News and Opinion

The government is looking at plans to ‘bailout’ businesses in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The Times reports that the government has drawn up a list of companies – including some of those in the construction and manufacturing sectors – which it believes could be financially exposed in any volatility following the UK leaving […]

With its never-ending twists and turns, it is leaving many feeling utterly lost and bewildered. The new Brexit themed maize maze has opened for the summer at Undley Farm. PICTURE: RACHEL EDGE – Credit: RACHEL EDGE But if you can find your way out of this confusing Brexit-themed maze, you might just have the skills […]

Following the success of the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election – which saw a Remainer MP defeat the Tories – plans are set to be announced for how a Remain alliance would work in a general election. With the probability of a snap general election this autumn continuing to rise, plans are being put in place […]

The power cuts which affected almost a million people in England and Wales on Friday evening are a ‘sign of things to come’, a union leader has claimed. People waiting for trains at King’s Cross station, London, after all services in and out of the station were suspended on Friday when a power cut caused […]

Britain could head to the polls again in 2019, but how soon could a snap general election get called? To hold one this autumn parliament would need to follow a strict timetable by law, even if it was triggered by a vote of no confidence in the government. MPs return to the Commons from their […]

The chancellor has claimed that the economy is growing – on the day figures showed it has shrunk for the first time since 2012. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased by 0.2% between April and June, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The economy was weaker than both market expectations and the Bank of […]

Brexit Party MEP Annunziata Rees-Mogg has been asked to outline what she has done to earn her £71,000 a year salary… and the list is short. Rees-Mogg, the sister of arch-Brexiteer and Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, continued to claim that the EU system “does not work”, but said she was still doing her job to […]

Ministers who left the government after ‘breaking the rules, resigning for personal ambition or getting sacked for incompetence and repeated failure’ should pay back hundreds of thousands of pounds handed out as severance payments, Labour have said. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jo Platt called for the return of money which was reportedly paid out to […]

Even the legendary patience of the Scots is being exhausted as the country is dragged out of the EU against its will, says Mitch Benn. I’ve returned to my adopted hometown of Edinburgh to partake in the annual month-long ritual of comedy industry chiselling which is the Festival Fringe (my show is called Ten Songs […]

Downing Street has cancelled all leave for government advisers in the run up to October 31, when the UK is scheduled to leave the EU. Boris Johnson’s chief strategic adviser Sir Edward Lister has emailed all special advisers telling them to hold off booking any holiday until the end of October. The move is likely […]

Political conference season is nearly upon us as the Brexit clock ticks down, but one party should be thanking the European Union for the £1 million upgrade to its venue. That party? Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, which local paper the Doncaster Free Press reports will be gathering at a revamped Doncaster Racecourse. Between 2000 and […]

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…

Just 24 hours after announcing that British railways would no longer be part of the Europe-wide Interrail scheme, the company behind the decision has done a u-turn in response to a major backlash. Rail Delivery Group (RDG) had announced that it planned to withdraw from the scheme, which allows passengers to take trains across 31 […]

How to stop the ‘raging vandals’ who will tear down everything they value to accomplish Brexit. If you believe Dominic Cummings, the battle over Brexit is already over – and he’s won. But if you still believe everything Dominic Cummings says after the 2016 referendum campaign, then there’s probably no hope for you. It’s certainly […]

Bonnie Greer’s state-by-state examination of US politics continues with The Peach State. If it is possible to imagine Donald Trump taking the time to listen to music, then the guess would be that he would have the popular taste of the typical Baby Boomer. His choices would be solidly formed in the 1970s when he […]

Jeremy Corbyn has asked the Cabinet Secretary to rule that allowing the UK to leave the EU without a deal during an election campaign would be unconstitutional. In a letter to Sir Mark Sedwill, the Labour leader said it would be and “anti-democratic abuse of power” if Boris Johnson allowed this to happen. Corbyn’s argument […]

The New European’s Editor-at-Large hopes Cumberbatch-Cummings continues on his wild rampage. Might Benedict Cumberbatch, by all accounts an ardent anti-Brexiteer who has largely kept his head down on the matter, yet be playing a significant if unwitting role in the rise and fall of a no-deal Brexit? Cumberbatch, as most of you will know, played […]

Editor Matt Kelly meets broadcaster and scourge of the Brexiteers, James O’Brien. LBC radio presenter James O’Brien. Picture: Urszula Soltys – Credit: Archant For a man who spends his life talking on the radio, James O’Brien has one heck of a famous face. The video clips of the LBC presenter slowly, patiently, sometimes painfully, pulling […]

Examining the Brexit Party whitewash and picking the top Brexiteers of the week. “Hopelessly over-promoted” Home Secretary Priti Patel has been named Brexiteer of the Week. Picture: Paul Davey/Barcroft Media via Getty Images – Credit: Barcroft Media via Getty Images “As a German native, proud to be part of this celebration of diversity. This is […]

A former top supermarket boss has said there will be ‘significant’ gaps on the supermarket shelves within a week of a no-deal Brexit. Justin King, former CEO of Sainsbury’s and food director at Marks and Spencer, said that the border at Dover is unlikely to function smoothly enough after a no-deal Brexit to prevent major […]

The UK could be weeks away from another general election, meaning all opposition parties need to be rallying the troops. But, as frustrated Labour member MARTYN SLOMAN notes, Jeremy Corbyn is again missing in action. Given the maelstrom that is the current political scene there is a surprising consensus on the way that events could […]

Why the new ‘joint prime minister”s fascination with Bismarck isn’t just weird – it’s dangerous for Britain. Now Dominic Cummings is joint prime minister, we have to take him seriously as more than a Vote Leave operative. I have therefore been reading all his interminable blogs on Bismarck, eugenics and American fighter pilots. I thought […]

UK rail firms will no longer take part in the Interrail scheme that allows people to travel around 31 European countries on a single ticket. The decision is not formally connected to Brexit, and Eurail Group which runs the scheme had previously announced that Brexit “will not affect the Interrail pass”, stating that travellers from […]

An MP has blamed Brexit bureaucracy for Home Office delays in responding to the case of one of her constituents, who she says is an EU citizen with terminal cancer who should not have been deported. Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, said she was forced to resort to Twitter in an […]

A peer has warned of possible panic buying or even limited rationing in the event of a no-deal Brexit, amid food industry calls for waivers in competition law to allow coordination of the supply chain. Former chair of Northern Foods Lord Haskins said he believed there will be some “panic-buying” in the event of a […]

A former senior minister has said that if Boris Johnson refused to step down after losing a no-confidence vote it would create ‘the gravest constitutional crisis since the actions of Charles I led to the Civil War’. Former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind issued a reminder of the historical consequences of ignoring constitutional convention in a […]

MPs and peers from opposition parties have launched a legal bid to try to stop Boris Johnson from proroguing parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit. The cross-party bid comes from 24 MPs including Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, SNP’s Joanna Cherry, independent MP Heidi Allen and a number of Labour politicians. The papers have […]

The price Leavers are prepared to pay to deliver Brexit threatens everything. But, as BARNABY TOWNS explains, the extreme politics of the new government could actually provide hope for pro-EU campaigners. While no-one was surprised that Boris Johnson won the Tory leadership election, becoming Prime Minister on the votes of fewer than 100,000 Conservative Party […]