News and Opinion

Boris Johnson has been warned that his planned visits to Scotland will only increase support for independence in the country. As previously reported, Johnson is looking to head to different parts of the UK to increase support for the union, after the coronavirus crisis appeared to boost support for the devolved administrations. But at Prime […]

A new bill to be presented to the House of Commons before the summer recess will call on MPs to support the launch of an independent inquiry into the government’s roronavirus response before a possible second spike this winter. Acting leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey last week managed to secure an assurance from […]

Sir Keir Starmer slammed Boris Johnson over suggestions he had not spoken out against the Sailsbury poisonings, telling the PM to ‘check the record’ during Prime Minister’s Questions. Johnson accused the leader of the opposition of ‘sitting on his hands’ when it came to commenting on the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and […]

Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis has rebuked a Brexiteer who tried to blame the media for raising questions about allegations of Russian interference in the Brexit referendum. Tory MP Robert Seely MP, who chairs the foreign affairs committee, said it was the media that was ‘rehashing the stale debate’ about the 2016 referendum, and said there […]

The minister for housing and communities has denied any wrongdoing over the approval of a large development in London after meeting the developer at a Tory fundraising dinner last year. Robert Jenrick told a parliamentary select committee on housing that he had no idea he would be sat next to Richard Desmond, an influential Tory […]

The Tories are seeking revenge on Labour MPs which voted against ending freedom of movement by stoking up fears over immigration on Facebook in their marginal seats. Have your say Send your letters for publication to The New European by emailing letters@theneweuropean.co.uk and pick up an edition each Thursday for more comment and analysis. Find […]

Downing Street has abandoned hope of clenching a Brexit trade deal with Brussels and instead ramped up preparations for trading on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms, but has insisted it is not what it wants the outcome to be. Ministers are now working on the assumption that no deal will be struck before the December […]

A new Tory group labelled the ‘CURG’ has been launched alongside the ERG and CRG, with the aim to make Boris Johnson more supportive of the United Kingdom. The Conservative Union Research Group joins the China Research Group and European Research Group in attempting to pressure the Tory leadership on key issues at the heart […]

With attacks on Jeremy Corbyn and ‘Islingtonian Remainers’ seeking to block Brexit, the PM today decided to party like it’s 2019 The prime minister was in bullish form as he surveyed his enemies opposite, attacking them on every flank. With the Russia report dominating almost every front page he took aim at Jeremy Corbyn, who, […]

Boris Johnson’s scripted gag about the leader of the opposition ‘flip flopping’ over Brexit backfired after Keir Starmer reminded the house about the two Telegraph columns Johnson wrote ahead of the EU referendum. In another heated exchange in the House of Commons at the last PMQs before summer break, both leaders went head-to-head over Tuesday’s […]

A majority of Scots would vote to rejoin the EU in a future referendum, a new poll has revealed. The polling conducted by Survation for the new eu+me campaign group found 62% of Scots would want to rejoin the EU and the other 38% would opt to stay out of the EU, excluding those who […]

Nicola Sturgeon has said she is open to an inquiry being launched looking at Russian interference in the Scottish independence referendum, but says it falls into the remit of the Westminster government. Speaking after a heavily redacted report by Westminster’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) was published, Sturgeon said governments should not be ‘complacent’ about […]

A Tory MP accused of sending inappropriate text messages to staff has been referred on to the parliamentary standards commissioner. Rob Roberts allegedly sent a string of messages to a female intern and asked a male staffer out to dinner. The MP for Delyn in North Wales recently split from his wife and publicly came […]

A former Brexit Party MEP has attacked the Withdrawal Agreement agreed by Boris Johnson has already ‘failed the United Kingdom’, despite voting for it alongside his party colleagues earlier this year. Ben Habib claimed that what was agreed between the UK and EU was flawed, and that it would prevent Boris Johnson from fulfilling Brexit […]

The chancellor’s plan for jobs will fail without greater collaboration with trade unions and businesses, says Josh Abey The chancellor’s so-called ‘plan for jobs’ this month involved a job retention bonus for employers bringing back furloughed staff, the ‘kickstart’ scheme to provide work placements for young people facing long-term unemployment and demand-boosting policies to protect […]

The attorney general has denied a tweet she shared defending Dominic Cummings was ‘legal opinion’ and stated that she did not regret her remarks. Suella Braverman told a Commons justice committee that her tweet could not have swayed the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or police because it was ‘only 10 words long’. The government’s top […]

Nigel Farage has demanded an apology from Remainers after he claimed the Russia report cleared him of charges that he colluded with the Russians to boost the Vote Leave campaign. https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1285519670922170368 The Brexit Party leader went on a small tirade on Twitter demanding ‘Remain politicians’ and ‘much of our media’ apologise for accusations that Russia […]

An elite group of Russians with connections to president Vladimir Putin have donated to UK political parties, an investigation into foreign interference in UK institutions has found. The probe, spearheaded by the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), concluded that rich figures from Russia are laundering money through a range of sectors and effectively turning the […]

England’s chief medical officer has defended the actions taken over the coronavirus pandemic, blaming under-investment in public health for issues with the government response. In a heated exchange with former health secretary and chairman of the Health and Social Care Committee Jeremy Hunt, Professor Chris Whitty told MPs that widespread community testing earlier on in […]

Boris Johnson is planning to head north of the border to try to drum up support with Scottish voters after backing for the Union dwindled during the coronavirus pandemic. Despite making himself a ‘minister for the Union’ after he became prime minister – a title he passed on to Chloe Smith in the last reshuffle […]

Dominic Raab has been mocked after celebrating the launch of trade negotiations with a number of European countries that the UK already had agreement with before Brexit. The foreign secretary took to Twitter to announce the seemingly ‘good news’ that Britain had begun trade talks with a handful of smaller European nations, including Liechtenstein. ‘We’ve […]

The government has rejected the call for an assessment of alleged Russian activity during the Brexit referendum. In a 20-page response to the report, it said: ‘We have seen no evidence of successful interference in the EU Referendum. ‘The Intelligence and Security Agencies produce and contribute to regular assessments of the threat posed by hostile […]

The Russia report has openly accused the government of being too slow to act on the risk Russian interference, claiming it had ‘badly underestimated’ its response to the threat. The long-awaited report alleges that Downing Street had taken ‘its eye off the ball’ and failed to respond to Moscow’s meddling in UK elections and institutions. […]

There was ‘no reason’ for the delay in the publication of the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report on Russia, a member of the committee has said. Labour MP Kevan Jones told reporters as the report was released that claims by the prime minister it required six weeks to get his confirmation for the report were […]

The government has been accused of not doing enough to investigate Russian interference in the Brexit referendum, the Russia report has found. The report – issued on Tuesday following a nine-month wait – criticised the intelligence community and government for not dedicating enough resources to investigating Russian involvement in the 2016 referendum on EU membership. […]

Leaders of the European Union have finally agreed a budget to deal with the coronavirus recovery after four days and nights of wrangling over money and power in one of the longest ever summits. An unprecedented 1.82 trillion euro (£1.64 trillion) budget has been agreed with a 750 billion euro (£677 billion) coronavirus fund to […]

A Whitehall source has claimed that chunks of the Russia report have been redacted, raising fresh concerns over the veracity of the report. It has fuelled that Downing Street had left out sections which could show Russian interference during recent UK elections and votes. The report, which comes out after a nine-month wait, alleges that […]

An MP has apologised after stating food in shops must be affordable for the ‘housewife to buy’. The DUP’s Paul Girvan was arguing for the need to protect high food standards in the UK as MPs debated the Trade Bill, which is linked to post-Brexit trade agreements. He said the UK should aim to bring […]

Ministers and Tory MPs have resisted attempts to give parliament a definitive say on post-Brexit trade deals. Concerns were raised that politicians in Westminster would be unable to prevent the government reneging on commitments to protect the NHS and maintain animal welfare and food standards under the current terms of the Trade Bill. But the […]

Parliament’s report into alleged Russian interference in British democracy is due to be released on Tuesday. Here are some of the key questions about the document. – What is the report? Sometimes dubbed the ‘Russia report’, after months of delays it will be published on Tuesday by the Intelligence and Security Committee. It is based […]

An amendment to the government’s Trade Bill intended to protect the NHS and publicly funded health and care services from any form of control from outside the UK has been defeated. The government insisted UK law offers such protections and any changes would have to come before parliament. But for Labour, shadow international trade minister […]

There have been calls for Boris Johnson to ensure there is a full assessment of Brexit interference into the Brexit vote before the transition period ends. Liberal Democrat leadership contender Layla Moran has written to Boris Johnson demanding he set out a clear timeline for the intelligence agencies to publish an assessment into Russian interference […]