News and Opinion

In an ironic twist, EU law could be used against Remain campaigners, with the Brexiteer government relying on it to allow Brexit to take place on October 31st. The government has not denied reports that it is considering using the supremacy of European law over UK legislation to take Britain out of the EU without […]

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…

A Tory Brexiteer MP has hinted that he wore blackface, while describing the practice widely criticised as a racist caricature as an ‘entirely acceptable bit of fun’. Sir Desmond Swayne made the comment as he sought to defend Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, whose re-election campaign was near-derailed by disclosures that he had darkened his […]

Jess Phillips says she is feeling ‘jumpy and worried’ after a man was arrested outside the Labour MP’s office and further threats were sent to her. The Birmingham Yardley MP said her staff had to be confined to her constituency office as a man allegedly kicked the door, tried to smash windows and yelled she […]

CATHERINE BEARDER says it has not been an impressive week for British politics but – while Westminster dithers – the Lib Dems in Brussels are continuing to get on with business. MEPs Catherine Bearder and Judith Bunting sign the Brussels declaration. Picture: supplied by Judith Bunting – Credit: supplied by Judith Bunting This week’s Supreme […]

What’s your take on the events of the week? Give us your views on the key questions that arose for Remainers this week, on everything from the Labour party’s stance to questions of BBC impartiality. – Got other views? Email us at letters@theneweuropean.co.uk

A racecourse company owned by a Brexiteer lord has apologised after someone using its Twitter account made insulting comments about Gina Miller. The Twitter feed belonging to Cartmel Racecourse in Lancashire responded to comments about Miller’s Question Time appearance, calling her an “awkward defiant b***h” and insulting her marital life. Cartmel Racecourse has issued a […]

Marketing industry professionals have skewered the government’s ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ adverts as ‘cynical and sinister propaganda’ in a hilarious review. Campaign magazine, which covers advertising, media and marketing, has named the government’s video advert its “Turkey of the Week”. The government has come under criticism for the £140 million campaign which spans a wide […]

As we head towards another tumultuous month we’ll be recording another episode of The New European podcast live in front of a studio audience. Podcast regulars Steve Anglesey and Richard Porritt will be joined by special guests including TNE columnists Bonnie Greer and an audience as they talk all things Brexit, bring out some of […]

Readers give their verdict on the Lib Dems using conference to pledge to revoke Article 50 – while Labour used theirs to carry on sitting on the fence. MP Jess Phillips talks about traditional Labour voters who back Remain being “parked on the Lib Dems’ drive” because of Brexit, “and they will go into the […]

The costs of a no-deal Brexit could spell bankruptcy for up to a quarter of the UK’s rural businesses, it has been estimated. The president of lobbying group the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), Tim Breitmeyer, said that many farmers and other rural businesses were already struggling and for up to a quarter of […]

Jennifer Arcuri, the US entrepreneur whose friendship with Boris Johnson has sparked a conflict of interest row, has criticised Brexit for its impact on business and cited it as a reason for her to leave the UK. Jennifer Arcuri, the businesswoman and close friend of Boris Johnson who received business assistance during his time as […]

MPs have questioned Michael Gove’s suitability to oversee electoral matters as head of the Cabinet Office after raising his part in the Vote Leave campaign. It follows reports that the government is now gathering personal data from the ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ campaign. Ian Lucas, the MP for Wrexham, accused Gove of ducking responsibility for […]

Boris Johnson is running out of options to find a way out of the Brexit mess – but he still has the option of a second referendum. An honourable man would resign his position, but Boris Johnson is not an honourable man. His next-best option is to rescue himself and help bring an end to […]

Former prime minister Sir John Major says Boris Johnson and his ‘Brexit Party tribute band’ have ‘wilfully’ destroyed the prospects of a cross-party agreement on a Brexit deal. Major said Johnson was whipping up “fear and anger” for electoral purposes – a tactic he described as “profoundly un-Conservative”. In a speech to the Centre for […]

Dominic Cummings has said that he is not ‘surprised’ that some voters are angry over Brexit, but said it can be resolved if they ‘respect’ the result of the EU referendum. His comments, at a book launch, came as the prime minister refused to bow to mounting pressure to apologise over his use of language. […]

Gina Miller was praised for her performance on Question Time as she took on Brexiteers in the audience who were angered by the Supreme Court ruling. In one scene she clashed with Brexiteers in the audience, who claimed that MPs were trying to “frustrate” the will of the people and that the law was actually […]

Alan Sugar has described female MPs who criticised Boris Johnson for his comments about murdered MP Jo Cox as ‘ranting women’ and has said it is they who should apologise to the prime minister. Johnson has refused to apologise for saying that the best way to honour the Remain-supporting MP was to “get Brexit done”, […]

Whitehall’s watchdog has warned that the government has a ‘significant amount’ of work to do to ensure a continued supply of medicine in the event of a no-deal Brexit. With just five weeks to go until October 31st the National Audit Office (NAO) said there were still “risks” to the NHS. The NAO said additional […]

A Labour shadow minister confronted Boris Johnson’s chief aide after being told he would be put in a ‘ditch’ following Boris Johnson’s heated Commons exchange. Karl Turner MP. Photograph: John Stilwell/PA. – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images Karl Turner approached Dominic Cummings, the man heralded as encouraging a “people versus parliament” strategy to push through Brexit, […]

Boris Johnson has called for tempers to cool, just hours after he reportedly shouted at Labour MPs during a vote on enabling a recess for Tory party conference. The prime minister refused to apologise for describing attempts to block a no-deal break with the EU as the “surrender act”. But he acknowledged that he would […]

Germany’s complex history has left it with some fascinating features, not least its pockets of Slavic speakers. PETER TRUDGILL reports. The boundary in northern Europe between the areas where Germanic languages are spoken and those which are occupied by Slavic-language speakers has been shifting backwards and forwards on an east­-west axis for at least a […]

Modern sensibilities have made Paul Gauguin a deeply controversial figure, yet he played a pivotal role in the development of portrait art, shifting the focus from sitter to painter. CLAUDIA PRITCHARD reports A head is a matter of two eyes, a nose and a mouth, arranged any way you like. So said Picasso, in whose […]

A new referendum on Brexit is now practically inevitable. But what exactly should the question on the ballot paper be, asks AC GRAYLING. It is common cause among all – and ‘all’ means the ever-increasing majority – who want a second referendum to be held, that ‘Remain’ must be one of the options on the […]

The daughter of a Labour MP has tweeted she ‘can’t stay quiet any more’ about Boris Johnson’s toxic rhetoric, saying Jo Cox’s murder made her fear for her mother’s life. The language used by our Prime Minister - not a far-right populist or provocative journalist, but our Prime Minister - is just beyond words. The […]

Far-right figureheads have applauded Boris Johnson’s latest Commons performance, during which he dismissed comments about murdered MP Jo Cox. In his speech Johnson told MPs that “the best way to honour the memory of Jo Cox and indeed the best way to bring this country together would be, I think, to get Brexit done.” Tommy […]

The disgraced founder of the Brexit Party has tweeted that immigration policy is to blame for the Islamophobia scandal that is currently being investigated in the Conservatives. Catherine Blaiklock, who founded the Brexit Party, has blamed immigration policy for the Islamophobia found in the Conservative Party. Picture: Twitter – Credit: Twitter Catherine Blaiklock, who stood […]

MPs have voted against giving the Conservatives time off from parliament to hold their party conference – Boris Johnson’s seventh defeat in the House of Commons. The Tories had hoped for a three-day Commons recess starting on Monday to enable the four-day event to take place from Sunday. Instead MPs will sit between Monday and […]

Who is on Question Time tonight and where do they stand on Brexit? Here’s your guide… The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme tonight comes from the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff Bay, the famed home of Shirley Bassey. But who will prove the man with the Midas touch – and who will beckon you […]

The Brexit Party’s MEPs are some of the highest earners to sit in the European parliament – earning between £1.7 million and £4 million a year from outside activities. The 28 Brexiteers, elected after the European elections earlier this year, regularly claim to be taking on the “elite” and the “establishment”. But in a report […]

The government’s £140million ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ campaign is to be reported to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), MPs heard. Independent Group for Change MP Chris Leslie branded the campaign, including billboards nationwide, is “inaccurate” and “misleading” as it does not acknowledge the legal reality that the UK may not leave on October 31. Critics […]

Dominic Grieve has branded Boris Johnson a ‘pathological liar’ as the Tory rebel doubled down on his criticisms of the prime minister. Appearing on ITV’s Peston programme alongside Labour MP Jess Phillips the former attorney general said he found Boris Johnson’s comments about murdered MP Jo Cox “terrifying”. “I find it terrifying. This is somebody […]