British Politics

A Tory politician has resigned after claiming A&E departments were full of “fat mums in pot noodle-stained leggings” with their “snot-covered Asbo” children. Constituency Conservative chairman Gareth Baines claimed mothers were were taking their children to hospital “for a day out” to “harvest Facebook likes”. In one message over New Year’s, Baines wrote: “A&Es in […]

Boris Johnson has been accused of following Nicola Sturgeon’s lead on coronavirus lockdowns after he put England under one hours after his Scottish counterpart did. England entered its third national lockdown on Monday evening which saw schools shut and the toughest restrictions imposed since March following a recent, steep rise in coronavirus cases. Johnson ordered people […]

A TV presenter has blasted Downing Street after it emerged Boris Johnson would be holding another coronavirus press conference on Tuesday afternoon. Phillip Schofield did not hold back when he found out that No 10 announced another Covid conference for 5pm this afternoon. The news comes less than 24 hours after the prime minister announced […]

“Teething problems” with Brexit as well as the continuing pandemic have posed issues for Britons trying to enter EU countries. Travellers heading for Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden have been held up at borders following the UK’s departure from the single market. A number of passengers were stopped at Heathrow Airport as they tried to […]

A Tory housing minister has come under fire after he suggested Britons purchase a £170 bottle of champagne to ward off the Covid blues. Labour branded Christopher Pincher as “truly out of touch” after he recommended people see off a “rotten” 2020 with a lavish bottle of bubbly, despite more than half a million Britons […]

Nigel Farage has said Tony Blair should lead the UK’s vaccination programme, adding the former Labour prime minister “commands respect” and is “seriously bright”. Expressing his frustration with Boris Johnson’s latest lockdown announcement, Farage took to Twitter with a suggestion on how to speed up Britain’s vaccination drive. Describing the current cabinet as the “most low grade […]

Former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier has been arrested and charged with culpable and reckless conduct over her journey between Scotland and Westminster while waiting for results of a coronavirus test. Ferrier had the SNP whip removed for making a trip from Glasgow to the House of Commons and then a return journey after being informed […]

Nigel Farage should have been included on the 2021 New Year Honours list, enraged Brexiteers have said. Right-wing commentator Isabel Oakeshott said Farage “did more than anyone else on the planet to get us out of the EU”. Oakeshott said Farage’s exclusion from the Honour’s list was “a nonsense” which showed the honours system was “corrupt”. Patrick […]

Former chancellor Sajid Javid is likely to return to Boris Johnson’s cabinet to lead the coronavirus recovery, reports claim. The Daily Mail reports that Johnson is set to reshuffle his top team with business secretary Alok Sharma set to become full-time president of the Cop26 climate change summit. In his place is expected to be […]

There is speculation Ann Widdecombe could become the next Brexiteer peer following a “sell out” move in which she supported Boris Johnson’s controversial appointment of a disgraced Tory treasurer to the House of Lords. The Mail on Sunday‘s Anna Mikhailova accused Widdecombe of using her latest newspaper column to defend the prime minister’s ennoblement of Peter […]

Politicians are to be recalled to parliament as Boris Johnson plans tougher Covid-19 restrictions for England. The prime minister’s televised address is expected to take place at 8pm on Monday, with reports that Johnson could put every part of the country into Tier 4, with schools moving to online learning. 78% of England’s population is […]

Specialist online retailers in several EU countries have said they will no longer deliver to good to UK customers because of tax changes caused by Brexit. Small businesses across the trading bloc have halted sending supplies to the UK, with many saying they have stopped to avoid customs declarations and registering for VAT. Some customers […]

A Leaver breaking down and apologising for voting Brexit, which was turned into a song, has recently resurfaced. Comedian Brian Limond added a beat over audio of a man expressing his regret to LBC radio’s James O’Brien live on air. The man, who identified himself as Bill from Exmouth, said: “I owe you an apology my […]

The chair of a pro-EU lobbying group has urged Sir Keir Starmer to lead a cross-party “progressive alliance” to reform UK politics in the wake of Brexit. Stephen Dorrell, the chair of the European Movement – a grass-roots group focused on promoting close ties between the UK and Europe – said the first-past-the-post system of voting allowed “a small clique” […]

A leading fisherman has called for resignations over Brexit claiming that it has left the industry “worse off” than when the UK remained a member of the European Union. Arnold Locker, chairman of the Locker Trawlers in Whitby and a former chairman of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, claimed that key Brexiteers had betrayed the […]

A former pro-Brexit Conservative aide marched out of Downing Street by armed police after being sacked by Dominic Cummings has said she was “never given a reason” for her dismissal. Sonia Khan, who was fired as a special adviser to then chancellor Sajid Javid in August 2019 over the alleged leaking of secrets surrounding no-deal […]

A comedian has delivered the perfect rebuke to Brexiteers up in arms over jokes he made about Nigel Farage and Brexit on New Year’s Eve. Nish Kumar angered Brexiteers when he described Farage as “not technically a man, but a sack of meat brought to life by a witch’s curse whose blood type is technically real ale,” […]

A Brexiteer has been left fuming after the EU failed to update its website to include a reference to its newly-signed trade agreement with the UK. John Redwood used a blog on January 2 to complain that the bloc had yet to update its list of trade deals agreed with other countries. Referencing the “negotiations […]

A British couple who voted Brexit and then moved to Spain have been ridiculed after they were no longer able to access UK programmes abroad due to new post-Brexit streaming rules. The duo, whose daughter posted about the whole ordeal on Twitter, were cut off from watching Only Fools and Horses on their Sky app. Joey, […]

A Brexiteer has compared the UK’s departure from the European Union marks the biggest change to politics since the evolution of democracy at the end of the Stuart dynasty. Tory MP Bill Cash claimed: “It is a momentous moment which, by any historic standards, can only be compared in peacetime to what happened in the […]

Tory grandee Lord Heseltine has called for pro-Europeans to “fight back” and battle to rejoin the EU. The former deputy prime minister cited the stance of the SNP in pushing for another referendum on Scottish independence as the way forward for Remainers, despite the UK formally leaving the Brexit transition arrangements on New Year’s Eve. […]

Boris Johnson has insisted he will continue as prime minister despite speculation he will quit after delivering Brexit. Johnson said Britain had negotiated a good deal with the EU and there were lots of reasons to be positive about an “otherwise grim new year” amid the coronavirus crisis. Pressed on whether he would remain in […]

Millions of voters will this year get their first chance to have a say on how politicians have handled Covid-19 and Brexit. A bumper set of elections are to be held across Great Britain on “Super Thursday” – May 6 – including a number of contests postponed from 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Voters […]

Remember the lessons of 2016… A new year doesn’t mean everything will be better. Over the last few weeks, as I’ve read and heard many people express an entirely understandable longing to be rid of 2020, I’ve been reminded of the eerily similar outpouring of relief and/or hope which issued forth four years ago. 2016, […]

MARTYN SLOMAN reflects on a year in politics – and looks forward to life beyond the pandemic. Even if the imposition of Tier 4 in Norfolk had not made it impossible, I was not in the mood to celebrate on New Year’s Eve. 2020 was a disaster year.  Together with many readers of The New European […]

The new director of Scotland-based campaign group eu+me has pledged the campaign to rejoin the Eurpean Union begins now. In a blog on the eu+me website, leading businessman Alastair MacColl, said the group will now concentrate on building impetus for Scotland regaining its “rightful” place at the heart of Europe, “inch by inch, issue by […]

Cabinet Office minister and Brexiteer Michael Gove has been accused of insulting EU citizens by claiming that their mandatory applications to the EU Settlement Scheme were a “vote of confidence in Britain”. Appearing in the Commons to support the prime minister’s Brexit bill, he told MPs: “It is important to remember that there are now […]

A Tory MP has been celebrated for his tweet showing him celebrating Brexit alongside a cardboard cut-out of Margaret Thatcher, inscribed with the message “got Brexit done”. David Amess, the MP for Southend West, took to the social media platform to celebrate the UK’s departure from the European Union. Tweeting a picture of a cardboard […]

Labour leader Keir Starmer suffered from two more frontbench resignations following the Brexit vote in the House of Commons – on top of Helen Hayes’ resignation. A total of 162 of Labour’s 200 MPs supported the Brexit bill at third reading, although 36 did not record a vote and Bell Ribeiro-Addy opposed the legislation. A […]

A Labour frontbencher has resigned over her Brexit deal position after she defied Keir Starmer’s call for MPs to vote in support. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Helen Hayes left the opposition frontbench after abstaining on the bill. She tweeted: “I’m grateful to all who’ve contacted me on the EU Future Relationship Bill. I can’t vote […]

As MPs in the House of Commons vote in support of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, we look at how each politician voted. In the second and third reading of the bill, the Commons voted by 521 votes to 73 to back the agreement, a government majority of 448. 359 Tory MPs backed the bill – with 162 Labour […]

Former Brexit secretary David Davis has said the treaty agreed by Boris Johnson is “much better than would have been achieved under the previous strategy”, but warned there are “issues to deal with” on Northern Ireland, fishing and Gibraltar. He told the Commons: “It’s not over. All will lead to uncomfortable decisions in the near […]