News and Opinion

Ahead of a major conference in Britain, Esperantist TIM OWEN explains how the language arrived in the UK. One hundred and fifteen years ago there was an event in Dover, a coming together of both sides of the Channel. The participants were new Europeans, if you will – individuals who had taken somewhat revolutionary steps […]

The tiny country was left some considerable baggage by former colonial master Britain, in the shape of a territorial dispute which threatens to halve it in size. Next week its voters must make a stark choice about their nation’s future. 
WILL WORLEY reports. A man sits on a pier in Belize City. Picture:PEDRO PARDO/AFP/Getty Images […]

STEVE ANGLESEY takes a look at the Vote Leave cheats, and explains why Gemma Collins is his Brexiteer of the Week. Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions. Picture: House of Commons/PA Wire – Credit: PA One question for whoever arranged the short stack of hardbacks which flanked Dominic Raab on his recent, […]

MICHAEL HESTER says that blaming Remainers has become the norm for Brexiteers because they do not have a plan for Brexit. Now, after nearly three years, it is finally time we are heard. A vote to leave the EU was a vote for an undefined outcome. You can tell me what you *wanted* when you […]

British passports without the words European Union on the front cover have been issued despite the Brexit delay. The burgundy passports were introduced from March 30, the day after Britain was expected to leave the EU. Some passports including the words European Union will continue to be issued while the remaining stock is used up. […]

Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo writes exclusively for The New European on why the reset button must be pressed on Brexit. Exhausted is probably the best way to describe the political debate in the UK. The public are tired of hearing politicians rabbiting on about Brexit. The politicians are tired of going round in circles […]

Jeremy Corbyn has been told his party may never be forgiven if it works with the Conservatives to bring in a ‘hard-right Brexit’. That was the warning from Scottish Green co-convener Patrick Harvie, as he told party activists to ‘get into campaign mode’ in case the UK takes part in European Parliament elections next month. […]

Labour has said that the government is offering no change to its Brexit proposals, despite two day of talks. Speaking during a visit to south Wales to mark his party’s victory in the Newport West by-election, Jeremy Corbyn said: ‘There’s been no obvious move on the side of the government as of yet, we’re continuing […]

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…

Arch-Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has claimed Theresa May is abandoning the Conservative Party by moving towards a softer Brexit. MORE: Subscribe to our newspaper for £13 and get a FREE Bollocks to Brexit mug MORE: Brex Factor - Raab's crook book carries lessons for Vote Leave cheats MORE: Leading Brexiteer commentator admits 'we are much better […]

Scotland’s first minister has written to EU citizens living in Scotland that ‘we want you to stay’. In her open letter, which was made available in several different languages, Nicola Sturgeon wrote that the hardest part of Brexit had been meeting people from the EU who have no certainty over whether they will be able […]

Mitch Benn says the Remain movement is still in full voice as Brexiteers call for the government to get on with it. It’s exhausting, this Brexit thing, isn’t it? Even if you’re not tasked with following and commenting on the whole slowly unravelling fustercluck on a semi-professional basis, just trying to keep up with each […]

Theresa May has written to European Council president Donald Tusk requesting an extension to Article 50 until June 30. The move is likely to be an attempt to avoid there being enough time to hold a ‘confirmatory’ vote, or a second referendum. However according to an EU source the European Council President Donald Tusk is […]

The New European Podcast is taking part in Podcast Live, a new event bringing your favourite podcasts under one roof. Podcast regulars Steve Anglesey and Richard Porritt will be joined on stage by editor-at-large Alastair Campbell and columnist Andrew Adonis for Brexit chat and all the regular features. You can also see podcast recordings by […]

Labour held on to Newport West in a by-election battle which saw turnout slump – with just a majority of 1,951 votes over the Tories. Green party candidate Amelia Womack poses for a photograph as she awaits the results of the Newport West by-election. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire. – Credit: PA The contest was triggered […]

Rachel Johnson explains how she managed to appear on a national television debate in just her birthday suit. A Tweet to me from the Guardian’s Zoe Williams, the morning after the climate change activists superglued their buttocks to the glass shield protecting the public from our MPs in the House of Commons: ‘Yo Rach can […]

Brexiteer Lord Lawson has raised the sinister possibility of ‘understandable insurrectionary forces’ if parliament attempts to delay Brexit. He warned of a deepening ‘rift’ between politicians and the public and that ‘an ugly situation’ was developing. He made his comments in a debate in the House of Lords, where pro-Brexit peers are attempting to resist […]

Michael White takes a look back at the week when the naked truth was laid bare and May turned to Corbyn. Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in north London. Picture: David Mirzoeff/PA Wire – Credit: PA As my wife remarked, the news in every direction it often so weird nowadays it was hard […]

JOHNNY LUCAS argues a Customs Union does not fulfil the undeliverable promises of 2016, and does not to give UK citizens what they so desperately need. Some MPs are slowly waking up to smell the bitter realities of Brexit. After the repeated disaster of May’s deal, the slow-motion trainwreck that was the Malthouse Compromise, and […]

A Conservative MP has been accused of using language ‘deeply offensive’ to Christians after he quoted the Bible to attack those supporting a Bill to block a no-deal Brexit. Labour’s Barry Sheerman, MP for Huddersfield, criticised Mark Francois, Rayleigh and Wickford MP, for his comments in the run-up to Easter. Shortly after legislation put forward […]

Controversial TV presenter and journalist Piers Morgan has been slammed by online critics after claiming that Britain voted for a no-deal Brexit. Michael Gove’s comments were used in the argument. Photograph: Sky. – Credit: Archant The former Daily Mirror editor and Good Morning Britain presenter posted on Twitter: ‘No deal is actually Brexit. ‘People voted […]

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 Dulwich’s James Allen’s Girls’ School, whose alumni include the actress Sally Hawkins. But who will prove Happy-Go-Lucky about Brexit – and who will find themselves getting An Education from their […]

Nine out of 10 constituencies in Britain want a final say, with a majority of Londoners agreeing with a People’s Vote, according to a new nationwide poll. The poll by campaign group Right to Vote finds voters in nine out of 10 of Britain’s 632 constituencies support a final say. The survey of 9,500 adults […]

A series of protests have taken place on the south coast to send an SOS message across the English Channel in protest against Brexit. People on the cliffs at Saltdean near Brighton holding mirrors and reflecting the suns rays accross the English channel as part of a large scale pro-EU human artwork, EU SOS, by […]

Emily Thornberry has told the shadow cabinet that supporting other Brexit options that are not a confirmatory vote would be a ‘breach’ of the party’s conference motion. In her letter, obtained by the Guardian, the shadow foreign secretary set out her points ahead of an emergency shadow cabinet meeting which she was unable to attend. […]

A report into the British economy has found that Britain is £66 billion worse off because of Brexit. Standard & Poor’s report claims that Brexit has cost the British economy £550 million a week since the referendum as business investment dries up amid political paralysis in Westminster. Standard & Poor’s suggested that since the June […]

ANDREW ADONIS says the real talent in this Brexit parliament now sits on the backbenches. Not since Henry VIII’s Reformation Parliament has a legislature been so associated with a single cause as this one, and the next month will determine whether it is remembered for catastrophe or salvation. Virtually nothing has happened in this parliament […]

The UK faces a potentially lengthy delay to Brexit, Philip Hammond said as he indicated the Tories could be prepared to compromise on a customs union. The chancellor, who also said a referendum on any Brexit deal was a ‘perfectly credible’ proposal, said fulfilling the promise of leaving the EU was the government’s central commitment […]

Proposals to further delay the date of Brexit have moved closer to becoming law after they squeaked through the House of Commons by one vote. MPs supported the bill at third reading by 313 votes to 312. The draft legislation tabled by Labour former minister Yvette Cooper requires prime minister Theresa May to table a […]

Will the thickest group of MPs in history ever be forgiven for the stupidity that jeopardises the future of 70 million? James Ball delves deep into the Conservatives take on Brexit. Mark Francois and Jacob Rees-Mogg as they might have looked as Spud and Renton in Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting. Picture: Archant. – Credit: Archant In […]

The government has lost another Brexit minister following the resignation of Chris Heaton-Harris. He is the second pro-Brexit minister to resign following Theresa May’s decision to hold Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn. In a letter to the prime minister Heaton-Harris wrote: ‘I simply cannot support any further extension to Article 50’. He continued: ‘I have […]

The majority of British voters want a final say on Brexit, according to a new poll. The new nationwide poll conducted for the campaign group Right to Vote – involving 9,500 adults across Britain – reveals that 58.1% of voters who expressed a view now want a final say on Brexit, with 41.9% against. Overall, […]