https://www.scmp.com/rss/501601/feed Latest news, in-depth features and opinion on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The Conservative Party politician has been PM since July 2019. He previously held the position of foreign secretary between 2016 and 2018. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Fionnuala McHugh Fionnuala McHugh Sir Alistair Spalding, artistic director and co-CEO of Sadler’s Wells in London, is not a man blighted by pessimism or narrow vision. When he was appointed in 2004, Sadler’s Wells – “stranded and unloved”, as one of the London newspapers put it – was considered a theatre that merely hosted visiting companies. Spalding decided it should become its own creative force. He invited in five associate artists, one of whom was Wayne McGregor, now Sir Wayne McGregor, a name familiar to Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3347787/sir-alistair-spalding-turning-london-wasteland-cultural-destination?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3347787/sir-alistair-spalding-turning-london-wasteland-cultural-destination?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 23:15:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters Former British finance minister Nadhim Zahawi defected to ‌Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK Party from the Conservative Party on ‍Monday, saying the country was broken and needed Farage as prime minister to fix it. Zahawi, who had a short spell in charge of the nation’s finances under former prime minister Boris Johnson ⁠in 2022, becomes the latest in a long line of former Conservatives to switch to Farage’s populist Reform UK. Reform is currently leading the polls in Britain, far ahead of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3339647/former-uk-finance-minister-nadhim-zahawi-defects-nigel-farages-reform-uk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3339647/former-uk-finance-minister-nadhim-zahawi-defects-nigel-farages-reform-uk?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2026 17:32:36 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Britain is to rejoin the European Union’s popular Erasmus student exchange programme almost five years after leaving the scheme following Brexit, a joint UK-EU statement said on Wednesday. “The UK has successfully agreed terms to join the Erasmus+ programme in 2027, widening opportunities for young people from all backgrounds, learners, educational, youth and sport staff to study and train abroad,” a UK government statement added. The scheme, which will have to be approved by all EU member... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3336797/uk-rejoins-erasmus-student-exchange-programme-post-brexit-reset-under-pm-keir-starmer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3336797/uk-rejoins-erasmus-student-exchange-programme-post-brexit-reset-under-pm-keir-starmer?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Dec 2025 11:11:00 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer launched a TikTok account on Monday despite the app being banned from government devices, as he attempts to connect to younger voters. A spokesman for his office said “security mitigations” were in place to operate the Prime Minister’s account. “TikTok, follow me,” Starmer said in the first video posted on the account, which showed him with his wife at the ceremony to switch on Downing Street’s Christmas lights. The second video showed Ukraine’s President... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3335664/uk-pm-starmer-launches-tiktok-account-despite-government-ban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3335664/uk-pm-starmer-launches-tiktok-account-despite-government-ban?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Dec 2025 17:45:23 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Britain’s former prime minister Boris Johnson slammed an inquiry report critical of his government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic as “hopelessly incoherent” in a social media post on Saturday. “More than three years after the end of the pandemic, they are still wrangling about what went wrong,” Johnson, 61, also wrote in an article for the Daily Mail tabloid, days after the inquiry slammed his government for its “chaotic” response to the global pandemic costing thousands of lives. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3333803/uk-ex-pm-boris-johnson-hits-back-incoherent-covid-inquiry-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3333803/uk-ex-pm-boris-johnson-hits-back-incoherent-covid-inquiry-report?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Nov 2025 12:35:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A public inquiry report released on Thursday slammed the UK’s initial response to the coronavirus pandemic in the early months of 2020 as “too little, too late”, saying the failure to lock down the country earlier “led to an unacceptable loss of life”. The inquiry, chaired by former judge Heather Hallett, found that chaos at the heart of the then Conservative government and a failure to take Covid-19 seriously potentially cost 23,000 lives in England alone during the first wave of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3333600/too-little-too-late-former-uk-government-slammed-its-initial-covid-19-response?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3333600/too-little-too-late-former-uk-government-slammed-its-initial-covid-19-response?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Nov 2025 17:20:26 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The BBC’s top leader and head of its news division resigned over criticism of how the broadcaster edited US President Donald Trump’s speech before some of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The scandal leading to Sunday’s resignations is hardly the first controversy to hit Britain’s publicly funded broadcaster - or to topple one of its leaders. The editorially independent British Broadcasting Corporation was founded in 1922 to be impartial, act in the public interest and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332261/how-scandals-britains-bbc-have-rocked-its-leadership-over-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332261/how-scandals-britains-bbc-have-rocked-its-leadership-over-years?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Nov 2025 23:59:35 +0000 Reuters Reuters British Prime Minister Keir Starmer brought in a new deputy and foreign and interior ministers on Friday in a sweeping reshuffle intended to restore his authority after the resignation of his deputy, Angela Rayner. Starmer moved foreign minister David Lammy to become deputy prime minister and replaced him with interior minister Yvette Cooper. She was in turn replaced by justice secretary Shabana Mahmood. All are loyal, trusted hands. After reshaping his Downing Street team last week to bolster... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324535/uks-deputy-pm-rayner-quits-over-property-tax-error?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324535/uks-deputy-pm-rayner-quits-over-property-tax-error?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Sep 2025 11:34:08 +0000 In the topsy-turvy world of British politicking and news reporting, the collapse of British Steel, followed by a government takeover, is the result of either Chinese bad faith, sabotage or worse, a communist plot. It is, of course, none of the above. But we live in a world turned upside down. So we now have the government of the United Kingdom – the land that gave birth to laissez faire capitalism – effectively nationalising British Steel, which has been owned by China’s Jingye Steel since... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3306800/dont-blame-chinas-jingye-failing-save-uk-steel-industry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3306800/dont-blame-chinas-jingye-failing-save-uk-steel-industry?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Apr 2025 13:00:15 +0000 Reform UK has more than 200,000 members, leader Nigel Farage announced on Sunday, as he set out the party’s next goal to overtake the membership of the Labour Party. Farage called his right-wing party’s growth “truly extraordinary” at a Reform UK regional conference event in Wiltshire, England. He held up a placard saying “200,000 members”. He then pointed to a screen displaying the party’s live membership ticker on their website and said the message would change when he came offstage. “That... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3297998/reform-uk-membership-tops-200000-nigel-farage-aims-overtake-labour?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3297998/reform-uk-membership-tops-200000-nigel-farage-aims-overtake-labour?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Feb 2025 23:45:08 +0000 Membership of Britain’s upstart anti-immigration Reform UK party has overtaken that of the centre-right Conservative Party for the first time, the party said on Thursday. Party leader and Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage hailed the figure as an “historic moment”. Immigration was a major issue at the ballot box at the UK’s July general election which saw the Conservatives ousted after 14 years in power. The digital counter on the Reform website showed a membership tally ticking past the 131,680... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3292379/membership-uks-anti-immigration-reform-party-overtakes-conservatives-first-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3292379/membership-uks-anti-immigration-reform-party-overtakes-conservatives-first-time?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Dec 2024 20:38:35 +0000 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff resigned on Sunday, citing concerns that growing news reports about her role “risked becoming a distraction to the government”. Sue Gray’s resignation came after recent reports about tensions between her and Starmer’s chief adviser Morgan McSweeney, and that she was earning more than the prime minister. The BBC has reported that Gray’s annual salary was £170,000 (US$223,000), about £3,000 (US$3,933) more than Starmer is paid. Gray said she... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3281298/uk-pm-starmers-chief-staff-quits-over-reports-about-salary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3281298/uk-pm-starmers-chief-staff-quits-over-reports-about-salary?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Oct 2024 18:41:42 +0000 The BBC cancelled a prime-time interview with former British prime minister Boris Johnson after one of its best-known presenters accidentally sent him the notes prepared for her questions. Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC’s former political editor and now the host of its flagship Sunday morning news programme, said she mistakenly sent Johnson the notes “in a message meant for my team” and this meant the interview had to be cancelled. “It’s very frustrating, and there’s no point pretending it’s anything... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3280963/bbc-cancels-interview-boris-johnson-after-embarrassing-mistake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3280963/bbc-cancels-interview-boris-johnson-after-embarrassing-mistake?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Oct 2024 09:49:33 +0000 Britain’s biggest mistake with China over the past decade was its sharp shift from courtship to aversion, according to a British Labour Party veteran, who stressed that Britain could not afford to boycott Beijing. Peter Mandelson, a close adviser to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and an influential figure in the Labour Party during the Tony Blair era, told the Post that the new Labour government would do things differently – seeking to stabilise relations and offer consistency in Britain’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3280012/peter-mandelson-why-uks-u-turn-china-was-big-mistake-and-what-labour-will-do-next?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3280012/peter-mandelson-why-uks-u-turn-china-was-big-mistake-and-what-labour-will-do-next?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Sep 2024 08:00:08 +0000 Britain’s new finance minister, Rachel Reeves, told parliament on Monday her Conservative predecessor had left public spending on track to go over budget by £21.9 billion (US$28 billion) this year and announced an immediate £5.5 billion (US$7 billion) of cuts. Reeves pencilled in a further £8.1 billion (US$10.4 billion) of cuts for the next financial year and promised more measures at a full budget on October 30, when the newly elected Labour government would need to make “difficult decisions”,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3272386/new-uk-government-cuts-billions-pounds-spending-fix-unsustainable-finances?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3272386/new-uk-government-cuts-billions-pounds-spending-fix-unsustainable-finances?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Jul 2024 19:55:42 +0000 Some would say that Britain’s beloved leader has everything you need in politics: a perfect sense of timing, plenty of assertiveness and is slow to make commitments and promises. Larry the cat lives in Downing Street, the official residence of the British prime minister, and he is busy training his sixth prime minister, since the election of Sir Keir Starmer, who replaced former prime minister Rishi Sunak this summer. Prime ministers come and go, according to Larry, “chief mouser to the Cabinet... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3272322/larry-cat-training-yet-another-prime-minister-downing-street?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3272322/larry-cat-training-yet-another-prime-minister-downing-street?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Jul 2024 08:45:07 +0000 Former UK home secretary Priti Patel and ex-business minister Kemi Badenoch have launched bids to become leader of the Britain’s Conservative Party. Patel and Badenoch join Mel Stride, Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly and Robert Jenrick in the race to replace former prime minister Rishi Sunak as party leader. Patel wrote on Twitter: “I am standing to be the new Leader of the Conservative Party. We must unite to win! “I can lead us in opposition and unite our party and get us match fit for the next... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3272229/ex-uk-home-secretary-priti-patel-becomes-fifth-declare-tory-leadership-bid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3272229/ex-uk-home-secretary-priti-patel-becomes-fifth-declare-tory-leadership-bid?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Jul 2024 19:03:06 +0000 The UK government was ill-prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic and serious errors in planning failed its citizens, an inquiry found Thursday. Retired judge Heather Hallett, who is leading the ongoing inquiry, said the government wrongly believed in 2019 that it was one of the best-prepared countries in the world for an outbreak, and it anticipated the wrong pandemic – influenza. “This belief was dangerously mistaken,” Hallett said in releasing her first report. “In reality, the UK was ill-prepared... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3270999/uk-covid-19-inquiry-finds-government-ill-prepared-pandemic-failed-its-citizens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3270999/uk-covid-19-inquiry-finds-government-ill-prepared-pandemic-failed-its-citizens?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Jul 2024 13:43:08 +0000 The Rwandan government said on Tuesday that its controversial migrant deal with the UK did not stipulate the return of funds, following the decision by Britain’s new government to scrap the scheme. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had announced on Saturday that the plan forged by the ousted Conservative government to deport asylum seekers to the East African country was “dead and buried”. London has already paid Kigali £240 million (US$306 million) since former prime minister Boris Johnson... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3269829/uk-migrant-deal-did-not-stipulate-return-funds-says-rwanda-government?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3269829/uk-migrant-deal-did-not-stipulate-return-funds-says-rwanda-government?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jul 2024 19:30:19 +0000 Twice in the last 50 years, the political landscape of Britain has been dramatically reshaped: first by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative triumph in 1979, and then by Tony Blair’s New Labour surge in 1997. Now, the nation stands at the precipice of another transformative moment. It is a virtual certainty that after an often tumultuous 14-year reign, the Conservative Party’s era is concluding. The expected wipeout election would be the culmination of self-destructive behaviour, but the ripple... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/video-opinion/article/3268847/dont-expect-labour-government-fix-broken-britain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/video-opinion/article/3268847/dont-expect-labour-government-fix-broken-britain?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:30:08 +0000 UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday dismissed suggestions that his party was headed to defeat in the July 4 general election, using one of his final televised appearances to defend the Conservatives’ record on the economy. Sunak told the BBC that he believed he would still be in power by the end of the week, despite opinion polls that have found the Conservatives trailing far behind the opposition Labour Party of Keir Starmer. “I’m fighting very hard,” Sunak said. “And I think people are... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3268656/final-days-uk-election-pm-rishi-sunak-insists-he-can-stay-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3268656/final-days-uk-election-pm-rishi-sunak-insists-he-can-stay-power?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Jun 2024 17:59:43 +0000 The chief data officer of Britain’s Conservative Party has taken a leave of absence, British media reported on Sunday, following growing allegations that the governing party’s members used inside information to bet on the date of Britain’s July 4 national election before it was announced. The Sunday Times newspaper and other media outlets reported that Nick Mason is the fourth Conservative official to be investigated by the UK’s Gambling Commission for allegedly betting on the timing of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3267746/uk-election-betting-scandal-widens-fourth-conservative-party-official-reportedly-investigated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3267746/uk-election-betting-scandal-widens-fourth-conservative-party-official-reportedly-investigated?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Jun 2024 23:04:35 +0000 Britain’s domestic spy agency MI5 issued an alert branding a woman a Chinese agent to possibly divert attention from a Covid-19 lockdown party scandal involving former prime minister Boris Johnson, her lawyer told a London tribunal on Monday. In January 2022, MI5 sent out an alert notice about lawyer Christine Lee, alleging she was “involved in political interference activities” in the United Kingdom on behalf of China’s ruling Communist Party. The warning was circulated to lawmakers by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3266986/uks-mi5-issued-chinese-spy-alert-distract-pm-scandal-court-hears?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3266986/uks-mi5-issued-chinese-spy-alert-distract-pm-scandal-court-hears?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Jun 2024 17:14:22 +0000 UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s political track record is one of a cautious, conservative leader. Yet on Wednesday he took an extraordinary gamble, calling a July 4 general election he is likely to lose, potentially very badly. This will be the United Kingdom’s first July national election since 1945. That year was a very poor one for the Conservatives with wartime leader Winston Churchill losing by a landslide to Labour. Recent polls indicate that the Labour Party, more than 20 percentage... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3263744/chances-are-rishi-sunak-will-lose-his-summer-uk-election-gamble?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3263744/chances-are-rishi-sunak-will-lose-his-summer-uk-election-gamble?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 May 2024 07:30:09 +0000 I was born in 1985 in Brussels, where my father was working for the European Commission. My sister, Julia, is three years older than me and I have four half-siblings from my father’s first marriage – Boris, Rachel, Jo and Leo. Brussels was a sleepy, pretty town. We had a house with a beautiful garden and a tennis court where I learned to ride a bicycle. We went for walks in the woods. If we’d been behaving, dad would take us to Quick, which is the McDonald’s of Belgium. Who came first? When I... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3258768/boris-johnsons-youngest-brother-max-hong-kong-covid-frustrations-and-special-trip-dad?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3258768/boris-johnsons-youngest-brother-max-hong-kong-covid-frustrations-and-special-trip-dad?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Apr 2024 05:15:15 +0000 The former deputy chairman of Britain’s Conservative Party, who drew condemnation last month for saying the mayor of London is controlled by Islamists, has defected to the smaller right-wing Reform UK Party. Lee Anderson was suspended as a Conservative lawmaker in Parliament after he claimed that Islamists had “got control” of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is a Muslim, amid heightened tensions in Britain over the Israel-Gaza war. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Anderson accused the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3255003/former-deputy-britains-conservatives-defects-smaller-populist-party-reform-uk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3255003/former-deputy-britains-conservatives-defects-smaller-populist-party-reform-uk?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Mar 2024 17:43:20 +0000 Former British Prime Minister Theresa May will not stand for re-election, she said on Friday, ending a 27-year career in parliament marked by a tumultuous spell leading the country as it tore itself apart over Brexit. May, 67, became the latest in a long line of Conservative Party politicians to signal their departure from parliament at an election later this year. Polls currently show the governing party is expected to lose power to the opposition Labour Party. May became prime minister in 2016... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3254725/ex-uk-pm-theresa-may-brought-down-brexit-quit-lawmaker?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3254725/ex-uk-pm-theresa-may-brought-down-brexit-quit-lawmaker?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Mar 2024 11:45:21 +0000 Britain’s departure from the European Union has reduced the size of its economy by 6 per cent so far – an annual cost of 140 billion pounds (US$178 billion) – London mayor Sadiq Khan said on Thursday, with the shortfall seen reaching 10 per cent by 2035. Khan, a member of the opposition Labour Party, which voted against Brexit in a 2016 referendum, based his statement on a report he commissioned from economic consultants Cambridge Econometrics, who estimated how fast the economy would have grown... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3248101/london-mayor-sadiq-khan-says-brexit-cost-uk-over-us178-billion-so-far-obvious-it-isnt-working?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3248101/london-mayor-sadiq-khan-says-brexit-cost-uk-over-us178-billion-so-far-obvious-it-isnt-working?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jan 2024 11:20:56 +0000 Britain is likely to go to the polls in the last six months of this year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak indicated Thursday, as speculation mounts about the date of the vote. Sunak, whose Conservative Party has been in power since 2010, has until the end of January 2025 to call a much-anticipated general election. He has already indicated he will not leave it until the last minute to go to the country and try to secure his own mandate after becoming Tory leader in an internal party vote in October... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3247314/uk-pm-rishi-sunak-eyes-second-half-2024-election-labours-starmer-offers-voters-chance-turn-page?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3247314/uk-pm-rishi-sunak-eyes-second-half-2024-election-labours-starmer-offers-voters-chance-turn-page?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Jan 2024 14:22:08 +0000 A fringe right-wing political party founded by Eurosceptic populist Nigel Farage is once again posing a headache for Britain’s ruling Conservatives before this year’s UK general election. Reform UK – formerly called the Brexit Party and whose leader admires ex-US president Donald Trump – rails against immigration, net zero energy policies and “nanny state” government regulations. With slogans including “Let’s make Britain great” and “Let’s save Britain”, Reform is trying to tap into... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3247196/make-britain-great-right-wing-upstarts-threaten-uk-tories?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3247196/make-britain-great-right-wing-upstarts-threaten-uk-tories?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Jan 2024 18:34:42 +0000 British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told bereaved families at an official inquiry into the UK’s handling of Covid on Monday that he was “deeply sorry” and he hoped the country could learn lessons from the pandemic. Sunak, a relatively unknown politician who was promoted to become finance minister on the eve of Covid’s arrival, said it was important to learn lessons from what had happened so Britain could be better prepared for the future. “I just wanted to start by saying how deeply sorry I am to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3244694/sunak-tells-uk-covid-inquiry-he-deeply-sorry-bereaved-families-hopes-country-can-learn-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3244694/sunak-tells-uk-covid-inquiry-he-deeply-sorry-bereaved-families-hopes-country-can-learn-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Dec 2023 11:49:57 +0000 Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson on Thursday hit out at “absolutely absurd” portrayals of partying in Downing Street during the coronavirus pandemic, as he faced a second day of questioning at a public inquiry. Johnson, 59, was forced from office last year after public anger at revelations about the series of Covid lockdown-breaching parties dubbed “Partygate”. But he insisted to the inquiry that perceptions of the scandal were “a million miles from the reality of what happened”. It... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3244294/boris-johnson-hits-out-version-partygate-which-prompted-his-downfall?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3244294/boris-johnson-hits-out-version-partygate-which-prompted-his-downfall?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Dec 2023 20:10:11 +0000 Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he was deeply sorry for the loss of life during the Covid-19 pandemic as he appeared as a witness at the official inquiry into Britain’s handling of the pandemic. Johnson said at the start of the hearing how glad he was to give evidence and how sorry he was for the suffering of victims and their families, but also defended his health record. The hearing was disrupted by a protester, who was asked to leave by the inquiry’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3244094/former-uk-pm-boris-johnson-apologises-families-pain-and-loss-covid-inquiry-defends-health-record?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3244094/former-uk-pm-boris-johnson-apologises-families-pain-and-loss-covid-inquiry-defends-health-record?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Dec 2023 11:14:42 +0000 Net migration to the UK hit a record high last year, official figures showed on Thursday, heaping pressure on Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has vowed to reduce new arrivals. Immigration – long a vexed political issue in Britain – is set to be a key issue in a general election expected next year, which the main opposition Labour Party are currently favourites to win. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said net migration – the difference between the number of people arriving... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3242647/record-migration-uk-piles-pressure-pm-rishi-sunak?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3242647/record-migration-uk-piles-pressure-pm-rishi-sunak?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Nov 2023 19:56:06 +0000 Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, struggled to come to grips with much of the science during the coronavirus pandemic, his chief scientific adviser said on Monday. In keenly awaited testimony to the country’s public inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic, Patrick Vallance said he and others faced repeated problems getting Johnson to understand the science. “I think I’m right in saying that the prime minister gave up science at 15,” he said. “I think he’d be the first to admit it... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3242233/coronarivus-ex-uk-pm-boris-johnson-bamboozled-science-covid-19-inquiry-told?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3242233/coronarivus-ex-uk-pm-boris-johnson-bamboozled-science-covid-19-inquiry-told?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Nov 2023 16:00:15 +0000 A £1 billion (US$1.2 billion) corner of the UK economy is fearing for its future as Britain and India close in on a long-awaited free-trade agreement. British rice millers such as Tilda Ltd. and Veetee Rice have thrived for decades by importing low-tariff unmilled brown rice from the likes of India and Pakistan and “polishing” the grains into the white product loved by UK consumers. But with India pressing for tariffs on white rice to be slashed, and little feedback from British trade officials,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3238785/uk-india-free-trade-deal-nears-fate-british-rice-millers-remains-unclear?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3238785/uk-india-free-trade-deal-nears-fate-british-rice-millers-remains-unclear?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Oct 2023 08:16:07 +0000 A heckler scattered glitter on Britain’s opposition leader Keir Starmer on Tuesday as he began to deliver a keynote speech at his Labour Party’s annual conference. Starmer had just arrived on the event’s main stage in Liverpool to make his address when he was interrupted by the male protester who stormed the platform. The protester shouted “true democracy is citizen-led” and “politics needs an update” as well as other slogans, before scattering glitter over Starmer’s head and shoulders. Several... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3237492/uk-opposition-leader-keir-starmer-hit-glitter-protester-labour-conference-speech?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3237492/uk-opposition-leader-keir-starmer-hit-glitter-protester-labour-conference-speech?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Oct 2023 14:52:25 +0000 British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces another difficult vote to fill a vacant seat in parliament after a lawmaker who was given an eight-week suspension for groping two men at a London club last year announced he plans to resign. Chris Pincher, who now sits as an independent, announced on Thursday he would leave the House of Commons more than a year after he was suspended from the ruling Conservative Party by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson last year. Johnson’s initial perceived downplaying... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3233738/uk-pm-rishi-sunak-faces-election-headache-lawmaker-chris-pincher-accused-groping-resigns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3233738/uk-pm-rishi-sunak-faces-election-headache-lawmaker-chris-pincher-accused-groping-resigns?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Sep 2023 09:48:28 +0000 British Conservative MP Nadine Dorries stepped down from the House of Commons on Saturday, more than two months after announcing she was resigning in the wake of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s own resignation from Parliament. Dorries, who served as culture secretary in Johnson’s government, left with a broadside against Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whom Johnson and his allies blame for helping to topple the former leader. In a resignation letter published by the Daily Mail newspaper,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3232432/boris-johnson-ally-nadine-dorries-quits-britains-parliament-after-months-delay?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3232432/boris-johnson-ally-nadine-dorries-quits-britains-parliament-after-months-delay?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Aug 2023 19:10:18 +0000 British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s governing Conservatives lost two strategically important parliamentary seats on Friday but unexpectedly retained Boris Johnson’s old constituency in a setback for the opposition Labour Party. The by-elections were one of the last electoral tests before a national election expected next year and were seen as an indicator of the two main parties’ prospects at a time when voters are struggling with high inflation, strikes and rising mortgage rates. Sunak could... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3228422/uk-elections-sunaks-conservatives-retain-ex-pm-boris-johnsons-uxbridge-seat-lose-somerton-and-frome?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3228422/uk-elections-sunaks-conservatives-retain-ex-pm-boris-johnsons-uxbridge-seat-lose-somerton-and-frome?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jul 2023 03:16:08 +0000 Voters head to the polls on Thursday in three by-elections across England, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s ruling Conservatives braced for defeat as inflation-battered Britain’s economic woes bite. Losses in all of them would be the first time in 55 years that a government has been defeated in three by-elections on the same day. The Tories are defending hefty majorities in the seats in London, Yorkshire in northern England and Somerset in the southwest, but appear to be haemorrhaging support... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3228311/uk-prime-minister-rishi-sunaks-ruling-tories-braced-defeat-three-elections?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3228311/uk-prime-minister-rishi-sunaks-ruling-tories-braced-defeat-three-elections?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jul 2023 06:14:11 +0000 British police will reopen an investigation into Covid-19 lockdown breaches at a December 2020 event held in the London headquarters of the governing Conservative Party following an assessment of new evidence. However police said other referrals, made to them by the government following an examination of former prime minister Boris Johnson’s diary, did not meet the criteria for further investigation. The reopened investigation concerns a Christmas party organised by staff working on a mayoral... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3226572/london-police-reopen-investigation-lockdown-breaches-conservative-party-hq?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3226572/london-police-reopen-investigation-lockdown-breaches-conservative-party-hq?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Jul 2023 17:38:30 +0000 British international environment minister Zac Goldsmith resigned on Friday, saying Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was “uninterested” in environmental issues, in a move highlighting the deep split in the ruling Conservative Party. With an election expected next year and the Conservative Party trailing in opinion polls, the party is split between those loyal to Sunak and those, like Goldsmith, who think former prime minister Boris Johnson has been unfairly sidelined. Goldsmith said on Friday that... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3226192/bitter-resignation-uk-minister-underlines-divide-pm-rishi-sunaks-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3226192/bitter-resignation-uk-minister-underlines-divide-pm-rishi-sunaks-party?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jun 2023 16:07:40 +0000 British MPs on Monday voted overwhelmingly to remove ex-prime minister Boris Johnson’s parliamentary pass as they approved a damning report that found he lied to parliament about Covid-19 lockdown-breaking parties. Following hours of debate, held on Johnson’s 59th birthday, MPs voted by 354 to seven in favour of the Privileges Committee’s findings, with many Conservatives, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, abstaining. During the debate, MPs and a former prime minister lined up to urge... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3224666/uk-mps-vote-remove-boris-johnson-parliamentary-pass-over-partygate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3224666/uk-mps-vote-remove-boris-johnson-parliamentary-pass-over-partygate?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Jun 2023 21:40:45 +0000 Former British Prime Minister David Cameron said his government made a “mistake” in focusing on potential influenza pandemics rather than preparing for other respiratory diseases. “The failing was not to ask more questions about asymptomatic transmission and what turned out to be the pandemic we had”, Cameron, who served as premier from 2010 to 2016, told the country’s Covid-19 inquiry on Monday. “So much time was spent on a pandemic influenza and that was seen as the greatest danger. But why... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3224657/uk-ex-pm-cameron-admits-mistake-pandemic-preparation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3224657/uk-ex-pm-cameron-admits-mistake-pandemic-preparation?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Jun 2023 15:22:04 +0000 Boris Johnson deliberately misled the British parliament in an unprecedented way over rule-breaking parties at his office during Covid-19 lockdowns, a committee said on Thursday in a damning verdict that further tarnished the former prime minister Almost a year ago, Johnson was talking about remaining prime minister into the 2030s. But the privileges committee – the main disciplinary body for lawmakers – said on Thursday he should now be stripped of having automatic access to parliament. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3224231/boris-johnson-deliberately-misled-parliament-concludes-uk-report-dubbed-charade-ex-pm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3224231/boris-johnson-deliberately-misled-parliament-concludes-uk-report-dubbed-charade-ex-pm?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Jun 2023 12:45:07 +0000 The UK government’s focus on Brexit seriously hampered pandemic planning, an inquiry examining the country’s handing of the Covid-19 health emergency was told on Tuesday. Hugo Keith, lead lawyer to the Covid-19 inquiry which is holding its first public session, said the country’s departure from the European Union had “required an enormous amount of planning and preparation”. “It is clear that such planning, from 2018 onwards, crowded out and prevented some or perhaps a majority of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3223975/covid-19-inquiry-told-brexit-hit-uks-pandemic-preparations-victims-relatives-lash-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3223975/covid-19-inquiry-told-brexit-hit-uks-pandemic-preparations-victims-relatives-lash-out?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jun 2023 13:29:45 +0000 UK opposition leader Keir Starmer on Sunday demanded a general election as three MPs from the ruling Conservative Party, including Boris Johnson, quit parliament following a probe into Covid lockdown-breaking parties. Labour leader Starmer tweeted that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “must finally find a backbone, call an election, and let the public have their say on 13 years of Tory failure. “This farce must stop. People have had enough of a shambolic Tory government and a weak prime minister no... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3223721/uk-opposition-demands-general-election-amid-boris-johnson-farce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3223721/uk-opposition-demands-general-election-amid-boris-johnson-farce?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jun 2023 12:52:42 +0000 Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson shocked Britain on Friday by quitting as a lawmaker after being told he will be sanctioned for misleading parliament. Johnson quit after receiving the results of an investigation by lawmakers over misleading statements he made to parliament about “Partygate”. In a statement, he accused opponents of trying to drive him out. He said he had “received a letter from the Privileges Committee making it clear – much to my amazement – that they are determined to use... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3223623/boris-johnson-quits-uk-lawmaker-he-faces-partygate-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3223623/boris-johnson-quits-uk-lawmaker-he-faces-partygate-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Jun 2023 19:49:59 +0000 Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will take in meetings with US business and congressional leaders, along with a baseball game, when he heads to Washington next week for summit talks with US President Joe Biden. Sustaining both nations’ support for Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders will feature heavily when the leaders meet at the White House on Thursday, according to Sunak’s spokesman. But Britain sees no traction for securing a post-Brexit trade deal with the Biden administration,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3222878/biden-business-and-baseball-uk-prime-minister-rishi-sunaks-agenda-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3222878/biden-business-and-baseball-uk-prime-minister-rishi-sunaks-agenda-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jun 2023 22:13:23 +0000