News and Opinion

Michel Barnier will update ministers from EU nations on the state of the Brexit negotiations as domestic pressure on Theresa May intensifies. Boris Johnson accused May of being on the brink of “total surrender” to the EU over Brexit as he urged the Cabinet to mutiny against the prime minister’s withdrawal agenda. And another Brexiteer […]

Is Arron Banks a bad boy or sad chancer, asks JAMES BALL It’s almost easy to feel fatigued: another week, another set of fresh allegations connected to Brexit. This week, though, we’ve had two – and both sets refer to Arron Banks. During the course of the EU referendum campaign, Banks became the biggest political […]

The Conservative party is failing workers and business with its focus on Brexit, the UK boss of a German industrial giant has warned. Terry Sargeant, the UK chairman and chief executive of ThyssenKrupp, said the Tories were putting the interests of the party ahead of business. He has joined a number of businesses who have […]

Ahead of the centenary of the end of the First World War. CHARLIE CONNELLY reconstructs the moving and momentous events of the very first Armistice Day, assembling personal accounts from diaries, newspaper and museum archives. 05:00 Across Europe rain had fallen through the night. In Britain it fell on the towns and cities, villages and […]

More ministers are ready to walk out of Theresa May’s cabinet over her Brexit plans, according to Tory insiders. Jo Johnson – whose bombshell resignation rocked Westminster – said if more ministers were to quit ‘good on them’. One Tory source said he believed there were others in the cabinet considering their position but doubted […]

Former Tory party adviser Barnaby Towns​ picks apart an idea which is gaining currency among many politicians As Britain counts down to the government’s self-inflicted Brexit deadline, Norway is in the news. Brexiteers and Remainers alike eye the land of the midnight sun’s membership of the European Economic Area outside the EU as preferable to […]

ADAM BEHR assesses the White Album in its wider cultural context The Beatles’ White Album – actually eponymously titled, but nicknamed as such due to its plain cover, with the band’s name embossed (also in white) and a serial number – was a shift away from the technicolour explosion of psychedelia of Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely […]

It’s undoubtedly the most controversial track in the Beatles’ songbook. Now, as an expanded version of the White Album is released, Fab Four podcaster CHRIS SHAW asks: Is Revolution 9 an art statement or just an attempt to impress Yoko Ono? There’s a recurring theme in The Beatles’ recording sessions. More often than not the […]

Jo Johnson has resigned as transport minister over Brexit and called for a second referendum. The brother of former foreign secretary Boris said: “It has become increasingly clear to me that the withdrawal agreement, which is being finalised in Brussels and Whitehall even as I write, will be a terrible mistake. “Indeed, the choice being […]

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…

The Russian ruler’s strategy is short-termist, simple and successful, says John Kampfner. But it is ultimately hollow In this era of wartime nostalgia, it may be unfashionable to take issue with Winston Churchill. But I will. Russia, he famously said, is ‘a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma’. That was on October 1, […]

STEVE ANGLESEY examines the fishy performance of the UKIP leader, Gerard Battern, and names his Brexiteers of the Week. It was early in the morning on Halloween and UKIP leader Gerard Batten was scheduled to appear at Lowestoft fish market’s 7am auction. The room was filled with cold-blooded, dead-eyed creatures – a familiar sight for […]

A fresh rift looks set to scupper Theresa May’s Brexit deal. The prime minister faces a new headache after her Democratic Unionist Party allies turned on her with leader Arlene Foster saying the government appeared ‘wedded to the idea of a border down the Irish Sea’. The European Union’s fallback proposal aimed at avoiding a […]

Even at a most basic level there is a complete lack of knowledge about the very nature of the Irish border, says SARAH JANE SMYTH I was born in November 1997, just five months before the Good Friday Agreement was signed. Because of this, some may assume I have seen little of the conflict which […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL: Former-head of the Civil Service, Jeremy Heywood, was living proof that fairness and impartiality are essential The news that Jeremy Heywood had died came through just as Arron Banks was getting his make up on in advance of his weekend joust at the BBC. Talk about the good dying young, while the bad […]

They be only modest, but let’s take them while we can, says MICHAEL WHITE In a week when Brexit’s self-styled Bad Boy, Arron Banks, got a short, sharp shock from the news National Crime Agency coppers were looking for campaign dark money, his fair weather friend, Donald Trump, got his own arresting setback. Enough Americans […]

It is that time of the week again – the podcast is live. Richard Porritt and Steve Anglesey return to talk all things Brexit as the madness continues. This week they delve into the US mid-terms and the messy aftermath, poke fun at bungling Brexit secretary Dominic Raab who has only just realised the Dover-Calais […]

A no-deal Brexit would be a ‘disaster’ for one of the UK’s most important trade routes, the government has been warned. The stark appraisal was delivered by Port of Calais chief Jean-Marc Puissesseau who added that it would cause chaos in Dover, Calais and elsewhere in northern France. The warning came a day after Brexit […]

Theresa May has been told she cannot promise everything to everyone on Brexit. Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned the government is risking a disastrous Brexit by making promises it cannot keep. She claimed May is not constructing a lasting deal and is trying to dupe people and hide the damage leaving the EU […]

The most frustrating thing about the culture secretary’s apparent indifference to his brief is that there is a much better candidate for his job, says JANE MERRICK I have to confess I don’t know many things about Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, except that he almost appeared on stage at the Conservative party conference as […]

Mysterious billboards celebrating the UK and Russia’s ‘Brexit collaboration’ have been erected across London. A billboard featuring Russian leader Vladamir Putin, in Stoke Newington, north London Photo: PA / Caitlin Doherty – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images A group calling itself Proud Bear, which claims to be a ‘collective of Russian intelligence agents’ are behind the […]

The United Kingdom is already falling behind Europe economically and it is going to get a lot worse, according to new forecasts. The European Commission predicted the UK will remain at the bottom of the growth league in the years after Brexit. And the gloomy forecasts are a best-case scenario for Brexit as they are […]

RACHEL JOHNSON on remembering conversations and getting a name drop in Vanity Fair Whenever someone publishes a memoir I am staggered. How do they remember the names of all their siblings, let alone reproduce 50-year-old conversations verbatim? I am mystified by the neurological mechanics of the genre. How did Gerry remember what Larry said to […]

They have been maligned by Donald Trump and have the might of the US military awaiting them. But the migrant caravan plods on. Will Worley caught up with it in Cordoba, Mexico. Throughout the day, people of the so-called ‘migrant caravan’ making its way north through the country come, having hitched rides or walked from […]

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 […]

MIC WRIGHT on James McClean and those seeking to enforce what should be an individual act of remembrance. The Cookie Monster wears a poppy. We know this for sure because on Monday November 7, 2016, the fluffy blue puppet appeared on The One Show – the BBC’s flagship programme for awkward chat and celebrity product-plugging […]

The Trump resistance has won an important battle but the search goes on for a new Obama, says ANDREW ADONIS When the great oracle of the electorate speaks, it isn’t always clear what the great oracle said. The message of this week’s mid-term elections in the US is unusually opaque, with the Senate and the […]

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has told a tech event that he “hadn’t quite understood” the importance of the Dover-Calais crossing for UK trade. According to the website Politico, Raab was speaking last night when he confirmed the choice of goods available to buy in the shops would be hit unless “frictionless trade” was maintained at […]

Concern about Brexit has risen sharply among over-65s to a level almost matching the youngest voting age group, a survey suggests. Some 61% of those aged over 65 say they are worried about the impact of Brexit, a 34 percentage point increase since September 2016, when Which? began recording the data. Among those aged 18 […]

Michael Gove has been warned not to let Brexit preparations get in the way of work to protect the environment. Some 400 staff have been loaned or seconded to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from its agencies. Environment secretary Gove insisted that “priority roles” in bodies including Natural England (NE) and the […]

Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel 4’s bombshell new poll showing a significant swing. Their faces said it all. As I read out the final numbers from the survey suggesting the UK has changed its mind on Brexit you could almost see the thought bubbles hanging over the politicians’ heads. They had surely prepared for this. After […]

The Scottish Parliament has backed holding a public vote on the final terms of the Brexit deal. Holyrood voted 66 to 28 in favour of a People’s Vote after it was put forward in a Liberal Democrat amendment to a government motion during a chamber debate on the Brexit threat to international scientific research in […]