News and Opinion

Liberal Democrat MEPs have turned up to the first day of the new European parliament session wearing ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ t-shirts. Lib Dem MEPs in the European parliament. Photograph: Irina von Wiese MEP. – Credit: Archant The anti-Brexit party, which came second in the European elections the month before, wore bright yellow t-shirts brandishing a […]

Stephen Fry has said Europe has shaped him ‘enormously’, and regardless of politics he will remain European. The actor, writer and comedian was speaking at the Hay Festival as he explained what Europe meant to him and, despite admitting Europe having its faults, said the politics surrounding Europe did make him feel any less European. […]

The Liberal Democrats’ anti-Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake MP urges Remainers to join the March for Change and tell the new prime minister to put a halt to the Brexit mess. When we think of great moments of political upheaval, social change and protests for justice, the images which often come to mind are marches. There […]

An attempt to shut down government spending in the event of a no-deal Brexit appears to have stalled. Labour grandee Dame Margaret Beckett and Tory former attorney general Dominic Grieve put forward an amendment which sought to deny certain departments access to funding in the event of a no-deal unless it has been specifically approved […]

Tory leadership hopeful Boris Johnson has refused to rule out an early prorogation of parliament to push through a no-deal Brexit – but the drastic gesture is by no means simple. Early prorogation was recently suggested by Dominic Raab when he was still in the leadership race, as a way to break the impasse of […]

Constitutional experts have suggested that the next Conservative leaders may not automatically become prime minister due to the threats such as a vote of no confidence. Professors at University College London (UCL) have pointed out that the next Tory leader still needs to be able to command the confidence of the house to automatically become […]

A pensioner who told a black woman working in a betting shop ‘when Brexit comes you will be gone’ has been given a fine and a ban. John Keogh, 74, appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court and admitted committing a racially aggravated offence in August last year. As well as the fine, he was handed a […]

A visit to a garden centre turned sour for Boris Johnson as shoppers heckled the contender to be prime minister. Conservative party leadership contender Boris Johnson at Polhill Garden Centre. Photograph: PA Wire. – Credit: Archant The normally civilised venue for a walkabout saw Johnson get told he was “crazy” with “preposterous ideas” as he […]

Jeremy Hunt has been pilloried for comparing the costs of a no-deal Brexit to the money spent bailing out banks after the 2008 financial crisis. In a series of tweets devoted to the Tory leadership hopeful’s spending plans, he justified having to put aside enormous support funds for key industries. “We spent just over £1 […]

A new Brexit Party MEP has only been in the job a month, but he has already taken to Twitter to complain about the commute involved to get to the European parliament. https://twitter.com/drdavidbull/status/1145597763998142465 David Bull, a Brexiteer MEP who once presented TV’s Most Haunted, was criticised for posting a video on social media where he […]

Both Jo Swinson and Ed Davey in the Liberal Democrat leadership contest have ruled out a coalition with Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party under any circumstances. Taking a question off viewers of the Sky News debate about whether the Lib Dems could work with Jeremy Corbyn, Jo Swinson replied: “No. Jeremy Corbyn? Absolutely not. He’s a […]

Tory leadership contender Jeremy Hunt has been criticised by the business community for claiming he would be able to look family businesses ‘in the eye’ over no-deal Brexit job losses. Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One, he said: “At the beginning of October, if there is no prospect of a deal that […]

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has been criticised for using air raid sirens as his introduction at the ‘Big Vision’ rally. Supporters of Farage posted the video to social media praising the bizarre entrance. “Epic entry from Nigel Farage” claimed MEP Martin Daubney, as he tweeted a video of the moment. “Brexit Party’s Martin Daubney […]

Ealing studio’s film comedies were far more challenging and subversive than their reputation for cosy eccentricity suggests. As one of the series’ classics is re-released, JAMES OLIVER re-evaluates a British institution. The Ladykillers (Photo by John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) – Credit: Corbis via Getty Images It’s always hard to pinpoint the precise moment […]

Both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt have been told that if the country leaves without a deal, there will be no extra cash to cover the major spending pledges that both have announced. Johnson wants to slash tax for people earning over £50,000 a year – a move that will cost an estimated £9 billion […]

Nigel Farage has announced plans to launch a pro-Brexit newspaper because he appears to think there is a gap in the market for one. But rather than compete with other pro-Brexit newspapers including the Times, Mail, Express, Telegraph and The Sun on the shelves, Farage’s newspaper is to be given away at street stalls… Judging […]

Liberal Democrat leadership candidate Jo Swinson said she thinks the party could win the keys to Number 10 in the event of a general election. Speaking on Sky’s Sophy Ridge programme, Swinson said that she would not want to put any limits on the party’s ambitions. The current deputy leader of the party, Swinson is […]

The poll that demonstrated overwhelming union support for a second referendum is ‘absolute nonsense’, said Unite chief and close Corbyn ally Len McClusky. He dismissed the YouGov poll that found that two thirds of members of the three biggest unions all support a remaining in the EU, because it had been commissioned by pro-Remain group […]

The New European’s new columnist on the contentious nature of multiculturalism in the Cité radieuse, Marseille. Last week Multicultural Man savoured the delights of the English Cotswolds, where he discovered cottages that cost more than £1.5 million and look like fresh-baked scones, and which are lived in by picayune Englanders with half-baked ideas. But this […]

Drastic measures to get Brexit through are still on the table for Boris Johnson because ‘politics has changed’. Boris Johnson says he doesn't want to prorogue Parliament, but doesn't rule it out: "I don't like the idea of proroguing. I'm not remotely attracted to it, but MPs have got to understand it's their responsibility to […]

If you’re making excuses for someone on your team you wouldn’t make for someone on theirs, you’re part of the problem says MITCH BENN. Let’s get one thing straight before we start; I don’t know what was going on in Carrie Symonds’ flat in Camberwell the other night, and neither do you. Nor indeed do […]

Stephen Fry has pointed out how astounding it is that the UK is swopping membership of the EU’s powerful negotiating bloc for a chance at deals with Trump’s America. He made the comments in the context of a discussion of the advance of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and the dangers they pose on personal […]

Boris Johnson has joked that Stormzy got thousands of Glastonbury revellers in the audience to shout ‘back Boris’ rather than ‘fuck Boris’. https://twitter.com/UsmanA__/status/1144736387872243713 Stormzy took aim at the Tory leadership candidate during his song Vossi Bop, which includes the lyrics ‘fuck the government’ and ‘fuck Boris’. He became the first black British performer to headline […]

A Conservative Brexiteer MP was one of the many to attend the latest People’s Vote ‘Let Us Be Heard’ rally as it took place in Cheltenham. Alastair Campbell at the People’s Vote rally in Cheltenham. Photograph: Fionna O’Leary. – Credit: Archant Local MP Alex Chalk joined a capacity crowd in Cheltenham where he heard calls […]

On Armed Forces Day army veteran STUART THOMSON gives a personal account about why he is campaigning against Brexit, and why our membership of the European Union matters. I’ve been scared shitless quite a few times during my service career. Whether it was the alarms sounding for incoming rocket or artillery, the chemical alarms for […]

Without irony a spokesman for Downing Street has condemned moves by MPs to stop a no-deal Brexit as ‘grossly irresponsible’. Tory former attorney general Dominic Grieve and Labour grandee Dame Margaret Beckett have tabled an amendment which would deny departments access to funding in the event of no-deal unless it has been specifically approved by […]

What optimism there is for the Remain cause is now tied to the fate of the Liberal Democrats – and to see it through, they need to make a genuine appeal to the Left. Recent polls show that the Lib Dems have achieved twice in a month what they couldn’t do for over a decade […]

Labour Party officials have expressed their dismay that the party is ‘haemorrhaging members’ – and it has ‘accelerated’ since the European elections. According to The Times an insider told the newspaper that the reduction in membership is leaving a budget shortfall of £1 million. They claim that the total number of members has dropped to […]