Media

Number 10 has defended a minister as “great” after she launched an online tirade against a journalist for asking questions about her role. Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch accused a reporter of “creepy and bizarre” behaviour for asking why she had not appeared in a video promoting the Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Boris Johnson’s aides defended Badenoch […]

Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock have both been compared to TV characters in the latest poll that explored public perceptions of No 10’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Respondents said Johnson reminded them of Mr Bean while the health secretary was compared to the self-pitying Ian Beale from BBC’s EastEnders. A portion wished New Zealand’s Jacinda Arden […]

An anti-Brexit campaigner has called on politicians in Westminster and Brussels to “think more maturely” after the EU invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Scientists for EU director Dr Mike Galsworthy said the “kerfuffle” over the weekend “in no way justifies burning £200billion on Brexit”. On Friday, EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen triggered Article 16 of […]

Boris Johnson is poised to appoint Paul Dacre as Ofcom chair, and offer him a peerage, it has been revealed. According to Whitehall and media source, Johnson is preparing to announce the appointment soon and will give Dacre a remit to target the BBC. Dacre stepped down as Daily Mail editor in 2018 but is still […]

The New European is under new ownership. The newspaper has been bought from Archant by its founder Matt Kelly and a consortium of investors including former New York Times CEO Mark Thompson and former FT editor Lionel Barber. Former Independent CEO Gavin O’Reilly becomes executive chairman of the new company, with Kelly assuming the role […]

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said he halted a post-Brexit review of workers’ rights because it was not a “constructive thing to do”. Kwarteng took over as secretary of state from Alok Sharma, who has been appointed full-time president of the UN Cop26 climate conference, three weeks ago. He told the BBC’s Political Thinking that […]

When the Yorkshire Post ran an accurate story about vaccines being diverted to other regions Tory ministers and MPs rounded on the newspaper. JAMES MITCHINSON, its editor, says their response raises several questions. You may not recall it. There have been so many, you may not even have seen it. Early June last year health minister […]

A government minister has defended the government’s decision to lock down when it did in March, despite saying that acting earlier “would have saved more lives”. Apprenticeships minister Gillian Keegan told Question Time that had the country locked down earlier and shut its borders then “we would have had a lower death toll for sure”. […]

A Tory MP has told Nicola Sturgeon to “grow up” after she questioned the necessity of Boris Johnson’s trip to Scotland. Steve Brine said the first minister was acting “childish” and said she should focus on “better things to do than worry about Boris Johnson” visiting Scotland. Speaking on BBC 2’s Politics Live, Brine said: “To […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Nigel Farage has been reminded of a comment he made claiming that fishing rights would be the “acid test” of any Brexit deal. A 33-second recording showing Farage making those claims have resurfaced on Twitter around the same time a former campaigner complained Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal had left her with “no fish”. “Acid test of Brexit […]

Members of the public and politicians are up in arms after it emerged a Tory MP, who does not classify as vulnerable under government vaccine guidelines, received a coronavirus jab. Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith wrote on Friday on Facebook that “as a volunteer, I was also asked to have a vaccine” beside a photo of himself receiving […]

Officials in Brussels are planning to launch a communication campaign aimed at teaching young Britons about the EU, a leaked internal document obtained by the Express has shown. According to the news platform, the document shows plans to target the “younger generation” in the UK because of a perceived level of support for the EU. Brussels […]

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 […]

Ministers are ‘psychologically incapable’ of owning their mistakes and are to blame for the UK’s death toll, James O’Brien has said in a swipe at No 10’s coronavirus record. O’Brien accused ministers of “doing the same thing again and hoping for a different result”. The comment comes as Oxford University research showed the UK has the worst […]

A Piers Morgan impersonator prank-called Donald Trump on Air Force One last year, the Good Morning Britain presenter has revealed. The former president only realised he had been pranked when he called Morgan on his way to vote in Florida last year. The incident allegedly took place in October but only emerged in an interview […]

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 […]

Independent SAGE member Professor Christina Pagel has criticised Priti Patel’s decision to issue new £800 fines for Covid rule-breakers, calling on the minster to “stop blaming the public”. Prof Pagel told LBC radio she was “so angry” at the announcement and said ministers should instead focus on tightening Covid restrictions than fining people who break them.  “They’ve […]

Liz Truss has said it is a “matter for the courts to decide” what genocide is, and not the government, despite having voted to scrap an amendment giving judges the power to do so. The international trade minister said British courts were best placed to determine the definition of genocide. The comments come after the government […]

The UK and the EU have clashed over the status the trading bloc’s ambassador in London should have. The UK government is refusing to grant Joao Vale de Almeida full diplomatic status offered to other ambassadors. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is insisting he and his officials should not have privileges and immunities afforded to […]

A Donald Trump supporter abruptly hung up on a national radio presenter after failing to cite examples of the former US president telling the truth. Steve from Islington rang James O’Brien to tell him there was a lot in the media which were lies about the outgoing US president. Steve then accused O’Brien of unfairly […]

With Donald Trump having officially vacated the White House, Twitter users wasted no time in bidding him their version of a farewell. Trump left 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue around 1pm GMT and made a final address at Joint Base Andrews airbase before leaving for his Florida home in Air Force One. The outgoing US president told supporters […]

Outgoing US president Donald Trump has given his strongest indication yet of returning to the political scene, telling supporters at a farewell rally that he would “be back in some form”. Trump thanked followers in his final official speech as US president at Joint Base Andrews airbase before departing for his Florida home in Air Force One. […]

Roger Daltrey has been accused of being a hypocrite after signing a letter calling on No 10 to help British bands tour EU countries after having previously dismissed concerns about the impact of Brexit on the UK’s music industry.  Daltrey, the lead singer of the rock band the Who, famously downplayed the effect of Brexit on bands touring Europe, once […]

Priti Patel has shrugged off suggestions Downing Street is to blame for Britain’s high Covid death toll, saying now is not the time “to talk about mismanagement”. The home secretary said there were “a range of reasons” for the UK’s appalling death toll but said it was not right to draw attention to them at the moment. […]

Piers Morgan has urged Priti Patel to resign after 400,000 criminal records disappeared from the national crime database. The home secretary has come under mounting pressure to take responsibility for an error that led to hundreds of thousands of police records being deleted from UK-wide databases. Data was wiped from the Police National Computer (PNC) – which […]

GB News is reportedly attempting to hire pro-Brexit commentators Nick Ferrari and Julia Hartley-Brewer to present parts of its 24-hour news channel. The news channel will serve a conservative audience with presenters with strong opinions and attitude and aims to give a voice to viewers angered by feeling abandoned by the BBC. It has been compared […]

NHS Test and Trace boss Dido Harding has defended paying consultants £1,000 a day. Harding, a Tory peer, told the Commons Public Accounts Committee that she felt it was “appropriate” to seek help from the private sector in “extreme emergency circumstances” such as the Covid-19 pandemic. David Williams, the Second Permanent Secretary at the Department of […]