News and Opinion

Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom has refused to confirm the date of the “meaningful vote” on Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Leadsom faced pressure from Labour and the SNP to give a date for the vote after the government suspended debate on the prime minister’s deal earlier this month. The Cabinet minister, speaking at business questions, would […]

Nadine Dorries has claimed that no deal Brexit will not result in a ‘car crash’ because she thinks there will be a transition period to protect us. Appearing on ITV’s Peston programme the Mid-Bedfordshire MP asked if she could say something positive about leaving the EU without a deal. ‘Can I say something positive about […]

Outspoken Brexiteer Julia Hartley-Brewer has revealed she would rather Remain in the EU than Leave on Theresa May’s terms – in a heated row on television with journalist Polly Toynbee. The argument between the talkRADIO host and the Guardian journalist on Sky News appeared to spill out on to Twitter after Toynbee branded Hartley-Brewer ‘right […]

The classic Dickensian tale of a grumpy man at Christmas sums up the leaders in British politics this year, writes ANDREW ADONIS. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Picture: ANTONY KELLY – Credit: Archant The most haunting line in A Christmas Carol is that Ebenezer Scrooge ‘carried his own low temperature always about with him’. It sums […]

There is a “plausible argument” for the public to be asked to vote again on Brexit if MPs remain deadlocked, a Cabinet minister has said. Amber Rudd acknowledged her comments would “distress” some of her Tory colleagues and stressed she was fully committed to Theresa May’s Brexit deal. But Commons leader Andrea Leadsom hit back […]

Judges at Scotland’s highest civil court have rubber-stamped a European Court of Justice decision allowing the UK to unilaterally revoke its withdrawal from the EU. The Luxembourg court ruled last week that the UK can go back on its decision to trigger Article 50, which started the Brexit process, without the agreement of the other […]

Embattled Theresa May finally found somebody willing to back her Brexit deal today – Russian president Vladimir Putin. Putin used his annual televised press conference to say the UK should not hold a second referendum insisting May must ‘fulfil the will of the people’. The president said he ‘understood’ May’s position in ‘fighting for this […]

The UK Government has failed to recognise the reality of devolution in its “amateurish” approach to the Brexit negotiations, a Holyrood minister has said. Scottish constitutional relations secretary Mike Russell said Theresa May’s failure to work effectively with leaders of the opposition parties at Westminster, as well as with the devolved governments, had created the […]

Fiona Onasanya’s conviction could shift the political balance in the House of Commons and even have an influence on the outcome of Brexit. Labour has suspended former whip Fiona Onasanya and said she should resign as an MP after she was convicted of lying to police to avoid a speeding charge. The 35-year-old solicitor, who […]

If the prime minister wanted to use PMQs to scotch the idea her no-deal planning is a ruse to coax MPs into voting for her deal, she didn’t do a very good job of it. There is a view common among MPs that, rather than no-deal Brexit planning being a serious contingency measure – after […]

Brexit poses a “grave danger” to the NHS and is distracting attention away from the urgent issues facing the service in what could be the “toughest winter yet”, senior doctors have warned. The British Medical Association is marking the 100 days until Brexit milestone by repeating its call for a second referendum. The doctors’ union […]

Theresa May’s deputy has been forced to deny Brexit has forced the government to put any of its functions into “deep freeze”. Cabinet Office minister David Lidington issued the denial as Labour warned the Tory administration was in an “advanced state of decay” and seeking to abandon “non-essential” government business as it advanced preparations for […]

The European Commission has triggered an action plan to protect EU citizens and businesses from “major disruption” if the UK crashes out without a deal on March 29. With just 100 days to go the scheduled date of Brexit, and the UK Parliament far from ratifying Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement, the commission said it was […]

Britain will drop from the world’s fifth largest economy to its seventh next year as Brexit hits growth, a new analysis says. The country will drop two places in the rankings of the world’s largest economies in 2019, falling behind India and France as Brexit and the relatively weak pound knocks the country’s comparative status, […]

With 100 days to go until the government’s proposed Brexit leaving date, campaigners for a People’s Vote have published a list of 100 things the British public know about Brexit now that they were not told during the referendum in 2016. A spokesman for the People’s Vote campaign said: ‘Whichever way people voted two years […]

Britain’s army of small firms are being hung out to dry by the government and should ready themselves for the hardest EU divorce imaginable, a business adviser has warned. Speaking as the clock read 100 days to Brexit, Paul Hodges, who runs the company Ready For Brexit, warned that “all roads lead to no deal”. […]

The trailer for a new film which focuses on Vote Leave’s involvement in the EU referendum campaign has been released. In the film Benedict Cumberbatch will swap his deerstalker for a balding head to portray Vote Leave boss Dominic Cummings. The two-hour film titled ‘Brexit: The Uncivil War’ has been written by James Graham, the […]

With exactly 100 days to go to the scheduled date of Brexit, supporters of a People’s Vote have warned of crisis unless the correct path is found through the current uncertainty. David Lammy in the House of Commons. Photograph: PA. – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images Labour’s David Lammy said the prime minister was heading for […]

Britain’s five main business groups have issued an urgent warning about a no-deal Brexit, saying many firms are now reaching “the point of no return”. Contingency plans are being put in place for the UK leaving the EU without a deal, which are a “significant drain” on companies’ time and money, the government was told. […]

Health officials lack a clear post-Brexit recruitment plan which could intensify current medical staff shortages, MPs have warned. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it had not been reassured by a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) “assertion” that there had not been a large exodus of staff since the 2016 referendum. In a […]

Theresa May’s sense of duty will go only get her so far. MURRAY HAWTHORNE says that she needs to show leadership to end the parliamentary stalemate she created. Theresa May won her vote of no confidence – but only just. Her 200 votes comprise a hollow victory; she herself a leader in purgatory on borrowed […]

The government is being ‘deeply irreponsible’ by playing the ‘ultimate game of brinkmanship’ over Brexit, a a Tory Remain MP has warned. Former business minister Anna Soubry added there was no mandate in the country for a hard Brexit. Her comments were echoed by fellow Tory Justine Greening, who said she would be ‘happy to […]

A Tory former minister has threatened to resign the party whip and vote against the government if it adopts a policy of seeking a no-deal Brexit. Grantham and Stamford MP Nick Boles said on Twitter that he would “vote in any way necessary to stop it from happening”. The former skills minister under David Cameron […]

The government is playing the “ultimate game of brinkmanship” over Brexit, a Tory backbencher has warned. Former business minister Anna Soubry branded the delay to Parliament’s meaningful vote on the prime minister’s Brexit deal “deeply irresponsible”. Her comments were echoed by fellow Tory Justine Greening, who said she would be “happy to sit through Christmas […]

Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of being “the midwife of Brexit” after failing to call a no-confidence vote in the government. The Labour leader tabled a motion calling on MPs to declare they have “no confidence in the prime minister due to her failure to allow the House of Commons to have a meaningful vote […]

3,500 troops will be on stand-by to deal with the impact of a no-deal Brexit, it has emerged as Theresa May ramps up her planning. The prime minister’s Brexit deal remains the preferred outcome for the government, she continues to insist, but with just over 100 days until the UK’s departure from the bloc the […]

Pub chain boss Tim Martin has hit out at businesses demanding ‘certainty’ in turbulent times – despite the fact his own business has been rocked by declining share prices. https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1074651490428416000 The Wetherspoon’s boss said that businesses can ‘thrive from uncertainty’ and that it would be ‘pathetic’ to demand assurances from the government. He told the […]

Iain Duncan Smith has claimed – that despite all of the evidence – the impact of Brexit will be ‘short-term’ and has denied it is affecting jobs. In a television interview with Sky News’ All Out Politics, Duncan Smith claimed that he had ‘intelligence’ to suggest the EU were not expecting Britain to increase preparations […]