News and Opinion

The Labour leader’s moves on the Lords amendments show he has no interest in halting Brexit Jeremy Corbyn attracted positive reviews for his prime minister’s questions performance yesterday, although it is telling that, against an opponent as unthinking on her feet as Theresa May it is considered a triumph if he takes to his despatch […]

The New European Editor MATT KELLY explains why now is the time to get behind a People’s Vote on the future of UK-EU relations We are, demonstrably, already a vassal state. Not a state held in thrall to the European project, but held in thrall to the politics of the weakest government since Henry VI. […]

The UK government must withdraw a contentious part of key Brexit legislation after the Scottish Parliament refused to grant consent, Scotland’s Brexit minister has said. Michael Russell said if UK ministers failed to remove the clause, regarding the issue of Scottish Parliament consent over devolved powers returning to the UK following Brexit, against the wishes […]

Next Tuesday there will be an almighty Brexit showdown in the House of Commons. During a marathon 12-hour session the government hopes to fend off the amendments to the Brexit Bill that have been sent back from the House of Lords. Following the unveiling of Labour’s new position on UK-EU relations after Brexit, what are […]

Keir Starmer has warned Theresa May Labour will vote against her final deal in October if his six tests are not met. https://twitter.com/BBCr4today/status/1004262697125457926 Significantly the shadow Brexit secretary had only previously said his party would ‘not support’ the government in the event they believed the prime minister had struck a bad deal. This prompted accusations […]

They call it ‘prime minister’s question time’ – which suggests the premier really should answer some. Prime minister Theresa May Photo: PA – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images But, alas, not today. It was a brave move for Jeremy Corbyn to dedicate all six of his questions to Brexit – especially with failing Chris Grayling wobbling […]

Brexiteers often claim trade will boom after the UK quits the EU. Here RICHARD ANGELL, director of Progress, explains why that is nonsense Some people talk about ‘stopping Brexit’ as though it is a binary: you either stop it or you do not. But part of the danger of this is that it includes an […]

Britain will ‘cripple’ its reputation as a free-trading nation if it quits Europe’s economic area and customs union. That is the stark verdict of a trio of senior politicians who are urging MPs to help stop a hard Brexit when the EU (Withdrawl) Bill returns to the Commons. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable, Tory […]

Labour have launched a bid to strike a ‘new single market’ with the EU in an apparent lurch towards a softer Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbench has tabled amendments to the Brexit Bill which would call on Theresa May to make maintaining ‘full access’ to the EU ‘internal market’ an objective of the negotiations with Brussels. […]

Quitting the European Union without a deal would cost Britain £20bn, the head of HM Revenue and Customs has warned. Jon Thompson had faced criticism over claims in May the customs plan favoured by Brexiteers would hit businesses by the same amount if it is implemented. But the customs boss defended the figure when he […]

One of Britain’s largest private sector unions today overwhelmingly backed a ‘people’s vote’ on the final terms of Brexit. An emergency motion was passed at the union’s national conference in Birmingham calling for democratic oversight of the Brexit process. The vote makes Prospect one of the largest trade unions to officially support a vote on […]

Theresa May has been accused of “holding the country hostage” as it emerged she has abandoned plans to publish a detailed blueprint of her government’s Brexit plans. Downing Street announced last month that the government was producing a white paper on its proposed future relationship with the EU, expected to be published ahead of a […]

Disagreement with Britain’s decision to quit the European Union has reached its highest point since the 2016 Brexit referendum, according to a new poll. The YouGov survey found 47% of voters thought the decision to leave was wrong, against just 40% who said it was the right thing to do – the widest margin since […]

It’s time for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour to show true leadership, put people first and back remaining in the single market, says JOHN LEHAL Considering the overriding imperative to maintain legal continuity post-Brexit, and with less than 10 months to go until Brexit day, it is staggering the government has lost yet another four weeks waiting […]

TIM WALKER gives The Chalk Garden at the Chichester Festival Theatre four stars The Chalk Garden Chichester, until June 16 **** (Four stars) When Penelope Keith was awarded a DBE, she was quick to point out that the honour was for her charitable work, rather than her acting. The star of To the Manor Born […]

Cramming in the debate and votes on the peers’ amendments is shameful. Theresa May’s shambolic government has ignored widely-accepted parliamentary protocols before – but this is a new low. There are 15 amendments to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill and the government has signalled it is unhappy with some of them and will be seeking to […]

David Lammy has accused the Conservatives of “contempt for Parliament” after it emerged all 15 Lords amendments to the EU withdrawal bill will be debated in one marathon session next week. A letter sent to Conservatives MPs today by government chief whip Julian Smith announced that the amendments would be debated and voted on a […]

Arlene Foster has been forced to threatening the prime minister over Brexit, insisting she did not think Theresa May would even consider a deal which would treat Northern Ireland differently. Weekend comments by the DUP leader about the party’s “red line” on customs arrangements post-Brexit were interpreted by some as a veiled threat to pull […]

Any lack of security cooperation post-Brexit will be the fault of “the government’s pigheaded negotiating strategy”, home secretary Sajid Javid was told today. Mr Javid today issued a stark warning about the risk of weakening UK-EU ties on security, saying it would be “wrong and reckless” to advocate any “unnecessary reduction” in co-operation. He described […]

Britain could stay in the European VAT area after the Brexit transition period, according to reports – a move which would see one of Theresa May’s so-called “red lines” crossed. According to the Financial Times (click for link), Britain is taking an ‘active role’ in shaping new EU VAT regulations for the 2020s, suggesting the […]

Xenophobia and misogyny is a systematic feature of power relations. In her letter to The New Feminist, Helen De Cruz explains more. Misogyny is often seen as a hatred of women that some men feel. But as philosopher Kate Manne has demonstrated in her powerful book Down Girl, the logic of misogyny (OUP), misogyny isn’t […]

As the Mamoudou Gassama incident adds to Emmanuel Macron’s accumulation of glowing publicity, BARNABY TOWNS challenges some Brexit myths about the UK’s supposed superiority to our southern neighbour Another day, another picture-perfect photo opportunity for President Emmanuel Macron, this time thanking Mamoudou Gassama — the undocumented immigrant who saved a child dangling from a balcony […]

Anna Kessel on Caster Semenya, prejudice and a controversy dividing athletics. Are you woman enough? This is the question that has been repeatedly asked of Caster Semenya ever since, in 2009, at the age of 18, she blew away the competition to win gold at the World Championships in Berlin. Semenya was born and raised […]

Suzanne Moore on three writers grappling with the restlessness that comes with advancing years and who are interested in living fully, not contentedly. Recently I went to see Viv Albertine read from her new book To Throw Away Unopened. She started by saying she wakes up every day feeling murderous. There is a woman after […]

Maria Bates on how her identity has been changed because of Brexit. She no longer feels she is an individual. My identity, or more specifically the way in which I am perceived by others, appears to have changed since Brexit. I used to be seen as a friend, colleague, teacher, neighbour, customer, volunteer – the […]

Sadiq Khan has heaped pressure on Jeremy Corbyn by urging Labour MPs to be “brave” and vote to retain close ties to the EU. The Mayor of London urged MPs to defy their leader when controversial Lords amendments to the government’s flagship EU legislation return to the Commons. Mr Khan – Labour’s most senior elected […]

Referendums are best when the issue being voted upon is a narrow one where the pro and anti arguments can be easily explained on the back of an envelope. Sarah Austin explains more. I hoped for the result in Ireland but didn’t expect it. What I should have expected is the queue of Brexiteers (mostly […]

The UK will be “fully prepared” for leaving the EU without a deal, Downing Street insisted today, after reports civil servants have been drawing up scenarios for a “Doomsday Brexit” that would leave the country short of medicine, fuel and food. Prime minister Theresa May still believes that “no deal is better than a bad […]

Caroline Crampton on two new films in which their very different lead characters strive for a slice of liberty. Shiela Hancock in Edie. Picture: Contriubted. – Credit: Contriubted. The opening 30 seconds of Edie, a new film about an elderly woman at the limits of her endurance, are enough to melt your heart. Edith (Sheila […]

The term suffragette was originally created to mock and belittle women, says linguist Deborah Cameron, and has only recently been reclaimed. Until someone corrected the error, the recently-unveiled statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square was known to users of Google Maps as ‘the suffragette statue’. In fact Fawcett was not a suffragette, but a […]

Amna Saleem recalls a toxic term she heard when growing up, which succeeds only in trying to hold people back. When I was 14, a country club not too far from my house in the suburbs was seeking a waitress for weekend and holiday shifts. I had once visited the grounds on a school outing […]

In 1875, weavers fighting for better pay knew exactly who to blame for their exploitation. Women. Members of the Matchmakers Union who went on strike at the Bryant and May’s factory in London. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) – Credit: Getty Images Rather than blaming employers who forced women into economic competition with men by […]