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A watchdog is expected to find Vote Leave, the official Brexit campaign, breached electoral rules during the referendum, according to reports. The campaign group’s former chief executive, Matthew Elliott, said the Electoral Commission (EC) had concluded that Vote Leave exceeded spending limits and made a donation to a group that it should not have. But […]

Firms are running out of patience over the lack of progress in the Brexit talks, a major business organisation has warned Theresa May. The British Chambers of Commerce said companies still face uncertainty over tax, tariffs, customs and regulation, with time running out ahead of the the March 29 2019 Brexit date. Cabinet ministers were […]

The government’s hopes of achieving world-class animal welfare standards will “evaporate” unless they are written into law as Britain leaves the EU, a new report has warned. Compassion in World Farming said the UK would come under intense pressure to accept lower standards once its food production industry was removed from EU structures which currently […]

The Conservative leader in the National Assembly for Wales has quit the post after seven years following a spat over the future for Welsh jobs after Brexit. Andrew RT Davies said in a statement that he had tendered his resignation “with deep regret” following a meeting of all Conservative Assembly Members (AMs) this morning. Prime […]

Major job losses will occur if the government allows service industries to “fall off a cliff edge” after Brexit, London mayor Sadiq Khan has told MPs. Mr Khan called for much greater emphasis to be put on the sector during withdrawal negotiations with Brussels as services account for 40% of UK exports to the EU […]

Ireland’s deputy premier has warned the UK there will be no Brexit withdrawal deal without an agreement on the Irish border. Ahead of a visit by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker to Dublin, Tanaiste Simon Coveney indicated that a no-deal scenario was now being seriously contemplated within the EU. “This is a question many people […]

Britain’s plan for a temporary customs “backstop” to solve the Irish border issue is “not acceptable” and any fall-back option cannot be time-limited, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit co-ordinator has told MPs. Guy Verhofstadt said the government’s position that the backstop of continuing UK alignment with the EU customs union would cease by the end […]

Non-UK EU nationals make up more than a quarter of the construction workforce in London, according to official analysis. It found 28% of those employed in the industry in the capital are from one of the 27 other EU member states. Nationally, around one in 14 construction workers are non-UK EU citizens – referred to […]

The UK will not be able to take part in the European Arrest Warrant after Brexit, Michel Barnier said today as he hit out at British politicians who sought to blame Brussels for the consequences of the Leave vote. The European Union’s chief negotiator said Theresa May’s “red lines” meant it was impossible to remain […]

The SNP have called for all MPs to have suicide awareness training after an alleged Tory jibe. The call came following yesterday’s Brexit bill debate in which it was alleged Ian Liddell-Grainger shouted “suicide” when SNP leader Ian Blackford asked what options were open to Scottish parliamentarians to debate the devolution amendments to the EU […]

Disagreement with Britain’s decision to quit the European Union has reached its highest point since the 2016 Brexit referendum, according to a new poll. The YouGov survey found 47% of voters thought the decision to leave was wrong, against just 40% who said it was the right thing to do – the widest margin since […]

The UK will be “fully prepared” for leaving the EU without a deal, Downing Street insisted today, after reports civil servants have been drawing up scenarios for a “Doomsday Brexit” that would leave the country short of medicine, fuel and food. Prime minister Theresa May still believes that “no deal is better than a bad […]

Stanley Johnson has said the Brexit referendum should be held again if there is evidence there was Russian interference in the vote. The I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestant – and father of foreign secretary Boris Johnson – said he was sceptical that there was not interference. He told ITV’s Good Morning […]

Peers have inflicted another three major defeats on the government asking for more changes to the Brexit Bill – and demanding the UK retains key aspects of the single market. In a ‘stunning victory’ for Remainers the House of Lords backed retaining elements of the single market by continued participation in the European Economic Area. […]

The motion put before Parliament this autumn on the final Brexit agreement will be amendable by MPs and its outcome will be binding on the government, David Davis has said. The Brexit secretary said the motion – which prime minister Theresa May has previously described as a “take it or leave it” choice – would […]

A council’s website still claims the next elections are for the European Parliament in 2019 – after the date Britain is due to leave the EU. The ‘elections’ page for Conservative-led Vale of Glamorgan Council in South Wales states that “the next scheduled Election is: European Parliamentary Election in June 2019”. The UK is due […]

Thousands of anti-Brexit campaigners demonstrated across Britain this weekend calling on the government to halt the rush to quit the European Union. Exeter March. Picture: John Presley – Credit: Archant The protests kicked off on Friday in Oxford at Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre where Andrew Adonis and Will Hutton previewed their new book. Lib Dem […]

Embattled Ukip leader Henry Bolton has resisted calls to quit, insisting that he was focusing on the fight for Brexit. Despite a vote of no confidence in his leadership by the party’s national executive committee (NEC) and the resignation of a series of key figures, Mr Bolton insisted he would fight on. Mr Bolton hit […]

Brexit will “not be sustainable” if it does not work for young people, Justine Greening has said in her first remarks after being forced out of Theresa May’s cabinet. The former education secretary said that future generations of MPs could seek to “improve or undo” what the the current parliament implements. The intervention came just […]

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has urged Europe to stick together to protect and spread its values. Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg – the first leader to speak in the debate on the European Union’s future – Mr Varadkar warned that guarantees secured in the Brexit talks to protect the Irish border cannot be reneged […]

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 […]

The European Parliament is to demand that last week’s Brexit deal is converted into a legally binding text as soon as possible. The Parliament’s chief Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt said suggestions from David Davis that the agreement was not binding had undermined trust in the UK among MEPs. In a TV interview on Sunday, Mr […]

Boris Johnson has been accused in the Lords of doing “immense damage” to Britain’s reputation abroad with his tendency to “speak first and think afterwards”. In a rare personal attack at question time, Labour’s Lord Soley said the foreign secretary had a “bad reputation” for it at home and overseas. Foreign Office minister Lord Ahmad […]

In a major climbdown on its flagship Brexit bill, the government has given in to rebels over greater oversight of ministers’ powers. An amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill tabled by the cross-party Commons Procedure Committee will stop ministers simply signing changes into law through so-called Henry VIII powers. Instead a new “sifting committee” of […]

Labour would try to stay in a “reformed single market” if it was conducting Brexit negotiations, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said. He said he stood by his assertion that remaining inside the single market under current rules, which include accepting free movement of EU citizens, would not respect the Brexit referendum result. But he […]

Theresa May has been warned no Brexit deal is “reckless and dangerous”, as “utterly ruthless” dissident republicans would target border officials. Independent MP Lady Hermon (North Down) said a hard border would inevitably exist between Northern Ireland and the Republic if the UK and EU failed to agree a deal. She said the UK government […]

The negotiating deadlock in the talks on Brexit has been branded a “car crash” by a former Northern Ireland secretary in the Lords. Labour’s Lord Hain asked why anyone was surprised by Monday’s negotiating “car crash” in Brussels after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refused to accept proposals on a customs border. “Unionists were quite […]

Brexit pressure intensified on Theresa May today as the leader of the Scottish Conservatives warned the prime minister not to cut separate deals for different parts of the UK. The intervention by Ruth Davidson came as Mrs May tried to plot a way forward in withdrawal negotiations after the Democratic Unionist Party refused to accept […]