Brexit

At least two ministers are on resignation watch over Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal which follows an agreement with the European Union on the UK’s future outside of the bloc. It follows the prime minister’s briefing to cabinet late on Wednesday on the progress made following negotiations with Ursula von der Leyen. Sources on the call […]

MPs have been warned they will have “virtually no time” to to properly examine the details of a Brexit deal before voting on the legislation if the government secures an agreement in the coming days. Jill Rutter, a senior research fellow at The UK In A Changing Europe, an initiative for research on UK-EU relations,  said: “Frankly, […]

Boris Johnson has “caved in” on fishing to secure a Brexit deal, a European official has claimed. Joe Barnes, the Daily Express‘ Brussels correspondent, claims that the prime minister is “willing to accept” that the EU hands back 25% of the value of fish it catches in British waters over a five-and-a-half-year transition period. It […]

A Brexiteer has claimed that Boris Johnson will be “toast” if he fails the “five tests” of a Brexit deal. Former Brexit Party MEP Jake Pugh told the Express the prime minister’s agreement will be challenged in the following areas:  “1. To what extent is the freedom to diverge allowed by LPF (level playing field). “2. […]

The Tory European Research Group (ERG) of pro-Brexit Conservative MPs has insisted it will examine any trade agreement in detail if a deal is reached on Wednesday night between London and Brussels. The body said it would reconvene its so-called “star chamber” to examine any deal. A statement issued by the group on Wednesday said: […]

It is “possible but far from certain” that a post-Brexit trade deal could be agreed with Brussels on Wednesday, a Downing Street source has said. A cabinet minister has also indicated that hopes are rising for securing an agreement although major differences still remain between the UK and the EU. This comes as the BBC’s […]

Britons visiting Gibraltar after Britain leaves the Brexit transition period will need to present their passports while Spaniards will not, reports claim. The British Overseas Territory could be entering Europe’s Schengen Zone from next year meaning visitors not from the area will be forced to furnish their passport upon arrival. Negotiations between London and Madrid […]

An EU diplomat has said a Brexit deal is “pretty much there” and could be announced as early as Thursday. Three diplomatic sources told Reuters that preparations for a deal have been stepped up. Reuters reported that national diplomats have been told to prepare for a meeting as early as Thursday should a deal be struck […]

Companies faces further chaos at Britain’s border after Brexit after a fund set up to help them process customs paperwork ran out of cash. HMRC said almost all the money from the Customs Grant Scheme – an £84million-pound programme to train staff and set up new IT systems – has run dry, leaving businesses at the risk of continued […]

Former Number 10 director of communications Alastair Campbell has branded Boris Johnson the c-word over his handling of Brexit and the coronavirus. In the article, titled “Alastair Campbell: Boris Johnson is a c*** and has condemned us all to a Covid dystopian hell”, The New European‘s editor-at-large rips into the prime minister as well as […]

NHS leaders have called on Boris Johnson to extend the Brexit transition period by a month, as it warns that no-deal could risk the health of patients during the Covid-19 crisis. Faced with an alarming rise in Covid-19 infections, they say that a month delay will take the NHS out of “the immediate danger zone, and […]

Taoiseach Micheal Martin has raised the prospect of officials working on the text of a Brexit deal on Christmas Day if a breakthrough comes before then. Martin said he and other EU leaders were on “stand-by” to endorse any agreement that might emerge from negotiations between Brussels and the UK government. “If you had a […]

A former government adviser has urged Boris Johnson to secure a Brexit trade deal, warning scenes at Dover port could be repeated if does not. Ex-Tony Blair adviser and The New European contributor Lord Andrew Adonis said the prospect of the British government “inflicting this state of chaos” was “utterly unthinkable”. Lord Adonis told the BBC it […]

A top-level Brexit call between prime minister Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will be held before the end of Christmas Eve. An EU source has confirmed to Reuters that the pair will hold a call on Wednesday or Thursday to discuss the potential for a trade deal. The two spoke […]

Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick has claimed there was “no reason” why the scenes in Kent this week would be repeated if there was a no-deal Brexit. It comes as Jenrick warned it may take a “few days” to clear the backlog of around 4,000 lorries waiting to cross the Channel sparked by a French travel […]

Pro-Brexit newspaper the Daily Express has been derided over its front page criticising the French government and Emmanuel Macron for its decision to close its borders to the UK, sparking huge queues at the port of Dover. The newspaper front claimed that French president is ‘no friend’ of the UK after blaming him for causing […]

A cabinet minister has indicated that hopes are rising for a post-Brexit trade deal although major differences still remain between the UK and European Union. Negotiators are continuing to talk in Brussels, while prime minister Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are in close contact in an effort to resolve remaining […]

A British musician has been lauded after saying it was a “grave error” for the country to Brexit in the middle of an international crisis. Yungblud, whose real name is Dominic Richard Harrison, caught Twitter users’ attention when he called on the government to extend EU trade talk and avoid the UK “legitimately running out of […]

A transport head has said Brexit will cause traffic jams at British ports “like we have never experienced”. Road Haulage Association policy director Duncan Buchanan warned that the UK faced a “very serious” disruption to supply chains as a result of Brexit. Buchanan had been fronting an emergency meeting of the Common’s business and industrial strategy committee when he […]

Michel Barnier is updating EU ambassadors on Brexit talks with just nine days until the end of the transition period. Ahead of his briefing, the EU’s chief negotiator said: “We are really in a crucial moment and we are giving it a final push. “In 10 days, the UK will leave the single market and I […]

A quip from rugby union legend and sports pundit Brian Moore has perfectly sums up the cronyism over Brexit. The Remain-voting former English rugby union footballer expressed regret for voting against Brexit – because of the number of opportunities offered by the government to those that backed Leave. His comments come as more peerages were […]

James O’Brien has said an EU trade deal was inevitable and stated the reasons why in his final Brexit prediction of the year. Ahead of Michael Barnier updating EU ambassadors on the state of negotiations, O’Brien said he was confident a deal was in the works. “I can’t see it not happening, I can’t see […]

A former UKIP MP has been appointed by Liz Truss as a government trade advisor. Douglas Carswell, who defected from the Tories to UKIP in 2014, has become one of four new non-executive directors to the Department for International Trade (DIT) to “bring vast experience and expertise to the department at a critical time for the […]

Cracks in the Labour’s position on Brexit have been exacerbated after its leader in Scotland backed calls for an extension. Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said he supported an extension of EU trade talks in light of the Covid-19 crisis, putting his party at odds with UK leader Sir Keir Starmer. Downing Street has until December 31 to […]

Home secretary Priti Patel appeared to admit in television interviews that the numbers of lorries stuck in Kent waiting to cross to France is far greater than the numbers quoted by transport secretary Grant Shapps. More than 40 countries have banned flights from the UK due to a mutant variant of coronavirus spreading through the […]

A growing number of Leave supporters now believe voting for Brexit in 2016 had been “wrong”, new polling by YouGov has found. The latest figures from December 16 found voter regret among Leave supporters rose to 10-13%, up from 2-4% in August 2016. The portion of Brexiteers who believe leaving the EU was right has also fallen, […]

The government has reportedly planned to recall MPs to the House of Commons next week to vote on a possible deal between Westminster and Brussels over Brexit. MPs must be given at least 48 hours notice before returning to parliament, with the government unlikely to recall politicians over the festive period, even if a deal […]

A member of the government has called for Number 10 to end Brexit talks and move to a no-deal Brexit. Andrea Jenkyns, a parliamentary private secretary to Robert Jenrick, broke with the convention of collective responsibility for government decisions by turning to Twitter to issue the call. The junior member of government wrote: “No more […]