News and Opinion

The government has ‘paused’ its ‘get ready for Brexit’ advertising campaign after the EU granted an extension until January 31st. A new billboard from the Led By Donkeys campaign mocks the government’s ‘get ready for Brexit’ adverts. Photograph: Led By Donkeys. – Credit: Archant The campaign, said to cost at least £100 million, was launched […]

Nigel Farage has been left stunned after a Brexiteer called his radio show to claim the host was a Remainer. Calling Farage’s LBC Radio show, Tez said he did not believe that the Brexit Party wanted to take the UK out of the EU. He said: “Your party could make a real difference. But I […]

Multicultural man WILL SELF takes a trip to the seven hills of Brighton, and muses on how its two sides collide. “You have to understand,” my father was wont to say, sweeping his great bolster of an arm through the ozone-fresh air, “the crucial similarities between Brighton… and Rome.” And when I expressed incredulity – […]

The threat of Brexit is leading to shortage of pigs in blankets at Christmas, despite a poll finding a majority believe it is an integral part of a festive dinner. https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1188794919667802112 The British Meat Processors Association is concerned about the shortage of labour from the EU, meaning there could be a reduction in Christmas treats […]

Nearly two million people have applied to register to vote in the past eight weeks, according to new government figures. The figure is almost double the number for the previous eight weeks with, on average, a quarter of a million every week registering to vote since Boris Johnson first proposed a general election in early […]

The saga of the Hollywood giant’s sole attempt at fiction is at least as intriguing as the work itself. Forty years after it began, RICHARD LUCK pieces the chronicle together. Artist Donald Cammell and his wife, Greek cabaret star Maria Andipa, arriving for the Royal Academy Exhibition in London, circa 1965. (Photo by Ron Case/Keystone/Getty […]

A war of words has broken out between opposition parties and the Lib Dems after Jo Swinson signalled support for a general election rather than continuing to push for a second referendum. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell accused the Liberal Democrats of “giving up” on a second referendum, after its conference focused on revoking Article 50, […]

French citizen ÉMILIE ANCELIN has always dreamed of becoming a lawyer in Britain. In a devastating letter to Boris Johnson, she explains how he has wrecked her dreams by pursuing his Brexit vision. Émilie Ancelin on the People’s Vote March. Photograph: Twitter. – Credit: Archant Dear prime minister, I am writing this letter to you […]

The head of communications for the People’s Vote campaign has accused the chairman of putting a ‘wrecking ball’ through the campaign amid an apparent power struggle in the group working towards a second EU referendum. https://twitter.com/BBCr4today/status/1188747295120068608 Tom Baldwin said Roland Rudd, chairman of the campaign, is “making a mistake that I think a lot of […]

Social media networks have bigger issues than to concern themselves with Remain campaigners, writes MARTYN SLOMAN. Your article “Twitter’s twisted tales” (published on 10 October) has prompted me to write and highlight a problem that I have encountered with the social media platform. Eighteen months ago I created a Twitter account with the handle @eugrandparents […]

Tony Blair has suggested that a second Brexit referendum should be held on the same day as the general election. The former prime minister said that he would prefer the issue of Brexit to be resolved by putting it to the people in another referendum. Speaking to the BBC’s Westminster Hour, he said: “You can […]

GABY HINSLIFF on the links between Number 10 and the conservative magazine When Boris Johnson travelled to Merseyside earlier this month for one last attempt at salvaging a Brexit deal, he did so trailing a ghost from the past. Fifteen years ago, as a shadow minister serving under Tory leader Michael Howard, he was sent […]

The political debate is about to be transformed, says ZOE WILLIAMS. And that creates opportunity for Remainers. “Febrile”, everyone calls this time; or “fluid”, or “unreadable”. Nothing is certain until it’s happened. There are two distinct strands to this uncertainty, and they meld together in the generalised sense of unease, but they shouldn’t. The first […]

Britain will remain a member of the European Union until 31st January – the EU has agreed – but it can leave sooner if the Brexit deal is agreed by parliament. Following a meeting of ambassadors, European Council president Donald Tusk said the EU 27 would accept the UK’s request for a Brexit “flextension” until […]

American television host John Oliver has taken down Boris Johnson and his Brexit Halloween deadline as he explained another tumultuous week in British politics. Branding the prime minister “a dumb person’s idea of a smart person”, Oliver told his Last Week Tonight audience he had insisted there would be no delay to Brexit, and that […]

Jo Swinson has defended her plan to hold a general election on December 9th – before Brexit is resolved. The Lib Dem leader, who together with the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford has put forward a tightly-drafted Bill that would grant an election on December 9, said their plan is “sensible”. She told the Today […]

Supporting an early general election would be like a ‘birthday and a Christmas present rolled into one’ for Boris Johnson, an SNP MP has warned. Angus MacNeil, the member for the Western Isles, urged MPs against voting for a vote to be held in December when the proposal is put before the House of Commons. […]

Matt Lucas and David Walliams are reuniting for a special episode of Little Britain called Little Brexit. The one-off episode will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4, where Little Britain started in 2000, and will look at how the hottest topic in modern British history is affecting their lives. The programme will catch up with […]

Dick Leonard has written about prime ministers going back to Robert Walpole. Now the dust has settled, he assesses David Cameron’s recent memoirs There have been 55 prime ministers – so far – and all but two of them have been the subject of full-length biographies, the best known of
them by numerous different authors. Of […]

Children are dressing up as Boris Johnson this Halloween as families take inspiration from Brexit for their plans, according to new research. The prime minister is the 10th most topical option on a list topped by Pennywise the clown from IT 2, with Spider-Man in second place. Research by Beano found Johnson has been named […]

MP James Cleverly has labelled the Liberal Democrats bid to give Boris Johnson his pre-Christmas election a ‘gimmick’. Lib Dem-SNP bill on a general election is 'clearly a gimmick' says Conservative Chairman James Cleverly#Marr #Brexit https://t.co/DvjjMVqt2E pic.twitter.com/5icOfeuiCc— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) October 27, 2019 The Conservative chairman James Cleverly told BBC’s Andrew Marr that the Lib […]

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbot claims the threat of a no-deal exit from the EU and a ‘Trump Brexit’ means Labour cannot yet support a general election. Will Labour back a general election if the EU backs an extension?Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott: 'We're waiting to see what the EU says but… the Labour Party […]

MP Chuka Umunna has said a People’s Vote is ‘highly unlikely’ under the current government. "It refers this issue back to the people so we can end the gridlock in Westminster." Lib Dem MP @ChukaUmunna explains his party would back an election on December 9th if it was separated from #Brexit legislation #RidgeFollow live updates […]

Former chancellor Philip Hammond is calling on the government to grow up and ‘stop throwing tantrums’ over its Brexit agenda. "I should be voting against it, this is not the time to be holding a general election. It's a time for cool heads and grown-up government." @PhilipHammondUK says the government should get on with #Brexit […]

The Liberal Democrats and SNP are preparing to give Boris Johnson an early Christmas present – the snap December election he has been demanding. The prime minister used an article in the Sunday papers to accuse MPs of holding the country “hostage” by refusing a general election, but the Lib Dems and SNP, in a […]

MP Jo Swinson denied suggestions from Andrew Marr on his BBC show that she would be tempted to switch to a more secure seat to ensure she is re-elected. When asked by BBC’s Andrew Marr whether she was concerned her new allies could steal her seat, given East Dunbartonshire is a “key target” for the […]

Every day we’re still in the EU is a solid win for Remain, says Mitch Benn First of all, a little essential housekeeping: You might recall that I ended last week’s column by issuing a plea for help. I bewailed my enforced absence from last Saturday’s march and asked if you could help me make […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL speaks to the two former-prime ministers about how the prime minister’s deal undermines the progress made in Northern Ireland. There is a well-known device in journalism, known as a ‘was talking to’. You will have noticed it sometimes, when reading to the very end of an article written by someone who is not […]

ANDREW ADONIS argues that the focus for the anti-Brexit movement must now be the immediate removal of the prime minister. Parliament came back from the brink this week. Faced with the stark reality of a brutal Brexit on October 31, it applied David Cameron’s emergency brake in the nick of time. Brexit is again on […]

Arlene Foster has warned the prime minister the DUP will continue to say no to his Brexit deal unless he renegotiates with Brussels. Addressing the DUP conference in Belfast, Foster demanded “honesty” from the government after reflecting on Boris Johnson’s speech to the same event last year, when he insisted he would not erect any […]

WILL SELF recalls his days of drug addiction as he ponders the meaning of British culture. As I’ve already had cause to remark in this place: what is a culture? Save for a vector that carries a certain set of values and their associated practices through time, and possibly space. Looked at this way, ‘British’ […]

Sadiq Khan said it is time for Jeremy Corbyn to be ‘braver’ on Brexit – and to start with telling Leave voters they are ‘wrong’ on Brexit. Khan, in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, said it was time for Corbyn to ‘provide leadership’ on the issue and stop trying to be ‘all things […]