News and Opinion

Keir Starmer’s relative silence on Brexit has frustrated some remainers, but BEN BRADSHAW – one of Labour’s most prominent Europhile MPs – insists his strategy is the right one. It was April 2016. I was at the annual Anglo-German Koenigswinter Conference in Oxford. Attended by politicians, journalists, academics and people from business and industry, Koenigswinter […]

As a New European reader, you probably reckon you keep a close eye on the continent’s news. Test yourself with our quiz… Think you’re on top of what’s been going on across Europe in the past seven days? Take The New European’s tricky quiz and find out just how much of a Europhile you are…

Jeremy Corbyn supporters have contributed more than £100,000 to a ‘legal fund’ for the former Labour leader as he faces being sued by Panorama presenter John Ware. The GoFundMe page was created on Wednesday, shortly after Corbyn had criticised the Labour Party’s decision to pay ‘substantial damages’ to former party employees who took part in […]

Sir Keir Starmer has returned Labour to being a ‘politically competitive’ party which is in a position to win a general election, Tony Blair believes. The former Labour leader and prime minister praised his successor’s performance in the three months since he won the contest to replace Jeremy Corbyn. ‘Keir is doing a good job […]

Broadcaster James O’Brien has revealed the biggest stumbling block in Brexit talks, which is that most Brexiteers in power do not realise what they have already voted for. As EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier confirmed that both sides are unlikely to reach agreement in time for the July deadline imposed by Downing Street, O’Brien tried […]

The psychological consequences of Brexit are the most devastating, and are only just starting to sink in… JOHN KAMPFER on the loss of freedom of movement. In the first week of January 2021 when I arrive at the airport, will I be asked the purpose of my visit? Will my passport be stamped? How long […]

The SNP have dismantled Boris Johnson’s claims about Scotland’s ability to deal with coronavirus on its own. Johnson said that the crisis showed the ‘power of our Union’, stating this was ‘only going to get more important as the world sails nervously into economic waters made alarmingly choppy by this unprecedented pandemic’. The PM continued: […]

When Boris Johnson became prime minister on July 24 2019, his party was languishing in the polls and had not long suffered one of its worst ever performances at the ballot box, securing just 9% of the vote in elections to the European Parliament. But almost immediately the Tories’ poll share began to rise, from […]

The Russia report’s real revelations were in the way the government handled it, says LIZ GERARD. Maybe there was no smoking gun. But there was plenty of smoke. And when it finally cleared, it revealed not the Colt 45 that some were hoping to find – that Russia interfered in the Brexit vote – but […]

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has confirmed that Downing Street’s Brexit deal deadline of the end of July will not be met, and has said that progress must now be made before October. Speaking at a press conference in London after the conclusion of the latest round of negotiations, Barnier said: ‘In June […]

Hardline Brexit campaigner Mark Francois has mocked the EU’s chief negotiator’s accent as he claimed the EU is so scared of Britain becoming an economic powerhouse that the EU will cede to negotiating demands and end talks with a deal. Francois, the chair of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, instead pointed to what he called […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson has arrived in Orkney on his first visit to Scotland since December’s general election. He flew into Kirkwall Airport before heading to the first in a series of engagements, and was faced with protesters on his arrival. They gathered on the road to Stromness, Orkney, where Boris Johnson is expected to […]

Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon have both been criticised by opposition leaders for rowing over the constitution at a time when the pair have been told they should be co-operating over coronavirus. Boris Johnson is planning a trip north of the border to remind Scotland that almost 900,000 workers are benefiting from UK government assistance. […]

A petition calling for peers to amend the government’s trade bill to protect the NHS has been signed by more than 40,000 in less than a day. The petition comes after MPs in the House of Commons voted against amendments to the bill earlier in the week that would have stopped the NHS from being […]

Former Tory party chairman and cabinet minister Brandon Lewis has defended taking money from Russian donors, and supported 14 of his colleagues for doing so, despite a number having links to Vladimir Putin. According to the Russia report, the Commons intelligence and security committee (ISC) found Russian involvement ran to the heart of the Tory […]

At PMQs Boris Johnson claimed that Keir Starmer ‘sat on his hands’ and ‘said nothing’ about Russia, but a video has disproved those claims about the leader of the opposition. In the House of Commons the prime minister insisted he took ‘the strongest possible action’ against Russia when he was foreign secretary, as he failed […]

ANDREW ADONIS says the long-awaited Russia report further demonstrates the negligence of our government as our country becomes more isolated on the international stage. The Russia report – finally out this week – reeks of negligence and weakness. Just consider this sentence from it: ‘In response to our request for written evidence at the outset […]

PAUL KNOTT on the Chinese leader’s reckless overreach. For several decades, China’s rise to global power followed wily former premier Deng Xiaoping’s maxim to ‘secure our position but keep a low profile and bide our time’. But that was Deng and this is now. The current Chinese leader, Xi Jinping’s more belligerent approach is provoking […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants to ‘draw a line’ under anti-Semitism, but his predecessor has claimed it is ‘disappointing’ the party settled a claim with whistleblowers behind a Panorama programme investigating the matter. Labour said it will pay ‘substantial damages’ to whistleblowers who contributed to a TV expose of its handling […]

New polling has shown that the coronavirus pandemic has led to the British public becoming more sympathetic towards welcoming EU citizens to work and live here – just as freedom of movement is being cut off as part of Brexit. Across the UK, 63% of people agree that we will need more EU citizens to […]

Downing Street’s failure to plan for the economic impact of a pandemic like the coronavirus has been called ‘astonishing’ in a scathing report by financial watchdogs. The influential cross-party Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the government underestimated and was unprepared for the economic toll a pandemic would have on Britain. It warned that Number […]

Donald Trump asked the US ambassador to the UK to persuade Westminster to hold a major golfing tournament at his luxury resort in Scotland. Trump tasked ambassador Woody Johnson with swaying UK diplomats to hold the next British Open at his golf course in Turnberry, Scotland. Johnson went against official embassy advice and met with […]

Prince George provided a welcome distraction from the findings of the Russia report for many newspapers, while the red-tops relegated the findings towards the back of their publications. And so, the Russia report has finally been published. It didn’t say the Russians had interfered with the Brexit referendum. It came up with a far more […]

A Tory minister has tried to allay fears that Dominic Cummings is trying to interfere with the parliamentary committee in charge of the Russia report. James Brokenshire tried dispel rumours brought forward by the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) chair Julian Lewis that the prime minister’s top advisor had tried to replace committee members with […]

Boris Johnson has been warned that his planned visits to Scotland will only increase support for independence in the country. As previously reported, Johnson is looking to head to different parts of the UK to increase support for the union, after the coronavirus crisis appeared to boost support for the devolved administrations. But at Prime […]

A new bill to be presented to the House of Commons before the summer recess will call on MPs to support the launch of an independent inquiry into the government’s roronavirus response before a possible second spike this winter. Acting leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey last week managed to secure an assurance from […]

Sir Keir Starmer slammed Boris Johnson over suggestions he had not spoken out against the Sailsbury poisonings, telling the PM to ‘check the record’ during Prime Minister’s Questions. Johnson accused the leader of the opposition of ‘sitting on his hands’ when it came to commenting on the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and […]

Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis has rebuked a Brexiteer who tried to blame the media for raising questions about allegations of Russian interference in the Brexit referendum. Tory MP Robert Seely MP, who chairs the foreign affairs committee, said it was the media that was ‘rehashing the stale debate’ about the 2016 referendum, and said there […]

The minister for housing and communities has denied any wrongdoing over the approval of a large development in London after meeting the developer at a Tory fundraising dinner last year. Robert Jenrick told a parliamentary select committee on housing that he had no idea he would be sat next to Richard Desmond, an influential Tory […]

The Tories are seeking revenge on Labour MPs which voted against ending freedom of movement by stoking up fears over immigration on Facebook in their marginal seats. 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 […]

Downing Street has abandoned hope of clenching a Brexit trade deal with Brussels and instead ramped up preparations for trading on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms, but has insisted it is not what it wants the outcome to be. Ministers are now working on the assumption that no deal will be struck before the December […]

A new Tory group labelled the ‘CURG’ has been launched alongside the ERG and CRG, with the aim to make Boris Johnson more supportive of the United Kingdom. The Conservative Union Research Group joins the China Research Group and European Research Group in attempting to pressure the Tory leadership on key issues at the heart […]