News and Opinion

Cookbook writer Claudia Roden on how she began to amass recipes, and how they help preserve a vanishing world. I began collecting recipes in London. It was after the Suez War, in 1956. The Jews were leaving Egypt and my parents arrived as refugees, leaving everything behind. We were inundated by waves of relatives and […]

Leading barrister and peer Helena Kennedy on how departure from the EU has made us all vulnerable – but especially women. Iam not a New Feminist. I’m an old one. But I would hazard a guess most young feminists who could vote, and did so, voted to remain in the EU. Nevertheless, many women voted […]

Medicine is one of history’s oldest patriarchies, says Tracy King, and its continuing inequalities explain why women turn to unproven alternatives. ‘You know what they call alternative medicine that’s been proven to work? Medicine.’ The words of Tim Minchin from his rationalist beat poem Storm have become a meme, a line thrown around online in […]

Female refugees are facing countless threats all around the globe, says Samira Shackle. And their mistreatment doesn’t end when they reach our shores. What struck me about Salma, when I interviewed her several years ago, was how physically small she was. She was sent to England when she was 18 from a village in Pakistan, […]

Bonnie Greer discusses a moment working in New York which epitomizes the battle of black women in politics, and society as a whole. I knew that I was lucky to land the job I had that spring of 1980 in New York. My other jobs had been packing candy in a cold warehouse and waiting […]

The social care system is at breaking point and Brexit is only going to make it worse. Dr Frances Ryan explores a looming catastrophe. Graph depicting key figures in the social care system. Picture: Archant – Credit: Archant Ask politicians to name the biggest issues facing this country over the next decade and two words […]

The Universal Credit scheme has hit lone carers disproportionately, says Anoosh Chakelian. She talks to someone living at the sharp end of a flawed policy. ‘I haven’t got time to help my daughter with her homework,’ Paula, a 39-year-old health worker from south London, tells me when we speak over the phone one morning between […]

From 18th century to Russell Brand and Owen Jones, Sarah Ditum explores the history of ‘brocialism’. Half a century before The New European became The New Feminist (for this week, at least), there was the Rat. Part of New York’s radical press, the Rat combined left-wing politics with nudie covers and pornographic cartoons – directed, […]

A cross-party group of MPs have signed an open letter calling for a final vote on any Brexit deal with an option to remain in the EU. The signatories include Labour MPs from all wings of the party, along with Liberal Democrats. The letter has been coordinated by the anti-Brexit Best for Britain campaign group, […]

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…

The latest episode of the New European podcast is available now. This week New European Editor Matt Kelly chats to guest Editor Caroline Criado Perez about her feminist takeover of the paper. Meanwhile Richard Porritt and Steve Anglesey discuss Jacob Rees-Mogg’s continuing claims that he definitely does not want to be the next prime minster […]

This week in James Ball’s Deconstructed feature, we look under the bonnet of zero hours contracts; whether they are just a by-product of a changing economy, or whether they’ve been created this way. We tend to treat insecure work as if it’s an inevitable if dispiriting reality of the modern world. Immutable, inescapable. For many […]

Chimene Suleyman discusses the radical new face of identity politics, and why it’s something to be celebrated and not feared. Last week, Stacey Abrams was nominated as the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia. And so, history was made. Because Stacey Abrams is black. And she is also a woman. And this is the Deep […]

Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminium from Europe show that international trade secretary Liam Fox is “as useful as a chocolate fireguard”, a leading anti-Brexit campaigner said today. Best for Britain CEO Eloise Todd said the slapping of tariffs by the Trump administration has shown the ‘failed’ policy of Mr Fox and […]

This week our columnist Marie Le Conte, aka the Young Vulgarian, questions whether men should be allowed to govern if they don’t have the maturity to behave well. The Young Vulgarian has long thought that men should only be allowed to legislate if they prove they can behave, and recent developments haven’t filled her with […]

There has been a culture change in the arts when it comes to attitudes to women, says Samira Ahmed. But we must not assume things will keep improving. After Ronan Farrow, son of Woody Allen, finally revealed the sheer scale of allegations of sexual assault, bullying and cover-ups against Harvey Weinstein, in October 2017, everything […]

How one case of forced marriage making its way to the UN court has marked the beginning of a shift in global feminism, Yasmin Alibhai Brown writes. After centuries of despair, fury and unimaginable bleakness where no hope could germinate, a tiny shoot sprung up to hearten Asian, Arab, African, Kurdish and other non-western feminists […]

Is it ever acceptable to define a woman’s work by her husband? Afua Hirsch discusses the issue of society deciding a woman’s role and what they can do with their bodies. This was the week we all learned a new Irish phrase – Tiocfaidh ár mná – or, in English, ‘here come our women’. Has […]

A “silent majority” among Conservative MPs wants a “sensible” Brexit which minimises disruption to British business, Theresa May’s former deputy Damian Green has said. Along with Amber Rudd and Justine Greening, Mr Green met the prime minister yesterday to assure her that the bulk of her parliamentary party will back compromise with Brussels in Brexit […]

Theresa May’s fractured government is a major threat to investment, senior business leaders have warned. The European Round Table of Industrialists stressed time is running out to produce a clear plan for future trade arrangements after a meeting with the prime minister at Number 10. The group is the latest to voice its concern as […]

Helen Lewis on the critical differences between Ireland’s referendum and the UK’s Brexit referendum. They couldn’t help themselves. In the hours after the exit poll was announced in Ireland’s referendum on abortion, pro-Brexit commentators weighed in, sneering: ‘Oh, I guess we are in favour of referendums now?’ The only problem with this question – apart […]

Former chancellor and fervent Brexiteer Lord Lawson has been accused of hypocrisy after applying for French residency as Britain leaves the EU. The Conservative peer and chairman of the Vote Leave campaign, who lives in Gers, south-west France, told France’s English-language magazine Connexion that he is applying for his carte de séjour, which will guarantee […]

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 Perth Theatre, where local boy Ewan McGregor began his acting career. But who’ll leave us Brassed Off – and which loyalist party hack will seem like an Attack of the […]

For many, the historic abortion vote result struck a very personal chord. Here, Helen Linehan tells her story and vows Northern Ireland must be next. I’d say Terry Deary, writer of Horrible Histories, had a struggle when he came to writing his comedy kids book about Ireland. The Catholic country where thousands of women and […]

Any economic benefits that come from leaving the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) under Brexit must be felt in the communities that depend on the sector, according to a report. The latest publication, part of a project by The UK in a Changing Europe, has called for an assessment of how fishing communities will be affected […]

Guest editor CAROLINE CRIADO PEREZ picks her five feminist wishes for a better Britain 1 Decriminalise abortion Most people think women in Britain have easy access to abortion. This is untrue. Abortion in the UK is still illegal under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act. ‘Every woman, being with child,’ reads Section 58 of […]

STEVE ANGLESEY rounds up the losers and losers (because there are no winners) of another crazy seven days on Planet Brexit 10 NIGEL FARAGE The nicotine-stained man-frog managed to give Fox News a pre-royal wedding tour of Westminster without a) correcting host Ainsley Earhardt when she introduced him as ‘basically royalty… you’re the man responsible […]

Stanley Johnson has said the Brexit referendum should be held again if there is evidence there was Russian interference in the vote. The I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestant – and father of foreign secretary Boris Johnson – said he was sceptical that there was not interference. He told ITV’s Good Morning […]

Brexit has been compared by a leading Remain supporter to appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Former Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown, head of the Best for Britain group, made the comments after billionaire George Soros announced a campaign for a new Brexit referendum is set to be launched. Mr Soros – who is […]

Labour MP Chuka Umunna has called again for a People’s Vote on a final Brexit deal after an influential global body warned of continuing “high uncertainties” over its outcome. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s twice-yearly Economic Outlook report found that economic growth remains “modest” in the UK, compared with other major economies. […]

Food safety standards could be put at risk by Brexit if the UK quits the EU without a deal to keep exchanging information on public health issues, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said. A failure to protect access to shared intelligence in areas such as animal health systems will increase the chance of a […]

Brexit negotiations remain mired in stalemate with Brussels amid EU briefings slamming the government’s confused plans over the customs union. EU frustration over Britain’s failure to come up with a preferred proposal for customs relations bubbled to the surface last week, as one senior official accused the UK of ‘chasing a fantasy’, while chief Brexit […]