News and Opinion

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 […]

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has today dismissed calls for a People’s Vote and vowed that a Labour government would press ahead with Brexit. McDonnell used an interview on the eve of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool to defy demands among party members for a referendum pledge, restating his preference for a general election to put […]

Finding fault with iPhones because they are too big for women’s hands is not a ‘first world problem’, says CAROLINE CRIADO PEREZ. It is a symptom of a tech industry that is failing women. This week I’ve mainly been annoyed about Apple’s announcement that it was discontinuing the iPhone SE – the only model they […]

Times up for Nigel Farage as he’s banned from his local boozer, while the Brextremists fail to come up with a credible plan, and Gina Miller pursues Jacob Rees-Mogg. Last orders for Farage and friends The time is up for Nigel Farage and his carefully-cultivated image as the bloke in a pub who can’t help […]

With democracy and the rule of law on the back foot, could the region be returning to its darker days? Will Worley reports from Guatemala, one of the countries tipping towards crisis. Former comedian: Guatemala’s president, Jimmy MOrales. Photo: Marvin Recinos/AFP/Getty Images – Credit: AFP/Getty Images The day had begun like any other Friday in […]

To see the country though the Brexit impasse politicians must put country before party and establish a government of national unity, says Jonathan Chaplin. The EU’s blunt rejection of the Chequers proposal on the future economic relationship at Salzburg should have taken no-one by surprise. Far from being an ‘ambush,’ it is wholly consistent with […]

Theresa May has been warned Britain is “staring down the barrel of no deal” after issuing a Brexit challenge to the EU described as “pathetic, painful and petulant”. A day after her humiliating rebuff from EU leaders in Salzburg, the prime minister attempted to come back fighting, saying there could be no further progress in […]

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 tale of what binds together Sunderland’s communities is my story. It’s a story about quiet moments in factory floors when people wonder quietly and desperately about their purpose. It’s a story about the European Union, mixed martial arts, and giving people something to believe in. When I was 19 years old I’d been looking […]

Theresa May has used a speech to issue ’empty threats’ to the European Union following the summit in Salzburg – but it was delayed due to a lack of power in Downing Street. In an afternoon speech just a day after the humiliating rejection of her Brexit plans at the EU summit in Salzburg, the […]

While some might think that such ardent Brexiteers would prefer the withdrawal method, but at the UKIP conference this year they are keen to promote the use of protection. The conference ‘must have’ accessory are these condoms branded with Nigel Farage’s face – a sure fire way to kill the mood. The condoms are being […]

When the Sun’s political editor pondered how Theresa May could have got it so wrong at the Salzburg summit he probably wasn’t banking on a former British diplomat joining the conversation. ‘The PM has undergone an almost unprecedented humiliation here today,’ mused Tom Newton Dunn, before asking ‘how did her No 10/UKREP team allow it […]

Brexit barman Tim Martin has warned the cost of food and drinks in his Wetherspoon pubs is set to spiral – despite his claims prices would not rise on the back of leaving the EU. The prominent Leave campaigner has warned that food and drink ‘may have to go up a bit’ after a slowing […]

Anti-Western philosopher Aleksandr Dugin is said to hold sway over Vladimir Putin. But it is not just the Russian president who is in thrall to him

Mitch Benn on the danger of creeping optimism and the power of Scotland. Something dangerous is creeping into our movement. Optimism. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with optimism. But like anything else that makes you feel good, you have to take it easy with optimism. A little bit will put a spring […]

Emmanuel Macron has launched an extraordinary attack on prominent Brexiteers, branding those in charge of the Leave campaign ‘liars’. The French president hit out at the likes of Farage, Johnson, and Rees-Mogg in a press conference at the end of the Salzburg summit of European leaders. He described Brexit as a ‘a choice pushed by […]

Alastair Campbell clashed with Jacob Rees-Mogg during a heated television debate, in which he accused the Brexiteer of peddling ‘false promises’. The pair clashed on the BBC’s Politics Live programme with Rees-Mogg accusing Campbell of being a ‘bad loser’ for wanting a People’s Vote. He claimed: ‘We voted and then had a general election where […]

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 the Town Hall in Dewsbury, considered to be the smallest town in the country to host a classical concert season. But whose answers will be music to your ears? And […]

EU leaders have called the prime minister’s bluff, slammed her post-Brexit plan for trade with the EU and refused to rule out a no-deal scenario. In a move campaigners have called ‘the Chequers obituary’, the European Council president Donald Tusk said: ‘We can’t exclude a no deal.’ Speaking at the end of a two-day EU27 […]

JAMES BALL says the real reason we’ve made so little progress on Brexit is clear: the hardliners central to the process have made very little effort to understand it. It is perhaps only this week, six months from Brexit, that the reason we’ve made so little progress has become clear. We’d wondered whether the issue […]

European Council president Donald Tusk has used Instagram to troll Theresa May on her Chequers plan. Tusk used used the photo-sharing platform to issue a light-hearted reminder of the EU’s insistence that the UK cannot ‘cherry-pick’ elements from its rulebook. Sharing a photograph of himself helping the prime minister to a cupcake at a buffet […]

Steve Anglesey explores the irony of Liam Fox’s plans for a post-Brexit Spitfire flight. When Liam Fox announced this week that he was backing a post-Brexit around-the-world flight by a restored Spitfire, thoughts inevitably turned to the last politician who decided to weaponise the famous Second World War aircraft. That was Nick Griffin during the […]

ANDREW ADONIS on our Brexit sovereignty in action, and our moral withdrawal from Europe. At the weekend, Michael Gove, self-proclaimed champion of freedom worldwide, was asked by Andrew Marr why the Conservative party did not vote to censure Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, in a key European parliament vote, for his government’s anti-Semitism, attacks on minorities […]

Campaigners calling for a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal will be protesting outside Conservative party conference in Birmingham. The event, organised by the EU in Brum group, will take place around Victoria Square in Birmingham on Sunday 30 September. The march comes exactly two years after Theresa May’s first big Brexit speech as […]

Theresa May has claimed a fresh referendum on the UK leaving the European Union would ‘destroy trust in politicians’ – and everybody hit back with the same observation. May was speaking to the Express when she claimed that a People’s Vote would undo the ‘biggest exercise in democracy in our country’s history.’ She said: ‘When […]

A Treasury minister has suggested there is a possibility of a second EU referendum if Theresa May’s Chequers proposals are rejected by the House of Commons. Mel Stride said that fear of a second poll would bring rebellious Brexiteers into line when MPs come to vote on any deal, while Tory Remainers would back Chequers […]

Absurd as it may sound, could Theresa May be the one to keep Britain in the EU? Guto Harri, former aide to Boris Johnson, says there could be a way If Woody Allen is right that 80% of life is ‘just showing up’, the prime minister should have secured a special award at this week’s […]

Michael Gove’s department has been forced to delete a video promoting UK farming after Brexit – because it featured stock images of farms from EU countries. An image of a farm inspector in a cow shed was taken in Slovenia (Photograph: Defra) – Credit: Archant The mistake was spotted shortly after the Department of Environment, […]

Micheal Heseltine has said Boris Johnson waits to see which way the crowd is running before jumping to the front and yelling ‘follow me’. The Tory grandee predicted Johnson would be the next leader of the Conservatives but outlined his deep reservations about the direction of the party, ‘I suspect if they left him off […]

The man who wrote Article 50 has thrown his support behind a People’s Vote and warned: ‘A political, economic and constitutional crisis is gathering.’ Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, a former head of the diplomatic service, made the comments as the People’s Vote campaign released a roadmap to a second referendum. The report argues the March […]

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable failed to perform under pressure during his keynote conference speech stumbling over the key phrase. Lib Dem 'how to get headlines' playbook:Pre-brief a speech describing Brexit as an 'erotic spasm'.When delivering the speech say instead "exotic spresm".pic.twitter.com/UBJllVr7jB— Tim Johns (@timoncheese) September 18, 2018 Apparently embarrassed by having the phrase […]

A recent Radio Five Live Brexit debate featured the usual slogans – ‘will of the people’, ‘EU superstate’, ‘Project Fear’ – but the most startling statement came from one of the pro-Leave participants regarding a People’s Vote. He said: ‘If you do not deliver what the people want with Brexit, you will see a rise […]