News and Opinion

The Polish ambassador to the UK has written to Poles in the UK asking them to ‘seriously consider returning to their homeland’ after raising concerns about the post-Brexit settlement scheme. Arkady Rzegocki told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he had written to about 800,000 Poles in the UK, saying should consider it because the […]

Essex Police have confirm that Tory Brexiteer Mark Francois is not actually a police officer after he was spotted in Rayleigh on Friday night wearing the full kit. https://twitter.com/EssexPoliceUK/status/1174300972081979394 The Brexiteer, who has claimed that the country could “explode” after October 31st if we do not leave the European Union, was photographed by social media […]

The prime minister’s visit to a hospital was interrupted by a parent angry over ‘years and years and years of the NHS being destroyed’. Boris Johnson was accused of treating his visit to Whipps Cross University Hospital as a “press opportunity” and was asked if he would accept low healthcare staffing levels for his own […]

A majority of the British public dispute claims from Boris Johnson’s government that it is making progress towards a Brexit deal. Johnson had told the Mail on Sunday there were “real signs of movement” on getting rid of the backstop, the persistent stumbling block to a Brexit agreement. He said: “A huge amount of progress […]

The leader of UKIP is boycotting his own party conference because it hasn’t sold enough tickets. Richard Braine is now in a public row with the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) over the matter. He has called for the cancellation of the conference, which is due to start in Newport on Thursday. Party chair […]

After the success of The New European Podcast’s live event earlier this year, we’re back at Podcast Live this October. 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 the regular features, and […]

DOMINIC GRIEVE on why he and other MPs expelled from the Tory party retain the true mantle of conservatism. The last few weeks have been a turbulent time in politics. The prime minster continues to pursue his ‘do or die’ approach to Brexit, claiming he is implementing the referendum result and representing the will of […]

At a debate in the EU parliament, a Brexit Party MEP has managed to build in references to Star Wars, the Second World War, a football analogy and Edith Piaf into a one-minute speech about leaving the EU. MEP Martin Daubney: "We've heard a lot today about Emperor Verhofstadt's plan to build a new European […]

A Brexit Party MEP has called on the European Union to ignore parliamentary sovereignty by rejecting a request for an extension to Article 50. The Brexiteers used to want parliamentary sovereignty, now they are lining up to demand the EU overrides the laws that Westminster set. To applause from his Eurosceptic colleagues Lance Forman, a […]

The Independent Group for Change’s leader Anna Soubry has attacked the Lib Dems’ new revocation policy and hinted she wants the party removed from the People’s Vote campaign. In an attack on the Lib Dems’ new position, which would revoke Article 50 without any referendum if it wins a majority in an election, Soubry said […]

Guy Verhofstadt has told the Brexit Party to end their digs about the ‘undemocratic EU’ and comparisons to the Soviet Union because it’s Brexiteers in Westminster acting against the wishes of democracy. In a speech to the European parliament the Brexit negiotiator pointed the on-going saga over Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament. He told colleagues […]

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has hinted again he would remain neutral in a new Brexit referendum. He was writing for the Guardian ahead of Labour’s annual conference, where Corbyn is expected to come under increased pressure to explicitly back staying in the EU. The Labour leader said that the party would negotiate a new Leave […]

The government has demanded to know what schools and councils are doing to prepare for Brexit. In a letter schools minister Lord Agnew said the government needs “a clearer understanding of school preparedness” for the UK leaving the European Union. It urges schools to contact their food suppliers to ensure they will be able to […]

Jo Swinson’s speech to Lib Dem conference was well-received by the party faithful, but there were a number of areas of Lib Dem history she omitted from her speech, including the party’s policy of a second referendum. The headlines from the conference focused on the shift in policy on Brexit, with members backing a move […]

Brexit Party MEP Alexandra Phillips has been challenged in EU parliament about her involvement with Cambridge Analytica and angrily dismissed it all as ‘misinformation’ spread by ‘FBPE hashtag people’. Phillips became hostile in a session discussing foreign electoral interference and disinformation, when the conversation turned to her own involvement in disputed election processes. The Brexiteer […]

Protesters outside the doors of the Supreme Court have attacked Gina Miller as a ‘traitor’ and a ‘shyster’ as she left the first day of the hearing about Boris Johnson’s prorogation. The businesswoman is appealing a verdict on her earlier challenge over the legality of Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament for five weeks. During […]

Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson has warned Boris Johnson that being a woman will not stop her from toppling him as prime minister. The East Dunbartonshire MP told a rejuvenated party that the Conservative Party leader would find out that being a female was not a “weakness”. She told members in Bournemouth in her closing […]

Boris Johnson’s motive for proroguing parliament for so long was to ‘silence’ parliament, Supreme Court justices have heard. Supreme Court justices are considering appeals from two challenges that reached differing rulings on the prime minister’s unusually long suspension of parliament. The judges are being asked to determine whether Johnson’s advice to the Queen to prorogue […]

The government’s advocate general has refused to comment on whether the government could prorogue parliament straight after it is recalled. Protesters outside the Supreme Court in London where judges are due to consider legal challenges to Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament. Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Wire – Credit: PA While Lord Keen gave an undertaking […]

Broadcasting veteran David Dimbleby says he has never seen the country ‘so divided’ as it is over Brexit. Members of the media and protesters outside the Supreme Court in London. Picture: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Wire – Credit: PA Dimbleby, who has hosted the BBC’s coverage of every general election since 1979, spoke to protesters outside the […]

The House of Commons’ Brexit select committee have called on Michael Gove to answer questions on the government’s Yellowhammer documents. Six-pages of information relating to Operation Yellowhammer, a secret Whitehall dossier outlining the disruption the UK could face in the event of a no-deal Brexit, were released by the gvoernment last week after a demand […]

The government has been accused of hiding the ‘full picture’ in its release of Yellowhammer documents after Department of Transport files were leaked to the press. The contradicting reports suggest that Yellowhammer documents have significantly played down the impact of a no-deal Brexit on potential disruption to ports. The documents, which were seen by the […]

Boris Johnson has declined to provide a witness statement to the Supreme Court, raising questions about why the prime minister was not prepared to comment on the record about his plans. Lord Pannick, acting on behalf of Gina Miller, said that the prime minister’s motives for proroguing parliament were central to the court case and […]

A senior justice minister has refused to rule out a second prorogation of parliament as rumours grow that Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings are considering it as a ‘nuclear option’. Will the government suspend Parliament for a second time?Justice Secretary @RobertBuckland dodges the question but says imagining what will happen in October would be "idle" […]

A legal battle over Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament has begun in the UK’s highest court. Members of the media and protesters outside the Supreme Court in London. Picture: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Wire – Credit: PA The Supreme Court in London is set to hear appeals from two challenges which were brought in English and Scottish […]

Boris Johnson’s trip to Luxembourg has made headlines in Tuesday’s newspapers with some calling it a ‘humiliation’ and others an ‘ambush’. Johnson travelled to Luxembourg for his first face-to-face meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker since entering Downing Street. But it was an afternoon press conference – where Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel continued despite […]

A new billboard featuring Jacob Rees-Mogg’s supine posture in the House of Commons features on a billboard ereced at Westminster Bridge Road in London. The House of Commons leader became an internet meme after he was pictured slumping on the benches of the lower house as MPs debated whether to take control of the agenda […]

Lord Sumption, a former UK Supreme Court judge, has claimed that Boris Johnson is taking a ‘hammer and sickle’ to our political culture. Speaking on BBC Newsnight, Sumption said he could not see how the prime minister “can leave without a deal on October 31st.” He said the Benn Act is “a very tightly drafted […]

Tory Brexiteer Mark Francois has claimed the ‘country will explode’ if the UK does not leave the European Union on October 31st. Mark Francois and Ash Sarkar on BBC Politics Live. Photograph: BBC. – Credit: Archant Speaking on BBC’s Politics Live alongside left-wing journalist Ash Sarkar, the Leave MP and deputy chairman of the ERG […]

Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson is will liken Boris Johnson to a dictator during her speech at party conference. The East Dunbartonshire MP is set to close her party’s four-day conference in Bournemouth with stinging criticism of the prime minister and his pursuit of a no-deal Brexit. Swinson is set to condemn Johnson for sacking […]

Photoshopped pictures of Boris Johnson’s empty lectern have already begun doing the rounds on Twitter after he failed to show up to his press conference in Luxembourg. Johnson in Luxembourg. pic.twitter.com/GE8W9HFVCt— Brandy Snap (@Brandy_Snap) September 16, 2019 After protesters heckled the prime minister during his visit, he declined to appear alongside his Luxembourger counterpart, sparking […]

A European leader has let loose his deep frustration with Boris Johnson and Brexit as the UK prime minister ducked their joint press conference. After joint talks with Boris Johnson, the Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel was left to field press questions standing next to an empty podium. WATCH: Boris Johnson cancels press conference in […]