News and Opinion

If Sir Kim Darroch had ever had any doubt about the accuracy of his comments the president’s reaction must have served as vindication. Sometimes, nothing justifies an action so much as its own response. So it has proven – at high stakes, in different ways – for two groups this week. The first is Sir […]

MICHAEL WHITE on the week Boris Johnson was all-but crowned as the new European Union team looked on… Martin Rowson for The New European – Credit: Archant The Tory endgame is in sight and it’s starting to get serious. But for a few minutes on Monday morning I contemplated the preposterous notion that, once he […]

The New York prosecutor terrifying the president President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) – Credit: AP The average American is brought up to see their country’s constitution as a kind of Holy Writ. It holds within it the creation of the union of the 50 sovereign states themselves, small nations which have agreed to […]

Nigel Farage has called for the government to remove opponents of Brexit from the civil service, to claims it is ‘fascism by the backdoor’. He appears to want those opposed to Brexit to be removed from the civil service and military. Asked on his radio programme by a caller about his remarks in which he […]

Tommy Robinson has been jailed for nine months after being found guilty of contempt of court for a video he livestreamed outside court in breach of a reporting ban. The former English Defence League (EDL) leader attended court for his sentencing 20 minutes late, wearing a t-shirt reading “convicted of journalism”, saying he had been […]

NATHAN BORODA, who was born and bred in Bury, just a short way away from Wigan, extends a friendly invitation to Lisa Nandy MP to attend the latest People’s Vote event. You hear it all the time. The North is Brexit heartland. Barely anyone higher than Watford wants a People’s Vote. The are perceptions that […]

What would the leader of the opposition’s ‘for’ and ‘against’ Brexit lists look like? Britain’s opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn looks on, Photo: OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images) – Credit: AFP/Getty Images Boris Johnson famously wrote his ‘for’ and ‘against’ Brexit articles when deciding which way to plump. So why can’t Jeremy Corbyn do the same? […]

A Lib Dem councillor has defected to the Brexit Party, claiming that their pro-Remain stance goes against her beliefs, despite only joining six months ago. Rochdale councillor Kathleen Nickson joined the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats from Labour in January 2019, and her defection was celebrated by voices within the party. She said she was joining the […]

A 16-year-old has just effectively taken down Boris Johnson’s Brexit strategy – leaving fellow guests in awe at his coherency. Alex McGovern, a member of the Youth Parliament for Kent, offered a coherent critical analysis of Johnson’s plans for Brexit saying that “having a loud voice and peddling optimism” will not get us through the […]

NICK COHEN on how the Tory leadership race has revealed a profound and disturbing change on the British right Leave campaigner Arron Banks, who is being investigated by the National Crime Agency for "suspected criminal offences" committed during the Brexit referendum, arrives at the BBC Broadcasting House in London to appear on the Andrew Marr […]

Reader DAVID HARRISON said the Remain movement needs ‘one boss, one plan and one message’. Why is Remain so badly managed? Like millions of other utterly committed pro-Europeans I am ready to march or vote to stay in the EU. But look at it. The European parliament vote saw a shower of Remain parties splitting […]

Chancellor Philip Hammond has said he will be a ‘nightmare’ to Boris Johnson over a no-deal Brexit. Hammond insisted he would use the Commons backbenches to “vigorously” battle any attempt at withdrawing from the EU without a deal. Asked if he would jump before he was pushed if Johnson takes the Tory crown in two […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL writes an open letter to the Tories… Dear Tory members, Brexit was supposed to be about taking back control. But never have so many felt so helpless in seeing so few decide our future. You are among the 0.25% who have a say in deciding who our prime minister should be at this […]

Boris Johnson has received the backing of the Brexiteer boss of Wetherspoon’s – but not all of the punters agreed. During his visit to the Metropolitan Bar in London, Johnson posed for selfies and signed autographs with some enthusiastic lunchtime drinkers. But one customer, finishing a late breakfast, banged the table and chanted “People’s Vote” […]

Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president-in-waiting, says she wants the UK to abandon its plans for Brexit. Speaking to MEPs Von Der Leyen said she hoped that Brexit does not happen, but that the British must take responsibility for “sorting out” the situation. She said that the EU’s offer to Theresa May and […]

Heidi Allen has suggested that the chancellor is interested in her ‘Unite to Remain’ initiative, which hopes to persuade anti-Brexit parties to collaborate in support of Remain candidates in a general election. The initiative will follow the blueprint of the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election, where Plaid Cymru and the Greens have stood down their candidates […]

Theresa May sidestepped a chance to ‘recommend her successor’, telling MPs that the next Tory leader would be an ‘excellent’ prime minister whoever wins. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable sought to put May on the spot during Prime Minister’s Questions by asking how Jeremy Hunt or Boris Johnson would secure a majority in the […]

Minutes before PMQs, the news of Sir Kim Darroch’s resignation broke. Did Jeremy Corbyn make the government squirm over it…? Minutes – four, five? – before prime minister’s questions, the Sky News ‘breaking’ banner swooshed across TVs in Westminster. Sir Kim Darroch, who Boris Johnson had washed his hands of on live TV the previous […]

Outspoken Brexiteer billionaire James Dyson has purchased a ‘super penthouse’ in Singapore months after being accused of ‘hypocrisy’ for moving his company out of Britain. The apartment is the city’s most expensive penthouse, the Daily Mail reports, costing Dyson between £44 million and £59 million. It covers three floors, contains five bedrooms, and included a […]

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has conceded that it would be hard for the party to commit itself to Leave after its pre-election pledge to back Remain. As Sir Keir outlined his party’s position on a second referendum on Radio 4’s Today programme, Justin Webb interrupted him to question what it entailed. He said: […]

It was only meant to last for a month, but here we are, three years on and still going, no end in sight, either for The New European or Brexit. When we launched on July 8, 2016 – into the immediate shockwave of the referendum result – we could have had no inkling that this […]

Heidi Allen has launched Unite to Remain, a cross-party initiative to help anti-Brexit candidates maximise their chances in parliamentary elections, regardless of party. "The thought of Boris and Farage over their shoulders is really focusing minds."@heidiallen75 says Remain parties would work together to stop another Tory government at the next general election. Former PM threatens […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY on an astonishing travel book that tracks the continent’s myths and sagas and links its past with its present. On the day after the 2016 referendum Nicholas Jubber was sitting in a horse-drawn carriage clopping towards the fairytale castle of Neuschwanstein in Bavaria with his wife, child and a man from Düsseldorf who […]

Sir John Major has said that he would seek a judicial review of any attempt to stop parliament having a say over a no-deal Brexit. https://twitter.com/BBCr4today/status/1148869403578159107 The former prime minister and Conservative leader said that there was “no conceivable justification” for Boris Johnson to attempt to “bypass parliament” to force through a no-deal Brexit. He […]

It was the only scheduled head-to-head encounter of the Tory leadership campaign. But what were the key moments in the debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt? – Do or die, but whose neck is on the line? Johnson refused to say whether he would resign if he failed to deliver Brexit by the Halloween […]

This year’s Wimbledon champions’ winnings will be worth significantly less than just months earlier as the pound hit an almost two-year low. Novak Djokovic with the trophy after winning the Gentlemen’s singles final in 2018. John Walton/PA. – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images Uncertainty over Brexit has significantly weakened the value of the pound in recent […]

Chris Grayling’s ‘rushed and risky’ no-deal Brexit ferry contracts cost the British taxpayer £85 million, a watchdog has revealed. A report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also expressed concern that preparations for leaving the EU on October 31 risk running out of time. The PAC, which scrutinises the value for money and effectiveness […]

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt have clashed over a range of subjects in an ITV debate – which was the public’s first chance to see the two men fighting to become the next prime minister go head-to-head. Boris Johnson was forced to defend his plans to cut taxes for high earners in a fractious TV […]

Both BMW and Ford have brought sobering news for UK car manufacturing post-Brexit, with Ford’s chief reiterating warnings of the ‘catastrophe’ a no-deal scenario would bring. Ford’s chair Steven Armstrong said the motor giant would have to look again at its manufacturing “footprint” in the UK in the event of a disorderly departure from the […]

PETER TRUDGILL examines the etymological roots of this beautiful plant. It is not a totally straightforward matter to explain how the flower we call the foxglove got its name. We can, though, at least figure out where the glove part comes from: the flowers look like the fingers of gloves; and small fingers, as children […]

The Liberal Democrats under Jo Swinson would tie with a Boris Johnson-led Conservative Party if a general election were held before Brexit, says a new poll. The poll suggests that Boris Johnson’s leadership would not necessarily improve his party’s fortunes as much as he might hope, while hinting at confidence in the Lib Dem leadership […]

A Conservative Remainer MP has defended his bid to prevent the prorogation of parliament to bring about a no-deal Brexit, saying the controversial move would be ‘the end of democracy’. Dominic Grieve made a fierce attack on this use of prorogation, saying: “The idea that it is constitutionally proper to prorogue parliament as a device […]