Media

Boris Johnson has made his third gaffe in a week when he mistakenly told Britons they were eligible for a “£500-per-week” payment for self-isolating. The prime minster claimed it was a weekly payment to people on low incomes when it in fact was for the whole period of isolation, which could be a minimum of 14 […]

Laurence Fox has been labelled a hypocrite after vowing to boycott Sainsbury’s because of its support for Black History Month. The 42-year-old actor accused the supermarket of promoting “racial segregation and discrimination” during a Twitter rant on Sunday. Fox’s post came after the supermarket chain announced it would be marking Black History Month, an annual observance of black […]

A comedian has taken aim at new government restrictions by releasing a hilarious chart mocking the way ministers have come up with new coronavirus rules. Belfast comedian Paddy Raff tweeted a table which asks participants to make up their own coronavirus laws. Dubbed the “government COVID-19 Law Generator”, users answer three questions, such as what your and your […]

James O’Brien has compared Dido Harding to Rodney Trotter from Only Fools and Horses after a “technical glitch” was blamed for 16,000 Covid cases going unreported. The LBC presenter laid into England’s test and trace chief after Public Health England (PHE) admitted 15,841 cases between September 25 and October 2 were left out of daily case figures. […]

A front cover from the Daily Express featuring comments from health secretary Matt Hancock suggesting Brexit can “save lives” has been criticised. Under the headline “BREXIT GIVES UK FREEDOM TO FAST-TRACK WONDER DRUGS”, the newspaper reports that Hancock had insisted that Brexit will help save lives by allowing new drugs to be approved faster. The […]

Cultural commentator and broadcaster PETER YORK on those with the knives out for the Corporation. There is a war against the BBC. Does that sound over the top? When Paddy Barwise and I were searching for a title for our new book, back in 2018, we feared it might be. A war against the British […]

A Commons committee has called for more “transparency” in the appointment of the next BBC and Ofcom chairs after the government faced accusations of “interfering” in the process. Former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, a vocal BBC critic, is said to be Boris Johnson’s preferred candidate for the Ofcom chairman role, while ex-Daily Telegraph editor Charles […]

James O’Brien has asked Brexiteers whether they regret voting for Brexit now the UK faced legal proceedings from the EU. The LBC presenter pointed to a letter from the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost to car manufacturers as proof many of his warnings about the economic impacts of Brexit were in fact true. MORE: ‘Project Fear’ was […]

Whatever else might be said about Sasha Swire’s memoirs, they hardly instil confidence in the political classes. This may well be why Rupert Murdoch was willing to splash out no less than £250,000 to serialise them in the Times and Sunday Times. “It’s a jaw-dropping amount of money for a book in these straitened times, […]

Tory ministers past and present have defended Boris Johnson’s father for not wearing a face mask in public and say he should not be fined. Environment minister George Eustice and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said penalties, which range from £200 to £10,000 for failing to follow government advice on new Covid measures, should only be reserved for […]

A chemical expert from one of the major manufacturers has said chemicals readily available in the UK will “disappear” after Brexit. Neil Hollis, of the chemical giant BASF, told a Commons committee on the impact of Brexit upon UK industry that government plans to pull out of the EU chemical database, known as REACH, and create […]

Britain has backtracked on the issue of fishing rights in UK waters in a last minute attempt to salvage Brexit trade talks. The UK offered the EU a three-year transition period for its fishing fleets to leave British seas beginning from 2021. The idea of a phase-out has been discussed before but details of how […]

A chef has been praised for his subtle dig towards Boris Johnson during a BBC News interview on new coronavirus restrictions in the North East of England. Max Gott, head of the Bistro Forty Six, remained professional about the prime minister while appearing on the rolling news channel – but viewers realised he had still […]

Priti Patel has asked officials to explore sending migrants to an isolated island more than 4,000 miles away from Britain for processing. The home secretary allegedly ordered her own staff to look into transferring asylum seekers who arrive in the UK to a centre on the south Atlantic islet of Ascension Island , the FT reports. The […]

A Brexiteer MP has been found guilty of breaking the minister’s Code of Conduct, a Commons standards committee has found. DUP representative Ian Paisley Junior failed to declare funding towards a luxury family holiday to the Maldives in 2016. Parliamentary commissioner for the Standards in the House of Commons committee Kathryn Stone also rejected claims the trip has […]

Boris Johnson has told a reporter he is “fitter than a butcher’s dog” after being asked if was still suffering from the effects of Covid-19. Speaking at press conference in Exeter, the prime minister brushed aside concerns by MPs in his own party that he had still not fully recovered from his bout of coronavirus in […]

A government minister has admitted No 10 “looked to Europe” for help developing the latest of coronavirus lockdown rules. Speaking on Sky News, skills minister Gillian Keegan said Downing Street was trying to strike a balance between keeping pubs open and suppressing a second spike in Covid cases. Asked if the 10pm curfew was leading […]

The roots of the government’s latest attacks on the BBC can be traced back to blogs written by Dominic Cummings’ think tank 16 years ago. If you are planning a coup, taking control of the national broadcaster is a job for day one. Boris Johnson did not need a coup to secure power – he […]

Scotland’s Tory Party leader, Douglas Ross, was caught out supporting Westminster’s handling of the coronavirus crisis on university campuses while berating Scotland for taking the same action. Appearing on Good Morning Scotland, Ross criticised the Scottish government for allowing students back at university as a second coronavirus wave took hold. He said Holyrood should have given students “crystal clear” […]

BBC News anchor Simon McCoy has caused a reporter to break into laughter as the pair waited for Matt Hancock to appear the dispatch box in the House of Commons. McCoy and political reporter Chris Mason were waiting for the health secretary to provide an update to MPs on the latest coronavirus restrictions. BBC News anchor […]

No 10 has rejected calls to ban the sale of alcohol in pubs, restaurants and supermarkets after 9pm. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said the government’s 10pm curfew was “doing more harm than good” because people were holding house parties once pubs shut and risking a further spread of the virus. Speaking on BBC Radio […]

A British fashion label will stop selling its polo shirts in North America after they were being associated with a far-right group. Fred Perry, founded by and named after the triple Wimbledon champion, said it was “incredibly frustrated” Proud Boys had adopted its black and yellow shirt and announced it would stop selling the item in North America and Canada. In […]

Prominent Brexiteers have supported the suggestion the new BBC chairman could cancel Have I Got News For You. The programme took to Twitter to warn that if the government goes ahead with recruiting Charles Moore for chairman of the BBC, and Paul Dacre as boss of OFCOM it is unlikely to survive. So that’s 30 […]

Boris Johnson is lining up former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre to become the new chair of broadcasting watchdog Ofcom. The Brexiteer critic of the BBC is said to be lined up to replace Lord Burns, who is expected to leave before the end of the year, the Times reports. The news comes as fellow Brexiteer […]

Andrew Neil is leaving the BBC to launch a 24-hour, TV channel to rival rolling news from his former employers at the BBC and Sky. The veteran presenter of political programmes will become the face of GB News, “Britain’s news channel”, aimed at those who feel “underserved and unheard by their media”. The channel – […]

Thousands of UK citizens living in the EU are being warned their bank accounts could close due to Brexit. Lloyds Bank, Barclays and Barclaycard and Coutts – which is owned by NatWest Group – are all warning UK customers their accounts will close by December 31. Lloyds, alone, has written to 13,000 customers saying it will not be […]

The UK’s richest Brexiteer has officially moved to tax-free Monaco, saving himself nearly £4 billion in tax payments. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who had an estimated fortune of £17.5 billion, has left Britain for the sunny principality in the south of France. He changed his tax domicile from Hampshire to Monaco, the sovereign city-state that has a laxed […]

A civil rights campaigner has delivered a stunning rebuke to Ann Widdecombe’s reason for leaving the National Trust. The former Thatcherite minister decided to cancel her membership because of the “sorts of woke games” she claimed National Trust was playing. Flummoxed at the body for publicising Winston Churchill’s opposition to an independent India, she said: […]

Viewers have squirmed and cringed at Matt Hancock discussing how new coronavirus restrictions affect people’s sex life. The health minister was asked by Sky News’ Kay Burley how long the government had planned to stop people having “casual sex”. Burley was pointing out the restrictions allow “established couples” to meet up but bans those who […]

The government has criticised the BBC for allowing Keir Starmer a “right of reply” broadcast on prime time television. The leader of the opposition was allowed to speak to the nation a day after Boris Johnson’s address was broadcast on all of the major television channels. Under BBC guidelines it is standard for the Labour […]

The government is facing imminent defeat of its bill to extend Covid-19 emergency powers, a Tory rebel has claimed. One minister and up to 50 Tory MPs are expected to withhold their support when the government’s legal extension of its lockdown powers goes to a vote in the Commons next week, The Telegraph has claimed. The paper […]

In a Britain where Gavin Williamson is education secretary, Suella Braverman is attorney general, Liam Fox is our candidate to lead the WTO and Priti Patel is home secretary, it comes as little surprise to hear of Boris Johnson’s supposed choice as the new chairman of the BBC Board. As the Mail on Sunday asked, […]