News and Opinion

A Brexit-backing businessman has branded the coronavirus lockdown ‘Project Fear Mark II’ and labelled Britain a ‘failing society’. Luke Johnson, a former owner of The Ivy and boss of Gail’s artisan bakery, said the coronavirus lockdown was threatening the fabric of British society and called for its speedy end. The Vote Leave supporter told TalkRADIO […]

The UK could claim billions from a new EU coronavirus recovery fund created by the bloc to help with each country’s medical needs. The fund – first set up for natural disasters but now a coronavirus assistance pot totalling £700 million – will help the UK pay for urgent medical supplies and vaccines trials. In […]

A cabinet minister has downplayed business concerns that thousands of companies could fold if hit with the economic repercussions of a hard Brexit during the coronavirus crisis. Cabinet office minister Lord Nicolas Edward True told a virtual session of the House of Lords that the prime minister was powering ahead with plans to exit the […]

Around 50,000 people in the UK responded to the government’s appeal to replace Eastern Europeans in fruit and vegetable picking – but just 112 turned up. The Alliance of Ethical Labour received 50,000 applications expressing interest in helping pick crops during the coronavirus lockdown after the government launched its ‘Pick for Britain’ initiative. But the […]

Health minister Matt Hancock admitted the NHS was unprepared for the coronavirus outbreak after a tense exchange with a national radio host. Nick Ferrari confronted the Tory minister who insisted his department took ‘appropriate action’ following warnings in a 2016 pandemic report that the country’s health service lacked Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Operation Cygnus was […]

A veteran Labour MP has stepped down from the Labour frontbench to focus on his recovery from coronavirus. Tony Lloyd had served as shadow Northern Ireland secretary for two years but will now be replaced by shadow policing minister Louise Haigh, who had been covering in his absence. The 70-year-old was discharged from intensive care […]

A group of campaigners have filed a court case with the General Court of the European Union that argues EU citizenship is permanent status regardless of Brexit. The pro-EU activists believe legally all 66 million continue to hold the status, even when the transition period ends, allowing them to freely move and work in all […]

Health minister Matt Hancock has refused to apologise for his handling of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supply, despite pleas from a son of a dead NHS doctor. The caller, known as Intisar, said his father confronted the Tory MP on LBC’s Nick Ferrari breakfast programme. His father had written to the department of health calling […]

Matt Hancock has claimed that the numbers are ‘broadly where they are expected to be’ as the government looks set to miss its 100,000-a-day testing target. The government has come under increasing pressure in recent days to reach the target by the end of April, with just 37,024 tests carried out on Sunday. It came […]

Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan has hit out at Brexiteers who have reported to Ofcom his interviews of government ministers during the coronavirus outbreak. Morgan, who is sympathetic to the Brexit cause and has called for people to accept the ‘will of the people’, has been accused of ‘betraying the cause’ with his criticisms […]

MPs have been told that a mobile app designed to help with the easing of the coronavirus lockdown is ‘two to three weeks away’ from being rolled out. Matthew Gould, chief executive of NHSX, the health service’s digital innovation arm, told the Science and Technology Committee the voluntary tool would be trialled in a ‘small […]

The leader of the SNP in Westminster has called on Boris Johnson to ‘demonstrate some political courage’ and extend Brexit talks by two years. Ian Blackford wrote to the prime minister arguing that a hard exit from the EU during the coronavirus crisis was ‘unforgivable.’ Calling on the PM to put the UK economy ahead […]

The founder of the Brexit Party has revealed she almost called the organisation ‘The Nigel Farage Party’. Catherine Blaiklock, who was forced to step down as leader of the Brexit Party when a series of racist comments came to light, appeared on right-wing YouTube channel Hearts of Oak to explain the thinking behind the formation […]

Plaid Cymru has joined calls for the government to block companies with offshore tax havens from accessing coronavirus bailout funds. Westminster Plaid MP Jonathan Edwards has written to chancellor Rishi Sunak saying vital services like the NHS could miss out on essential funds if the government bailed out tax-dodging companies. It follows EU countres including […]

Michael Gove has revealed that almost 100 civil servants have been redeployed from the Brexit taskforces dealing with the UK’s future relationship with the EU to help with the government response to coronavirus. Appearing before the Future Relationship with the European Committee the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was questioned by Labour MP Stephen […]

Downing Street is insisting a Brexit deal can be achieved during the coronavirus crisis if there political leaders on the EU side intervene. The European Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier last week described progress in the trade talks as ‘disappointing’ and accused the UK side of a failure to engage with Brussels on key issues. […]

A Trump supporter told a prominent radio station that injecting oneself with disinfectant to treat the coronavirus was ‘as a concept… not a bad idea’. The caller, named Nick, told LBC’s Nick Ferrari:’What Donald Trump suggested was if chemicals in cleaners kill the virus, if those chemicals themselves could be made human-friendly, could those human-friendly […]

Former Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson is being encouraged to return to frontline politics in a move that would take her to Holyrood. Last month The Press and Journal claimed that Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie was planning to step down to allow the former East Dunbartonshire MP to take the job. But Rennie […]

Michael Heseltine has called for Michael Gove to be put in charge of the UK’s economic recovery after the coronavirus. The ex-Conservative cabinet minister said Gove should be responsible for co-ordinating the job of reigniting the British economy once weeks – or possibly months – of social distancing measures are brought to a close. Gove […]

The government is to start taking questions from the public instead of journalists at daily coronavirus briefings. Under the plan, one question from a member of public will be put forward to ministers during Downing Street press conferences, and the questions will be chosen by an independent polling organisation, not Downing Street. Participants will need […]

Piers Morgan has slammed Boris Johnson on his first day back at work, calling his government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak a failure. Criticising the prime minister’s claims that he had done a good job at containing the coronavirus during his first public appearance since becoming ill, Morgan said the response had been anything but […]

Some of the names of the scientists who have been advising the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) will be published ‘shortly’, the government’s chief scientific adviser has said. Sir Patrick said only the experts who are ‘happy to have their names published’ would be made public, as the prime minister returned to Downing Street […]

Ministers are said to be close to ditching the ‘Stay at Home’ government messaging, despite Boris Johnson insisting that the lockdown measures must to continue to avoid more coronavirus deaths. The Daily Mail reports that ditching the successful message will be discussed at the government’s coronavirus strategy group on Monday. ‘We are moving on from […]

Readers are sceptical that there will be any change from the Tory government after the coronavirus outbreak. For the past few years, politics has been dominated by matters of principle and personality: the principles of Brexit (pure sovereignty versus shared sovereignty); the personalities of Johnson, Corbyn and Farage. Now, all governments, will be judged on […]

Boris Johnson has returned to work after his coronavirus recovery and delivered a speech warning the UK it needs to continue with the lockdown to avoid ‘a new wave of deaths’. Prime minister Boris Johnson told reporters outside 10 Downing Street that now was not the time ‘to throw away all the effort and sacrifice […]

Downing Street has reportedly barred the newspaper behind the most prominent criticisms of the government’s approach to coronavirus from asking questions during daily press briefings. Sunday Times reporters were reportedly prevented from asking questions at the latest briefing after the newspaper claimed 10 Downing Street ‘sleepwalked’ into the coronavirus epidemic, and revealing how Boris Johnson […]

A newspaper has been accused of mis-reporting a poll on the public attitudes towards the coronavirus lockdown in a bid to support the government agenda. The latest edition of the Telegraph reports on polling by Opinium, just as Boris Johnson returns to Downing Street, to claim that the public are becoming ‘increasingly supportive’ of a […]

Radio presenter James O’Brien has torn apart Boris Johnson’s claims that the UK response to the coronavirus has been a ‘success’. Johnson used a speech outside Downing Street as he returned to work to praise the success of his government’s response to coronavirus. He said: ‘There will be many people looking now at our apparent […]

A pro-Brexit Tory MP has claimed the UK does not need a fisheries agreement with the EU after Brexit, telling the bloc to ‘get real’. The MP for Banff and Buchan, David Duguid, thinks that because other global free trade agreements (FTAs) are not dependent on fishing rights that Boris Johnson’s governent should not bother […]

WILL SELF fears lifting the lockdown will only lead to further waves of the coronavirus. Afterlife comedy The Good Place. Picture: Contributed – Credit: Archant Some years ago I was commissioned to write an introduction for a new edition of Russell Hoban’s masterpiece Riddley Walker, which depicts a post-apocalyptic England in which culture has mutated […]

The environment secretary George Eustice is encouraging furloughed workers to consider picking fruit and vegetables during the coronavirus outbreak due to a shortage of migrant workers. Although the international food chain is continuing to ‘work well’, the environment secretary said he expects there to be a need to recruit staff in the UK to harvest […]

The leader of the Liberal Democrats has called on the UK government to replicate schemes in EU countries including France, Poland and Denmark by preventing the bailing out of companies based in tax havens. Ed Davey, acting leader of the party, appearing on Sophy Ridge on Sunday said that ‘the government support that they are […]