News and Opinion

The SNP said its exclusion from the ITV General Election debate is depriving voters of the chance to make their own decisions. ITV is hosting a head-to-head debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn on Tuesday, November 19, which will not include any other party leaders. The Lib Dems and the SNP will contest the […]

Campaigners have reacted angrily to Michael Gove’s claims that EU citizens do not pay for access to NHS services. Michael Gove is completely wrong to say people from EU are accessing the NHS without 'paying in'. EU workers pay taxes. The NHS is not a contributory system. This is how it begins - the Tory […]

The Remain supporting farmer from Bishop Auckland, who became a viral sensation last week for his ‘turkeys voting for Christmas’ speech during a BBC vox-pop, has returned with another anti-Brexit speech. After the BBC News interview where he claimed that Johnson should be in jail for the lies he has told, John has created a […]

A member of the public in Derbyshire has left viewers smiling after she delivering a joke when she was asked for her opinions on Brexit on television. A Sky News reporter, who had turned up in the bingo in Derbyshire to ask viewers about their opinions on English identity, got more than he bargained for […]

Jennifer Arcuri has claimed when she tried to contact Boris Johnson to discuss media scrutiny surrounding her links to prime minister she said she was spoken to in Chinese. Arcuri, the US businesswoman who is alleged to have received favourable treatment from Johnson, said she was met with a bizarre response after she got through […]

Activists from an anti-Brexit youth campaign have announced they are severing ties with the People’s Vote campaign, in the latest announcement to rock the second referendum organisation. For our Future’s Sake and some of the staff from Our Future Our Choice announced the move because they believe outgoing boss Roland Rudd has “wrecked” a last-ditch […]

The prime minister’s decision to sit on the ‘Russian connection’ report could backfire on him, says JAMES BALL. At the start of the campaign, you would have been forgiven for thinking that if any party was going to have a Russian problem in the 2019 general election it would be Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour. His long-standing, […]

GLEN O’HARA looks ahead to imagine how various scenarios might emerge, once the votes are in. Everyone in politics is exhausted. After four UK-wide votes in just five years, as well as the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and elections to the Welsh assembly and Scottish parliament, the revolving door of our national life seems to […]

As in 2017, Labour are benefitting from making the campaign a broader conversation, says ZOE WILLIAMS I heard about Tom Watson’s resignation in the make-up room of a television studio, when I was just about to go on Sky and argue with a Tory about – well, as it turns out, about why Tom Watson […]

Scotland’s desire for independence is ‘unstoppable’ and must not be blocked by the next prime minister, the SNP’s Ian Blackford has said. The party’s Westminster leader argued that to refuse Scotland the power to hold another independence referendum would be undemocratic if the SNP wins the most seats in the looming general election. Speaking on […]

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ducked the question of whether he supports remaining in the EU four times today when questioned by the BBC’s Andrew Marr. He repeatedly dodged the question of what his personal preference was, sticking to the line that a Labour government would rapidly negotiate a new Brexit deal with the EU and […]

The original publication of The War of the Worlds was like a bombshell to an angst-ridden Britain suspicious of its neighbours. Now, why might the BBC consider a new adaption so timely? CHARLIE CONNELLY reports There’s never really a wrong time to revive H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Whenever a new adaptation comes […]

Dominic Raab has downplayed the prospect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal following the second phase of the Brexit process. The foreign secretary initially declined to get into “hypothetical negotiating objectives” when asked if a no-deal would take place if the UK failed to secure its fishing objectives in trade talks. But […]

He is the breakout star of Brexit, the Jacob Rees-Mogg of Remain… Gary Lineker is loved by some and derided by others. MARTIN SAMUEL assesses his many careers. Gary Lineker’s new book contains a recipe for asparagus risotto, but it’s not a cookbook. It contains personal anecdotes and stories, too, but nor is it an […]

The businesswoman at the centre of a controversy involving Boris Johnson said the prime minister cast her aside as though she was a ‘gremlin’ after she tried to contact him for advice on how to handle the media interest. In an interview with ITV Exposure, Arcuri continued to refuse to say whether an affair took […]

The Liberal Democrats have instructed lawyers to send a legal letter to the BBC demanding Jo Swinson’s inclusion in the general election debate. In the letter, sent to the corporation’s director general Tony Hall, the party’s lawyers warn the exclusion of Swinson is “clearly unlawful”, pointing out there are three main UK-wide national parties taking […]

The Liberal Democrats have called for the Conservatives to immediately launch an independent internal inquiry concerning allegations Conservative Party officials offered Brexit Party candidates jobs and peerages to stand aside. In a letter to Conservative Party Chairman James Cleverly, the Liberal Democrat President Sal Brinton said: “The severity of these claims has implications not just […]

The Labour Party chairman has claimed that claims that the Tories offered peerages to Brexit Party figures could amount of ‘political corruption of the highest order’. Ian Lavery said the claims that the Conservatives offered Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage and his colleagues seats in the House of Lords in return for standing aside in […]

The election is being fought online. And sometimes we can’t resist helping our opponents. Liz Gerard reports Cuddly kittens have a lot to answer for. Their cuteness beguiles us, but their twitching whiskers and bogbrush tails are weapons of mass distraction in the paws of master manipulators. And we are their Manchurian candidates, brainwashed and […]

From campaigning cats to Count Binface, test yourself on this week’s Brexit and electoral trivia. Let us know how you get on by tweeting @theneweuropean.

Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib says he would rather see the UK remain in the European Union than leave under the current Brexit deal. Habib said he sees Boris Johnson’s withdrawal agreement as “much worse” than remaining in the EU. Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sky News he explained: “What we really need to do […]

Michael Gove has claimed that allegations members of the Brexit Party were offered peerages to stand aside were ‘nonsensical’ but did not rule it out altogether. Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, government minister Gove was responding to claims from Lord Falconer that the Conservatives may be going “beyond electoral law” to win the election. […]

Labour has claimed Sky News’ use of the strapline ‘The Brexit Election’ unfairly gives the Tories an advantage in the election. It has written to the broadcasting watchdog Ofcom to claim that the description “gives undue and unfair weight to the Conservative Party’s political agenda”, pointing out that the Tories are using Brexit in their […]

Britain has given the world both great things, and terrible things – literary festivals are among the latter according to WILL SELF The literary festival circuit has become the tedious go-round of the contemporary author pushing her or his product. How many times I have looked out from the stage at the serried ranks of […]

The police are to ‘assessing’ claims from the Brexit Party that candidates were offered peerages by the Tories to get them to stand down in the election. Nigel Farage has claimed he had repeatedly been offered a seat in the House of Lords in an attempt to persuade him to “go quietly”. He said that […]

Sir Vince Cable has said there is a ‘one in a million’ chance Jeremy Corbyn will be prime minister – and said the Lib Dems won’t support him if there is a hung parliament. Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sky News, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats said a Johnson majority could happen – […]

Brexit Party MEP Ann Widdecombe, who is standing for MP in the general election, claims Downing Street made her the offer of ‘a role in the negotiations’ for Brexit, in exchange for standing down. 'I said I couldn't be flattered and buttered up and promised things' Ann Widdecombe, Brexit Party MEP, says she was contacted […]

Boris Johnson has been called on to rebuff a general election endorsement from far-right activist Tommy Robinson. The former English Defence League (EDL) leader said “go Boris!” in an endorsement made outside the High Court, where he is being sued for libel. Robinson said: “Everyone should vote for Boris Johnson. And I’m so happy with […]