News and Opinion

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The organisers of the People’s Vote march are predicting the biggest Brexit demonstration since the EU referendum exactly two years ago. Campaigners will be calling on the government to agree to a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal before a final decision is taken. The march will come just days after the latest showdown […]

Tim Walker’s diary focuses on the astonishing 168 films Boris Johnson has commissioned – starring himself, naturally – and asks if Bernard Jenkin will turn up fully clothed at Buckingham Palace for his investiture. Home Secretary Amber Rudd Photo: REUTERS/Neil Hall – Credit: Press Association Images Johnson’s film factory exposed After some goading from Mandrake, […]

Your editorials advocating a People’s Vote on whatever terms Theresa May may negotiate in Brussels are welcome but do not explain the democratic necessity for such a ballot. So here it is. The UK entered the common market in 1973. Heath pushed the decision through parliament. There was no national debate ahead of accession on […]

Michael White on another fudge which sees Theresa May survive but Brexit’s judgement day is approaching What does Matteo Salvini have in common with Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea, but not with Theresa May, the 0/10 ‘schoolmistress’ of the US president’s recent musing? That’s right. The new Italian home secretary has a […]

ROGER DOMENEGHETTI explains why the 1966 tournament established the template for televised football that still holds today, even if the replays did take a little getting used to When referee Gottfried Dienst consulted the Russian linesman, Tofiq Bahramov, about Geoff Hurst’s controversial goal in the 1966 World Cup final it wasn’t just the players and […]

Theresa May is pursuing a “high-risk strategy” by seeking to deny MPs the chance to block a no-deal Brexit, leading pro-EU Conservatives have warned. The government provoked the anger of Tory Remainers yesterday with proposals which they say fall well short of the truly meaningful vote they are seeking on the way forward if Parliament […]

The World Cup has never lived up to its lofty ideals, says GLENN MOORE, as he recounts a history of corruption, match-fixing, boycotts and giving succour to dictatorships. There is a lot of football to be played, 64 matches of it, but we already have one winner from the 2018 World Cup. Barring a dramatic […]

The SNP have called for all MPs to have suicide awareness training after an alleged Tory jibe. The call came following yesterday’s Brexit bill debate in which it was alleged Ian Liddell-Grainger shouted “suicide” when SNP leader Ian Blackford asked what options were open to Scottish parliamentarians to debate the devolution amendments to the EU […]

As the World Cup kicks off in Russia, MITCH BENN is inspired by David Beckham’s never-give-up attitude to his England career. The World Cup is upon us again; I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t seem to be capturing the public’s imagination quite so inescapably as on previous occasions. Perhaps the genial madness attending […]

Who is on Question Time tonight and where do they stand on Brexit? Here’s your guide… The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme tonight comes from Caernarfon, the heavily-Welsh speaking town in the north-west of Wales. Ond pwy sydd ar y Panel? A beth yw eu barn am Brexit? Here’s your guide… John Mann Who? Labour […]

As the World Cup gets underway, IAN WALKER asks why Russia, a country responsible for such great art, has produced such terrible leaders. Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia from 1682 to 1725. �TopFoto – Credit: TopFoto.co.uk The opening scene of the Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece Andrei Rublev is of a man taking flight […]

The 1987 poll tax brought about Thatcher’s downfall. Now Brexit will do the same for Theresa May, says ANDREW ADONIS. Lord Salisbury, the most reactionary prime minister of modern times, had a saying about the outcome of general elections. ‘When the great oracle speaks, no-one is quite sure what the great oracle said.’ It was […]

Before the SNP took their bat and ball home there was another school yard spat in the House of Commons. Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons, London. – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images But first both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn made strong statements and said all […]

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has admitted Labour is walking its own “tightrope” over Brexit. He said Labour’s position was a “traditional British compromise” aimed at the concerns of both Leave and Remain voters. In a speech to City leaders he also urged businesses to speak up about their concerns with the Brexit process. Mr McDonnell […]

Parts of manufacturing industry face “extinction” unless Britain remains in a customs union with the EU, the president of the CBI has said. Paul Drechsler, who is standing down from his role in the business organisation, said politicians were not focusing on the economics of Brexit. He told the BBC: “If we do not have […]

Relations between the Scottish and UK governments have reached a new low as furious SNP leaders threatened to withdraw their cooperation with Westminster, accusing Conservatives there of forcing through a Brexit “power grab” by the backdoor. Scottish Government ministers and SNP MPs were outraged when amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill related to devolution were […]

TIM WALKER gives Killer Joe at London’s Trafalgar Studios one star Killer Joe Trafalgar Studios, London, until August 18 * (One star) The programme notes for Killer Joe state that Orlando Bloom is ‘best known’ for his roles in the Lord of the Rings and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchises. It would appear that […]

Labour is avoiding answering questions on Brexit, says Liberal Democrat candidate for Lewisham East LUCY SALEK. We need a final say on the Brexit deal This week MPs vote on the Brexit bill. The people of Lewisham East also have a vote and a choice, either they send me to Parliament, safe in the knowledge […]

Anna Soubry has told the House of Commons that it is time for MPs to do the right thing on Brexit amid claims that threats were influencing votes. During an impassioned speech she pleaded for the government not to go ‘over the cliff’ into a hard Brexit and warned MPs not to ignore the 48% […]

In the end it was another fudge, another desperate bid to avoid a spat with either Tory Leavers or Remainers. And now the next five days will be key for Theresa May: the battle over exactly what will be in the Brexit Bill when it goes back to the House of Lords starts here. In […]

A last-gasp government concession to Tory rebels has avoided an embarrassing defeat in the House of Commons. Former justice minister Phillip Lee speaking during the debate in the House of Commons Photo: PA – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images After a debate with barnstorming speeches from Tory Remainers Ken Clarke, Anna Soubry and Phillip Lee the […]

Millionaire Brexiteer Arron Banks walked out of a committee hearing into fake news claiming he did not want to be late for lunch. Pro-remain protesters outside Portcullis House as Leave.EU founder Arron Banksgave evidence to the select committee Photo: PA / Philip Toscano – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images Banks and Leave.EU communications Andy Wigmore chief […]

Nobody said it was easy, sang Coldplay. This lot did “All of this is going to be bloody difficult to do,” the UK’s former ambassador to the EU, said of Brexit today as he gave evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee. “If you take Brexit seriously, which I do, you can’t say you […]

A “major crunch” is looming over Britain’s post-Brexit customs arrangements with Brussels, the UK’s former ambassador to the EU has said. Sir Ivan Rogers raised serious concerns about the two trading options which have split the Cabinet as he gave evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee. Senior ministers have been divided between a maximum […]

The Sun’s front cover has sparked confusion and hilarity on social media after the paper launched another pro-Brexit tirade against Remainer MPs. The newspaper – alongside the Daily Express – ran a screaming headline warning MPs not to vote against the government ahead of crucial legislation on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU returning to the […]

Justice minister Phillip Lee has quit to fight the government’s Brexit policy. Former justice minister Phillip Lee Photo: Parliament – Credit: Archant The resignation comes ahead of a crunch Commons votes on Brexit. Remain-supporting Dr Lee said: ‘If Brexit is worth doing, then it is certainly worth doing well’ and it is ‘irresponsible to proceed […]

Theresa May faces a crunch 48 hours in the House of Commons. Here are some of the key points: What is Bill trying to achieve? The EU (Withdrawal) Bill revokes the 1972 Act which took the UK into the European Economic Area, but also transposes all relevant EU law into British statute so there are […]

Brexit headbanger Nigel Farage dodged some potentially difficult question over the investigation into Russian links to Brexit when he hung up on a journalist who hijacked his radio show. The Guardian’s Carole Cadwalladr has printed several stories investigating alleged links between the Brexit vote, Cambridge Analytica and Russia. Carole Cadwalla cut off by Nigel Farage […]

In an exclusive serialisation of his new book, broadcaster and journalist STIG ABELL unpicks the ideas and institutions that make the nation tick. This week, he takes a look at law and order WHERE DO LAWS COME FROM? There are three places. The first is the ‘common law’, the collected precedents formed by judges’ rulings […]

A Conservative minister has been criticised for “oddly dark” comments about hanging following a plea for unity over Brexit from Theresa May. It followed a meeting of the backbench 1922 committee this evening ahead of a series of crunch Commons votes in which Mrs May told MPs to consider the signal that would be sent […]

Theresa May has begged Tory rebels not to undermine her negotiating position with the EU by backing amendments to Brexit legislation made by the Lords. Addressing a meeting of the backbench 1922 committee this evening ahead of a series of crunch Commons votes, the beleaguered prime minister told MPs to consider the signal that would […]