he was asked why he had not launched an inquiry […]

Downing Street has said it was unaware that the number of people being tested for the coronavirus had disappeared from daily press briefings. A No 10 spokesperson said it was unable to explain why Department of Health testing figures had been dropped four days in a row saying it was ‘not something I have noticed.’ […]

Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed a public inquiry will be held into the Scottish government’s response to coronavirus. It came after she faced claims from Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw that residents in care homes have been ‘treated like second-class citizens’. He told her what has happened in care homes is ‘a national scandal’. Have your […]

A Commons Brexit committee has grilled the UK’s chief negotiator over Dominic Cummings’ involvement in EU trade talks. Questioned on the role the prime minister’s top aide had in negotiations, Brexit negotiator David Frost said he had never been ‘instructed’ by Dominic Cummings. Tory MP Peter Bone asked: ‘What’s your relationship with Dominic Cummings, do […]

Keeping Dominic Cummings is the only way to get Brexit done and to fulfil the pledges made in the general election, a Tory MP has told angry colleagues in his parliamentary party. Devizes MP Danny Kruger – son of Bake Off judge Prue Leith and is also close to both Cummings and Wakefield – has […]

A polling expert has likened Boris Johnson’s recent ratings drop to how former Tory prime minister John Major won and quickly lost authority and power in the 1990s. Prime minister Boris Johnson in the Commons and his senior aide, Dominic Cummings (R); PA images – Credit: Archant Peter Kellner, the former chairman at polling company […]

Boris Johnson is facing another Tory rebellion after more than 30 Conservative MPs publicly called on Dominic Cummings’ to go. Senior ministers and backbenchers have called for Johnson’s top political advisor to be ousted from Downing Street after he allegedly broke lockdown rules to travel to Durham in March. Those appealing for Cummings to go […]

A vicar has told of his disappointment after the government rejected Matt Hancock’s proposals for a review of lockdown fines handed to families travelling for childcare purposes. Reverend Martin Poole from Brighton asking a question to Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock about travelling for childcare. Photograph: PA Video/PA Wire – Credit: PA The […]

With no ministers available to defend Dominic Cummings on BBC Newsnight, it was left to Tory backbench MP Andrew Bridgen to offer a defence. Bridgen appeared on the programme to brand the whole story a ‘media witch-hunt’, when presenter Emily Maitlis asked the MP if the senior aide had given was adequate. She asked: ‘So […]

Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy has called on Boris Johnson to take responsibility over the Dominic Cummings saga, telling the prime minister it was a matter of public confidence. Appearing on BBC breakfast, Nandy said Johnson should explain why his top advisor’s trip to Durham from London was ‘so unique’ that it did not warrant […]

Boris Johnson’s senior aide Dominic Cummings staying on his post ‘will help make government better’, a Tory MP has argued. Jerome Mayhew, Conservative MP for Broadland, said that the Downing Street adviser should not lose his job because he is a person ‘that will help make the government better’. The newly-elected MP for Broadland in […]

Government is braced for further resignations over Boris Johnson’s handling of the saga surrounding his senior aide. Douglas Ross, a junor Scotland Office minister, resigned on Tuesday as he was unconvinced by Cummings’ explanation for breaking lockdown rules. The Telegraph reports that both Cummings and Johnson rang the MP to urge him to stay, but […]

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator has said it is ‘open’ to giving the UK a two-year Brexit delay. Responding to Westminster leaders of the SNP, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, SDLP, Green Party and Alliance Party, Barnier said the option of an extension to the Brexit transition period is available if the UK wants it. The […]

Boris Johnson will face the House of Commons scrutiny committee on Wednesday, but critical Tory MPs have been excluded, and attendees will have just minutes to discuss senior aide Dominic Cummings. It is understood MPs will be given fewer than twenty minutes in a 90-minute session to probe the prime minister on the biggest story […]

The Tory lead over Labour has fallen to single digits in less than a week, a new YouGov survey has revealed. Last week’s polling by YouGov and the Times found that Boris Johnson enjoyed a 15 point lead over the opposition, despite Labour’s new leader Keir Starmer. The Tories were on 48% of support compared […]

Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis has been praised for her introduction to the latest programme, after she used her opening lines to perfectly sum up the political turmoil facing the government over Dominic Cummings. The presenter explained to viewers: ‘Dominic Cummings broke the rules, the country can see that, and it’s shocked the government cannot. ‘The […]

A BBC presenter has been caught calling Dominic Cummings ‘such a dick’ on-air during a live news broadcast. BBC Radio Ulster’s Nuala McKeever was caught labelling Cummings a ‘dick’ when she left her microphone on during an afternoon news bulletin. Listeners could hear McKeever disrupt news presenter Damien Edgar for a whole minute before she […]

EU Brexit negotiator and former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt has chimed into UK political discourse calling Brexiteers ‘elitist’ while mocking prime minister Boris Johnson. https://twitter.com/guyverhofstadt/status/1264576749918134275 Verhofstadt posted a Sunday Times sketch of a puzzled prime minister Johnson sitting at his desk saying ‘I can’t sack Dominic Cummings until he tells me to’. Underneath the […]

Questions have been raised about Dominic Cummings’ claim he warned of the threat of coronavirus ‘last year’ after the discovery of a recent edit on the senior adviser’s blog. Speaking during a press conference, Boris Johnson’s senior aide said he had written about the ‘possible threat of coronaviruses’ in 2019. ‘For years, I have warned […]

Senior Tory MP William Wragg has accused minsters defending Dominic Cummings in the press of ‘disregarding’ public opinion. Wragg, the chair of the Commons committee into public administration and constitutional affairs, said it was ‘humiliating and degrading’ to see ministers run to Dominic Cummings’ defence. ‘We cannot throw away valuable public & political good will […]

Britain’s comparison between the coronavirus and a ‘war’ are in stark contrast to the German approach – where they have been more successful at tackling Covid-19. Many political leaders around the world have reached for the imagery of conflict to describe the coronavirus pandemic. In France, President Emmanuel Macron said his nation was at war […]

Westminster opposition parties are set to meet to discuss how to deal with Dominic Cummings following revelations he travelled 270 miles to County Durham while ill with the coronavirus. https://twitter.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1264603384264482817 Labour, the SNP, and Liberal Democrats and other party leaders will gather in a bid to map out the ‘next steps’ on Dominic Cummings, SNP […]

The government’s approval ratings have dropped 16 points in just one day, suggesting the Dominic Cummings story on breaking lockdown rules has rocked public opinion. According to pollsters Savanta ComRes, the approval rating of the government now sits at -2%, falling significantly over the weekend. Boris Johnson’s own approval rating is at -1%, a drop […]

Boris Johnson may come to regret his decision to allow his senior aide to contradict lockdown guidance, especially with the potential for a second coronavirus spike. Fear has a bad reputation. Nobody wants to live in a society of fear; it’s an emotion to be avoided. As such, the role of the modern state is […]

Despite Boris Johnson’s senior aide giving a press conference lasting an hour, many of the explanations did not provide answers to satisfy viewers, and there were more questions left to be answered. – How many breaches of lockdown restrictions did Cummings commit? None, if you share Cummings’ view. Others say one. Still, others say two. […]

Brexit campaigner and Cummings ally Mark Wallace has called on Dominic Cummings to resign following his lockdown-breaking trip to County Durham during the coronavirus peak. Wallace, who is the chief executive of the grassroots Tory blog, ConservativeHome, claimed Cummings needed to resign ‘for his own cause’. The Brexiteer made the comments in his regular i […]

A government minister has resigned over Dominic Cummings’ flouting of the coronavirus lockdown rules. Douglas Ross, MP for Moray, said that he was quitting after hearing Cummings’ efforts to defend his trip from London to Durham. The MP, who served as under-secretary of state for Scotland, said he could not ‘in good faith’ tell his […]

The Daily Mail has continued its attack on the government over how it handled the Dominic Cummings allegations. The Daily Mail’s front page questions how a ‘defiant’ Cummings can possibly survive in the role in the wake of the public furore over the saga. Mail columnist Dominic Sandbrook says Cummings wields ‘more raw power than […]

Dominic Cummings’ account of his trip to Durham was ‘exhaustive, detailed and verifiable’, Michael Gove has claimed. The minister for the Cabinet Office told BBC Breakfast: ‘I think Dominic completely understands the sense of concern people felt as the story broke. ‘I think the account he gave yesterday was exhaustive, it was detailed, it was […]

A majority of the British public believe that Boris Johnson’s senior adviser should resign, a new poll suggests. Some 59% of Britons think Dominic Cummings should resign from his Downing Street role following questions about his conduct during lockdown. The YouGov poll – conducted on Saturday before fresh allegations about the aide – found that […]

Cabinet minister Michael Gove was sent out to defend Dominic Cummings up against fresh scrutiny of his Downing Street statement. LBC presenter Nick Ferrari asked Gove about his claim that he used a journey to Barnard Castle on his wife’s birthday to check his vision, having travelled 260 miles from London to Durham. At the […]

Questions have been asked why Downing Street sent away England’s chief medical officer (CMO) and chief scientific adviser (CSA) after they turned up to host the daily press briefing. Both Chris Whitty (CMO) and Patrick Vallance (CSA) were expected to take questions from the media alongside prime minister Boris Johnson on Monday evening. They were […]