News and Opinion

Jeremy Corbyn set out the most radical left-wing agenda of any mainstream party in a generation, as he declared that Labour now represents “the new common sense” and is ready to govern. To fervent applause from delegates at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, Corbyn called on prime minister Theresa May to call an early general […]

Labour has opened the door to reversing Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, by overwhelmingly backing a motion that could lead to a People’s Vote. The party’s conference in Liverpool voted overwhelmingly to keep the option of a fresh vote ‘on the table’, after shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer explicitly stated that it […]

A new Brexit referendum with an option to remain in the EU is “likely”, the Labour first minister of Wales has said. Carwyn Jones told Wales’ National Assembly that people had “the right to express a view as to whether they wish to leave in circumstances that not one Brexiteer suggested would happen”. It follows […]

Labour Leave MP Kate Hoey has claimed that the reason so many young people are anti-Brexit is because they have been ‘indoctrinated’ by their university lecturers. The Labour Leave MP made the claim at a party conference fringe event as the Brexiteer tried to explain why so many young people were anti-Brexit. According to YouGov, […]

PETER TRUDGILL on the unlikely origin of the name of a stretch of water off the Scottish coast The sea between the northern Outer Hebrides and the Scottish mainland is called the Minch, while the more southerly strait between the Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Skye is known as the Little Minch. The word […]

The government has so far published 77 technical notices giving guidance on the impact of a no-deal Brexit. The documents, which have been published in batches on the gov.uk website since the end of August, cover a range of areas from roaming charges for mobile phones to delays in sperm donations arriving in the UK. […]

Angela Merkel today rejected Theresa May’s Chequers Brexit plan, saying Britain could not have free access to Europe’s single market for goods without accepting the rest of the EU’s four freedoms. The German Chancellor said that Britain had still not expressed a clear position on its post-Brexit relations with the EU, warning that only ‘six […]

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has dished out a stinging slap down to Labour’s leadership at conference telling delegates: ‘Nobody is ruling out Remain.’ His speech in Liverpool received the biggest cheers of the conference so far ending with a lengthy standing ovation. And during the speech around two-thirds of the audience spontaneously got […]

Labour Leaver Graham Stringer has launched a bizarre attack on Remainers at conference. Appearing at a Labour Leave fringe event the prominent Eurosceptic MP claimed his party’s fudge over a second vote had killed the People’s Vote campaign. Speaking alongside other Labour Brexiteers he claimed those who want a new vote had ‘contempt for democracy’ […]

The dual role of the resort of Torquay has played a significant part in the development of English comedy. Faulty Towers. PA – Credit: Archant If you visit the picturesque Devon seaside town of Torquay and make your way up the main hill that dominates the town’s centre, you will find yourself amongst the grandeur […]

Labour is set to vote down Theresa May’s Brexit deal in Parliament, Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed. Addressing Labour’s conference in Liverpool, the shadow Brexit secretary will warn that Tory ‘division, chaos and failure’ over Brexit is putting the country’s future prosperity at risk. ‘The party that once promised to fix the roof while the […]

A new pale ale is to be launched in celebration of Europe and as a unique protest against Brexit. Campaigners from the Lambeth for Europe and Wandsworth and Merton European Movement groups helped to create the new ‘delicious, light and fresh’ drink, which is carefully blended from British and German hops. The group says the […]

Brexit documents have laid bare the grisly prospect of no deal, with the likelihood of chaos at ports, disruption to food supplies and increased business costs, the government has been warned. Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, said his industry would be hit by “ever more” administrative burdens. He said: “Our […]

Nigel Farage has claimed that he could deliver a trade deal for the UK… but because the government will not talk to him he’s not prepared to write it. Farage was touring the television studios again when made the claims on the Good Morning Britain sofa alongside The New European’s Alastair Campbell and his daughter […]

Sir Keir Starmer has slapped down shadow chancellor John McDonnell – insisting that a People’s Vote with an option to Remain is still on the table. https://twitter.com/Cornwall4EU/status/1044230144947294213 Starmer was asked by journalists about John McDonnell’s comments following a Brexit fringe event at Labour party conference. The shadow chancellor had earlier enraged Remainers within the party […]

​He lived the archetypal life of a poet – intense, eventful and tragic. Yet Friedrich Hölderlin remains an obscure figure outside Germany. A newly-translated work, outlining a momentous existence, could change all that, says CHARLIE CONNELLY What are the key ingredients that make up the classic poet’s life? Is it the wilful excess and general […]

A right-wing think tank has claimed that the European Union has ‘used time against us’ in what is the latest bizarre excuse from Brexiteers. Shanker Singham, the director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), made the claim while launching an alternative Brexit plan. He appeared on-stage alongside prominent Tory leavers David Davis and Jacob […]

Former England star Peter Reid has made a scathing attack on Tory Brexiteers, labelling them “absolute dopes” and calling for a People’s Vote on a final deal. The ex-Everton and Manchester City midfielder told thousands at a rally close to Labour’s party conference in Liverpool that the public “did not realise what they were voting […]

French pop provided the pioneers, as protest music also took voice. SOPHIA DEBOICK reports Before the Beatles invented the modern teenager in Britain, the Europeans were already ahead of the game. In 1962, France was churning out an iconoclastic, Americanised pop that threatened the grand tradition of chanson française at a time when the country […]

There is growing anger among Remainers at Labour conference after the party’s latest Brexit fudge. Instead of getting a vote on whether to back a People’s Vote delegates will instead get a say on ‘keeping all options on the table’. The motion – agreed after a lengthy meeting on Monday evening – was met with […]

We don’t believe it! Richard Wilson has returned to our screens in a new comedy sketch that lends support for a People’s Vote. In the clip Wilson – famed for his grumpy old man routine – plays a customer enticed to a restaurant by an advert for a ‘Brexit special.’ In the perfect metaphor for […]

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has claimed that a People’s Vote from Labour might not include an option to Remain. Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain McDonnell said the form of the question would be decided by parliament but said ‘it will be about whether you accept the deal or not, or whether you send people […]

Critics of a People’s Vote are looking at it the wrong way around, says Matt Qvortrup, a man described by the BBC as ‘the world’s leading authority on referendums’ We are, according to Michael Gove, fed up with experts. So perhaps I should not admit that I know more about referendums than might be considered […]

Moderate MPs are using conference to send a defiant message to the hard-left of Labour: ‘We are going to stay and fight for our party.’ At a rally held by Progress, the centre-left Labour movement, Stella Creasy, Wes Streeting and Luciana Berger all gave speeches attacking the hard-left of the party. But they were clear […]

Union baron Len McCluskey has bizarrely claimed that any second referendum should not include an option to stay in the EU. The Unite boss added yet more confusion to Labour’s Brexit position just hours after leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would back a People’s Vote. Corbyn said that although it was not his preferred option […]

The next time you’re branded a ‘Remoaner’ by a Brexiteer on the attack this is the perfect musical retort. With a title of ‘own your shit’ this is definitely not suitable for those of a sensitive nature, but the upbeat ukulele melody will at least put a jolly spin on a rather depressing matter. The […]

Comparing the careers of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford with those of later generations of female stars shows how cinema is changing, says Bonnie Greer. For mothers and grandmothers, for our aunts who grew up wearing petticoats, and for aficionados of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were the Alpha and […]

Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he will back a second referendum if Labour conference votes in favour. As conference opened in Liverpool the Labour leader said although he was not calling for a People’s Vote he would not ‘walk away’ from any decision delegates make. ‘What comes out of conference I will adhere to. But I’m […]

Germans are done mourning Brexit Britain. They just want to move on – and that is bad news for the UK. German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo: Matt Cardy/PA Images – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images The British media seemed extremely hopeful at the beginning of the summer. Angela Merkel, it seemed, was shifting on Brexit, finally […]

Under slate-grey Lancashire skies the Brexiteers came. Convinced the ‘will of the people’ is being betrayed and asserting ‘no deal is no problem’ they came to see Labour leaver Kate Hoey, former Brexit secretary David Davis and, of course, Nigel Farage. For the most part they were perfectly polite, middle-aged, middle-class folk. But there was […]

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has blocked two anti-Brexit groups on Twitter after a photograph emerged of him with a campaigner wearing a sign saying ‘he has no idea what he’s doing.’ Raab has previously styled himself as a free speech champion, hitting out at the culture of offence in the United Kingdom, and claiming in […]

Seventy-five years after it was made (and 74 years after it was banned) one of cinema’s most controversial films has been re-released. ​JAMES OLIVER explains what all the fuss is about Le Corbeau. Photo: Continental Films/Getty – Credit: Corbis via Getty Images Adverse criticism is always painful but it might come as some comfort to […]