News and Opinion

A Belgian MEP has called for a one-year extension to Brexit while Britain makes up its mind on the way forward. Philippe Lamberts appeared on Radio 4’s Today programme when he was asked if he agreed with the Benn act proposal that a three-month extension was “the way forward”. The Green MEP, who sits on […]

Business benefit to the UK is increasingly being sought as a condition of the UK’s aid spending since the 2016 referendum, according to a new report. Funds under the post-Brexit ‘global Britain’ agenda, such as the £1.2 billion Prosperity Fund started in 2016, are “explicitly tied” to mutual prosperity, with “new economic opportunities” as a […]

CHARLIE connelly on the death of a poet who chronicled his city’s epic story. There was something terribly poignant about how Ciaran Carson, who died on October 6, left us just when Northern Ireland was anchored to the top of the British news agenda for the first time in two decades. Diagnosed with terminal lung […]

Former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine has said he believes that he would be behind bars if he had acted in the same way Boris Johnson had as prime minister. Originally appearing on Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Lord Heseltine explained that the way Boris Johnson acted over the extension letter, by sending different copies was […]

From the days of his grandfather – a British army general who trained the IRA on his estate – Cathal Ó Gabhann’s fascinating family history has been entwined with the Irish border. In this powerful essay, he looks back at the past and reflects on what Brexit means for the next generations. Christopher Dorman O’Gowan, […]

A Brexiteer has suggested she feels no guilt about Northern Ireland when it comes to the Brexit deal, because she argued her constituency is ‘miles away’. Appearing on Sky News, Kay Burley asked Andrea Jenkyns how she squares being a unionist with “casting aside” the DUP by putting a border down the Irish sea. The […]

Mark Francois still believes Boris Johnson is doing what he can to take the UK out of the EU in the next week, despite MPs delivering a setback for the prime minister over his timetable. The Tory Brexiteer had claimed on television in September that if Boris Johnson asked for another Brexit extension “this country […]

Broad and wide mean pretty much the same thing – they are very close to being synonyms. The Oxford English Dictionary defines broad as “extended in the direction measured from side to side; wide”; and wide is also defined as “having great extent from side to side”. Both broad and wide are also said by […]

Boris Johnson has won the support of the House of Commons on his Brexit bill in principle, but rejected his proposed timetable, calling for more time to debate and discuss the plan. The House voted by 322 to 308 against the programme motion which would have required the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) to clear all […]

329 to 299 to approve the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) at second reading – a majority of 30 – but how did your MP vote? These MPs voted with the government on the Brexit bill. 285 Conservative MPs: Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty), Bim Afolami (Hitchin and Harpenden), Adam Afriyie (Windsor), Peter Aldous (Waveney), Lucy […]

A Labour MP – who represents a Leave constituency – has claimed the only way to get Brexit ‘done’ is to hold a People’s Vote. Liz Kendall said all MPs should understand the Brexit deal brings risks to the “economy and the constituents’ jobs and livelihoods”, and to the “union of the United Kingdom too”. […]

Boris Johnson is facing potential legal action over his Brexit deal’s plans – which is said to breach the Good Friday Agreement. Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson has issued a pre-action letter to Boris Johnson, accusing him of creating an economic barrier between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Bryson, from Co Down, asserts that the arrangements […]

Boris Johnson’s negotiations with the EU have swapped the Northern Irish backstop for a ‘front stop’, leaving MPs to vote on a ‘pointless Brexit’, says former prime minister Tony Blair. Yet the Remain cause is losing out due to public frustration with a process as complicated as “rocket science”, he wrote. The former Labour leader […]

Labour MPs backing Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal will inflict pain on the most vulnerable in society – the very people they were elected to protect. Everything the Labour Party treasures and values is at risk from this reckless right-wing deal. The new nasty party has little to lose from a no-deal Brexit. In fact, the […]

The Conservatives have been accused of ‘trolling’ Remainers by using the detested font Comic Sans in one of its pro-Brexit posts. Now is the time for MPs to back the new deal and get Brexit done.#GetBrexitDone pic.twitter.com/JuqaOVdlMC— Conservatives (@Conservatives) October 22, 2019 In what has been seen by some as a clever attempt to distract […]

Labour MPs representing Leave constituencies have indicated they could support Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill before seeking to amend it. Lisa Nandy and Gloria De Piero signalled their possible backing of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill at second reading so it can reach committee stage and undergo detailed scrutiny. Intervening during Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s speech, Nandy […]

Boris Johnson has threatened to pull his Brexit deal and call for an early general election if MPs try to push for extra weeks to scrutinise it. Two crucial votes will determine whether the prime minister will be able to live up to his “do or die” commitment to take the UK out of the […]

The BBC has issued an apology to the home secretary after presenter Andrew Marr claimed she was ‘laughing’ about the impact of Brexit on business. Marr told Patel he “couldn’t see why” Priti Patel was “laughing” as he read out a list of UK firms who had raised concerns about Boris Johnson’s Brexit proposals. Patel […]

WILL SELF’s serial eavesdropping leads him to consider the reality of bigotry in Britain Will Self. Picture: Polly Borland – Credit: Archant “English…? What’re you talkin’ ’bout, man – you try coming into Heathrow and saying to guy at passport control that you’re English – he’s gonna be laughing inside… I mean to say, you […]

As his time in the top job comes to a close, Jean-Claude Juncker said it has ‘pained’ him to spend so much time dealing with Brexit, which he described as ‘a waste of time and a waste of energy’. In one of his final speeches in Strasbourg, the European Commission president said: “In truth, it […]

The Scottish goverment has recommended that consent from Holyrood for the new Brexit deal should be withheld. SNP MP Michael Russell has lodged a memorandum under the Withdrawal Agreement Bill saying that his government does not intend to submit a key motion signalling Scotland’s approval. At the same time, SNPS MPs in Westminster have tabled […]

A Labour MP has said he will back Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill – but he has not actually read the detail. Appearing on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme, Jim Fitzpatrick said he had not read any of the detail of the bill but he said he would vote for it in principle later today. In […]

A caller to James O’Brien’s LBC show said Boris Johnson’s withdrawal agreement has ‘a lot of stuff’ that is good for the UK, but said she doesn’t need to read it to know that. Muffy from Fulham – who may have thought she was calling Nick Ferrari’s show, as she persistently called O’Brien ‘Nick’ – […]

Donald Tusk has reminded MPs that a Brexit extension is still on the table as they prepare for a Commons showdown on Boris Johnson’s new deal. Two crucial votes will determine whether the prime minister will be able to live up to his “do or die” commitment to take the UK out of the European […]

MPs are furious that they have been given just three days to scrutinise hundreds of pages of the Withdrawal Agreement struck between Boris Johnson and the EU. Boris Johnson wants to railroad Withdrawal Bill through Parliament because he knows it is so flawed, it won't withstand scrutinySo he's using empty threats that it's this Bill […]

He might have ended up as a byword for naffness, but Demis Roussos had taken an eventful and experimental route to get there. SOPHIA DEBOICK reports on the singer and other Greek greats. “Angela likes Demis Roussos, Tony likes Demis Roussos, I like Demis Roussos and Sue would like to hear Demis Roussos. So do […]

Brexit Party supporters have turned on leader Nigel Farage after he reacted angrily to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. His comments in the media and on Twitter have sparked a backlash from those that appear to side with the prime minister in trying to get Brexit over the line by October 31st. In a turn of […]

An overwhelming majority of young people do not feel politicians have listened to them on Brexit, new polling has revealed. The Jack Petchey Foundation spoke to more than 6,000 young people aged 11 to 25 – and found just 5% felt their views had been taken into account by politicians. The online survey carried out […]

The chancellor has refused to provide an impact assessment on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, meaning MPs are expected to vote ‘blindly’ on how it will affect the economy. Sajid Javid has written to MPs on the House of Commons Treasury select committee, which had requested analysis on the new Brexit deal, claiming that it was […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg should resign from the government after a string of embarrassing incidents surrounding the Queen, MPs have been told. Labour’s Geraint Davies hit out at the Commons Leader for being part of the bid to put down a new motion seeking another “meaningful vote” on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. Speaker John Bercow rejected Monday’s […]

The first ministers of Scotland and Wales have written to Donald Tusk to contradict Boris Johnson and ask for enough time to properly scrutinise the Withdrawal Agreement – and hold a second referendum on it. The letter, signed by Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford, follows two communications from Johnson who disavowed his own request for […]

Singer James Blunt has been branded ‘ignorant’ after provoking a backlash over his comments about Brexit. https://twitter.com/snigskitchen/status/1186025039197376512 Speaking to the Independent, Blunt called for politicians to “get the f**k on with” Brexit, claiming that “our lives aren’t going to change” because of it. In the interview the You’re Beautiful singer defiantly claimed the only impact […]