News and Opinion

A new video promoting Britain’s relationship with the EU after Brexit, which it claims will lead to a new era of ‘cooperation’ and ‘close ties’, has been mocked on Twitter. Footage of an ad bigging up Britain’s new ties with Europe gained some unsavoury publicity when it launched on Wednesday. Shared on the Cabinet Office’s […]

MARTYN SLOMAN on why Jeremy Corbyn and Len McCluskey are unlikely to feature on the new leader’s list of concerns. When I worked as a training director one of my tasks was to help people in the organisation settle into the demands of a new job – a form of one-off mentoring. The best advice […]

SIMON KOLSTOE explains two simple tests you can carry out to check to see how effective your mask is. If a surgeon arrived at the operating theatre wearing a mask they had made that morning from a tea towel, they would probably be sacked. This is because the equipment used for important tasks, such as […]

Nominations have closed in the leadership contest for the Scottish Conservatives, with Douglas Ross MP elected unopposed. The Moray MP is set to take over from MSP Jackson Carlaw, whose resignation last week led to Ross declaring his candidacy the following day. Carlaw said he believed he was not ‘the person best placed’ for the […]

Footage has resurfaced of a Tory Brexiteer praising Boris Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement bill and trying to prevent MPs from scrutinising the document – days after calling for it to be rewritten. Iain Duncan Smith (IDS) provoked a stir this week when he suggested ‘fine print’ in the Withdrawal Agreement – which sets out the UK’s […]

The Daily Mail has continued its war on those working from home, urging ministers to issue ‘an unambiguous call for workers to get back to the office.’ The newspaper has published an opinion column accusing civil servants of being ‘workshy’ and ‘wrecking the recovery’ by avoiding their usual workplace during the pandemic, despite the guidance […]

A scientist on the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) committee has called the England’s track-and-trace system ‘clunky’ and ‘slow’ and called on Boris Johnson to fix it. Professor John Edmunds, a member of the government’s all-important SAGE committee, said England’s test and trace programme is so ineffective that it could lead to a […]

Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings are attempting to create a ‘presidential-style’ operation akin to the White House at Downing Street, it has been claimed. The Institute for Government’s Alex Thomas said that the pair are planning a ‘model more like the White House’. ‘Boris Johnson’s frustration with the comparatively small support structure in No. 10 […]

After allegations that leaked Brexit trade documents were hacked from Liam Fox’s e-mail account, it has been revealed the entire contents of his inbox on his personal account were stolen. The former disgraced defence secretary, who went on to become international trade secretary, reportedly experienced multiple hacks of his e-mail account which saw all of […]

The government has been accused of ‘critical errors’ at Britain’s borders which led to the spread of coronavirus, a parliamentary report claims. The virus spread faster because Downing Street failed to introduce quarantine measures for travellers in the early days of the pandemic, according to MPs. A Commons Home Affairs Committee report said that ‘critical […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has criticised prime minister Boris Johnson and the government for being ‘too slow to act’ throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Writing in The Guardian, the MP for Holborn and St Pancras has warned the nation is at a ‘crucial point’ in the fight against coronavirus and that Britain faced ‘a long […]

Boris Johnson and his chief adviser Dominic Cummings will feature in the latest series of Spitting Image. The satirical series will air later this year on BritBox after originally running for 18 series between 1984 and 1996. The prime minister’s puppet draws attention to his shock of blonde hair, while Cummings’ sees the former Vote […]

England’s 20,000-strong contact tracers are only making a ‘handful of calls’ a month despite coronavirus cases being on the rise, an investigation has found. Tracers have told the Guardian that they are so starved of work since the system launched three months ago that they are occupying their time with barbecues and quizzes. In June, […]

Boris Johnson has been criticised for handing a peerage to a former Brexit Party MEP who has refused to apologise for historical support of the IRA over the attack in Warrington that killed two children. Claire Fox will head to the Lords after being included on a 36-strong peerage list that led to allegations of […]

A PR firm with links to the Tory Party has been awarded £3 million in government work without undergoing an open tender process. Topham Guerin was handed a contract to carry out coronavirus messaging for Downing Street just days before the lockdown in March, an investigation by The Guardian and openDemocracy has revealed. The company, […]

A new campaign is calling on the UK government to reject any post-Brexit deal with Donald Trump over fears of a worsening of standards. Campaigners fear about a ‘backroom deal’ between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump’s administrations, with parliament unable to scrutinise or vote on the end result. They raise concerns about the fact government […]

A radio presenter has slammed Iain Duncan Smith (IDS) over claims he made about the Withdrawal Agreement during an epic on-air monologue. James O’Brien berated the Brexiteer for suggesting the UK had been duped into signing the Withdrawal Agreement – a treaty that he not only voted for but denied other MPs more time to […]

The price the UK government was prepared to pay to save lives during the coronavirus pandemic was lower than many other developed nations, a study has revealed. Analysis by academics at the University of Exeter suggest the government in Westminster was willing to pay far less than other developed countries including Germany, New Zealand and […]

The European Commission has rejected calls for the Withdrawal Agreement to be rewritten after Iain Duncan Smith complained about the Brexit document – despite voting for it. Former Tory leader Smith complained that the EU ‘want our money and they want to stop us being a competitor’ and the Withdrawal Agreement ‘sadly helps them’. He […]

Chickens exported to the EU could die on Britain’s roads after the end of the Brexit transition period as it fears delays at our borders, a government document admits. A new document from the government says the 10 months of traffic disruption could last until ‘the end of October 2021’, with fears that chicks exported […]

Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith has slammed the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement on Twitter despite voting for it in the Commons last year. The agreement, supported by the Tories, laid out the terms of Britain’s divorce from the EU, which officially occurred on January 31. But Smith, a fervent Eurosceptic and ex-Tory leader, has now […]

Russia has attempted to tear apart the European Union, but instead it has brought it closer together. Russian interference in the Brexit referendum (‘The Russia Report and what it doesn’t tell us’, TNE #204) was driven, apparently, by its desire to weaken the European Union. I think recent events actually suggest the meddling has strengthened […]

The reality of what the end of the transition period means is only now starting to hit home. Yet another piece of underhand behaviour by the ‘Brexit at any cost’ government has just slipped out; we will no longer have reciprocal medical cover in EU countries. Many millions of us who have European Health Insurance […]

The government has warned pharmaceutical companies to stockpile six weeks’ worth of drugs as a precaution against disruptions caused by the end of the Brexit transition period. In a letter to medicine suppliers, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) advised companies to boost their reserves as a priority. Published online on Monday, the […]

Labour MP David Lammy has told Twitter it must get ‘much faster at removing hate’ after a delay to deleting racist abuse targeted at him. The shadow justice secretary said on Monday that it took more than 13 hours for the social media giant to act before it suspended the perpetrator’s account. Lammy tweeted: ’13+ […]

Brexit has sparked an exodus of Britons to mainland Europe not seen outside of a serious economic or political crisis, a new study claims. Researchers at the Oxford-in-Berlin partnership and the WZB Social Science Centre studied OECD and Eurostat data and find that migration to EU countries has risen by 30% since the Brexit referendum. […]

Having told people to make arrangements to return to work this week, Boris Johnson has chosen to get out of the office, and to his countryside retreat. This week the official advice to work from home was scrapped, and Boris Johnson urged workers to return to their normal routine at the office, as he told […]

A former Tory minister, with a net worth of millions, has been criticised for a tweet which saw him celebrating using taxpayers’ money to get a £50 discount on his lunch. Former health minister Jeremy Hunt posted photos of him having lunch at a local pub in to promote the chancellor’s ‘Eat Out to Help […]

Boris Johnson’s father has said Brexiteers like his son are in ‘cloud cuckoo land’ over the EU’s chances of backing down over a ‘level playing field’ to secure a deal. 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 […]

Alastair Campbell has slammed Boris Johnson’s latest honour list, accusing the prime minister of cronyism only seen in ‘developing countries’. The New European’s Editor-at-Large appeared on the James O’Brien show when he accused the prime minister of doing ‘what they do in places we used to call developing countries’. Johnson has drawn fierce criticism for […]

Classified Brexit documents released ahead of the 2019 general election are believed to have been stolen from a Tory MP’s email account. Two sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said hackers sabotaged Liam Fox’s email account to extract the papers which were published in the public domain and snapped up by Jeremy Corbyn and […]

Boris Johnson has said he thinks there are too many peers in the House of Lords, after nominating 36 more to join. Last week Johnson was accused of Tory cronyism after he nominated a number of former MPs, who were critics of Jeremy Corbyn, and Brexit supporters to join the upper chamber. He also gave […]