News and Opinion

Nigel Farage has claimed he now agrees with Jeremy Corbyn on his latest criticism of the prime minister, as the Brexit Party leader moves away from backing Boris Johnson. Writing in the Express, the Brexiteer says he agrees with the Labour leader that Johnson is not showing leadership at a time of emergency, despite helping […]

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran is to run for leader of the party – and has become the new favourite to take the job following a flurry of bets for her. The education spokeswoman told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “Yes, I will be standing for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats. I believe it’s […]

Keir Starmer has refused to rule out backing a campaign to get the UK to rejoin the European Union in the future. During a Daily Mirror leadership hustings in Dudley, Rebecca Long-Bailey asked her fellow candidates if they agreed the party should rule out campaigning to rejoin the bloc at the next election. She said: […]

Boris Johnson will have to ‘revisit the issue of transition’ if he cannot secure a trade agreement with the EU, the SNP’s leader in Westminster has said. Speaking to the PA news agency, Ian Blackford underlined the need to “remain as closely aligned to the EU as we can because that’s what’s going to be […]

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen hs urged the UK to ‘make up its mind’ on what sort of post-Brexit deal it wants. The UK has set out its aim for a free trade agreement along the lines of the one the EU has with Canada, but Brussels has called for a closer relationship […]

Boris Johnson has been branded a ‘traitor’ as he finally visited a flood-hit area to see efforts to tackle flooding. Boris Johnson arrived on the banks of the River Severn in Bewdley, Worcestershire on Sunday afternoon and was taken to view flood defences by Environment Agency staff. Some onlookers shouted “traitor” at Johnson, who has […]

Charlie Connelly explores the life of Jean-Pierre Blanchard – the balloonist with an inflated sense of his own importance. The morning of January 7, 1785, dawned bright and clear and the coast of France was clearly visible across the Channel from the castle overlooking Dover. The Channel had always made England a fortress. Twenty one […]

Chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak says the impact of coronavirus won’t impact the Brexit transition period, with the new rules on trade, travel, and business still set to take effect on January 1 2021. https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1236572644692164608?s=20 In his first TV interview, Sophy Ridge grilled Sunak on how the government are planning to help businesses manage […]

The Polish capital is freighted with a traumatic past but musically that has never held it back, says Sophia Deboick In the last century, Warsaw became a byword of bleakness and destruction. A city completely levelled by the Nazis after the failed Warsaw Uprising of the summer of 1944, in its communist era it was […]

The outgoing shadow chancellor of the exchequer John McDonnell says he has made progress during his tenure, despite the underwhelming election result which renders Labour a vastly weakened force. https://twitter.com/johnmcdonnellMP/status/1236619922840698880?s=20 In what Andrew Marr acknowledged to be McDonnell’s final interview with him as shadow chancellor, the commentator pulled no punches. He said the politician “failed”, […]

The aviation industry has criticised the government after transport secretary Grant Shapps said that the UK will leave the European aviation safety regulator after the Brexit transition period ends. Shapps confirmed that British membership of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will end on December 31. The powers will revert to the Civil Aviation […]

TIM WALKER reviews at Pass Over at the Kiln Theatre in London. Theatre directors talk sometimes about doing “word plays”, which I’ve always taken to be a slightly withering way of saying they’re getting together some actors to spout a lot of text. The old rule is “show, don’t tell”, but how else can a […]

PETER TRUDGILL assesses just how (il)logical certain languages are. Over the years there have been plenty of people who have not hesitated to assert that French is a “very logical language”, the implication being that other languages are less so. But it is actually rather easy to point to aspects of French which do not […]

Author Jay Glennie on his new book, a behind the scenes look at one of the most celebrated films in cinema history “Hi Jay, it’s Bob.” On the end of the phone line was perhaps the finest screen actor of his generation, and certainly my idol, Robert De Niro. Films such as Mean Streets, Taxi […]

Boris Johnson has misled Welsh Tories by claiming that a Netflix series made in Wales was the most viewed television show in Saudi Arabia. The prime minister told the Welsh party conference on Friday that Sex Education, a show about a boy and his sex therapist mother, was the most watched programme in the country. […]

Brexit has meant some now want their towns to backtrack on their links with Europe, while others are doubling down their commitments. HOLLY EVA RYAN explains more. The Harbury village sign was defaced on January 31st (left). Right is the original version on Google Maps. Photograph: Facebook/Google. – Credit: Archant The practice of twinning towns […]

Environment secretary George Eustice has voted against his own proposals to protect food standards in the House of Commons. When Eustice was on the backbenches back in 2019 he tabled an amendment to the Agriculture Bill to try to protect the UK’s high animal welfare and food hygiene standards by banning the sale of lower […]

Hopes of a female president in America have faded after Elizabeth Warren withdrew from the contest for the Democratic Party’s nomination. Warren’s departure after a campaign that had promised so much leaves only one woman, Tulsi Gabbard, in the race but it would need a miraculous turnaround for her to secure the nomination. Instead Trump […]

Nigel Farage is planning to launch a new political party after just twelve months since the launch of the Brexit Party. The Brexiteer has previously talked about plans to rebrand his business as the Reform Party, and has made a number of hints before the general election about his intentions. Now the likeliness of him […]

Readers suggest their ideas for how to keep the United Kingdom together after Brexit hits. Would allowing Britons to keep EU citizenship (Letters, TNE #182-183) help prevent the break-up of the United Kingdom by reducing support among Scottish voters for independence by preserving their freedom to travel, live and work within the EU? Many UK […]

Readers disagree with recent contributions from our columnists that Bernie Sanders cannot beat Donald Trump. As a Vermonter, I take issue with Bonnie Greer and Michael White on Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (TNE #184). As Bonnie says, Bernie is rich – total wealth approaching $2 million. But Trump, if you believe him, […]

Some readers are taking a cynical approach to the coronavirus and how the fear will be used by the government. How timely is this coronavirus for our Brexit government? For the next two years they can blame it for all the economic problems caused by Brexit. Of course after that, they will have to find […]

Download the free podcast from the team at The New European to hear our review of the week in politics. Every Friday Richard Porritt and Steve Anglesey review another wild week in post-common sense Britain. The award-nominated podcast is packed full of big news, comment, and irreverent views. We talk about the issues that matter […]

Allies of Priti Patel have claimed that the home secretary is ‘tough’ and ‘assertive’ but has ‘never crossed a line’. In a letter to the Telegraph, more than 90 people including former Charity Commission chief William Shawcross and Conservative election guru Sir Lynton Crosby came to her defence. They said she is “right to ask […]

As a New European reader, you probably reckon you keep a close eye on the continent’s news. Test yourself with our quiz… Think you’re on top of what’s been going on across Europe in the past seven days? Take The New European’s tricky quiz and find out just how much of a Europhile you are…

Boris Johnson’s honeymoon period after the general election appears to be over with growing discontent from Tory MPs over his decision to allow Huawei a role in building the UK’s 5G network. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has tabled an amendment which would ban “high-risk vendors” like the Chinese tech giant from the […]

Former home secretary Amber Rudd has been blocked from speaking at an event for International Women’s Day. Rudd was due to speak at an event at a student union event at the Oxford University, but was blocked after the student society voted to cancel it. It followed pressure from some students who claimed Rudd’s immigration […]

Taxpayers have stumped up a bill for more than £4bn to pay for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, the Whitehall spending watchdog has claimed. The National Audit Office (NAO) said that between the EU referendum in June 2016 and March 31 this year, government departments will have spent at least £4.4 billion, while £6.3 […]

There are increasing calls to investigate Islamophobia in the Conservative Party after the UK’s human rights watchdog received a fresh dossier detailing allegations against more than 300 people. The dossier sent to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reiterates allegations of Islamophobia against Boris Johnson. It also includes claims about MPs, party members, councillors […]

Boris Johnson refused to say if his family were happy about his baby news on live television. Boris Johnson squirmed when probed about his family life on ITV’s This Morning. Picture: ITV – Credit: Archant In an interview on ITV’s This Morning the prime minister looked flustered when he was asked about the reaction from […]

MPs will receive a pay rise of 3.1% from April this year – a figure that is above the rate of inflation. Announcing the increase, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) will raise MPs basic pay from £79,468 to £81,932 and will be effective from April 1. It follows a decision confirmed in 2018 by […]

Westminster has been told to ‘keep calm and carry on’ despite reports parliament could be shut down for five months over the coronavirus outbreak. Raising a report that parliament could be shut until September, Labour former cabinet minister Lord Adonis said: “This would be regarded as a very bad move I think on behalf of […]