News and Opinion

The president of the EU Commission has said that he does not support the granting of any extension to Article 50 after ratifying the Withdrawal Agreement with Boris Johnson. He told gathered reporters: “We have a deal. The British PM has to make sure that the deal will pass the hurdles of Westminster. As president […]

MPs have voted to allow for a rare Saturday sitting of the House of Commons – and to allow for amendments to the government’s proposals which could pave the way for a People’s Vote. MPs supported a motion teeing up the extra session hours after the prime minister and the EU confirmed they had reached […]

The Brexit Party chairman and founder of Leave.EU was not happy when he was asked about the offensive tweet referring to Angela Merkel as a ‘kraut’. Richard Tice said the question was “pathetic” for asking him about the controversial tweet because he has not been associated with Leave.EU since 2016. The tweet, which accompanied a […]

Nigel Farage has said that Leave.EU’s tweet calling German chancellor Angela Merkel a ‘kraut’ was not racist – and he used to use the term around the time he left school. Speaking to Adam Boulton on Sky News’ All Out Politics, Farage answered questions on anti-semitism in the Labour Party following the resignation of MP […]

As was regularly noted during the David Cameron’s premiership, there is a much-discussed phenomenon among Oxford students called the ‘essay crisis’. As ever with staples of the Oxford University social scene, this is just a university-specific name for a much wider phenomenon: that of doing no work whatsoever on an essay you’re given seven days […]

DONALD MACINTYRE on the foolhardiness that has led the UK to the brink. For optics junkies, there was an entertaining vignette of the prime ministerial return to Downing Street from his meeting with Leo Varadkar last Thursday evening. While Johnson emerges from the Jag’s offside rear door, belatedly tucking his shirt in and waving benignly […]

An extension to Article 50 is looking increasingly likely after a new Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by Boris Johnson has been rejected by the DUP, meaning it may not pass in parliament. Where there is a will, there is a #deal - we have one! It's a fair and balanced agreement for the EU and the […]

The decisive action will be outside parliament – not inside, says ZOE WILLIAMS. Parliament will be sitting this Saturday for the first time since the Falklands War. This, I think, is meant to strike some kind of awe, or at least make us sit up in our seats; in fact, historical parallels – “biggest cock-up […]

As Boris Johnson attempts to get a draft Withdrawal Agreement past his own MPs, pranksters have projected a reminder of the time he advised them that ‘no British Conservative government’ should accept similar terms. Hey @BorisJohnson, we saw you gave a speech to DUP conference last year excoriating the very deal you're now trying to […]

A man has taken to task Brexit Party MEP Ann Widdecombe for ‘spreading hate’ during a live television debate. During Channel 5’s Brexit Debate Widdecombe claimed that the programme’s survey that revealed 49% of the country believe no-deal Brexit was bad for the UK was a result of them listening to “project fear”. An audience […]

Anti-Brexit campaigners plan to lodge a legal action in a bid to ban the government from putting any Brexit deal before parliament. Jo Maugham QC said he believes the agreement, due to be debated in a special parliamentary sitting on Saturday, contravenes legislation stating it is “unlawful for her majesty’s government to enter into arrangements […]

Nigel Farage has complained that the EU has taken away the offer of a Brexit extension, which he says is now more preferable to Boris Johnson’s deal. https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1184834973662175234 The Brexit Party leader said Boris Johnson’s plans were “not Brexit” because the deal will still mean “regulatory alignment with the European Union”. He told the BBC: […]

A cross-party delegation of pro-EU MPs – which included Dominic Grieve, David Lammy, Vince Cable and Caroline Lucas – have heard from EU member state representatives how there will be no agreement on a Brexit deal this week. In their meetings in Brussels, the MPs heard how the growing optimism in Westminster that a deal […]

The police watchdog is ‘assessing possible criminality’ as it weighs up whether to investigate allegations of a conflict of interest in Boris Johnson’s dealings with Jennifer Arcuri. Explaining why it asked the London Assembly’s oversight committee to pause its misconduct investigation into Boris Johnson’s actions as London mayor, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) […]

An investigation by the London Assembly into US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri and her relationship with Boris Johnson has been put on ice following a request by the police watchdog. Members of the oversight committee at City Hall were due to look into allegations that Boris Johnson showed favouritism to the American businesswoman during his time […]

Former Labour MP PETER BRADLEY calls on the party leadership to get on board with a second Brexit referendum – and to lead the way on ensuring mistakes from the last are not repeated. Last week John McDonnell signalled his support for a second referendum before a general election. Days later shadow business secretary Rebecca […]

A pro-EU campaigner who collects the stories of former Leave voters has revealed the most common reasons people give him for having changed their minds on Brexit. Jamie Woodhouse is a volunteer with RemainerNow, the campaign that amplifies the voices of people who now support Remain despite voting Leave in 2016. The campaign, which started […]

A new poll Brexiteers have seized upon as showing the UK backs Brexit, actually reveals Remain is still the most popular option. The poll, which was conducted by ComRes for a new Channel 5 documentary presented by Jeremy Vine, was heavily trailed by the presenter on his daytime television programme. The headline figures from the […]

The UK’s scientific research is being hurt by Brexit uncertainty as our share of EU research funding drops by half a billion euros and one third fewer scientists choosing to come to the UK. A report from the Royal Society warns of the “clear impact” that Brexit uncertainty is having on the UK’s scientific funding […]

Boris Johnson will write a letter to Brussels asking for a delay if no deal is approved by Saturday, the Brexit secretary has confirmed. As negotiations resumed, Stephen Barclay was questioned by the anti-no-deal legislation’s namesake, Labour’s Hilary Benn, when appearing at the Exiting the European Union Committee of MPs. The Brexit secretary reiterated that […]

International trade secretary Liz Truss said that the USA’s aggressive tariffs on products such as Scotch whisky could damage the relationship between the two countries. At an international trade scrutiny committee Truss admitted that she was “extremely disappointed” with retaliatory tariffs on a wide range of goods which the US announced in response to a […]

This week’s front cover of The New European makes it very clear where we stand on Boris Johnson’s Brexit proposals – and it’s far from positive. By popular demand we have created a version to be used as a poster for this weekend’s People’s Vote march in London. Get your free “stick your Brexit Boris” […]

An MP who was sacked by Boris Johnson for rebelling on Brexit has received a threatening message by email. https://twitter.com/Sandbach/status/1184371828980178944 Antoinette Sandbach tweeted a picture of a message she had received which included what appeared to be a death threat. Along with the picture of the message, she wrote: “This in my inbox this morning.” […]

Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson has been pressed on the fact that her party must vote for any Brexit deal Boris Johnson brings home from Brussels in order to secure a confirmatory referendum. Swinson was faced with the awkward point that her MPs would have to vote for the deal to get a People’s Vote […]

Mark François has been interrupted by an anti-Brexit protester as soon as he started to give his view on Boris Johnson’s Brexit proposals. The Tory Brexiteer appeared downbeat about the plans as he insisted he had not seen the whole detail so could not give an opinion yet. But just as we went to open […]

After warnings from the Tory Brexiteer that the country would ‘explode’ if the UK does not leave the EU on October 31st, Marc François has become strangely subdued. The outspoken Brexiteer had very little to say when approached by reporters about the compromises from Boris Johnson that could lead to a deal. He had been […]

Andrea Leadsom has said businesses should assess the risks associated with leaving the European Union the same way they would a weather warning. The government has been on an advertising blitz in recent weeks informing businesses they may need to make changes to their operations to ensure they are sorted for Britain’s exit from the […]

Jeremy Corbyn has refused to threaten Labour MPs that back Boris Johnson on Brexit. The Labour leader said he believed in the “power of persuasion” instead, despite a number of Labour Leave MPs continuing to rebel against the whip, including Graham Stringer, Kate Hoey, and Dennis Skinner. He said: “I believe in the power of […]

Amid calls for a new Scottish independence referendum, a leading think tank has warned that a no-deal Brexit risks taking the Union to ‘breaking point’. A new report has noted a drop in engagement with devolved governments since Boris Johnson became prime minister, and has said: “A no-deal Brexit would be a high stakes gamble […]

The Liberal Democrats will push for MPs to vote on a second Brexit referendum to find out if it has the support of a majority in the House of Commons. While a decision on a confirmatory vote had been expected as part of the Kyle amendment, if Boris Johnson brought back a deal, the Lib […]

Bonnie Greer has warned Boris Johnson that a trade deal with Donald Trump will be difficult to get without acknowledging a special relationship between the USA and Ireland. The commentator and The New European columnist has been wildly popular in Ireland since she spoke out about anglo-Irish relations on Question Time. She warned that the […]

Sky News has announced plans for a new television station that will be free from Brexit news. The new pop-up channel will go live from Wednesday 16th October and will air between 5pm and 10pm between Monday and Friday. The station is in response to a study that claimed a third of people are avoiding […]