Media

New document have revealed Matt Hancock backtracked on tough tech laws following a meeting with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Then culture secretary, Hancock promised the “tone” of new regulations would shift after Zuckerberg hinted he might pull plans to invest in the UK. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) obtained minutes from the secretive meeting via […]

A pro-Brexit caller on the James O’Brien show said he was delighted to be free of EU regulations but struggled to name one he disagreed with. Dave from Epsom told LBC listeners he was a Brexiteer because he did not believe in a “federal Europe”, which at first he struggled to define but eventually described […]

Dawn French has revealed she dumped an ex-boyfriend after discovering he was a Tory. The Vicar of Dibley actress opened up about her split with Lenny Henry in 2010 after realising “something wasn’t right”. French, 63, told the How To Wow podcast: “I did have a nice time with one chap. He was quite posh. […]

Rupert Murdoch’s latest television news channel has been given the go-ahead by Ofcom and could start broadcasting as early as spring 2021. News UK TV is competing against Andrew Neil-backed channel GB News to be first on-air. Both outlets believe there is a gap in the market for right-leaning television news channels aimed at Britons […]

President-elect Joe Biden has become more popular than Donald Trump ever was during his presidency, a new CNN Gallup poll has found. Biden received a 55pc approval rating, having jumped six percentage points since the election, while Trump shrunk to 42pc, down three points since November 3. Trump’s highest rating was 50pc in a Bloomberg […]

A Brexiteer MP has been described as “thick as two short planks” after suggesting tariffs on EU goods would help Britain cover export costs after it leaves the trading bloc. Andrew Bridgen has become the centre of ridicule after suggesting Britain could use levies imposed on EU-imported products to reimburse exporters hit with new fees […]

Jurgen Klopp has complained about new post-Brexit transfer rules after the Football Association (FA) announced Brexit would have ramifications for English football. The FA, alongside the Premier League and EFL, confirmed this week that English clubs cannot sign foreign players until they are 18, or more than three overseas players under 21 in a single […]

James Cleverly has struggled to explain how the UK will access the coronavirus vaccine – which is produced in Belgium – in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Cleverly said stocks of the vaccine would be flown into the UK should a no-deal Brexit occur but stopped short of explaining other methods were being considered by the government. […]

Windrush victims have hit out at home secretary Priti Patel after she said conflating them with criminals who are being deported was “not only misjudged and upsetting but deeply offensive”. Glenda Caesar, 59, who lost her job as a GP administrator when the Home Office wrongly decided she had no right to work in the […]

Ivor Gaber on a new book which lays bare the threats facing the BBC, and why we should all care. The title of the book says it all… The War Against the BBC: how an unprecedented combination of hostile forces is destroying Britain’s greatest cultural institution….And why you should care. And the two authors know what […]

The money on offer was good, says WILL SELF, but it was outweighed by the ridicule and sense of personal failure that would have followed. When all else fails – opined the wit and poet, Christopher Logue – try Wales. The makers of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! have certainly cleaved to […]

Germany’s health minister has struck down claims UK officials were able to swiftly authorise the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine because of Brexit. Jens Spahn said the claims had been ‘misplaced’ as he reminded Westminster politicians that the vaccine had been partly developed by German biotech start-up. In a briefing on Wednesday, Spahn said although Britain had already approved […]

Matt Hancock has been rebuked by members of the public after suggesting the speedy approval of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine was due to Brexit. Hancock caused controversy after insisting Britain’s exit from the EU meant it could rapidly approve new vaccines. This comes after Britain became the first country in the world to approve a jab for coronavirus on […]

The Netherlands has caused hilarity after it used a Brexit “monster” to issue a warning to its citizens. A picture of Netherland’s Brexit mascot handing out ‘Get Ready’ flyers at an EU port has stirred up a hilarious reaction online. The giant Muppet, dubbed by British media as Project Fur, has appeared at the port […]

A group of Tory peers have lashed out at the current series of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! over the use of “non-native” insects in certain challenges. The group has said the use of non-native bugs in Wales, where this season’s show is being filmed, was “irresponsible” and “stupid”. The popular TV show was forced to relocate from […]

British expats have blasted post-Brexit travel rules which will prevent them spending more than three months at a time in the EU. When the transition period ends on January 1, Britons intending to stay in a European country longer than 90 days will have to apply for a visa in every sixth month spell. There […]

George Eustice has told Piers Morgan that Britain was a “free country” as he sought to defend a six-month government boycott of Good Morning Britain. Eustice, a cabinet minister, said political parties were free to choose which media outlets to speak with as he attempted to explain the reasons behind 201-day hiatus from the popular […]

Downing Street has attempted to have vials of the Oxford University Covid vaccine labelled with the Union flag. No. 10 asked a taskforce set up to fight calls for Scottish independence to work on having injections kits covered with the flag, the HuffPost UK has revealed. It also asked the unit focusing on developing the […]

UK aviation officials are scrambling to secure a travel corridor between New York and London following fears Joe Biden could scrap it in favour of one with Dublin when takes office as US president next year. Plans to establish a corridor between Heathrow and JFK airport – known as Project Nylon – before Biden moves into the […]

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has failed to declare his family’s wealth in a ministerial register, an investigation has found. Sunak is under pressure to explain how a multi-million-pound portfolio of shareholdings and directorships held by his wife and her family were not declared in an official register of ministers’ interests, a Guardian investigation has revealed. Akshata Murty, […]

Nigel Farage has been trolled online after posting a tweet complaining about Boris Johnson’s latest lockdown measures. The Brexit Party leader took to Twitter to vent his frustrations over his county of Kent being placed under the toughest lockdown restrictions announced by the prime minister earlier this week. Kent, along with swathes of the North […]

Businesses have been urged to step up Brexit planning after a survey found only 42% believe they are fully prepared for customs changes. A poll conducted by Enterprise Ireland revealed 44% of businesses have yet to decide how to pay customs charges, while 30% have yet to decide who will manage customs procedures. Tanaiste Leo […]

British actors have been told not to audition for the role of a young Duke of Cambridge in a forthcoming film about Diana, Princess of Wales, due to new rules faced by the country post-Brexit. A casting invitation posted online calls for boys aged between nine and 12 to apply for the role of the […]

An ex-Tory aide has said he had to ‘kill’ plans by George Osborne to appoint David Beckham a peerage and make him sports minister. Then-chancellor Osborne discussed the idea with David Cameron, who was prime minister at the time, on the day of a major Cabinet reshuffle in 2013, the Daily Mail has revealed. The Mail published the […]

Boris Johnson has appointed a former Treasury official as his Downing Street chief of staff. Dan Rosenfield will begin working in No 10 next month before he formally takes over from acting chief of staff, Lord Udny-Lister, in the new year, Downing Street said. The move comes after a row over a proposal to appoint […]

The company of a former neighbour of Matt Hancock’s has won a multi-million-pound contract to supply medical equipment to Covid testing centres despite having no previous experience. Alex Bourne, who ran a pub close to Hancock’s former constituency in Suffolk, said he offered his company’s services to the health secretary in a WhatsApp message. Hinpack, Bourne’s company, was […]

Former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell has criticised Rishi Sunak’s cut in Britain’s foreign aid budget, arguing the move makes the UK “less safe and less prosperous”. Mitchell, who served in David Cameron’s cabinet between 2010 and 2012, said the chancellor’s decision to cut foreign aid was a “shameful mistake” that would hurt Britain’s world […]

So Diego is dead, and that is really, really sad. Football is the greatest game on earth. And he was its greatest player. The world will be talking about him, writing about him, making films about him, for the rest of time. The good, the bad, the ugly. But my God, he was good. He […]

Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith (IDS) has been criticised for suggesting it was “far better” for politicians to be “straight and honest” with the public. The former work and pensions secretary said it was right for Rishi Sunak to be “honest” with the public about spending cuts brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Appearing of Good Morning […]

A German MEP has claimed that Britain’s ‘messy’ negotiating tactics are to blame for last-minute Brexit talks. Long-serving German politician Bernd Lange said Brexit negotiations would not have come down to the wire had British officials actually been properly prepared. Speaking on Bloomberg, Lange said: “There were a lot of months, starting in February, where there […]

A Telegraph columnist has been heavily criticised after suggesting Priti Patel was too short to be a bully. Allison Pearson caused a stir online when she published her latest Telegraph column blasting allegations of bullying against home secretary Patel. The article comes after prime minister Boris Johnson swept aside findings by his chief adviser on […]

Lorry drivers were left queuing for five miles along the M20 in Kent as a trial of Brexit border controls were carried out at the Channel Tunnel. Lorries on their way across the English channel were forced to wait in queues stretching back to Junction 11 on the M20 as they approached the Eurotunnel entrance outside […]