News and Opinion

IAN DUNT on how liberals can redefine national pride and reclaim the flag from nationalists. Brexit, sold as a commitment to self-government, created an insidious side effect that may yet prove its most damaging legacy. It mutilated British patriotism and turned it into nationalism. In his 2017 book, The Road to Somewhere: The Populist Revolt […]

Young people are more worried about the effects of Brexit than catching coronavirus, a study suggests. Just over two-fifths (42%) of adults aged between 18 and 29 reported being stressed about Brexit, compared with around a third (32%) who are worried about catching Covid-19, according to a recent UCL survey. The difference could be due […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY on a writer who helped shape Italy, and whose fate still consumes the country. Does anything burn more fiercely in a human being than a sense of injustice? We can all think of times we’ve been wronged or a verdict has gone unfairly against us, trivial or ruinous, that can still have us […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY on the French star Simone Simon, whose Hollywood career was overshadowed by a court case. Sitting in the courtroom during the summer of 1938 Simone Simon looked anything but the glamorous transatlantic film star. In a simple coat and hat and flat shoes she watched the proceedings with an increasing sense of mortified […]

DAN WHITE gives a personal account of how Brexit is already impacting the disabled. It came as no surprise to anyone in the disabled community that the government had not conducted an impact assessment on the effect of leaving the EU on disabled people, despite concerns around the supply of medical supplies expressed by the Royal […]

European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic has accused No 10 of failing to implement a range of obligations under the Northern Ireland Protocol as he warned sweeping changes to the protocol will not be possible. In a letter to Michael Gove, Sefcovic said the EU would not considering softening protocol obligations unless the UK complies with what […]

Readers are split on whether The New European should focus on rejoining the EU, or whether more time is needed. Congratulations on getting the backers and arrangements in place to enable TNE to continue and move on. What I would like to see is more coverage on how we can get to the point where […]

There’s scepticism from readers that the next leader of Scottish Labour can save the Union. The answer to Maurice Smith’s question, in my opinion, is that the Scottish Labour leadership candidate Anas Sarwar will not. The problem lies in the way the question is understood and answered by so many of your contributors. They seem […]

There is not a journalist alive unaware that Boris Johnson struggles with the truth. Yet this seems to make them less questioning not more, says ALASTAIR CAMPBELL. With an admitted bias born of being columnist and editor-at-large, I would argue that The New European has been among the very best new additions to the UK media […]

As the UK government continue to negotiate Brexit with the European Union, readers ask where are the benefits? Isn’t it about time that the press began to hold Boris Johnson to account over Brexit? Northern Ireland and the current issue over documentation and checks will not go away which will only push us closer to […]

Sadiq Khan has hit back at Jacob Rees-Mogg after being branded “Red Khan” over his new diversity scheme. Rees-Mogg claimed London should be spared “loony left-wing wheezes” as he branded the city’s mayor “Red Khan”. The Commons Leader said councils should be responsible for naming streets, with the MP for North East Somerset advising Sadiq […]

Downing Street is reportedly preparing for Boris Johnson to fight Andy Burnham at the next general election. Sir Keir’s leadership has been called into question over the past 10 days following a series of poor polling numbers – sparking speculation of a leadership challenge if the numbers do not improve. Now Downing Street believes that the most […]

Matt Hancock has urged people to be “patient” about the prospect of getting away this summer, despite the health secretary already booking a break in Cornwall. Hancock said that the rollout of coronavirus vaccines was “absolutely essential” for summer holidays to take place. “I know that people are yearning for certainty over whether they can […]

Amsterdam has overtaken London as the largest financial trading centre in Europe last month as Brexit-related changes to finance rules came into force. An average of 9.2 billion euros (£8.1 billion) worth of shares were traded on Euronext Amsterdam, alongside Dutch divisions of CBOE Europe and the Turquoise exchange in January, according to data from CBOE […]

Michael Gove has been urged to show his unionist credentials by standing up for fishermen and Northern Ireland after Brexit, after admitting that the UK was facing a number of “obstacles” after Brexit. The Cabinet Office minister acknowledged the “bureaucratic obstacles” to negotiate and navigate with Brussels, as he was pressed to support “retaliation” against […]

Your weekly check on how Project Fear is becoming Project Reality, selected by Steve Anglesey.  It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain as Michael Gove’s war on experts appeared to have been extended to exports. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, in charge of ensuring smooth trade after […]

TIM WALKER on the list of the chancellor’s engagements, and the mystery of the missing BBC Boris Johnson documentary. When it comes to ingratiating himself with the media, Boris Johnson will be alarmed to learn that his ambitious chancellor Rishi Sunak, pictured, is beating him at his own game. In the third quarter of 2020, Sunak ate out to help […]

Labour MP Stella Creasy is considering pursuing the government in court if it changes the law to allow only ministers to take paid time off after having a baby. The Ministerial and Other Maternity Allowances Bill, which seeks to update the treatment of pregnant cabinet ministers, was announced on February 4 and comes three months […]

The UK should be “more or less free” of the coronavirus crisis by the end of the year, a leading epidemiologist has predicted. Professor John Edmunds, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said some measures would remain “probably forever”. But he told ITV’s Peston: “I think we will be more […]

Former education secretary DAVID BLUNKETT says the government has failed to appreciate the scale of the damage the pandemic is inflicting on children’s prospects. The British, or more accurately the English, handling of the Covid pandemic has thrown up two markedly different levels of success and competence. I’m not talking here about the fiascos relating […]

The EU has rejected a call from Michael Gove to change the Northern Ireland Protocol – with the European Commission insisting it is the “only way” to protect the Good Friday Agreement. In a letter to the Cabinet Office minister on the eve of their meeting in London, the Commission’s vice president Maros Sefcovic wrote: “The […]

News that you might have missed from around the continent, selected by STEVE ANGLESEY Bayern Munich’s superstar players spent a night on a grounded plane at Berlin’s Brandenburg airport because they were 30 seconds too late to take off. The German champions, headed for the Club World Cup in Doha, had arranged for their match […]

No 10 has defended the use of taxpayers’ funds to pay photographers to capture Boris Johnson’s dog frolicking around in the snow. Downing Street defended the use of three “vanity photographers” to stage Instagram-style photoshoots of Dilyn, the canine Johnson shares with fiancee Carrie Symonds. The photographers – two civil servants and a special adviser – take […]

El Clásico might get all the attention, but the greatest clash in Spanish football is between Seville’s two sides, says EMMA LUCK. It is no coincidence that La Liga chose El Gran Derbi to kickstart the league competition after its coronavirus lockdown last season. The showdown between local rivals Sevilla and Real Betis was given pride […]

The French response to Brexit has not quite been a Gallic shrug. But it’s not been far off. PAULINE SCHNAPPER explains the view from Paris. The Brexit deal reached on Christmas Eve was a relief for France as much as for the rest of the EU, both because a deal (any deal!) was better than no-deal […]

Boris Johnson was cut off mid-sentence by the Commons speaker after he “teased” the SNP’s Westminster leader during Prime Minister’s Questions. Sir Lindsay Hoyle interrupted Johnson half-way through his response to Ian Blackford about a £20 uplift to Universal Credit. Blackford asked the prime minister to make the uplift – brought in at outset of […]

Britain risks being “cut off from the rest of the world” if border measures are tightened even further beyond the new quarantine plan, Boris Johnson has claimed. The prime minister urged Labour to get behind the latest measures, which come into effect from Monday and include up to 10 years in prison for people who […]

Sir Keir Starmer said he would not take advice from a prime minister who “wrote two versions of every column as a journalist and who proposed Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize”. Sir Keir and Boris Johnson had been debating whether to extend the eviction ban set to expire on February 21 when a row […]