News and Opinion

Fifty years ago this week saw one of the most memorable chapters in rock history. But, as RICHARD LUCK explains, not everything about the Fab Four’s last public act was quite as history remembers it. It was on a cold grey Thursday afternoon that The Beatles and keyboardist Billy Preston made their way up to […]

Thousands of students could lose out on funding to study abroad if the UK crashes out of the EU, the body Universities UK has warned. The government announced on Tuesday that in the event of no deal, the UK will continue to work with the European Commission to fund current Erasmus+ students. However, Universities UK […]

MPs have been voting on a series of amendments to the Withdrawal Agreement. How did your MP vote? Here is a list of which politicians rebelled. 14 Labour MPs rebelled to vote against Tory MP Dominic Grieve’s Brexit amendment. They were: Ian Austin (Dudley North), Kevin Barron (Rother Valley), Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley), Rosie Cooper […]

MPs have issued an order to Theresa May to prevent a no-deal Brexit as they passed an amendment which rejects the UK leaving the EU without a deal. The cross-party plan, headed by Tory Dame Caroline Spelman and Labour’s Jack Dromey, won by 318 votes to 310. The amendment’s success came after MPs rejected a […]

The DUP were accused of telling people to ‘go to the chippy instead’ if there were food shortages caused by a no-deal Brexit. Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said she was angry at the comments from MPs from the Northern Irish party sat on the bench behind her during the Commons debate on the Brexit […]

Blood donation sessions in Kent have been cancelled before and after Brexit amid fears the local transport system will grind to a halt. NHS Blood and Transport (NHSBT) said that sessions in Dover and Folkestone had been cancelled in the two weeks before March 29 and the six weeks afterwards. Fears have been raised in […]

A leading member of Angela Merkel’s cabinet has poured cold water on Theresa May’s hopes of reopening the withdrawal agreement with the EU. Justice minister Katarina Barley said it would be ‘difficult’ if May wanted to renegotiate ‘because the EU cannot make more concessions to Britain on the important points’. The prime minister told her […]

An MP who drifted off to Ken Clarke’s Brexit speech last year has been caught dozing again – despite promising not to. Brexiteer Sir Desmond Swayne was caught drifting off as Father of the House Ken Clarke delivered a speech in defence of the backstop and why the government should seek an extension to Article […]

Caroline Lucas has accused the prime minister of chasing ‘heated up fantasies’ in her latest pitch to the House of Commons. The Green Party MP made the intervention as Theresa May outlined the government position on her Plan B for Brexit. Lucas told the Commons: ‘Does she recognise that there is no solution in chasing […]

A Brexiteer has dismissed warnings from the UK’s major supermarkets that there could be a shortage of food in the most baffling way. On the day that a letter was sent to MPs from major stores warning against a no-deal Brexit, BBC News turned to the streets of Britain to get some expert advice on […]

No deal would be a ‘betrayal of our economic future’, chancellor Philip Hammond has told MPs. He claimed the prime minister’s deal was the ‘only way forward that protects our democracy and our economy’, warning the ‘stark’ alternatives were no Brexit or no deal. Hammond also urged the Labour leadership to ‘sit down and engage […]

Theresa May has been accused of ‘making it up as she goes along’ after saying she will try to reopen the withdrawal agreement. The prime minister told Cabinet she was ready to reopen negotiations with the EU on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement to secure changes to the controversial backstop plan to avoid a hard border […]

With the Commons facing a day of vital votes on Theresa May’s deal, a Brexit minister has tweeted a lewd joke about a vacuum cleaner. MPs are today preparing to vote on amendments to May’s Brexit deal that could shape the next stage of negotiations with the EU. Amendments, including proposals to rule out leaving […]

Campaigners have pulled apart proposals for a new Brexit plan from the Conservatives, which had been mooted as a potential breakthrough to the Brexit impasse. The plan, which has been dubbed the ‘Malthouse Compromise’, has two parts: Plan A would involve negotiating a new backstop and an extended transition period through to December 2021; if […]

Politicians should stand up to members of the public who brand them elitist because they argue for a second Brexit vote, Tony Blair has said. The former prime minister compared voters who say MPs should stop arguing about Brexit and ‘just get on with it’ to football fans berating their team’s manager for his tactics. […]

A government minister has issued Theresa May with an ultimatum – she must rule out a no-deal Brexit or face resignations. Business minister Richard Harrington warned that the patience of Tory MPs opposed to a no-deal break was running out. ‘Many of us have been to see the prime minister and have told her the […]

A secret memo has revealed that up to 1,000 defence workers could be redeployed to help the UK government cope with a no-deal Brexit. A message, sent to staff in the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) agency, appeals for volunteers to change roles. The note, obtained by the BBC, said it was ‘uncertain’ what work […]

Nigel Farage has claimed that Ireland would leave the European Union – despite polling showing overwhelming support for its membership. https://twitter.com/ClaireByrneLive/status/1090020771399852032 Asked on RTE One whether he actually cared about Ireland or the consequences Brexit would have on the country, Farage made the startling claim that they would soon change their view on the EU […]

A new Brexit plan which is reported to be backed by both Tory Brexiteers and Remainers has been put forward. The plan – called the The Malthouse Compromise after Kit Malthouse who brought the parties together – would lead to Britain leaving the EU ‘on time and with a functioning government’, former Brexit minster Steve […]

Thousands of British Jews, many the descendants of Holocaust victims, have applied for German citizenship as the UK prepares to leave the EU. Simon Wallfisch grew up in London as the grandson of an Auschwitz survivor who swore to never return to the country that murdered her parents and six million other Jews. But more […]

The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) ‘may not be valid’ in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the government has admitted. The card allows Brits abroad in EU countries to receive medical treatment free or at a reduced cost if they fall ill or have an accident. But late last night the Department of Health […]

Former Conservative party adviser BARNABY TOWNS says that the Brexiteers’ free trade fantasy and ideology belongs back in the Victorian age. As the Article 50 clock counts down to March 29th, the risk of a ‘no deal’ exit for the UK from the EU rises — absent parliamentary intervention most readily available via the amendments […]

Brexit could lead to thousands more deaths from heart attacks and strokes, research suggests. With all Brexit proposals set to push up the cost of food, the report states that the amount of fresh produce people buy will fall. The researchers claim a no-deal Brexit would have the worst impact, leading to more than 12,000 […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY looks into the life of La Goulue. In 1928 filmmaker Georges Lacombe was exploring the fringes of Paris for a documentary he was making called The Zone, about the city’s rag pickers. In Neuilly-sur-Marne, a poor district to the east of the city, he came upon a flea market where once he’d begun […]

English-Australian actress Miriam Margolyes has turned the air blue on Australian breakfast television in anti-Brexit rant. https://twitter.com/BreakfastNews/status/1089643666090602496 The Harry Potter star was asked for her opinion on Brexit on ABC’s News Breakfast show, and she did not mince her words. She said: ‘I’m not allowed to say the words that spring to mind, because it […]

The 2016 referendum was the Brexiteers’ very last chance to take the UK out of the EU. AC GRAYLING believes that they will fail. Prediction is an uncertain business; in the first years of heavier-than-air flight people thought that biplanes flew better than monoplanes, and predicted that aircraft of the future would have twelve wings. […]

Some of Britain’s leading stores have warned that a no-deal Brexit will drive up food prices and pose a ‘significant’ risk to the range of products on supermarket shelves. A letter to MPs warned that tariffs would ‘greatly’ increase import costs if the UK is forced to fall back on World Trade Organisation rules, while […]

A television presenter has criticised Tory Brexiteer MP Mark Francois for his comments about the boss of Airbus. Mark Francois appeared alongside Labour Remainer Chuka Ummuna on ITV’s Good Morning Britain as the Brexiteer was scrutinised for appearing on BBC News days before ripping up a letter from the boss of Airbus. As he did […]

TIM WALKER’s stage review of Approaching Empty. The Kiln Theatre in north London has once again made good on its stated mission to encourage artists of all ages and backgrounds with its latest production, Approaching Empty. It is by Ishy Din, a former cab driver of Kashmiri origin, whose family made their home in Middlesbrough. […]

The astonishing spread of Polynesian languages spans an ocean, but have they also reached space? PETER TRUDGILL wonders. It’s very quick and easy for English people to travel the twenty odd miles across the English Channel between Dover and Calais – the ferry doesn’t take more than an hour and a half. And you don’t […]

A caller to Nigel Farage’s radio show has warned that a People’s Vote would result in the British turning to the ‘old fashioned’ way of settling disputes through ‘blood and slaughter’. The caller to LBC – who was introduced as John from Liverpool – made the shocking comments as he described the idea of a […]

LARA WILLIAMS on the incredible appeal of Elena Ferrante’s series of novels, beginning with My Brilliant Friend, and the way they have given a voice to Italian women. Elisa Del Genio as young Elena and Ludovica Nasti as young Raffaella. – Credit: Archant Italian novelist Elena Ferrante’s series of four novels, the Neopolitan tetralogy, tells […]