News and Opinion

In the latest seven-way TV election debate hosted by ITV, the parties clashed over the US president – who arrives in the UK on Monday ahead of a meeting of Nato leaders. In some of the strongest exchanges, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson said that, while the relationship with the US was important, Trump, who […]

Jeremy Corbyn has called on Boris Johnson to honour the ‘agreement’ that all political leaders would appear before Andrew Neil during the general election campaign. The Labour leader faced brutal questioning over half-an-hour from the veteran journalist during a challenge accepted by all the leaders from the main parties – except the Tories. Corbyn called […]

Often it’s not what is said on-screen during the debate that gets people talking, but what’s said on social media. https://twitter.com/dagiye/status/1201219177123631104 Here are some of the best responses to tonight’s ITV election debate… https://twitter.com/skeptical7th/status/1201216359738331136 https://twitter.com/weeshug72/status/1201215632643112961 https://twitter.com/lcorr/status/1201216602135564293 https://twitter.com/Sara_Rose_G/status/1201214778666033152 https://twitter.com/HelenMagi/status/1201215589483778057 https://twitter.com/willbarnesUK/status/1201222010652758022 https://twitter.com/smilinglaura/status/1201220246935363586 https://twitter.com/scattermoon/status/1201221098173616128 https://twitter.com/AngelaHaggerty/status/1201222413234638848 https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1201223035333816320 https://twitter.com/campbellclaret/status/1201225098902028288 https://twitter.com/PaulButters1/status/1201225815075278866 https://twitter.com/gabrielmilland/status/1201226755681521664 https://twitter.com/MarchGlas/status/1201228601787666434 https://twitter.com/oscarharrisonn/status/1201229327758692352 https://twitter.com/RoxxieToxxic/status/1201229493865762817 https://twitter.com/janemerrick23/status/1201229932669685761 https://twitter.com/joepike/status/1201230592156807170 https://twitter.com/ethikeen/status/1201234734376005696 https://twitter.com/reactivatedigby/status/1201236277586214912 https://twitter.com/jonoread/status/1201218444634529792 https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1201236652049522689 […]

It was an opportunity for the major political parties to face the public and set out their vision, but who do you think performed the best? As we wait for verdicts from the pollsters we’re asking for readers to give their perspectives on tonight’s performances. Who do you think was the overall winner – was […]

Jo Swinson said she could not support Labour’s economic policies such as its plans to nationalise certain industries. She described the programme as a “distraction” and said the Labour Party had “not been clear about how they would pay for it”. She added she does not believe renationalisation is “the way forward”. Asked whether she […]

The Lib Dems have criticised Boris Johnson’s response to the London Bridge attack, telling the prime minister to stop making political capital out f it Sir Ed Davey called on the prime minister to apologise for “misleading people” over the law regarding early release. He warned Johnson that he “shouldn’t be trying to make political […]

Boris Johnson has sought to blame Labour for the early release of the convicted terrorist who killed two people at London Bridge as he tried to make political capital out of the incident. The prime minister said Usman Khan, who was freed halfway through a 16-year jail sentence, was on the streets because of laws […]

Donald Trump arrives in town this week – and a White House official has said he is looking forward to meeting Boris Johnson. The comments came as an official said Trump is “absolutely cognisant” of the importance of not interfering in other nations’ elections. Johnson has already warned Trump not to get involved in the […]

Polling has found the Tory lead over Labour has dropped with less than two weeks to the general election – with one poll showing Dominic Raab is at risk of losing his seat. A BMG poll for Independent found that the Tory lead has dropped sharply to six points from 13 a week ago. The […]

An open letter backing the Lib Dems’ pro-EU manifesto has been backed by more than 60 business leaders. The open letter supporting the party’s pro-EU stance and economic policies has been backed by business leaders including the chief executive of fashion chain Superdry, Julian Dunkerton, and Alex Chesterman – founder of e-commerce firms Lovefilm, Zoopla […]

WILL SELF with a stark reminder of history. There are moves afoot in Belgium to purge the country, a bit, of its associations with King Leopold II, who helmed this motley realm from 1865 to 1909: Streets and parks named after him are being renamed, while there are also moves to begin purging Belgian museum […]

STEVE ANGLESEY on a bizarre incident involving former Tory leader Iain Duncan-Smith and how it provides a perfect microcosm of the Conservative strategy. Iain Duncan Smith’s offices in Chingford have been vandalised with graffiti. Picture: Emma Best – Credit: Archant A friend of a Facebook friend was on her phone at home the other day […]

The Labour leader’s apparent equivocation over Brexit might be derided… but it might just be a masterstroke, argues STEVE RICHARDS. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn at the launch of the Labour race and faith manifesto at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre, north London. Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire – Credit: PA This is a noisy midwinter […]

Staying in the EU is the biggest political fight of our lifetimes. Voters deserve to know whose side Corbyn is on, says Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman, TOM BRAKE. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Photograph: Dominc Lipinski/PA Wire. – Credit: PA There’s a reason why American political campaigns are obsessed with the 3am phone call question: […]

MITCH BENN on doing everything he can to make sure politicians don’t ruin his Christmas without a fight. I’m breaking one of my own cardinal rules this year. Generally I operate an absolute embargo on anything Christmas-related until December 1. Obviously one can’t entirely avoid any mention of Christmas during November, or indeed October (or, […]

A hung parliament is the UK’s only hope of stopping Brexit and Tory extremism, says ANDREW ADONIS. When I was young, you only needed to say the words ‘hung parliament’ in an election campaign and Middle England fled to Thatcher. It was like brandishing the crucifix. Come to think of it, wasn’t that David Cameron’s […]

All parties are guilty, but the prime minister has pioneered this new era of dishonesty, says JAMES BALL. Boris Johnson is interviewed by Andrew Neil. Photograph: BBC. – Credit: Archant The prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is currently a man who has been fired not once, but twice, […]

Editor-at-large ALASTAIR CAMPBELL travels to Norway and finds a breathtaking building and a salutary lesson for a Brexit-entangled Britain. Financial Park. Picture: Submitted – Credit: Archant It is not the first time a new city has blown me away. Nor the first time a building has blown me away. But it’s the first time I […]

Boris Johnson has got his way and will be interviewed by Andrew Marr on Sunday, without having committed to a grilling from the BBC’s most ferocious interviewer Andrew Neil. The BBC had initially refused to invite the prime minister onto Marr’s show until he signed up to feature in a series of general election leader […]

The former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable has hit out at his party’s flagship policy to revoke Article 50 if it wins a majority. Since Jo Swinson took over from Sir Vince in July, the party adopted a policy at conference to cancel Brexit without a second referendum from the moment it would take […]

David Attenborough has branded Boris Johnson ‘shameful’ for not attending Thursday’s televised climate change general election debate. The veteran broadcaster said that the prime minister must have had something “very, very important” in his diary to have been too busy for it. In an interview to be broadcast tonight on Channel 4 News, Attenborough said […]

It was an opportunity for the major political parties to face the public and set out their vision, but who do you think performed the best? As we wait for verdicts from the pollsters we’re asking for readers to give their perspectives on tonight’s performances. Who do you think was the overall winner – was […]

Twitter was full of commentary as representatives answered questions from seven of the main political parties. https://twitter.com/GuardianHeather/status/1200491629301424134 https://twitter.com/jonoread/status/1200492545492553728 https://twitter.com/xeccar/status/1200492909885304833 https://twitter.com/TheotherNicola/status/1200494300888518657 https://twitter.com/StevenNT/status/1200497171335958528 https://twitter.com/grahamlithgow/status/1200497605538668544 https://twitter.com/nickeardleybbc/status/1200498659156275200 https://twitter.com/AngelaHaggerty/status/1200498721341026305 https://twitter.com/adilray/status/1200499361408585728 https://twitter.com/alcanlin/status/1200499995427954688 https://twitter.com/robpowellnews/status/1200500565807157249 https://twitter.com/KirstyStricklan/status/1200501979002363904 https://twitter.com/uk_domain_names/status/1200502443337027584 https://twitter.com/jimwaterson/status/1200503172235694082 https://twitter.com/AShadjareh/status/1200502429005037568 https://twitter.com/jdcairns/status/1200504119863189505 https://twitter.com/Simmy41/status/1200504609816694786 https://twitter.com/alcanlin/status/1200505872264388608 https://twitter.com/jonoread/status/1200514631325962240 https://twitter.com/Doozy_45/status/1200499417205346304 https://twitter.com/hiimginger/status/1200506961504165893 https://twitter.com/FrankGaudino/status/1200510678697725952 https://twitter.com/esbagshaw/status/1200508512985649152 https://twitter.com/redrog/status/1200509378945781760 https://twitter.com/suzannenw1962/status/1200511969792577536 https://twitter.com/joperry9/status/1200512208448491527 https://twitter.com/Moggsee/status/1200512428137517056 https://twitter.com/jdcairns/status/1200512217671749634 https://twitter.com/IainDale/status/1200509923374837761

Boris Johnson could sack Jacob Rees-Mogg if the prime minister is re-elected after the election. The leader of the Common’s ministerial career is in question after he appeared to criticise the victims of Grenfell Tower disaster. Rees-Mogg has disappeared from the election campaign after making the remarks shortly after the election was called, and did […]

In an attempt to defend his son from accusations of being a liar, Stanley Johnson has suggested that the ‘great British public’ does not have the degree of literacy to know who Pinocchio is. Appearing on BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show, the prime minister’s father responded to a viewer comment that Boris Johnson is like the […]

Billionaire businessman and oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood has revealed he now backs Brexit. Sir Ian, who was chairman of oil firm the Wood Group, said he had voted for Remain in 2016 but would “now vote to come out” as he warned Europe could be facing a “difficult future”. While he said he had […]

Readers express their concerns about the performance of Labour and Lib Dems during the election campaign so far. Labour are currently fighting what is being called ‘the Brexit election’ by trying their best not to mention Brexit. The only possible benefit of the inevitable large Tory majority which will soon follow is that the party […]

The outgoing president of the European Commission has written a farewell article reflecting on his five years in post, and had some choice words for the UK on Brexit. Jean-Claude Juncker, who is handing over to Ursula von der Leyen, joked in a piece for Politico’s Brussels Playbook that he would be “leaving before the […]

Readers note the prime minister no longer talks about spending £350 million on the NHS, despite Brexit not happening yet. Boris Johnson is going to postpone the cut in corporation tax to release £6 billion for the NHS and other ‘priorities’. But wait. Was the NHS not supposed to be being funded by the “£350 […]

The BBC has stuck to its guns over Boris Johnson’s reticence to undergo an interview with Andrew Neil and has turned down No.10’s suggestion that he appear on Andrew Marr’s show instead. The national broadcaster announced earlier in the week that it had been “unable to fix a date” for the general election grilling from […]

Is anyone keeping count of the overall numbers of employee shortages in the UK? I hear various figures – 40,000 nurses, 6,000 GPs, 120,000 HGV drivers, 20,000 police officers, 10,000 construction workers, unquantified numbers of teachers – to list but a few. So why are all the opposition parties running scared of the freedom of […]

Analysis of the websites of the major political parties suggests BBC News sends more traffic to the Tories’ homepage than Labour or the Lib Dems. Rebootonline.com found that news outlets were 150% more likely to support the governing party rather than Labour in any given article. Their analysis of referring domains of the key party […]