Boost defence spending to prepare for Putin, Wallace demands
Ben Wallace is giving a speech this afternoon in which he will urge Boris Johnson to increase defence spending. The…
The Northern Ireland Protocol: the real fight is yet to come
Last night’s vote on the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill didn’t turn into an open revolt from Tory MPs – but…
Boris’s unapologetic by-election response
Boris Johnson has not accepted responsibility for the two by-election defeats. You could have written this line at any point…
How long can Boris hold the line on railway strikes?
Is the government’s approach to strikes and public sector pay too blunt? Today Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak took the…
Should Starmer be worried about the rail strikes?
Sir Keir Starmer has ended up in a very Starmer-esque pickle over the rail strikes this week. Yesterday he instructed…
Starmer’s PMQs performance was oddly flat
It’s not unusual for a Labour leader to attack the government over the NHS at Prime Minister’s Questions. Neither is…
Boris: It's not over. Rebels: Yes, it is
Boris Johnson has just insisted that he has had ‘an extremely positive’ and ‘decisive result’ in the vote of confidence…
The Sue Gray report makes for grim reading for No. 10
In the past few minutes, Sue Gray’s final report into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street has been published. It makes…
Johnson's partygate apology ploy
Boris Johnson bundled his Commons apology for breaking Covid laws together with an update on Ukraine because he wanted to…
Boris thinks he can ride this scandal out
Boris Johnson has now apologised for receiving a fixed penalty notice for attending a lockdown-busting party. In a clearly very…
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak fined over partygate
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are both to receive fixed penalty notices for attending lockdown parties, it has just emerged.…
Boris and Scholz parade the new Europe
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed Europe forever. That was the argument that Boris Johnson made on Friday when he…
Are we falling out of love with the NHS?
Clap for carers now feels like ancient history. Public satisfaction with the NHS is at its lowest since 1997, according…
Labour is falling into the Tim Farron trap on sex and gender
What do you remember about Tim Farron’s time as Lib Dem leader? Was it the position he created for his…
What lessons can Britain learn from Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's ordeal?
‘How many foreign secretaries does it take for someone to come home? Five?’ Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has spoken for the first…
Why is Britain so useless at helping Ukrainian refugees?
Some MPs were in tears yesterday when President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the House of Commons, and understandably so, given the…
No-fly zones won’t work, but what about aid to Ukraine?
Vladimir Putin’s forces are encircling the cities of Kharkiv, Kherson and Mariupol, and a 40 mile-long convoy of Russian armoured vehicles…
Ending restrictions won't save Boris
Boris Johnson certainly managed to rally the troops on their first day back from recess this afternoon as he told…
PMQs: Boris's anger over new partygate picture
The takeaway moment from today’s PMQs came not in the main exchanges between Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer but…
Boris Johnson is running out of options
The No. 10 operation’s decision to double down on the Starmer/Savile row after the Labour leader was accosted in the…
Boris is finished — it’s when, not if
This week, Michael Gove’s lengthy Levelling Up white paper talked about the ancient city of Jericho. This was largely because…
PMQs: Boris doubles down on Jimmy Savile claims
Today’s PMQs suggests that some of the immediate heat has gone the partygate crisis, if only temporarily. Sir Keir Starmer…
Johnson's defence deteriorates
That Boris Johnson regards the Gray update as an opportunity to come up for air was very clear from his…
A Graywash? Downing Street party report is merely an ‘update'
Sue Gray’s report on the lockdown partying in Downing Street is short. Just 11 pages. Early on, it makes clear…
A rather pointless PMQs lets Boris off the hook
Given the extraordinarily low expectations, Prime Minister’s Questions went reasonably well for Boris Johnson today. That is partly because it…
