With polls indicating Boris Johnson could win the Tory leadership battle by a landslide, the irony is that his hold on power may be extremely fragile, says Andrew Hammond.

Sterling languished just off four-month lows, with the outcome of the European election in the UK seen possibly emboldening proponents of a no-deal Brexit as the battle to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May got under way.

The ultimate owner of Aughinish Alumina in Limerick has said significant investment is planned for the facility, just months after US Government sanctions threatened the future of its 450-plus jobs.

The dark side of internet technology in general and Facebook — which now owns WhatsApp and Instagram — in particular have been among the many problems governments have wrestled with throughout 2018. They remain unresolved as we welcome the new year. Like the hydrogen bomb, the technology cannot be uninvented, yet legislatures around the free world struggle to find ways to curtail its destructive power.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, responding to Theresa May's survival in the no confidence vote, said: "Tonight's vote makes no difference to the lives of our people.

Facebook’s unprecedented Supreme Court appeal aimed at halting a referral to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) concerning the validity of EU-US data transfer channels will be heard in January.

Sky News would be sold off to Walt Disney or ringfenced under improved concessions put forward by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox as part of its efforts to seize full control of broadcaster Sky.

Boris Johnson has dismissed as "ludicrous" claims the Brexit campaign he backed broke election spending rules, amid calls for the police to investigate.

"It's almost impossible to have a close relationship between Ireland and Britain, which is necessary for the Irish peace process, and have the divergence that some of the hard Brexiteers want."

Theresa May’s infrastructure tsar has quit and delivered a scathing verdict on the Prime Minister’s handling of Brexit.

Flagship Brexit legislation survived intact as it returned to the Commons despite further Tory concerns and a mini-rebellion.

The UK Work and Pensions minister Penny Mordaunt has been appointed as the new International Development Secretary.

Jeremy Corbyn has avoided a potentially divisive clash over Brexit at Labour's annual conference after delegates agreed not to push the issue to a vote.

Theresa May is expected to be back in Downing Street this week as ministers prepare to flesh out their negotiating position on Brexit.

Free movement from the European Union will end in March 2019, Downing Street insisted as Theresa May sought to contain a Cabinet row over Brexit.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has dismissed reports of splits in the Cabinet over Brexit, saying senior ministers are united on delivering a global Britain after its departure from the European Union.

Back in 2009 Britain’s Liberal Democrat spokesman Matthew Oakeshott described Dublin as “Liechtenstein on the Liffey”.

The BBC is wilfully ignoring positive Brexit stories and shows a clear pattern of unbalanced reporting, the International Trade Secretary has claimed.

Ministers in the UK were repeatedly warned that fire regulations were not keeping people safe, the BBC says leaked letters reveal.

Conservative and Labour figures reacted cautiously to the exit poll predicting Theresa May could have lost her overall majority.

Vince Cable has warned that the Tories have "adopted wholesale" policies from Ukip as he unveiled a campaign poster featuring Nigel Farage's face superimposed on to the British Prime Minister's head.

An international effort is under way to track down the criminals behind an unprecedented global cyber attack that wreaked havoc across the NHS in England.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has won Parliament's approval to begin talks on a divorce deal for the UK leaving the EU.

Earlier the UK Government comfortably defeated a Liberal Democrat bid to give voters a final say on the Brexit deal in a referendum.

An emergency EU foreign ministers' meeting called to discuss Donald Trump's shock US election victory has been snubbed by Britain's Boris Johnson.

Britons may have to apply for visas to travel throughout continental Europe once the UK leaves the EU, it has been reported.

Police Scotland has been urged to do more to tackle the "frightening" number of rest days owed to officers.

Boris Johnson faced a furious political backlash after he compared European Union efforts to build a federal super state to Hitler’s plans to dominate the continent.

Question: What do you call a British europhile who needs the UK to vote to leave the EU in the June 23 referendum? Answer: A Scot.

Boris Johnson has come under fire over his attack on the “part-Kenyan” president Barack Obama.

Tough-talking British Chancellor George Osborne has promised further cuts to corporation tax after he announced in today's Budget he would cut corporation tax from its current 20% rate to 17% from April 2020.

The Sun has said it stands by its story about the Queen voicing strong Eurosceptic views after Buckingham Palace said it has written to the press watchdog to register a complaint over the claims.

Fine Gael will not target “vulnerable” Labour seats in the general election, because the party wants the Coalition returned to power, senior sources have revealed.

The three members of the British government-appointed independent panel that examined the extent of paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland are:

A former independent reviewer of UK terror laws is among a trio of legal and political experts appointed to a body set up to assess paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland.

The British government has announced the three members of an independent panel set up to assess paramilitary activity in the North of Ireland.

Downing Street has been forced to fend off claims that David Cameron participated in a bizarre student initiation ritual as a simmering row with a major Tory party donor erupted into the open.

India: When a northern Indian state announced a few hundred job openings for low-level office workers who run errands and make tea, they were staggered by the response — 2.3m people applied.

Jeremy Corbyn has come under fire for saying it was a “tragedy” that Osama bin Laden was killed by the United States rather than being put on trial.

David Cameron was under mounting pressure last night after describing migrants trying to reach Britain as a "swarm".