News and Opinion

At 7pm tonight, as the eyes of England turn to the World Cup opener against Tunisia, self-styled patriot Jacob Rees-Mogg is giving a speech. The hardline Brexiteer and Tory leadership hopeful will be speaking on ‘Brexit and beyond: Britain’s place in the world in the 2020s’ as part of Commons speaker John Bercow’s lecture series […]

Embattled Theresa May today channeled her predecessor John Major as she begged rebel MPs in her Conservative party not to tie her hands on Brexit. The prime minister insisted Parliament must not be able to “overturn the will of the British people” as she faced a fresh battle over her Brexit legislation. With the EU […]

Are protests in Jordan the precursor to more Arab Spring turmoil or an encouraging sign that the region might finally be moving in the right direction, asks PAUL KNOTT. The Middle Eastern Kingdom of Jordan has long been a beacon of stability and reasonableness in a region short on such attributes. But massive demonstrations have […]

Pro-European activists today unveiled billboards and ad vans in the constituencies of four leading Labour MPs they accuse of failing to oppose the Tories’ approach to Brexit. Pro-European youth movement Our Future, Our Choice (OFOC) displayed the ads in the constituencies of shadow chancellor John McDonnell, shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, shadow defence secretary Nia […]

There’ll always be two Englands, says Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. World Cup fever and hopes rise. Eng-er-land is hailed, cheered, baptized with anthems. Listening in on conversations on Tubes and buses about the team and its prospects gives you insights beyond football. The nation is nervy, unsure of itself, veering between optimism and grim pessimism, between being […]

In the second part of an exclusive serialisation of his book How Britain Really Works broadcaster and journalist STIG ABELL focuses on the NHS. The scale of the NHS The NHS is both a simple, fetishised ideal, and a complicated, borderline inexplicable bureaucracy. Its size – its comprehensiveness – is of course both its strength […]

The New European columnist CAROLINE CRIADO PEREZ on a scandal in the legal system that is allowing domestic abusers to torment their victims. Her abuser interrogated her in the witness box for three hours. He had raped and beaten her for six years. The trial was just his final flourish, overseen by bland-faced court officials, […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL: Paul Dacre is the worst of British values posing as the best One of my favourite polling factoids of the New Labour era is that our share of the vote among Daily Mail readers rose between our first election win in 1997, and the second four years later. This was despite the fact […]

National newspaper veteran LIZ GERARD on the legacy of the Daily Mail’s departing editor On St Valentine’s Day in 1997, the Daily Mail put a rogues’ gallery of photographs on its front page and accused five men of the murder of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence, four years earlier. It was arrogant, bold, contemptuous. The very definition […]

In the audience for the Britain’s Got Talent final, EMMA JONES, has something akin to a religious experience. Celebrity and religion are very similar, according to umpteen showbiz reporters and the odd philosopher. Both are run like the Wizard of Oz. Only showbiz does it better. And often has an actual curtain. A few years […]

JAMES BALL deconstructs Corbyn’s economically illiterate talking heads If Brexit is the biggest issue affecting your life then you must be doing alright. I'm happy for you. Most people have to worry about more pressing issues than the UK's post-Brexit institutional arrangements. Stop confusing your only concern with the country's main priority — Matt Zarb-Cousin […]

Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership was built on democratic foundations, it’s time for him to give us a say on Brexit, writes Antony Thomas. As a long-time socialist and Jeremy Corbyn supporter (from the days when it was unfashionable to be one), I am mystified not just by Labour’s response to the absolute Tory chaos of Brexit, […]

The co-ordinated Twitter bashing by key Corbynistas shows what the Labour leader really thinks of Brexit, writes Jonathan Hendrick. https://twitter.com/mattzarb/status/1005410512522407936 The co-ordinated Twitter bashing of Remainers by several Corbyn surrogates ahead of this week’s big parliamentary votes leave us in little doubt what Labour’s leadership really thinks of Brexit. We’re told by Matt Zarb-Cousin, Aaron […]

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 organisers of the People’s Vote march are predicting the biggest Brexit demonstration since the EU referendum exactly two years ago. Campaigners will be calling on the government to agree to a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal before a final decision is taken. The march will come just days after the latest showdown […]

Tim Walker’s diary focuses on the astonishing 168 films Boris Johnson has commissioned – starring himself, naturally – and asks if Bernard Jenkin will turn up fully clothed at Buckingham Palace for his investiture. Home Secretary Amber Rudd Photo: REUTERS/Neil Hall – Credit: Press Association Images Johnson’s film factory exposed After some goading from Mandrake, […]

Your editorials advocating a People’s Vote on whatever terms Theresa May may negotiate in Brussels are welcome but do not explain the democratic necessity for such a ballot. So here it is. The UK entered the common market in 1973. Heath pushed the decision through parliament. There was no national debate ahead of accession on […]

Michael White on another fudge which sees Theresa May survive but Brexit’s judgement day is approaching What does Matteo Salvini have in common with Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea, but not with Theresa May, the 0/10 ‘schoolmistress’ of the US president’s recent musing? That’s right. The new Italian home secretary has a […]

ROGER DOMENEGHETTI explains why the 1966 tournament established the template for televised football that still holds today, even if the replays did take a little getting used to When referee Gottfried Dienst consulted the Russian linesman, Tofiq Bahramov, about Geoff Hurst’s controversial goal in the 1966 World Cup final it wasn’t just the players and […]

Theresa May is pursuing a “high-risk strategy” by seeking to deny MPs the chance to block a no-deal Brexit, leading pro-EU Conservatives have warned. The government provoked the anger of Tory Remainers yesterday with proposals which they say fall well short of the truly meaningful vote they are seeking on the way forward if Parliament […]

The World Cup has never lived up to its lofty ideals, says GLENN MOORE, as he recounts a history of corruption, match-fixing, boycotts and giving succour to dictatorships. There is a lot of football to be played, 64 matches of it, but we already have one winner from the 2018 World Cup. Barring a dramatic […]

The SNP have called for all MPs to have suicide awareness training after an alleged Tory jibe. The call came following yesterday’s Brexit bill debate in which it was alleged Ian Liddell-Grainger shouted “suicide” when SNP leader Ian Blackford asked what options were open to Scottish parliamentarians to debate the devolution amendments to the EU […]

As the World Cup kicks off in Russia, MITCH BENN is inspired by David Beckham’s never-give-up attitude to his England career. The World Cup is upon us again; I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t seem to be capturing the public’s imagination quite so inescapably as on previous occasions. Perhaps the genial madness attending […]

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 Caernarfon, the heavily-Welsh speaking town in the north-west of Wales. Ond pwy sydd ar y Panel? A beth yw eu barn am Brexit? Here’s your guide… John Mann Who? Labour […]

As the World Cup gets underway, IAN WALKER asks why Russia, a country responsible for such great art, has produced such terrible leaders. Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia from 1682 to 1725. �TopFoto – Credit: TopFoto.co.uk The opening scene of the Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece Andrei Rublev is of a man taking flight […]

The 1987 poll tax brought about Thatcher’s downfall. Now Brexit will do the same for Theresa May, says ANDREW ADONIS. Lord Salisbury, the most reactionary prime minister of modern times, had a saying about the outcome of general elections. ‘When the great oracle speaks, no-one is quite sure what the great oracle said.’ It was […]

Before the SNP took their bat and ball home there was another school yard spat in the House of Commons. Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons, London. – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images But first both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn made strong statements and said all […]

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has admitted Labour is walking its own “tightrope” over Brexit. He said Labour’s position was a “traditional British compromise” aimed at the concerns of both Leave and Remain voters. In a speech to City leaders he also urged businesses to speak up about their concerns with the Brexit process. Mr McDonnell […]

Parts of manufacturing industry face “extinction” unless Britain remains in a customs union with the EU, the president of the CBI has said. Paul Drechsler, who is standing down from his role in the business organisation, said politicians were not focusing on the economics of Brexit. He told the BBC: “If we do not have […]

Relations between the Scottish and UK governments have reached a new low as furious SNP leaders threatened to withdraw their cooperation with Westminster, accusing Conservatives there of forcing through a Brexit “power grab” by the backdoor. Scottish Government ministers and SNP MPs were outraged when amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill related to devolution were […]

TIM WALKER gives Killer Joe at London’s Trafalgar Studios one star Killer Joe Trafalgar Studios, London, until August 18 * (One star) The programme notes for Killer Joe state that Orlando Bloom is ‘best known’ for his roles in the Lord of the Rings and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchises. It would appear that […]

Labour is avoiding answering questions on Brexit, says Liberal Democrat candidate for Lewisham East LUCY SALEK. We need a final say on the Brexit deal This week MPs vote on the Brexit bill. The people of Lewisham East also have a vote and a choice, either they send me to Parliament, safe in the knowledge […]