Boris johnson

Boris Johnson has just given a wide-ranging interview to BBC Breakfast in which he signalled support for a new Trump nuclear agreement with Iran and promised to bring forward plans for social care by the end year. Here are the six things we learnt from the interview: 1. Boris backs Trump's Iran strategy The Prime Minister told viewers that the US had been right not to notify the UK before the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, saying 'This was not our operation. There was no reason for us to be involved.' Addressing the nuclear deal negotiated by Obama, the PM said: 'If we're going to get rid of it, let's replace it - and let's replace it with the Trump deal. That's what we need to see and I think that would be a great way forward.' 2.

Boris Johnson's first week back in Parliament did not lead to the type of fireworks many had been expecting after the Prime Minister's decisive election victory. Over Christmas, there was chatter that Johnson was building up to a mass restructuring of Whitehall, a cull of the Cabinet and a reorganisation of the civil service. This was expected to take place in what had been dubbed the 'Valentine's Day massacre' by government insiders. Next month, changes are still expected – with a reshuffle coming and a reorganisation of departments. However, it will likely not meet initial expectations in terms of scope. Over the weekend, Boris Johnson met at Chequers with key members of his team and government officials to discuss the changes.

This week has shown how much the election has changed. The withdrawal agreement has sailed through the Commons and in Northern Ireland, there has been an agreement to get the assembly and the executive back up and running. As I say in The Sun this morning, ministers were struck by how Brexit got only the briefest of mentions at Cabinet this week despite the legislation being before the House. Pre-election, the whole conversation would have been about whether the government had the votes and what it should do if it did not. Boris Johnson is very keen that this year isn’t dominated by Brexit. Sat Cabinet this week, he again emphasised that ministers should ‘banish Brexit’ from their lexicons after January 31st.

The new president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen made a speech to the London School of Economics earlier today. During the speech, von der Leyen said: 'Without an extension of the transition period beyond 2020, you cannot expect to agree on every single aspect of our new partnership. We will have to prioritise.' You can listen to the speech and read the full transcript below: Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great pleasure to be back here at the London School of Economics – a place which brings back so many happy memories for me. The year I spent here taught me so much – both in and out of LSE. As anyone who knew me at the time will tell you, I spent more time in Soho bars and Camden record stores than I did reading books in Senate House Library.

Two weeks ago, I asked what kind of prime minister Boris Johnson might be and whether he could be ‘the great disruptor’ on foreign policy, defying standard practices and elite assumptions as Donald Trump has. I think I might have my answer. On Trump’s decision to take out Iranian terrorist-in-chief Qasem Soleimani, the Prime Minister was silent for two days. When he finally spoke, it was hardly worth it. Of course Johnson was right to say, given the Quds Force head’s role in the killing of thousands of civilians, ‘we will not lament his death’. He was right too to warn Tehran against escalation.

The 2019 general election will be remembered as one of the most consequential elections in Britain's recent history. Aside from rejecting a more economically radical Labour Party, the British people used the election to provide what their elected representatives had been unable to provide: an answer to Brexit. For Boris Johnson and the Conservative party, the election was a triumph. They won their largest majority since 1987 and the largest majority for any party since New Labour's second landslide in 2001.

The thumping majority by which both the second reading and the programme motion for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill passed yesterday, confirmed that Boris Johnson will have no problem taking the UK out of the EU on January 31st. This sums up the remarkable position that this government is in. It will have done the main thing that it was put in power to do within less than two months of taking office. The danger for the Tories, as I say in The Sun this morning, is that their new electoral coalition was held together by a desire to ‘Get Brexit Done’ and fear of Jeremy Corbyn, and both of those issues will soon be resolved.

One of the most striking things about the government's Queen's Speech was Boris Johnson's focus on where the country could be in ten years’ time: 'Mr Speaker, this is not a programme for one year, or one Parliament it is a blueprint for the future of Britain. Just imagine where this country could be in ten years’ time. Trade deals across the world, creating jobs across the UK, 40 new hospitals, great schools in every community, and the biggest transformation of our infrastructure since the Victorian age.' Rather than simply focus on what his government would do in the five-year term he won last week, the Prime Minister talked about longer term change. This chimes with what Johnson allies privately hope for – a fifth term for the Tories.