News and Opinion

Emily Thornberry is urging local Labour parties to back her to ensure she appears on the ballot paper as the candidate with the most experience. The shadow foreign secretary is the only candidate out of the four still in the contest not to have guaranteed their name on the ballot paper after failing to win […]

A new poll appears to have demolished the argument that Labour needs a leader in the north to reconnect with its heartlands. A new poll conducted by Ipsos MORI asked voters around the UK about their views on the Labour leadership contenders. The polling found Keir Starmer ahead in nearly every region where voters were […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson is planning to ‘love-bomb’ Scotland with a £5 million advertising campaign to attempt to save the union. The campaign, due to start on Valentine’s Day, is intended to show that Boris Johnson wants to protect the union after Brexit. The Times reports it will involve adverts in the cinema, television, radio […]

Gaps in environmental protections in the Brexit deal mean that wildlife from hedgehogs to yellowhammers are at risk, campaigners have warned. A report for The Wildlife Trusts, RSPB and WWF, warns that the UK is at risk of losing regulations that prevent hedgerows being cut during the nesting season and buffer strips from being ploughed […]

Dominic Cummings has reportedly set up a network of ‘spy’ informants to stop ministerial aides from leaking to journalists. In the latest leak it was revealed that Boris Johnson’s top adviser told special advisers last week they must now stop giving favours to journalists by producing up to half the bill if they go for […]

SOHPIA DEBOICK on how the Yorkshire city, unbound by fashion, political orthodoxy or gender division, spawned a look and sound that lasted. Leeds loomed largest in rock mythology when the Who’s landmark Live at Leeds (1970) was recorded at the unlikely venue of the university’s parquet-floored refectory. The record was seen as marking a return […]

WILL SELF travels two years into the future to discover what post-Brexit Britain will really be like. I know you’re all feeling it out there in Remainer land: there’s mournful cut-price bonging from the clock tower in our collective hall, and up in the nursery of our imagination, an absurd little bird is saying ‘cuckoo’; […]

Donald Tusk said that he ‘feels very Scottish’ in the wake of Brexit and has claimed there would be broad support in Brussels for the country to rejoin the EU. The former European Council president told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that Scotland would be treated with “empathy” if they gain independence and look […]

Labour leadership hopefuls Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy have urged the party to accept Brexit and move on, in its first hustings since the UK left the European Union. Shadow business secretary Long-Bailey and Wigan MP Nandy, who both represent Leave voting constituencies, said efforts should now be redirected into ensuring a good trade is […]

Police are investigating a racist sign that has been posted in a block of flats calling for people to speak English or leave now that Brexit has happened. There was widespread anger at the news that an A4 sheet of paper headed ‘Happy Brexit Day’ had been attached to a fire door in a council-owned […]

A talented group of actors do their best in the most hideous of circumstances. Southwark Playhouse, London, until February 22 Sir Christopher Lee once told me that all actors get to appear in terrible productions every now and again, but the trick is never to be terrible in them. The late actor’s sage words occurred […]

There have been mixed reactions in the newspapers to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, with some British dailies mourning the departure and Europe’s front pages seemingly move on. The Guardian strikes a mournful tone on the “day we said goodbye” with a glum-faced bulldog, while inside economics editor Larry Elliott writes “a new […]

What does it mean to be Italian? Even today, many in the country think it still comes down to skin colour, says PATRICK SAWER. Miss Italy 1996, Denny Mendez. Picture: Getty Images – Credit: Sygma via Getty Images Nearly a quarter of a century ago a young woman’s victory in her national beauty pageant sparked […]

There were a handful of arrests made as Remainers and Leavers came together to mark the UK’s split from the European Union. Despite a relatively peaceful evening, police dealt with five people in Whitehall in London, including one man who was charged with criminal damage and being drunk and disorderly. Kevin Murphy, 52, of Corbyn […]

As Simon & Garfunkel’s classic turns 50, ADAM BEHR considers the album’s political message and poignant personal relationship at its heart. Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon as Tom and Jerry in 1957. Picture: Getty Images – Credit: Archant When the rock critic Robert Christgau first reviewed Simon and Garfunkel’s album Bridge over Troubled Water, released […]

The man blamed for the Brexit mess earned a profit of £836,168 last year. According to Companies House, The Office of David Cameron Limited, the official name of the business which manages the ex-leader of the Conservative Party’s media and speaking appearances, shows that the organisation also had £538,075 cash in the bank and to […]

For the second time on Brexit Day, the White Cliffs formed the backdrop for a message of tender goodbye to the European Union. On his last day in post, MEP Antony Hook beamed a massive message of goodwill to his fellow Europeans onto the famous chalk face of the Kent coast. “We still love EU” […]

Chancellor Sajid Javid has been mocked for claiming he was visiting ‘north England’ – a phrase that nobody in the North of England uses. The phrase was trending on Twitter after the chancellor shared a photo of himself, Dominic Raab and Liz Truss on their way to Sunderland for a Cabinet meeting on Brexit. “On […]

Pro-EU anthem Ode To Joy has become the most downloaded track of the week in the latest chart announced on Brexit day. The Dutch composer André Rieu’s live rendition of Beethoven’s song, an anthem for the pro-European movement, overall charted at Number 30 in the official singles chart. Whilst it missed out on the overall […]

The reaction of some Remainers to the release of the new 50p piece echoes the fixation of Brexiteers with Big Ben’s bongs, says Brexit Party official GAWAIN TOWLER. In case you hadn’t noticed, panto season isn’t quite over. Widow Twankey may have departed the Hackney Empire and Christopher Biggins is under wraps for another 12 […]

A satirical Twitter account for the Irish Border has announced its intention to stop tweeting – nearly two years since its inception propelled it to internet stardom. The Brexit-trolling account started in February 2018 and has amassed more than 109,000 followers, including Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. It has enjoyed such success that its curator, who […]

As January 31 – Brexit Day – goes down as a day to be celebrated or commemorated in equal measure, RICHARD LUCK scours the history books for other dates that have polarised opinions. First day of creation, Genesis chapter I verses 1-3 (1852-60) illustration by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Picture: Getty Images – Credit: Getty […]

The marketing team behind the transport system in Brussels have paid tribute to the UK as it bows out of the European Union. The Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company, known as STIB-MIVB, posted a message on Twitter aimed at Brits telling them that they are “always welcome in Brussels”. In a video accompanying the tweet they […]

As MITCH BENN neither celebrates nor commiserates the big moment, he has a special message for Remainers, Brexiteers and our fellow Europeans. So how are you going to spend tonight? I’ll be working, I expect; such is the life of the jobbing comedian. This ‘profession’ is the graveyard of friendships and relationships; our job hours […]

Commentators, journalists, politicians and business figures from EU nations give their thoughts and predictions for post-Brexit Europe. Reports suggest Boris Johnson could significantly shake-up the BBC. Photograph: Rick Findler/PA. – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images Miriam González Durántez, Spanish international trade lawyer Will your country be sad to see Britain go? Really sad. Many Spanish people, […]

The EU’s longest-serving MEP says that Brexit is a ‘profound mistake’ – and said he is worried about the ‘man of the street’ if job losses and price hikes start to hit. Lib Dem MEP Bill Newton Dunn. Photograph: Lib Dems. – Credit: Archant Liberal Democrat Bill Newton Dunn, who served in the first European […]

Editor-at-large ALASTAIR CAMPBELL meets ADO Den Haag’s new manager – the only Englishman managing a senior continental football team. Having had a long and successful career in football, as a player and manager – and with handsome pay-offs to compensate for the less successful spells – Alan Pardew could quite easily settle down to a […]

Former Brexit secretary David Davis has claimed he ‘misspoke’ when he previously said there would be a trade deal with the EU ready for the day the UK leaves the trading bloc. Andrew Neil questioned Davis, who was the Brexit secretary before Dominic Raab, for his BBC Two show over his claims that we would […]