News and Opinion

It is an “illusion” to think key Brexit legislation will have an “untroubled passage” through the House of Lords, a Tory former chancellor has said. Ken Clarke said he hoped the Lords would make an “enormous” number of changes to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill when it goes to the other chamber. He criticised the […]

Failure to incorporate the EU charter of fundamental rights into UK law after Brexit sends out “a really strange message” about the attitude of the Conservative Party, a senior Tory has said. Former attorney general Dominic Grieve said people now viewed things like LGBT rights “as being rights of a fundamental character”. He also accused […]

The House of Lords could face the prospect of fundamental reform if peers attempt to hamper Brexit, prominent Tory hardliner Jacob Rees-Mogg has warned. The upper chamber would be left looking “ridiculous” if peers tried to push for a second referendum, he claimed. The Hard Brexiteer, who has been tipped as a potential Conservative leader, […]

The anti-Brexit cause may be facing a daunting task, says Stefan Stern, but a clear course to stop this madness still lies ahead It was on, and then it was off: no deal for the non-appointed No Deal minister. No deal is still better than a bad deal, you understand, it’s just that there won’t […]

European Council president Donald Tusk has demanded more clarity from prime minister Theresa May over her plans for Brexit – and again held open the possibility of the UK changing its mind. Addressing MEPs in Strasbourg, Mr Tusk said: “If the UK government sticks to its decision to leave, Brexit will become a reality – […]

Theresa May has been accused of lying to the British people by a senior ally of German chancellor Angela Merkel over the plan to restore dark blue British passports after Brexit. German MEP Manfred Weber mocked the focus on changing the colour of the travel document and pointed out that it would have been possible […]

Boris Johnson has said the Brexit campaign’s claim of an extra £350m a week to spend on the NHS was an underestimate – but his working out shows why the original figure was a lie. The foreign secretary claimed the official Vote Leave campaign could have used a higher figure as the UK’s gross contribution […]

The New European’s columnist JAMES BALL argues that we need to start working out who to blame when Brexit doesn’t go to plan Remote and alien as the possibility may seem, but there is at least a theoretical chance that Brexit won’t go to plan and the UK won’t have a comprehensive, better-than-EU-membership, new deal […]

Boris Johnson’s comment that the Leave campaign under-estimated when it claimed Brexit would allow an extra £350m to be spent on the NHS weekly has been branded “ridiculous”. Leading health expert Professor Sir Michael Marmot said the Brexit campaign’s highly controversial claim has already been confirmed “a lie”. The academic also said the history books […]

MITCH BENN on the real problem with Toby Young’s unsuitability for the Office for Students Disclaimer no. 1: I have never met Toby Young. Disclaimer no. 2: I’m not even that up to speed on what Toby Young has been saying or doing recently as he blocked me on Twitter some years ago. I couldn’t […]

BONNIE GREER gives her diagnosis of Donald J. Trump The question of whether a mentally unfit leader is what is needed in stressful times has once again become the topic of debate. The publication of Fire and Fury, a look inside the campaign of Donald Trump, paints not just a picture of an amateur operation […]

Amidst the chaos of Brexit comes clarity from afar. Italian journalist and Anglophile PAOLA PEDUZZI provides a plaintive view of her beloved UK As Brexit edges closer, my overwhelming feeling is one of sadness. I love Britain. I always have. I hope I always will. But this sadness stems not just from what I fear […]

When stand-up, fantasy football fanatic and novelist David Baddiel first became famous hecklers were in the audience. Now, talking to NATHANIEL TAPLEY, he explains how trolls have become a new, nastier version of the loud-mouth in the crowd One of the things I remember best about being young during the 1990s was our attempts to […]

Ukip leader Henry Bolton has ended his “romantic relationship” with his controversial model girlfriend, but still faces a backlash from senior figures within his party. Mr Bolton admitted that his relationship with Jo Marney was “obviously quite incompatible” with his position as party chief after it was reported she made racist remarks about Meghan Markle. […]

So, will the Big Bad Wolff blow the Trump White House down? That’s the question still dominating America’s political and media landscape amid all the huffing and puffing fallout from Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff’s sensational, excoriating and hotly-disputed best-seller, with its depiction of a deranged POTUS and a dysfunctional, devious and deeply-divided West Wing. […]

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has again ruled out his party backing a second EU referendum even in the face of growing public support. There is a ground swell for a second vote with even former UKIP leader Nigel Farage suggesting a new poll might be needed before Brexit is delivered. According to recent research by […]

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has told hardline Brexiteers ‘you’ve had your chance and failed’. Ahead of the publication of a detailed study on the implications of leaving the European Union, she said no clarity or certainty has been provided about a so-called hard Brexit’s supposed benefits. This, she said, ‘presented a golden opportunity’ for moderate […]

UKIP’s leader Henry Bolton has been called on to step down after his model girlfriend reportedly sent highly offensive text messages about Meghan Markle. The crisis stricken party has suspended 25-year-old Jo Marney after she apparently said Markle would ‘taint’ the royal family, that she had a ‘tiny brain’ and black people were ‘ugly’. The […]

Pulitzer Prize winner ALBERT SCARDINO assesses the mental health of Donald Trump, and the chances of an intervention An increasing number of people believe Donald Trump’s mind has gone missing. According to a new book by journalist Michael Wolff, this includes most of those who work most closely in the White House with him and […]

Readers of The New European react through our letters pages to this week’s cabinet reshuffle. Theresa May’s baffling treatment of Justine Greening is good for our cause. As a Remainer with a small majority in a massively pro-Remain area, she is now free to make the case for Remain from the backbenches and, more importantly, […]

The savaging that Milo Yiannopoulos’ awful book received at the hands of its editor provided joy for many. But CHARLIE CONNELLY had a very personal, and pressing, reason not to join in the ridicule Just before the turn of the year there was much merriment on social media concerning the manuscript of Milo Yiannopoulos’s memoir […]

The New European’s Editor-at-Large, Alastair Campbell, on the reasons the BBC is dancing to the tune of Brexit… For fairly obvious historical reasons, I tend to avoid whacking the BBC too hard. Added to which, it continues to provide huge amounts of good programming, and is an important part of Britain’s cultural strength and global […]

The latest New European podcast is available now including an exclusive interview with former Europe Minister Denis MacShane. MacShane, interviewed by New European Editor Matt Kelly, discusses why he fears a second referendum might not be the best route towards the UK remaining in the EU. And Richard and Steve offer their usual take on […]

Steve Anglesey counts down the worst Brexiteers of the week NEIL HAMILTON ‘We are looking forward to welcoming our new team member, Mandy Jones into the group,’ beamed UKIP’s Welsh leader on December 29, having won a long-running fight to get rival Nathan Gill to resign from the Welsh Assembly. Just 10 days later, after […]

For this week’s podcast we asked you what you’d put in a hamper that truly represented Brexit. https://twitter.com/Steven_Woolfe/status/951086674875953152 Prominent Brexiters received much ridicule on Twitter this week with the news that they were taking a hamper of British goodies to gift EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. In the hamper were delicacies including British gin, […]

Scotland’s first minister has described delays to amendments to key Brexit legislation as “absolutely disgraceful”. Nicola Sturgeon said the EU Withdrawal Bill should be changed to take account of the concerns of the devolved administrations “without further delay”. The Scottish and Welsh governments have said they could not recommend that the legislation be granted consent […]

A senior Conservative MP demands Theresa May appoints a ‘minister for Hard Brexit’ to her team as he claims she had “promised”. Former minister Sir Edward Leigh told the House of Commons the role was promised before the reshuffle and asked whether or not such a minister would respond to questions when key Brexit legislation […]

MICHAEL WHITE on a muted reshuffle and why waiting for Corbyn is a waste of time Donald Trump’s latest biographer, Michael Wolff, says the candidate didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘Brexit’ until the 2016 referendum result went his way, in the direction of market-led populism cloaked as nationalism. But hey, were British voters […]

RICHARD PORRITT on the week’s big stories, including a chaotic reshuffle, an unlikely resurrection and criticism of Portuguese parenting For a time this week Wikipedia listed among Chris Grayling’s roles ‘Conservative Party Chairman January 8, 2017 – January 8, 2017’. Conservative Campaign Headquarters veteran Iain Carter was the man at least partly responsible for the […]

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has said that “maybe” there should be a second referendum on EU membership to “kill it off for a generation”. Speaking to Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff, Mr Farage said: “What is for certain is that the Cleggs, the Blairs, the Adonises will never, ever, ever give up. “They will […]

Former Fleet Street editor Peter Preston has died, aged 79. MICHAEL WHITE pays tribute to an ex-colleague and pro-European ‘ultra’ In his magisterial obituary of Peter Preston, David McKie, who served as his deputy for half Preston’s 20 year editorship of the Guardian, wrote that on some topics ‘what Peter thought was a mystery’. Europe […]

The PM was today asked at Prime Minister’s Questions to give a ranking for her performance over Brexit so far out of 10. The PM is asked to give herself a score out of 10 on Brexit by @PeteWishart #pmqs pic.twitter.com/WQdaTthk2B— BBC Daily Politics and Sunday Politics (@daily_politics) January 10, 2018 In doing so Pete […]