News and Opinion

Joe Biden could force Boris Johnson to sign up to a Brexit deal with the EU in his first contact with the British prime minister. British diplomats have conceded that the PM is likely to be far down the list on people the president-elect telephones after his election win, but when he does the dialogue […]

Russian president Vladimir Putin is going to “wait” for the final results before commenting on the conclusion, a spokesperson has claimed. While most world leaders have congratulated Joe Biden on his win, Putin has yet to comment on Donald Trump’s loss. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they would wait for the final outcome before providing […]

Former Conservative minister Anna Soubry has backed Keir Starmer to be the next prime minister over Boris Johnson. Soubry, who quit the party to lead Change UK in 2019, was comparing two tweets between the Labour and Tory leaders over Joe Biden’s win. While Johnson went for an impersonal approach commenting on the “special relationship” […]

Joe Biden is expected to call European leaders Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron early on as he speaks with politicians across the world in the coming days. Johnson is hoping to build bridges with Biden after a Democratic source claimed that there was “no special relationship with Boris Johnson” following the election win. But sources close […]

Tim Walker on his Trump-inspired tiff with the BBC’s man in Washington. Tempers among BBC journalists were clearly frayed as their rolling coverage of the American election was unfavourably compared to CNN, which robustly called out Donald Trump‘s lies. “What the f*** are you talking about, Tim?” the BBC’s North America editor Jon Sopel, pictured, responded when I suggested […]

A charity has challenged Nigel Farage over proposals to rebrand his Brexit Party as a new anti-lockdown organisation. The Reform think tank has written to the Electoral Commission to complain about the proposed name change, arguing it could lead to “voter confusion”. The think tank, which argues for public service reform, has also written to […]

A source close to the Democrats has dismissed suggestions there will be a ‘special relationship’ between Joe Biden and Boris Johnson following the US election result. “They do not think Boris Johnson is an ally,” the Democratic source told the Sunday Times. “They think Britain is an ally. But there will be no special relationship […]

Boris Johnson will not back down over the Internal Market Bill, despite it threatening to create early tensions with US president-elect Joe Biden, a cabinet minister has claimed. Environment secretary George Eustice said the government would reinstate controversial clauses that enable ministers to break international laws if Lords try to strip them out. Biden warned […]

Keir Starmer has reflected on Joe Biden’s win in America by warning the Labour Party that only a “broad coalition” can help recreate the win in Britain in 2024. Starmer used a Guardian article to point out a series of observations from Biden’s win in America, and his success in denying Donald Trump a second win. In […]

Environment secretary George Eustice has admitted that post-Brexit trade talks with America may have to start again following Joe Biden’s win, before claiming a deal is no longer “critical” to the economy. Eustice said it could be possible to pick up on US trade negotiations with Biden’s administration where they were left with Donald Trump, […]

STEVE ANGLESEY lists his the Brexiteers of the Week. MARTIN DAUBNEY“‘Stay at home’? Good luck with that. I, and many others I reckon, would rather face jail than miss honouring Remembrance Sunday next week,” wrote the former Brexit Party MEP, Laurence Fox sideman and self-styled warrior against virtue-signalling woke snowflakes. Martin, it’s possible to remember […]

A television news presenter has rolled her eyes after foreign secretary Dominic Raab gave an “astonishing” defence of Donald Trump’s approach to the US election result. The minister said that “in principle, yes, of course” all votes should be counted in a democratic election, having failed to make such a statement when Trump had been […]

England footballer Marcus Rashford has hailed the power of “kindness and compassion” after reporting that Boris Johnson had U-turned over providing free meals to disadvantaged children during the Christmas holidays. The prime minister personally phoned the Manchester United star on Saturday to alert him to the decision to lay on £170 million of extra funding for […]

Nigel Farage has been mocked after complaining about the result of the US election, which saw his good friend Donald Trump voted out of the White House. Farage’s wager came in response to Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, who had staked $10,000 on his former boss not winning a second term. Farage said he had […]

Donald Trump has faced mockery after his campaign held a press conference at a local garden centre in Pennsylvania after earlier appearing to claim it would be held at a luxury hotel. In a since-deleted tweet, Trump had said there would be a “big press conference” at the “Four Seasons” on Saturday morning local time. […]

Boris Johnson has yet to get in touch with US president-elect Joe Biden after laying out the case for a close UK alliance with the new administration. “The United States is our closest and most important ally, and that has been the case president after president, prime minister after prime minister – it won’t change,” […]

Joe Biden has promised to be a “president for all Americans” after topping the 270 electoral college votes needed for victory over Donald Trump in the US presidential race. The former vice-president was called as the winner of Pennsylvania on Saturday, meaning he has an insurmountable lead in the race for the White House. Biden, […]

US comedian Stephen Colbert has given a passionate speech denouncing Donald Trump and urged Americans to “stay cool” amid rising tensions over voter fraud. In an eight-minute-long monologue posted on Twitter, Colbert said the president had been acting like a “sad, frightened fraud” after alleging the US election had been rigged. On Thursday, major US networks stopped broadcasting […]

Playwright BONNIE GREER on what she is learning about herself, and society, from the year of lockdowns On a recent appearance on Question Time, I mentioned that my husband and I had not been together since he decided to check in on his place in France at the end of February. The lockdown came soon after that, […]

The latest voter intention polling by YouGov shows that Labour has jumped five points ahead of the Conservative Party. A survey by YouGov over November 4 and 5 shows Labour holding 40% of the vote compared to the Tory Party’s 35%. Latest Westminster voting intention (fieldwork 4-5 Nov) Lab – 40%Con – 35%Lib Dem – 7%Brexit […]

Democrat Joe Biden has narrowly overtaken president Donald Trump in the vote counts in Georgia and Pennsylvania, with the presidency hinging on the outcome of tight contests in key battleground states. Neither candidate has reached the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, though Biden has the advantage after eclipsing Trump in Wisconsin […]

The rate of coronavirus infections across England and Wales appears to be slowing down, new data suggests. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said an estimated 618,700 people in England – one in 90 – had Covid-19 between October 25 and 31, up from 568,100 the week before. But while the infection rate has increased […]

A Tory minister has been ridiculed after getting the population size of Liverpool wrong during an interview on a new pilot testing programme for coronavirus. Business minister Nadhim Zahawi said 2,000 troops would deliver thousands of coronavirus tests to people living in Liverpool city as part of a pilot programme to map the spread of […]

For both Brahms and the Beatles, Hamburg provided a hothouse to develop their talent and character, says SOPHIA DEBOICK. “I cling to my native city as to a mother” wrote Johannes Brahms in 1862. The devastating emotion of his German Requiem, inspired by his mother’s death three years later, proved this comparison was no small statement. […]

So what have we learnt this week in the dystopian Covid Brexit land that the UK seems to have become? That forecasts are just that and even a “reasonable worst-case scenario” might start looking optimistic. That you can only disregard the advice of experts, be they scientists or economists, for so long – the facts […]

Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon has been permanently banned from Twitter for suggesting the beheading of Anthony Fauci, America’s top public health adviser. Bannon said he wanted to “pike” Fauci and FBI director Christopher Wray’s heads as a “warning” to bureaucrats. Fauci, who Trump publicly slandered and suggested firing, has been assigned extra government […]

Readers have their say on how politicians can be more in touch with the people they represent. What a splendid idea by Nick Roberts to make MPs go on annual ‘life experience’ in order to keep them connected to the communities they represent. Another idea worth trying is one of term limits. MPs in safe […]

Boris Johnson has refused to answer questions over Dominic Cummings’ unpaid council tax bill during Prime Minister’s Questions. The prime minister sidestepped a question by City of Durham’s Mary Foy over allegations that Cummings had dodged a £50,000 council tax bill on buildings he failed to register with the local authority. The Labour MP said […]

‘Rising star’ can be an overused term in politics, but here’s Luisa Porritt’s CV over the past four years. In 2016 she joined the Liberal Democrats. In 2018 she was elected as a councillor. Last year she became an MEP and the party’s deputy leader in Brussels. Now she’s their candidate to be Mayor of […]

Nadhim Zahawi has become the second Tory minister to repeatedly refuse to condemn Donald Trump’s election fraud comments. The minister for business joins foreign office secretary Dominic Raab in shirking away from criticising Trump’s allegations that the US election has been ‘rigged’. Speaking with the BBC on Wednesday, Raab said it was ‘common practice’ for the British government not […]

Donald Trump has continued to claim he is being cheated out of re-election in a speech which was dropped by the major news networks. The Republican incumbent made a series of unsubstantiated allegations to claim he is the victim of interference from “phoney polls” as well as “big media, big money and big tech” after […]

A Brexiteer has claimed that more British politicians should be like Donald Trump after the US election result showed the president performing better than expected in the polls. Simon Wolfson, the pro-Brexit boss of Next, said Trump’s success should be a “wake-up call” to politicians here. He told Question Time: “It does amaze me that Trump […]