News and Opinion

Ministers have claimed they are listening as they table a number of EU bill amendments to curb Henry VIII powers, but Labour says ‘nothing has changed’. The changes to the text of the EU Withdrawal Bill will impose limits on ministers’ powers to use so-called ‘Henry VIII’ powers to amend EU rules and regulations when […]

MITCH BENN asks whether, despite being calendrically ‘closer’ to Brexit, it now looks further away than ever. So, here we are again then; at the start of a new year. On the one hand, it seems like only a few weeks since we were assessing the global garbage fire which had been 2016 and wondering […]

Theresa May has been accused of “capitulating” to Hard Brexiteers after appointing an influential Tory Europhobe as a minister in the Brexit department. Suella Fernandes, who chairs the European Research Group (ERG) of Hard Brexiteer Tories, has joined the government as parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) […]

Theo Paphitis has launched an blistering attack on the government, branding Theresa May’s administration as “incompetent” and accusing it of posing a threat to the high street. The entrepreneur behind Ryman, Robert Dyas and Boux Avenue said retailers were “getting it right in the neck” as the sector struggled with labour costs, the apprenticeship levy, […]

Record numbers applied for Irish passports in 2017 in a bid to remain EU citizens after Brexit. https://twitter.com/chris4nature/status/950693474478764032 More than 160,000 people living in Northern Ireland and Britain applied for Irish passports in 2017 bringing the total number of Irish passports issued last year to a record-breaking 779,000. ‘The number of applicants from Northern Ireland […]

The appointment of a “no deal” Brexit minister is a sign that the UK is “hurtling towards retreat and isolation”, MPs have heard. SNP MP Stephen Gethins (North East Fife) told ministers the creation of the post would impact on the government’s ambitions for “a global Britain”. The new minister is likely to be based […]

David Davis has been accused of “extraordinary moaning” after attacking the EU for preparing for a no-deal Brexit while setting aside £3.7bn ready for the scenario himself. In a letter to Theresa May, the Brexit secretary said he would urge the EU to drop measures and guidance that could require UK companies to relocate to […]

Jeremy Corbyn has snubbed a cross-party summit at the Houses of Parliament on retaining UK membership of the single market and customs union. The talks, co-ordinated by SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, will involve the leaders of the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Greens, the party said. The SNP also said there would also […]

YASMIN ALIBHAI-BROWN argues that Britain is part of Europe’s progressive, enlightened and savage history. If you really want to annoy Nigel Farage, accuse him of hating Europe. I did that some years back on the LBC, and he went a bit bonkers. We were on Iain Dale’s show, reviewing the year – I think it […]

The chair of the Commons Treasury Committee has called for more clarity on what impact Brexit will have on VAT bills for firms importing goods from the EU. Former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan, who was a leading figure in the Remain campaign, has written to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to seek guidance on […]

Brexit is a career-killer for freelancers, argues reader Jayne Hamilton. I read your article on freelance musician Anneke Scott with sadness as I know exactly how she feels. If current negotiations are anything to go by, I will lose two-thirds of my livelihood at the very least because of Brexit. While companies export products, we […]

Trump’s fortunes are not looking so rosy, says PAUL CONNEW. If 2017, and Donald Trump’s first 12 months in the White House, marked a surreal year of living dangerously and chaotically, then 2018 is set to offer not just more of the same, but danger and chaos on an even greater scale. The explosive combination […]

Amid much global gloom, PAUL KNOTT finds an area of the world which much to be confident about​. Anyone despairing about the rise of extremism in Europe and the US can look to Latin America for encouragement. For all its ups, downs and Venezuela, the region has progressed remarkably since the dark days of the […]

What can Remainers learn from Leavers and their ideas about what Britain post-Brexiter should look like, asks ZOE WILLIAMS. Dan Hannan, Member of the European Parliament. Photo: Sachs Ron/PA – Credit: ABACA/PA Images The last thing I’d advocate is for the Remainers to become more like Leavers. Succumbing to the inevitable, Leavers – having a […]

BONNIE GREER says we are not on board for the anti-immigration; nativist; and economic protectionism of the culture wars known as MAGA and Brexit. There can be no doubt that the presidency of Donald Trump will be a different one, 12 months or so from now. Trump himself will guarantee it through, among other things, […]

Theresa May has sent a warning out to those trying to topple her stating she will be Prime Minister for ‘as long as people want me to serve’. May has also confirmed she is preparing a Cabinet reshuffle which could see leading Brexiteer Andrea Leadsom sacked from her post as Leader of the House of […]

Jeremy Corbyn has been dubbed ‘pathetic’ and accused of failing millions of working families over Brexit. The Labour leader rejected a call from the SNP to join a cross-party coalition to keep Britain in the EU single market after Brexit. The SNP said the Labour leader was failing working families by snubbing the invitation to […]

The war on drugs is no longer just going after the usual suspects. ANDREW PURCELL reports on the opioid crisis gripping the States and the role played by the pharmaceutical industry. The ‘War On Drugs’ has been a cornerstone of US criminal justice since Richard Nixon coined the phrase in 1969, and every president since […]

With disaster looming, Liberal Democrat leader VINCE CABLE explains how best to exit from Brexit. Brexit has become a long, draining, war of attrition: the EU negotiating process is not due to be completed until the autumn of 2018 at the earliest. It could drag on for years beyond that. The debates in parliament are […]

As the new year gets underway, JAMES BALL argues that pinning your hopes on BINO* (*Brexit In Name Only) is pointless. If you believe the new upbeat tone of lots of Brexit coverage, we enter 2018 with the chances of a cliff-edge Brexit much reduced: the EU and UK have agreed a deal for ‘phase […]

The first New European podcast of 2018 is live. Richard Porritt, Steve Anglesey and Geri Scott return from the festive break with another pod packed with news, comment and irreverent views. This week the team tackle Tony Blair’s attack on the Government and Labour, the revelations from within Trump’s trouble White House and the UKIP […]

Chancellor Philip Hammond has refused to rule out Britain being part of a customs union with the European Union after Brexit. The Remain supporter, whose opposition to a hard exit from the bloc has angered some of his colleagues, left the door open to the UK signing up to an agreement that could restrict international […]

In dangerous times, the Labour leader needs to work harder or give way, argues MICHAEL WHITE. Contrary to hysterical expectations just a few months ago, Theresa May is still prime minister this New Year and looks likely to stay put a while. Emboldened by her Brexit negotiating reprieve in Brussels, she reminded Jeremy Corbyn of […]

Who will be at the heart of the storm this year as Brexit resumes its place as the British family argument that will not die? This year’s New European Brexit Power List, our highly unscientific and unapologetically subjective take on those – from both sides – who will most influence the debate, provides a clue. […]

STEVE ANGLESEY counts down the worst Brexiteers of the week. BILL ETHERIDGE The West Midlands UKIP MEP believes he has uncovered a secret EU ruse to form an Olympic superteam at the 2036 Games in a cunning bid to out-medal Team GB. Etheridge told the Telegraph he had overheard plotters ‘using the word solidarity, which […]

In another important intervention, TONY BLAIR lashes out at a deeply divided Tory government and a feeble opposition while highlighting the damage Brexit is already causing 2018 will be the year when the fate of Brexit and thus of Britain will be decided. 2017 was too early in the negotiation. By 2019, it will be […]

Our editor-at-large ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on the influence wielded by Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, on Brexit ‘Only one more Brexmas to Brexit,’ taunted one of my few remaining Brexit-supporting friends. ‘Happy New Year.’ Happy New Year? Fat chance, unless 2018 is the year the Brexit Blunderbus is brought to a halt or, failing […]

RICHARD PORRITT on the week’s big stories, including stern warnings in Greece, unlikely heroes in Rome and Denmark’s most unfortunate taxi driver Sir Vince Cable’s vow to use the House of Lords in a bid to stop the UK leaving the EU will likely irk many Brexiteers. The Lib Dems have long called for reforms […]