News and Opinion

Tackling the climate emergency a political struggle needs to be won up against right-wing populism. RICHARD CALLAND says the new digital era provides an opportunity to do this. History may in due course record 2019 as the year in which the penny finally dropped about the climate emergency humanity faces. A sense of urgency was […]

The interwar heyday of Britain’s seaside resorts coincided with the height of the Art Deco style. As a new exhibition shows, this was a very happy coincidence. RICHARD HOLLEDGE reports. Portobello Lido photographed by Valentine, 1936. Picture: The Bruce Peter Collection – Credit: Archant A young woman perches on a diving board high above the […]

Crowds are flocking to the centre of Bristol to witness 17-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg. A poster depicting environmental activist Greta Thunberg which has been pasted to a bus shelter ahead of the Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate protest in Bristol. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire. – Credit: PA Thunberg founded the school strike movement […]

The efforts of pro-EU campaigners have won themselves a place in a ‘mini Europe’ theme park in Europe. Pro-EU campaigners marching on Westminster. (Photo by Niklas HALLE’N / AFP) – Credit: AFP via Getty Images Although the UK is leaving the European Union, the attraction will still keep the iconic landmarks including models of Big […]

Greece may have slipped from the continent’s headlines, but it has not yet emerged from the shadows of the crash. PAUL KNOTT assesses its progress Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis enters the Prime Minister’s office at Maximos Mantion in Athens, Greece. Photo: Milos Bicanski/Getty Images – Credit: Getty Images “Tomorrow, the sky will be a bit […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL explains how the government’s strange Brexit climate has allowed Boris Johnson to resist the floodwater outrage. Fire and Rescue officers use an inflatable raft to rescue a woman in Bewdley, Worcestershire. Photo: Joe Giddens/PA Wire – Credit: PA Being prime minister is about what you choose not to do, as well as what […]

ZOE WILLIAMS issues a damning verdict on Brexiteer Priti Patel’s performance in government. With ministers instructed not to appear on any flagship current affairs shows of the BBC’s, the Today programme has taken on the atmosphere of a Royal Variety Performance. It has all the elements of showbiz without any of the content. The Beeb […]

Download the free podcast from the team at The New European to hear our review of the week in politics. Every Friday Richard Porritt and Steve Anglesey review another wild week in post-common sense Britain. The award-nominated podcast is packed full of big news, comment, and irreverent views. We talk about the issues that matter […]

It’s not just turning 50 that has made MITCH BENN want to get in shape. He’s dreams of watching the wheels fall off the Brexit bandwagon. I’ve started going to the gym again. There are a few reasons for this: firstly, I’ve found a local gym which is run by and in aid of a […]

The Home Office has been accused of being ‘less than co-operative’ in helping the vulnerable apply for its post-Brexit settlement scheme. The criticism came after a 101-year-old man was told his parents must confirm his identity and a 95-year old was told to prove he is a resident in the UK as part of the […]

To its supporters, it is a school without equal. To its critics it is a cabal that rules the land. JASON WALSH reports on plans to reform France’s controversial École national d’administration. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe holds a sweater of ENA’s 2017-18 promotion “Clemenceau” he was offered by ENA’s director after a speech. Photo: […]

ADAM BEHR on the chilling effect the government’s Brexit and immigration policies are now having on the UK’s music scene. While “Get Brexit Done” was the overriding message of the Conservative’s 2019 election campaign, their manifesto made no small matter of Britain’s creative industries. These, it said, “lead the world – and will continue to […]

The BBC has defended its handling of a ‘far-right activist’ who appeared on Question Time and made factually inaccurate claims about immigrants and health tourism. The corporation has been urged to review its practices on the programme and on social media after the comments of a woman – who was later identified as a Tommy […]

Boris Johnson is taking a ‘reckless’ approach to crime-fighting by ditching the European Arrest Warrant as part of Brexit talks. Supporters of the EAW argue that it has streamlined the extradition process within the EU and made it easier to ensure wanted persons are brought to justice. Opponents have argued that it is used too […]

MICHAEL WHITE on the week government defined just who can come into the UK. When Donald Trump pandered to a supporters’ rally by mocking Parasite, this year’s top Oscar winner – for the crime of being South Korean and needing sub-titles – the film’s distributors thumped the Tweeter-in-Chief with a retaliatory message: “Understandable: he can’t […]

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…

Kemi Badenoch has been appointed as a minister for equalities, despite her record showing votes against and absences from key decisions. The Saffron Walden MP was appointed as junior minister for equalities in the Department for International Trade, shortly after Boris Johnson’s government reshuffle saw her becoming an exchequer secretary to the Treasury. According to […]

Count Binface – the self-proclaimed interplanetary space warrior who challenged Boris Johnson in the 2019 general election – has announced plans to run in the London mayoral election. Launching his campaign in a video, the Count said he would “throw his bin into the ring” and stand as an independent candidate. “It’s the greatest city […]

Labour has slammed Boris Johnson’s choice of rough sleeping tsar after he said ‘many people choose to be on the streets’. People in London walking past John, a homeless man who has been living on the streets for three years.Picture: Nick Ansell/PA Wire – Credit: PA Shadow housing minister Sarah Jones said the government “is […]

A minister has come under fire after prime minister Boris Johnson refused to visit victims of the recent floods. Speaking to Sky News’ Kay Burley, housing secretary Robert Jenrick was faced with the front page of The Mirror which showed pleas for Johnson to visit affected areas by residents. Burley said: “We saw lot of […]

Tory Brexiteer Theresa Villiers left a radio host in disbelief after she refused to use a Brexit phrase supposedly banned by Downing Street. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live host Emma Barnett the former cabinet minister referred to a no deal exit from the EU as an “Australian type trading relationship”. When this was pointed […]

The US and Indian leaders are natural allies, with Boris Johnson the odd one out, says Tom Wilkinson. U.S. President Donald Trump signs visitors book as first lady Melania Trump watches during their visit to the Taj Mahal. Picture: AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh – Credit: AP Donald Trump received the pomp and circumstance of a […]

There have been calls for a BBC radio presenter to resign or be sacked after hosting the Conservatives’ black and white ball. Wynne Evans, the presenter of BBC Radio Wales’ mid-morning programme, hosted the latest Tory party fundraiser which raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for the political organisation. Social media footage shows him on […]

Donations to the Conservative Party dwarfed those of other parties in the run-up to the general election – with the Tories receiving £37 million in the last three months of 2019. In total, a record £69 million was donated to British political parties in a period dominated by the general election, according to the Electoral […]

The White House has not held a press briefing for almost a year. CHARLES BIERBAUER, who covered them under two previous presidents, explains what has been lost as a result. U.S. President Donald Trump standing next to First Lady Melania Trump after speaking in the East Room of the White House. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images […]

Without a change in electoral system the big parties are doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes with their leaders. In Meg Russell’s insightful article (“Why grassroots members shouldn’t choose party leaders”), she says of the move away from MP-only selections, “Labour was the first party to diverge from this… in 1981”. However, the 1976 […]

Michael Gove has sparked another cringeworthy moment in the House of Commons as he tried to echo Dad’s Army in a response to the SNP. In a firey Commons exchange, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster who oversees the Cabinet Office, echoed the catchphrase of the character Lance Corporal Jones, played by the late […]

BONNIE GREER discusses how the Bernie Sanders campaign could spell doom for the Democrats and lead to Donald Trump staying in power. Democratic presidential hopeful Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during a rally at Houston University, Texas. Photo: MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images – Credit: AFP via Getty Images Question: What do Bernie Sanders and […]