News and Opinion

Political conference season is nearly upon us as the Brexit clock ticks down, but one party should be thanking the European Union for the £1 million upgrade to its venue. That party? Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, which local paper the Doncaster Free Press reports will be gathering at a revamped Doncaster Racecourse. Between 2000 and […]

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…

Just 24 hours after announcing that British railways would no longer be part of the Europe-wide Interrail scheme, the company behind the decision has done a u-turn in response to a major backlash. Rail Delivery Group (RDG) had announced that it planned to withdraw from the scheme, which allows passengers to take trains across 31 […]

How to stop the ‘raging vandals’ who will tear down everything they value to accomplish Brexit. If you believe Dominic Cummings, the battle over Brexit is already over – and he’s won. But if you still believe everything Dominic Cummings says after the 2016 referendum campaign, then there’s probably no hope for you. It’s certainly […]

Bonnie Greer’s state-by-state examination of US politics continues with The Peach State. If it is possible to imagine Donald Trump taking the time to listen to music, then the guess would be that he would have the popular taste of the typical Baby Boomer. His choices would be solidly formed in the 1970s when he […]

Jeremy Corbyn has asked the Cabinet Secretary to rule that allowing the UK to leave the EU without a deal during an election campaign would be unconstitutional. In a letter to Sir Mark Sedwill, the Labour leader said it would be and “anti-democratic abuse of power” if Boris Johnson allowed this to happen. Corbyn’s argument […]

The New European’s Editor-at-Large hopes Cumberbatch-Cummings continues on his wild rampage. Might Benedict Cumberbatch, by all accounts an ardent anti-Brexiteer who has largely kept his head down on the matter, yet be playing a significant if unwitting role in the rise and fall of a no-deal Brexit? Cumberbatch, as most of you will know, played […]

Editor Matt Kelly meets broadcaster and scourge of the Brexiteers, James O’Brien. LBC radio presenter James O’Brien. Picture: Urszula Soltys – Credit: Archant For a man who spends his life talking on the radio, James O’Brien has one heck of a famous face. The video clips of the LBC presenter slowly, patiently, sometimes painfully, pulling […]

Examining the Brexit Party whitewash and picking the top Brexiteers of the week. “Hopelessly over-promoted” Home Secretary Priti Patel has been named Brexiteer of the Week. Picture: Paul Davey/Barcroft Media via Getty Images – Credit: Barcroft Media via Getty Images “As a German native, proud to be part of this celebration of diversity. This is […]

A former top supermarket boss has said there will be ‘significant’ gaps on the supermarket shelves within a week of a no-deal Brexit. Justin King, former CEO of Sainsbury’s and food director at Marks and Spencer, said that the border at Dover is unlikely to function smoothly enough after a no-deal Brexit to prevent major […]

The UK could be weeks away from another general election, meaning all opposition parties need to be rallying the troops. But, as frustrated Labour member MARTYN SLOMAN notes, Jeremy Corbyn is again missing in action. Given the maelstrom that is the current political scene there is a surprising consensus on the way that events could […]

Why the new ‘joint prime minister”s fascination with Bismarck isn’t just weird – it’s dangerous for Britain. Now Dominic Cummings is joint prime minister, we have to take him seriously as more than a Vote Leave operative. I have therefore been reading all his interminable blogs on Bismarck, eugenics and American fighter pilots. I thought […]

UK rail firms will no longer take part in the Interrail scheme that allows people to travel around 31 European countries on a single ticket. The decision is not formally connected to Brexit, and Eurail Group which runs the scheme had previously announced that Brexit “will not affect the Interrail pass”, stating that travellers from […]

An MP has blamed Brexit bureaucracy for Home Office delays in responding to the case of one of her constituents, who she says is an EU citizen with terminal cancer who should not have been deported. Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, said she was forced to resort to Twitter in an […]

A peer has warned of possible panic buying or even limited rationing in the event of a no-deal Brexit, amid food industry calls for waivers in competition law to allow coordination of the supply chain. Former chair of Northern Foods Lord Haskins said he believed there will be some “panic-buying” in the event of a […]

A former senior minister has said that if Boris Johnson refused to step down after losing a no-confidence vote it would create ‘the gravest constitutional crisis since the actions of Charles I led to the Civil War’. Former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind issued a reminder of the historical consequences of ignoring constitutional convention in a […]

MPs and peers from opposition parties have launched a legal bid to try to stop Boris Johnson from proroguing parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit. The cross-party bid comes from 24 MPs including Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, SNP’s Joanna Cherry, independent MP Heidi Allen and a number of Labour politicians. The papers have […]

The price Leavers are prepared to pay to deliver Brexit threatens everything. But, as BARNABY TOWNS explains, the extreme politics of the new government could actually provide hope for pro-EU campaigners. While no-one was surprised that Boris Johnson won the Tory leadership election, becoming Prime Minister on the votes of fewer than 100,000 Conservative Party […]

Local Labour parties are being urged to support motions for conference that could lead to the party supporting the revocation of Article 50 in specific circumstances. Last year a record number of local parties submitted motions which called for Labour to back a public vote. Now anti-Brexit activists are calling on the party to “campaign […]

The Federation of Small Businesses is urging the chancellor to consider ‘Brexit vouchers’ to help businesses to deal with a potential no-deal Brexit. Speaking to PA, the federation’s policy and advocacy chairman Martin McTague said the UK needs to “get serious” about planning and preparing the economy. The FSB is calling for an emergency budget […]

Remain MPs within the House of Commons are considering a plan to replace Boris Johnson with a ‘unity prime minister’ who would delay Brexit and call a general election. The Financial Times reports that rebel MPs opposed to a no-deal Brexit are planning to install a replacement for Boris Johnson should he push ahead with […]

As the Brexit Party announces its first 150 prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs), Twitter users have seized on the party’s distinctive graphic style to produce not-at-all childish parody memes. All these new Brexit Party candidates look like Fast Show characters that didn't make the final edit pic.twitter.com/npp9VkuBBs— Mo' (@mocent0) August 6, 2019 Making use of social […]

A senior econmist has said that it is ‘delusional’ for Britain to expect a favourable trade deal with the US. Larry Summers, former US treasury secretary and ex-director of the National Economic Council in president Barack Obama’s administration, said Britain has “no leverage” in any trade negotiations and should not hope to be prioritised in […]

A health minister has struggled to defend Boris Johnson’s claims that a promised £1.8 billion in funding for the NHS is ‘new money’. Johnson announced that £850 million would go towards 20 hospital upgrades and another £1 billion for capital spending. “It’s part of a national programme that the NHS asked for and I want […]

A professor has said that a no-deal Brexit could have cumulative effects on the UK’s food supply that would be ‘unprecedented in peacetime’. Prof Tim Lang of the Centre for Food Policy also claimed that disruption in the supply of fresh food could be so severe that people may not be able to follow the […]

Nigel Farage has been accused of giving an ‘irrational’ response to questions about racism, particularly in UKIP during his time as leader. Nigel Farage recently claimed you’d struggle to find anything racist about him. Photograph: ITV. – Credit: Archant Appearing on ITV’s Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, Farage accused the presenter of spouting “bullshit” when he […]

The government has been forced to publish data suggesting that most exporters who do business only in the EU do not have crucial paperwork for trading in the event of a no-deal Brexit. In response to pressure from Liberal Democrat MP Chuka Umunna, the Treasury has revealed that an estimated 245,000 businesses who currently trade […]

The official Leave.EU Twitter account has been accused of ‘dehumanising language’ after referring to Remainers as ‘vermin’. I am not "vermin". Remainers are not vermin. No human being should ever be called vermin. The official Leave. EU campaign twitter account describing fellow citizens in this way dehumanises opponents and debases our democracy. https://t.co/3P0phqo4P0— David Lammy […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has admitted the ‘facts have changed’ on Brexit in the last two months since he claimed that a no-deal Brexit was ‘not viable’. Just two months ago Hancock was in the Conservative leadership race saying saying that the choice was between leaving on a deal or not leaving at all. Back […]

A new poll has found a majority of Scots are now in favour of independence following Boris Johnson’s arrival at Number 10. The Lord Ashcroft poll puts support for independence at 46% and 43% against – figures which Scotland’s first minister described as “phenomenal”. When those who said they did not know how they would […]

Sinn Féin could help to bring down Brexit, but not in the way many have previously suggested. Political commentator Fintan O’Toole has said that the left-wing Irish republican political party are unlikely to take their seven seats in the House of Commons, despite the fact that they remain vacant, and could tip the arithmetic in […]

OFCOM has ruled news anchor Jon Snow did not breach rules by saying he had ‘never seen so many white people in one place’, nor did remarks by Nigel Farage saying he ‘should be attacked’. Snow’s comment, referring to Brexiteer protesters who gathered in Westminster on March 29th – the day the UK was meant […]