News and Opinion

MICHAEL WHITE asks whether the prime minister’s gamble will pay off. Will we, won’t we, get a December election as a substitute for that “do or die” Halloween Brexit? Now that Jeremy Corbyn’s fingers have finally been clawed off his comfort fence, it looks like ‘yes’. But it’s tempting to see this week’s undignified manoeuvres […]

Boris Johnson has been accused of sitting on a key report assessing the threat posed by Russia to Britain’s democracy. https://twitter.com/DominicGrieveQC/status/1189920531862167552 Former attorney general Dominic Grieve argued voters must have access to the report by the Intelligence and Security Committee of parliament, which he chairs, given the imminent election. He said it was “unacceptable” for […]

John Bercow should be given a place in the House of Lords, MPs have said. As the outgoing speaker received tributes in the House of Commons on his final day, MPs called for him to be given a new role in public life. Tory MP Michael Fabricant said Bercow should be given the post of […]

The group campaigning for a second referendum has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. JAMES BALL looks at the story behind the headlines. It seems particularly ominous that infighting at the People’s Vote group spilled into the public eye in the same week the country finally shifted towards a general election. The […]

TIM WALKER reviews Brian Friel’s Translation at the National Theatre. The grizzled old Jimmy Jack Cassie laments in Brian Friel’s play Translations: “I’m a barbarian in this place because I’m not understood by anybody.” All any of us ultimately want in life is to be understood – that’s how we establish our identity – but […]

More than 300,000 people have applied to register to vote in 48 hours, according to government figures. A total of 139,162 applications were submitted on Tuesday, followed by 177,105 on Wednesday. This is well above the typical number for weekday applications, which has been averaging around 37,000 for the past month. They are also the […]

STEVE ANGLESEY on a busy few days for the Brexit Party MEP and her mindboggling ‘link’ to the comedian Josh Widdicombe. A chalkboard with the most convincing argument for Remain. Photograph: Twitter – Credit: Archant Anyone doubting that the great British public will make a wise and informed choice at the impending general election is […]

Boris Johnson has vowed to deliver Brexit by January at the ‘absolute latest’ – on the day he last pledged to take the UK out of the EU. Johnson – who pledged the UK would be out by the end of October “do or die” – was determined to point the finger of blame at […]

The Led By Donkeys campaigners have trolled Conservative Party headquarters with clips of Boris Johnson insisting the UK would leave the EU on October 31st. Boris Johnson waves a folder as he leaves 10 Downing Street. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire. – Credit: PA The anti-Brexit activists hired a mobile billboard van with loudspeakers to blast […]

A voter who has always backed the Conservatives says she can no longer support her party because of its Brexit stance. Lucinda called LBC’s Eddie Mair show to tell the presenter that she was “disgusted” by the Brexiteers who had taken over the Conservative Party. She said she had given the party the benefit of […]

Keith Vaz is facing calls to stand down as a Labour candidate after a scathing Commons report recommended he should face a six-month suspension. The Standards Committee found the MP had caused “significant damage” to the reputation of the House after he expressed a willingness to purchase cocaine for others during an encounter with male […]

An MP who quit from the Liberal Democrats to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal is to fight the general election as a Remainer. https://twitter.com/EastbourneEcho/status/1189319794580971522 Stephen Lloyd resigned the Lib Dem whip in December to vote for May’s Brexit deal, saying it was the right thing to do on behalf of his constituents. He represented the […]

There has been a surge in support for the anti-Brexit Lib Dems in outspoken Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg’s seat. A new Survation poll carried out by telephone found a drop in support for the Conservatives in Rees-Mogg’s constituency of North East Somerset. While 44% of his constituents still appear to back the MP, that is down […]

Culture secretary Nicky Morgan is the latest high profile MP to declare she will not stand in the looming December general election. Morgan, who previously served as education secretary under David Cameron, has represented Loughborough for the Conservatives since 2010. Her departure from the political frontline mirrors that of a slew of prominent Conservative figures […]

The Brexit Party could support the Conservatives by fighting as few as 20 seats in the general election. Nigel Farage’s organisation could withdraw hundreds of seats to help Boris Johnson’s ambitions to “get Brexit done”. According to the Telegraph there are splits in the pro-Brexit party over its election strategy – with some figures backing […]

Twitter is banning all political advertising from its service, saying social media companies give advertisers an unfair advantage in proliferating highly targeted, misleading messages. In a series of tweets announcing the new worldwide policy, Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey said: “While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings […]

Jeremy Corbyn has claimed that the Liberal Democrats are seeking to ‘divide us further’ with an unequivocal Remain position of cancelling Brexit altogether. He said that their proposals to revoke Article 50 would lead to “a parliamentary stitch-up” as he officially kicked off his winter general election campaign. Jeremy Corbyn instead pledged to “get Brexit […]

For weeks Remain has felt like the underdogs – but now the election provides a big opportunity. Readers believe it can win. We are the underdogs but with a series of big ifs this general election is winnable for Remain. If… Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP agree not to campaign in seats where […]

Plaid Cymru’s leader ADAM PRICE says his party has helped to turn the country from a Leave to a Remain country, and will continue to fight for a Final Say referendum. We find ourselves on the cusp of a general election which has little promise of solving the Brexit crisis. For precisely that reason, Plaid […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL argues it’s been a week of own goals for the Remain camp… but says we’re still in the game. Campaigns, I said to a People’s Vote rally last month, are like sporting events – ups and downs, opportunities and setbacks, new stars emerge, existing stars disappoint, but while you’re in the game, it […]

Jo Swinson has suggested the Liberal Democrats could reach ‘arrangements’ with other pro-Remain parties to ensure one candidate has a clear run. The Lib Dem leader said negotiations were taking place in relation to a “small number” of constituencies in the forthcoming general election. Speaking outside the Houses of Parliament she highlighted their success in […]

Tory MPs have been criticised for jeering Jeremy Corbyn over his green tie, which he wore as a sign of respect to those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire. The Labour leader wore the accessory for a debate after report into the disaster that killed 72 people was published. As relatives of those killed […]

Western artistic depictions of the East come freighted with colonial baggage. But they also show a powerful, inquisitive passion for another world as RICHARD HOLLEDGE reports A group of men are gathered around a coffee shop in the ancient city of Jaffa. They sit, they stand, they gossip. The convivial moment was captured in a […]

Sinn Fein is hoping to unseat Brexit ‘architect’ and DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds as it aims to increase its number of MPs from seven to eight. Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill said the December 12 general election will be about maximising the return of pro-Remain candidates. “We will stand in our seven constituencies […]

Best selling author Sir Philip Pullman has claimed the Tories are a ‘bunch of crooks’ after he suggested they could put the NHS up ‘for sale’ after Brexit. Pullman made the remarks after Channel 4’s Dispatches programme looked at the risks to the health service should the UK government seek a post-Brexit trade deal with […]

Today’s PMQs looked very much like the next six weeks in microcosm. It’s going to be a long campaign 71 minutes. 71 minutes, this week’s prime minister’s questions lasted. That’s seven minutes longer than the previous record. Why did speaker John Bercow let it drag on so long? Well, it was his last one, and […]

Plaid Cymru have offered to work with other parties in the forthcoming general election to try and stop Brexit, leader Adam Price has said. The party’s leader confirmed it had already opened talks with other pro-Remain parties in an attempt to “secure our European future”. Plaid Cymru previously decided not to field a candidate in […]

Only 30% of pro-Remain voters need to use their vote tactically to swing the election and deny Boris Johnson a majority, a huge new poll has shown. Labour MP for Cardiff North Anna McMorrin, former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable and Naomi Smith, CEO of Best for Britain (pic: Matt Withers) – Credit: Archant […]

Richard Braine, UKIP’s leader, has resigned after less than three months in the role and just hours after a general election was agreed. A party spokesperson confirmed that Braine would be stepping down, leaving the party seeking its seventh permanent leader since Nigel Farage resigned in 2016. It is claimed the party could be ‘on […]

Football commentator CLIVE TYLDESLEY on the challenges facing Remainers at the ballot box as we head to the polls once again. We are dashing headlong towards a general election in which millions of Britons will have nobody to vote for. I feel like I’m about to be handed a selection box in which only the […]

Facebook has agreed to pay a fine of £500,000 following an investigation into the misuse of personal data in political campaigns. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced that the tech giant had withdrawn its appeal against the “monetary penalty notice” and would accept the fine without admitting any liability with the fine paid to the […]

An economic think tank has claimed Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal would deliver a £70 billion blow to the UK. Compared with staying in the EU, the economy would be 3.5% lower in 10 years’ time under the prime minister’s newly-brokered agreement, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) study. Opposition parties […]