British Politics

MITCH BENN issues a musical call-to-arms to a country under the coronavirus curfew. Mitch Benn’s song and video urged people to stay in during coronavirus. Picture: Contributed – Credit: Archant On the one hand, envisaging into what sort of post-Covid world we might one day emerge, fat and blinking, seems like the most exquisite form […]

While Fox News tried to downplay the impact of the coronavirus, Rupert Murdoch is said to have fears about his own health. TIM WALKER reports. Just as Fox News was last month downplaying the threat coronavirus posed to the world, Rupert Murdoch, the station’s owner, discreetly called off a party he’d been planning at his […]

Shining humour on to dark times, comedian MITCH BENN says if this was The Walking Dead, he would skip ahead. First of all, I hope this finds you safe, well and still relatively sane. I know the waggish thing to do at the moment is to draw satirical comparison between our current plight and the […]

Layla Moran talks to TIM WALKER about how parties and political opponents should find ways to work together to tackle the coronavirus. In this brave new world, politicians are gasping for relevance. Holed up in her constituency home in Oxfordshire, Layla Moran, a former teacher, is managing to keep us attentive. More than that, she’s […]

Despite the coronavirus outbreak the government is continuing with Brexit talks. Consequently a campaign for assoicate EU citizenship must continue. The campaign to allow British citizens to apply for associate EU membership must go on. When all this is over the economic consequences will be devastating and the USA will be in no position to […]

Whether it’s the NHS, students or sport we should write off 2020. Andrew Adonis makes the point that students should be allowed to repeat this year with no fees. My daughter, who is in her first year at university, has already suffered as a consequence of the lecturers’ strike and will have lost half a […]

One reader says those blaming China should look closer to home for who to blame over the response to coronavirus. Don’t blame the Chinese for being slow off the mark. They had no great warning and knew little about what was coming. However we did have warning and lots of information from China and we […]

One reader thinks the daily press briefings from the government has improved without Boris Johnson. I’m finding the 5pm Covid-19 briefings without Boris Johnson more factual, succinct and more credible. I think experts give more guidance than politicians. This may be our darkest hour but Boris is most certainly not Churchillian Tony Howarth London SW3 […]

The owners of the Daily Telegraph are said to be living in a castle on the island of Brecqhou to avoid the coronavirus, TIM WALKER reports. When Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, appealed to hotel owners in the capital to make rooms available for rough sleepers during the coronavirus epidemic, there was no response […]

The Brexit transition period must be delayed to help the UK after the coronavirus outbreak. The coronavirus crisis, resulting in mass panic buying, hoarding and supply shortages with extensive empty shelves in supermarkets, has inadvertently become a dry run for no-deal Brexit and an unofficial test of resilience in the UK. I expect to see […]

Is it time for Boris Johnson to show genuine leadership by calling for a national unity government to steer the country through the coronavirus outbreak? These are truly unprecedented times and as such there must surely now be a government of national unity. If parliament is forced to suspend, either formally or through parliamentarians voluntarily […]

With Boris Johnson belatedly raising his game, MITCH BENN’s attention turns to ‘horrifyingly fascinatiing’ behaviour of his US counterpart. How are we all holding up? I do hope you’re all well, safe and still relatively sane. I won’t ask if you’re all behaving yourselves and staying indoors, since that decision is no longer ours to […]

TIM WALKER wonders why some revelations about Boris Johnson’s key adviser Dominic Cummings were dropped by the BBC. Chief Adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings at a news conference inside 10 Downing Street, London, after the latest COBRA meeting to discuss the government’s response to coronavirus crisis. Picture date: Monday March 16, 2020. […]

Every EU country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic is a reminder that each are sovereign. Some Brexiters are gloating over the EU27’s lack of coordination in dealing with the coronavirus crisis and a few European nations even closing their borders. First, it must be said that most European nations have opted for similar policies. But […]

Readers have their say on the response to the coronavirus. When everything is over let’s remember who risked their lives to save ours and contain the infection; and let’s remember that if there is money to be found to fix public budgets, health is the last place to look for them. When everything is over, […]

Readers assess the politics surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and give their perspective on the news. Sir Keir Starmer may feel that currently ‘there isn’t really a case for rejoining’ the EU, but circumstances may change. A number of possible developments could turn public opinion towards rejoining, such as: increased costs in trade with Europe, a […]

MITCH BENN issues some rousing words on the coronavirus fight – and how it has changed our foucs. So, how are we all doing? I do hope that everyone is finding quarantine as unstressful as possible and that the only fever any of you is registering is the figurative ‘cabin’ variety. I myself am actually […]

TIM WALKER learns more about the rise to power of Downing Street’s key adviser, and delves into the accounts of Nigel Farage’s firm. Few people have been more startled by Dominic Cummings’ rise to power than James Beechey. The art historian recalls Cummings making repeated nocturnal visits to his London flat almost 20 years ago […]

Leading pro-EU campaigner Lord Heseltine talks to TIM WALKER about where the battle was lost, the likely fate of Dominic Cummings and the press barons he holds responsible for Brexit. Few politicians have counted in – and counted out – quite as many prime ministers and their minions as Lord Heseltine, and, so far as […]

The failed ideology of sovereignism is sweeping Europe – how will it be tackled? Even in these days of coronavirus panic, what we Italians call sovereignism is the real threat. Countries that lock themselves within their borders, countries that delude themselves they can face the future alone by relying on some theatrical leader. Sovereignism is […]

Recent news reports the world over have been littered with coverage over panic-buying to prepare for self-isolation, with toilet roll high on the list. MITCH BENN sheds light on how the clear-outs start. I’m a big fan of the ‘discount’ supermarket chain Aldi (other Germanic discount supermarket chains are available. Well one other is anyway). […]

Boris Johnson’s key advisers Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain might appear to run a tight ship in Downing Street – but TIM WALKER reveals behind-the-scenes pay is causing tension. Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain have been accused of acting like nightclub doormen in the way they’re protecting Boris Johnson from proper media scrutiny. Behind the […]

Nigel Farage’s recent media appearances telling Boris Johnson how to run the country and how to deal with coronavirus have annoyed readers. It’s a bit rich of Nigel Farage to lecture Boris Johnson on his leadership, or absence of it. I agree with his criticisms of Johnson’s tactic of hiding from the public and the […]

Readers suggest their ideas for how to keep the United Kingdom together after Brexit hits. Would allowing Britons to keep EU citizenship (Letters, TNE #182-183) help prevent the break-up of the United Kingdom by reducing support among Scottish voters for independence by preserving their freedom to travel, live and work within the EU? Many UK […]

Readers disagree with recent contributions from our columnists that Bernie Sanders cannot beat Donald Trump. As a Vermonter, I take issue with Bonnie Greer and Michael White on Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (TNE #184). As Bonnie says, Bernie is rich – total wealth approaching $2 million. But Trump, if you believe him, […]

Some readers are taking a cynical approach to the coronavirus and how the fear will be used by the government. How timely is this coronavirus for our Brexit government? For the next two years they can blame it for all the economic problems caused by Brexit. Of course after that, they will have to find […]

MITCH BENN says the right-wing media’s reaction to the prime minister’s announcement is hypocritical. So, our prime minister has announced having conceived a child “out of wedlock”, as our recent ancestors might have tersely put it, while still at least technically married to his last wife (one is given to understand that a divorce has […]

TIM WALKER on Vote Leave co-founder Matthew Elliott, the latest BBC embarrassment, and the feud rocking the Daily Telegraph. Have your say Send your letters for publication to The New European by emailing letters@theneweuropean.co.uk and pick up an edition each Thursday for more comment and analysis. Find your nearest stockist here or subscribe to a […]

Readers react to Priti Patel’s new points-based immigration system proposals. My Hungarian mate Ferenc sees a bright future for gangmasters under our new ugly immigration laws. So you can stay in the UK for six months but you’re not allowed to work. That’s really going to stop low-paid illegal work in the unregulated economy! Arrive […]

It’s not just turning 50 that has made MITCH BENN want to get in shape. He’s dreams of watching the wheels fall off the Brexit bandwagon. I’ve started going to the gym again. There are a few reasons for this: firstly, I’ve found a local gym which is run by and in aid of a […]

Without a change in electoral system the big parties are doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes with their leaders. In Meg Russell’s insightful article (“Why grassroots members shouldn’t choose party leaders”), she says of the move away from MP-only selections, “Labour was the first party to diverge from this… in 1981”. However, the 1976 […]

TIM WALKER on concerns about The Sun’s former managing editor at BBC Radio 4 and Arron Banks’ failed Blue Wave Movement. Paul Lewis, the presenter of BBC’s Money Box, made an interesting observation the other day about his Radio 4 colleague Stig Abell, who presents the station’s Front Row. He pointed out he has another […]