News and Opinion

A bridge over the Irish Sea is never going to happen, says MITCH BENN. So what are we being distracted from? Of all the many kinds of lie one hears over the course of one’s life, be they personal, professional or political, perhaps the most depressing lies are the ones that not even the liar […]

MICK O’HARE finds some familiar themes emerging in the first edition of The New European’s print predecessor. You can admit it. Many of you may have never stopped to wonder why this newspaper (presuming you are holding the print edition) had the word ‘New’ in its title, had you? And if you had, you probably […]

Who is on Question Time tonight? Here’s your guide… The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme tonight comes from Dundee, home of the Beano. But who’ll win over the audience’s affections like Dennis the Menace – and who’ll be wantonly offensive and racially inappropriate like Little Plum? Here’s your complete guide to the panel… Tom Tugendhat […]

Rory Stewart said he has previously slept in more than 500 strangers’ homes, as he continues to promote his #comekipwithme campaign. As part of his bid to become mayor of London, the former Tory MP has asked members of the public from the 32 boroughs if he can join them overnight to “get to know […]

Rebecca Long-Bailey said she is ‘not concerned’ about receiving half the constituency party nominations of her leadership rival because she thinks she’s going to win. Long-Bailey said the nomination meetings represent a “tiny proportion” of Labour’s membership because “a lot of people don’t go to their (CLP) meetings”. “You might get 50 to 100 people […]

A Tory MP has claimed that the BBC did not understand why people voted for Brexit. The newly-elected chair of the House of Commons culture committee told Radio 4’s World At One he believed “the BBC in many areas does a first-rate job of covering the PSB [public service broadcasting] landscape”. But he said that […]

Jeremy Corbyn has questioned whether Boris Johnson should have been deported to the United States because he ‘dabbled in class A drugs’ and ‘conspired’ to beat up a journalist. The Labour leader provoked a furious reaction from the Conservative benches after asking the Prime Minister if there is “one rule for young black boys from […]

Only four years late, Jeremy Corbyn today put in a vaguely efficient PMQs performance – at least suggesting a skilled successor could get under Boris Johnson’s skin Yes, just as he’s working out the world’s longest notice period, a notice period literally nobody was begging him to fulfil, Corbyn today showed he was capable of […]

Cabinet secretary Chloe Smith has been tipped as the new ‘minister for the Union’ in the forthcoming cabinet reshuffle. The Telegraph reports that Tory MPs who originally backed Remain, including Smith, Oliver Dowden and Lucy Frazer, will all receive promotions in the reshuffle which is expected tomorrow. By contrast Theresa Villiers and Andrea Leadsom are […]

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has said he realised he had been given a ‘purpose’ when he survived a plane crash during campaigning in the general election in 2010. The Brexiteer was speaking after receiving an honorary doctorate from a fundamentalist Christian university that teaches against same-sex relationships. The British politician had jetted over to […]

A series of new Eurocafés have been launched around the UK with the intention of making sure everyone, regardless of their nationality, feels safe in their local area. One of the first was trialed on a weekly basis in Norwich ahead of the general election, with the intention of making sure that everyone felt welcome […]

New blue passports to mark Brexit will be rolled out across the UK from March, the Home Office has confirmed. Immigration minister Brandon Lewis claimed that the blue passports will “symbolise our national identity” and will be “one of the most secure travel documents in the world, with a raft of new security measures to […]

A new tracking app for traditional fishermen could prevent them from enjoying their much-heralded ‘Brexit bonus’. Fishermen are hoping to be exempt from rules set by Brussels, which dictate how much and where trawlermen can fish, once the Brexit transition period ends on December 31st, and they hope as a result to be able to […]

Attorney general Geoffrey Cox has suggested that MPs and peers could play a role in the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court. Cox has insisted this was not a measure to bring politically appointed judges, but will follow Canadian-style appointments system whereby parliament interviews candidates. The Tories pledged at the general election to examine […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY runs his eye over the ever-growing range of literary podcasts Back in the olden days of broadcasting you’d struggle to find much in the way of literary discussion or representation coming through the ether. On television you’d get the odd parasol-twirling adaptation of a Regency novel, jowly men in heavy tweed jackets sitting […]

Home secretary Priti Patel has been branded ‘insincere’ after she issued an apology to a Labour MP over the behaviour of a Tory activist. Patel has insisted she is “hugely apologetic” after an activist from her party sent a message claiming he would pay “crackheads” to harm Yvette Cooper. Cooper had criticised the Conservative Party’s […]

Despite promises that the UK would be next in line for trade talks, Trump officials could end up entering fresh talks with the EU instead. The White House’s economic adviser Larry Kudlow has said that because there is “some structure” to talks with the European Union, “reigniting that will be easier” than starting the whole […]

In the latest bizarre rambling from Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s top adviser has suggested that children’s cartoon characters from PJ Masks could perform better than the current ministers in charge. Speaking to a BBC reporter Cummings was asked to give a view on the decision to approve the HS2 rail-link, when he emerged from […]

Rory Stewart is looking to sleep on the floors and sofas of London as part of his attempts to become the next mayor of the cpapital. The independent candidate has promised to pack his own bedding and bring chocolates as he launched the Twitter hashtag #ComeKipWithMe. Sacked by Boris Johnson for rebelling over Brexit, the […]

Brussels’ chief negotiator Michel Barnier has hit back at suggestions from the British chancellor Sajid Javid that the city will be able to secure long-term access to EU markets. A Downing Street photographer had been snapped a picture of a briefing document which showed the UK was asking for “permanent equivalence” for financial services. This […]

EU chiefs have been left ‘surprised’ by Boris Johnson’s aspiration for the UK to have an Australian-style relationship with the EU without a formal trade deal. In a speech setting out the UK’s negotiating objectives, Johnson said the question was whether to seek a Canadian-style deal or an Australian-style relationship, “and I have no doubt […]

The number of dogs from overseas taking part in this year’s Crufts competition has dropped significantly for the first time in nearly two decades. The Kennel Club, the organisers behind the dog show, believe that concerns from dog owners about the possible restrictions on travelling with a dog after Brexit as a reason. There had […]

Goods coming to Britain from the EU will face import controls from January 1 next year, senior Cabinet minister Michael Gove has warned, despite Boris Johnson insisting there will be no border checks after Brexit. During the election campaign the prime minister had promised “there won’t be checks” for goods crossing the Irish sea, and […]

Brexit could lead to Northern Ireland operating in a different time zone to the rest of the UK, peers have warned. The European Parliament voted last year in support of a proposal that would put an end to the twice-yearly changing of the clocks to accommodate extra daylight hours. Under an EU directive, all 27 […]

Before Bardot, there was Martine Carol. CHARLIE CONNELLY looks back over her tumultuous life. The way Martine Carol told it, the whole thing had been a bit of a jape. In 1943 she was an emerging 21-year-old actress living in Paris when she was kidnapped by a notorious gangster. He was so charmed by her, […]

The European Commission has insisted that no action has been taken over the ‘Scotland Loves Europe’ message illuminated on to an EU building in Brussels. The commission said it would usually request police shut down an unauthorised projection – which the January 31 incident was deemed to be – but it was up for such […]

The former Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay has been tipped to take the role of environment secretary after the forthcoming cabinet reshuffle. Barclay was reportedly set to receive £17,000 (approximately a quarter of his ministerial salary) when the Department for Exiting the European Union closed its doors on January 31st. But the former Brexit secretary, who […]

Ireland’s former prime minister Bertie Ahern has warned that a border poll on a united Ireland is now ‘inevitable’ after Sinn Féin’s election success. Bertie Ahern, the former taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader, said: “I think a border poll is inevitable”. While he expected it to not happen immediately, he did expect it to be […]