Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson has not lost faith in education secretary Gavin Williamson to do his job, despite a minister being sent in his place to answer an urgent question, his spokesperson has claimed. Schools minister Nick Gibb will reply for the government later in response to an urgent question on its plan for the reopening of […]

An SNP minister has warned Boris Johnson could be breaking Scotland’s coronavirus rules by visiting the country this week. Christina McKelvie, the minister for older people and equalities, doubted whether Johnson’s trip would count as “essential work”. The prime minister is reportedly planning a visit to Scotland to make an impassioned plea for Scots to reject […]

Piers Morgan has accused Boris Johnson of delaying unpopular decisions to control the coronavirus pandemic because he fears displeasing people. The Good Morning Britain co-host said the prime minister’s indecision had left the UK in the “worst of all worlds”. Morgan argued the prime minister was more concerned about headlines than he was about introducing unpopular but […]

Boris Johnson will tour Scotland this week in a bid to shore up the union after yet another poll showed strong support for Scottish independence. The Sun has reported Johnson will use the trip to promote the benefits of Scotland staying a part of the United Kingdom. It comes after Nicola Sturgeon threatened to hold a referendum on Scottish independence […]

Downing Street has attempted to clarify Boris Johnson’s remarks after he said the government will be “looking at the potential of relaxing some measures” before mid-February. Speaking to reporters on a visit to a vaccination site at Barnet Football Club in north London, Johnson said ministers were looking at infection rates and progress in vaccinating the […]

Liz Truss is tipped to receive a more senior role in government after Boris Johnson seeks to promote more female ministers in the next reshuffle. The international trade secretary is likely to join Kemi Badenoch, Lucy Frazer, Gillian Keegan and Victoria Atkins in receiving boosts in the next reshuffle, the Daily Mail reports. Housing secretary […]

A picture of Boris Johnson on the phone to US president Joe Biden has caused a stir online after social media users spotted something odd. Johnson was the first European leader to speak with the new US president over the weekend. The pair discussed strengthening the transatlantic relationship, the critical role of NATO, and joked about […]

The UK risks becoming a “failed state” unless it makes reforms to the Union, former prime minister Gordon Brown has warned. Brown urged prime minister Boris Johnson to consider ideas like replacing the House of Lords with a “senate of the regions” and to review the way the UK is governed. It comes after the […]

Sky has brought the rights to a television drama about Boris Johnson’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his first year as prime minister. This Sceptred Isle is a five-part series focusing on Johnson’s appointment as prime minister, the Covid-19 cases in the UK, through to him falling ill with the virus, and the arrival of his […]

Boris Johnson faces the “mother of all arguments” next month when he comes under pressure to loosen the lockdown while the NHS remains seriously stretched, a government adviser has predicted. Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), warned that intensive care units will still be strained even as […]

Downing Street has said there are “no plans” to go ahead with a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for coronavirus in order to increase the number of people abiding by quarantine rules. Ministers have considered a proposal to extend payments to anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 in England amid concerns […]

Bob Geldof has claimed “lying is second nature” to Boris Johnson’s government as he accused it of betraying British businesses to deliver Brexit. Geldof said Downing Street were “a hapless lot” who put politics ahead of the economic wellbeing of the nation. The Irish singer-songwriter turned political activist claimed No 10 was never serious about clenching a […]

Downing Street has declined to criticise Joe Biden for removing a bust of Sir Winston Churchill from the Oval Office, despite Boris Johnson’s previous attack on Barack Obama for the same move. The prime minister said in much-criticised comments in 2016 that Obama removing the sculpture “was a symbol of the part-Kenyan president’s ancestral dislike […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL compares the recent resignation of the Dutch cabinet with the lack of scrutiny and accountability of our own leaders. It is now almost a quarter of a century since I jumped the journalistic fence into frontline political combat. By the time another quarter of a century is done, assuming I survive that long, […]

Downing Street has insisted Boris Johnson’s exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions fit the criteria of ‘kind and civil’ politics which the PM had called for days before. Johnson’s press secretary Allegra Stratton was asked if nicknaming Keir Starmer “Captain Hindsight” was rude or unpleasant, something she denied. Stratton said it was a way of making […]

Boris Johnson has declared “there’s nothing wrong with being woke”. The prime minister was asked if he considered Biden to be woke – defined as being alert to societal injustices – after Labour’s Lisa Nandy praised Joe Biden as a “woke guy” who is a possible model for electoral success for the Labour Party. “I can’t […]

Downing Street has rebuked Theresa May over an accusation that Boris Johnson has abandoned Britain’s position of “global moral leadership”. May used a Daily Mail article saying that while the UK was well placed to play a decisive role in shaping a more co-operative world, she suggested it had not been helped by her successor’s actions. Number […]

The SNP’s leader in the Commons has questioned Boris Johnson over his ability to be a “moral” leader following remarks by Theresa May. Blackford also asked Johnson if he would overturn cuts to Britain’s foreign aid budget during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).  “This morning the former prime minister accused the current prime minister of abandoning moral […]

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw has called out the prime minister over his false promises made over Brexit. Speaking at the latest session of Prime Minister’s Questions, Bradshaw asked Johnson: “When the prime minister told the fishermen in the South West that they would not face new export barriers or unnecessary form filling. And when he […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson is keen to relax England’s lockdown in time for Easter, reports claim. Johnson is said to be making “top secret” plans for an Easter relaxation of rules, which could – at least – allow families to mix outside again. Lockdown regulations are currently set to end on March 31 – just […]

Boris Johnson has said he will work ‘hand in hand’ with Joe Biden after he takes office. The government hopes Biden’s inauguration as US president will mark the start of a new political era following the turbulence of Donald Trump’s administration. The UK’s ambassador to the US, Dame Karen Pierce, said there was “a lot […]

The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States marks the opening of a new chapter in the Anglo-American relationship – raising fresh questions as to whether it remains as “special” as it once was. For Boris Johnson the pressure is on to establish good working relations with the new occupant […]

Boris Johnson has narrowly avoided feat over a vote on a bid to outlaw post-Brexit trade deals with countries that are committing genocide. The prime minister’s working majority of 87 dwindled to just 11 as MPs voted to reverse an amendment to the Trade Bill made by the House of Lords by 319 votes to […]

Theresa May has launched a fresh onslaught on Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, in an article for the Daily Mail newspaper. The former prime minister warned Johnson’s threat to override Britain’s treaty obligations in the Brexit divorce settlement risked signalling a “retreat” from the UK’s global commitments. In the article that marks the inauguration of Joe […]

The former head of the UK’s civil service has claimed that Boris Johnson will be “relieved” to see the back of Donald Trump as US president. Lord Sedwill, who served as cabinet secretary from 2018 to 2020, wrote in the Daily Mail that another term for Trump “would not have been to the benefit of […]

Boris Johnson’s official schedule includes time for him to “power nap” during the day, a Downing Street insider has claimed. Times Radio reported an anonymous source as saying that it “would not be entirely uncommon in the diary for him to shut the door and have a kip for half an hour or so,” before […]

Boris Johnson has blamed seafood exporters for a collapse in sales after Brexit, claiming they were “not filling in the right forms”. Johnson also said the UK would control “all the fish” in its coastal waters in years to come. And he linked the crisis – caused by a mountain of new red tape imposed […]

Boris Johnson has demanded politicians be more “civil and kind” to each after debates surround the provision of free school meals sparked public reprisals against MPs. The prime minister’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, said the debate around free school meals had made life “very unpleasant” for Conservative MPs. This comes as the prime minister accused Labour supporters of using a […]

Greens MP Caroline Lucas has accused the Tories of being the “nasty party” after it told backbenchers to abstain from a vote to keep a £20 top-up to Universal Credit. Lucas accused the government of being “perfectly happy” for the price of the pandemic to be paid for by “some of the poorest people who are least able to […]

A new television drama is to focus on Boris Johnson’s first year in Downing Street, with particular focus on his handling of the pandemic, his own experience with Covid-19, and the birth of his son Wilfred. The drama, to be produced by Freemantle, will focus on the private lives of the prime minister and his […]

Comedian and TV presenter Rufus Hound has used an appearance on ITV’s Dancing on Ice to shame the government over its handling the free school meals fiasco. Hound, a contestant on the show, joked that the only thing crazier than appearing on the programme was a government that refused to feed hungry children during the holidays. […]

Sir Keir Starmer has called Boris Johnson “pathetic” for ordering Conservative MPs to abstain from a vote on extending a £20 weekly rise in Universal Credit, and said that “in their heart of hearts” Tories would back Labour’s move. The prime minister was working to lessen the scale of a potential revolt from his within […]