Media

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. […]

Michael Gove and 13 Conservative MPs – including ministers and cabinet ministers – reportedly joined a social media platform favoured by the far right before it was forced offline last week. Nine Tory backbenchers joined Parler in an apparent show of support for free speech following Donald Trump’s clashes with Twitter over remarks he made following […]

Fine Gael politician Neale Richmond has claimed Leave.EU is “a threat to democracy” and should not be welcomed into the Republic of Ireland. Richmond warned members of the Irish parliament that the Brexit lobby group was a “politically subversive organisation” that was allowed “a foothold in our democracy, [and there] will be an absolutely detrimental effect”. Leave.EU, the domain […]

James O’Brien has schooled a Brexiteer refusing to accept new trade rules between the EU and the UK. Simon from Sevenoaks said taking back control of British waters was a major reason for his decision to vote Brexit but that he now feels disappointed it has resulted in the end of frictionless trade with the EU. Simons’ comments […]

The Scottish Tories have suspended a Holyrood candidate after he said people who were reliant on food banks were fat. Craig Ross also attacked anti-poverty campaigner and English footballer Marcus Rashford and said people filmed at food banks were “far from starving”, the Daily Record has revealed. Ross was a contender for the seat of Glasgow Pollok […]

Fishermen in Scotland have left UK waters and headed to Denmark to sell their fish in a bid to bypass new Brexit regulations agreed to by Boris Johnson. According to Danish newspaper Altinget, the fishing auction in Hanstholm has reported unusually high levels of interest from Scottish fishermen since January 1. “We are in dialogue with 10-15 new […]

Amber Rudd has said Boris Johnson has a “sort of language which he’s quite rightly nervous using in front of women” as the ex-home secretary hit out at the “boys’ club” atmosphere in the Commons. Rudd also accused the prime minister of going “backwards” on promoting women. The former cabinet minister said she quit Johnson’s […]

A former Ofsted chair has called for education secretary Gavin Williamson’s resignation, amid the continuing lack of certainty over what will replace cancelled GCSEs and A-Levels. In a letter to exams regulator Ofqual yesterday, Williamson said he would like “to explore the possibility of providing externally set tasks or papers, in order that teachers can […]

A man has got a tattoo of Boris Johnson’s face on his stomach in order to raise money for a woman to receive life-saving cancer treatment. Kenny Wilding, 41, from Kidderminster, said he got the tattoo to raise money for a family friend who was diagnosed with stage four rectal cancer in January 2019. Megan Smith […]

Last week, editor-at-large Alastair Campbell kicked off a debate as to what more Remainers could have done to stop Brexit. Here, writers, politicians and campaigners have their say. Mary Honeyball Former Labour MEPWe pro-Europeans must show humility. We lost. Leave won. Many Leave voters were on low incomes, over 50 and male. They viewed the EU […]

Miriam Margolyes’ blunt assessment of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson has won her a heap of praise online. The British actor said the US president was an “a*****e” and the British prime minister a “clown”. Asked for her reaction to recent events in the US during an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Margolyes said: “Like anybody […]

Tory MP Pauline Latham has downplayed pictures showing meagre free school meals by saying there were only ever intended ‘for lunch’. Appearing on Channel 4 News, the Derbyshire MP said she was appalled by the sight of some portions but sought to dismiss concerns children were not given enough food. “The schools decide whether they want […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson has paid tribute to the Daily Telegraph’s joint owner Sir David Barclay, who has died aged 86 after a short illness. Along with his identical twin Sir Frederick, Sir David built a vast business empire which began with hotels and expanded to include shipping, retailing and, since 2004, ownership of Telegraph […]

The government should not allow a British tech entrepreneur to be extradited to the US over fraud charges because the UK has “surrendered sovereignty” over its justice system for “too long”, former cabinet ministers have argued. Electrical engineering expert Michael Lynch is facing fraud charges in the US where authorities claim he overstated the value […]

A columnist has said Boris Johnson is incapable of “denying himself any pleasures” after he was spotted cycling seven miles away from his home for daily exercise. Current official government advice says exercise should be limited to once a day and within your local area, prompting accusations Johnson had broken coronavirus rules when he cycled around […]

British pensioners are being forced out of Spain’s Costa del Sol due to changes brought about by Brexit, ex-pats living in the country have said.  Under new rules introduced on January 1, tourists, including people who have a second home in the country but have not taken up residency, will only be able to spend […]

Policing minister Kit Malthouse has denied Boris Johnson broke coronavirus restrictions over the weekend by exercising at Stratford Olympic Park. Johnson was spotted cycling at Queen Elizabeth Park on Sunday, which is located seven miles away from Downing Street, prompting accusations he broke government guidance. Current official government advice says exercise should be limited to once a day […]

Nigel Farage has said his new party Reform UK is now “up and running” in Scotland, with the appointment of former Tory MSP Michelle Ballantyne as leader north of the border. Ballantyne, a former Scottish Conservatives leadership hopeful, has been announced as the new head of Reform UK Scotland. She described her new party as […]

Ann Widdecombe has said concerns teachers have about carrying out lessons remotely were “a load of rubbish”. The former Brexit MEP used a guest appearance on Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine show to chide teachers who were concerned about parents spying on lessons over Zoom. “I’ve heard a load of rubbish talked during this pandemic and this is the biggest […]

A Fine Gael politician has warned that Brexit lobbying group Leave.EU may be breaking data protection rules ever since it moved to the Republic of Ireland this month. Neale Richmond, the Irish Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Rathdown, has written to the EU’s domain registry, EURid, and his own country’s data protection commissioner querying if Leave.EU was GDPR […]

The public has been urged to back The Big Issue after its vendors were again forced to stop selling the magazine because of the latest coronavirus lockdown. Almost 1,400 vendors are affected, are not eligible for furlough and cannot work from home. The Big Issue called on the public to support its 100 Days of Action […]

Former White House adviser Anthony Scaramucci has said “another insurrection” like the one witnessed on Capitol Hill last Wednesday could occur before Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20. Scaramucci, who was a former White House communications director to president Trump, said rioters were planning a second protest on January 17. This comes after thousands of […]

Forty years ago this month was a fateful meeting that led to one of the history’s greatest hoaxes. RICHARD LUCK reports. Some scoops can be weeks, months or even years in the making. It can take a long, long time for a reporter to finally bring their story into the public domain, for all the […]

James O’Brien has shut down a Trump supporter who called in to push false allegations that Joe Biden was corrupt. A US caller was left eating his words after failing to provide evidence proving Joe Biden was a “corrupt” politician. The call comes after unprecedented scenes in America on Wednesday saw a woman shot dead and […]

The prime minister’s father has said his application for French citizenship was a “sentimental gesture” to his mother and said Boris Johnson should be “jolly pleased” about it. Stanley Johnson revealed he was applying for a French passport in December, soon after the Brexit deal negotiated by his son was approved by MPs. Appearing on […]

Lorry drivers passing through Kent have been issued with more than £32,000 in fines since the end of the Brexit transition period. Under the new Brexit deal that came into effect on January 1, hauliers must have the correct permit to enter Kent on their way into mainland Europe. However, scores of drivers have not, while […]

A key Brexit lobbying group has moved its registrant address to a location in the Republic of Ireland in order to keep its .EU suffix. Leave.EU, the domain name behind the Leave the EU campaign body funded by British businessman Arron Banks and supported by Nigel Farage, changed addresses to keep its .EU suffix as thousands of domains in […]

TIM WALKER on a notable name missing from the New Year Honours list. Although his fanatical support for Brexit helped tip the referendum in 2016, Paul Dacre, the former editor of the Daily Mail, was once again overlooked in last week’s honours list. “It’s mystifying as even his worst enemies would concede he was an infinitely superior editor in […]

Home secretary Priti Patel has faced a torrent of criticism after failing to boldly denounce Donald Trump over inciting riots in the US capital overnight. Patel avoided Trump’s name in her condemnation of the riots despite the president having instructed protesters to march on the capital. Sky News’ Niall Paterson caught the minister out, telling her […]

An overwhelming majority of England’s teachers believe education secretary Gavin Williamson should resign, snap polling has found. In response to a question posed by app Teacher Tapp, carried out on behalf of ITV News, 92% of almost 6,000 respondents said they think Williamson should quit. The results come as the government faces mounting criticism of its handling of […]

US president-elect Joe Biden has addressed citizens amid the storming of Congress by Donald Trump protesters. In an address to the nation, Biden, who was set to be certified as the incoming US president by Congress on Wednesday said: “Let me be very clear, the scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect a true […]