News and Opinion

With UKIP’s voters returning to the Conservative party, Michael Culver argues it’s no longer a party for right-thinking people. I write on behalf of my wife and myself to express our total agreement with the views expressed by Roger Adams in his letter (TNE #90). The Conservative party today is no longer one for any […]

In the fallout of Michelle Wolf’s set at the White House correspondent’s dinner Mitch Benn explores the potholes of a misunderstood joke. It’s quite the week to be in the comedy business, and in particular the political comedy business. The fall out from Michelle Wolf’s set at the White House correspondents’ dinner continues to rain […]

Recent economic results are not good for the UK. When, will​ we blame you-know-what? The economy is at a virtual standstill. Growth of just 0.1% in the first quarter is the slowest rate seen for almost six years. At what point do we finally blame Brexit for the sharp contraction that is being seen across […]

Emmanuel Macron’s recent visit to the White House gave body language analysts plenty to talk about and led many to draw comparisons with Theresa May’s 2017 trip. Poor old Theresa May goes to Washington, does a bit of involuntary hand-holding with Donald Trump, and gets enduringly hammered for it. Emmanuel Macron goes beyond hand-holding to […]

Tony Blair has said that he believes Brexit can still be stopped, and that a final deal could be blocked by the House of Commons. The arch-Remainer and former Prime Minister also told Bloomberg News that he believes there should be a People’s Vote at the end of negotiations. He explained: ‘What we have learned […]

Labour’s position on illegal immigrants sums up the contradictions tying Labour in knots over Brexit, writes Graham Milne… We must all thank Diane Abbott for her part in weakening Theresa May by removing Amber Rudd, but her inability to coherently outline Labour’s position on illegal immigrants sums up the contradictions tying Labour in knots over […]

On this week’s bumper episode of The New European podcast we analyse the fallout from the local elections. Steve Anglesey and Richard Porritt discuss whether or not this means Theresa May will go down the route of a harder Brexit, and what next for Labour after a mixed bag of results? Alastair Campbell also joins […]

There are two choices for Amber Rudd now she has resigned, writes Isobel Wheeler… Do nothing and return to the Cabinet in a more minor role in six months to a year. Or, enjoying the freedom of the backbenches, make the case that British membership of the customs union must continue in order to avoid […]

Reflecting on the political fallout of the Windrush Scandal and the appointment of the new Home Secretary As I write this on a wintry Monday morning, the new Home Secretary is as yet unnamed and Twitter is awash with helpful suggestions (Yvette Cooper, boom boom) after Rudd’s self-deportation*. I am very sorry about Amber. She […]

Israel is hated beyond reason by the Left because the Left craves an enemy whose evil is as great as their imagined capacity for good There’s a principle of perpetuation in anti-Semitism, as there is in all racisms, which ensures that the more the despised object raises a voice in his own defence, the more […]

UKIP’s general secretary has compared his party to the Black Death – the plague which killed millions of people in the Middle Ages – when explaining the party’s local election results. ‘It’s not all over at all,’ Oakley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. ‘Think of the Black Death in the Middle Ages. It comes […]

Examining the roles of the three Brexiteers at the heart of the government’s Brexit negotiations Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images Upon becoming prime minister in July 2016, Theresa May created two new cabinet positions – vastly weakening a third in the process – splitting theoretical responsibility for Brexit among a […]

The tide is turning against the Brexit once more and there is reason for hope The government has suffered ten defeats so far on the EU Withdrawal Bill in the House of Lords. The defeats on the European customs union and the requirement for a Commons vote if there is ‘no deal’ are of particular […]

Sir Vince Cable has said that the Lib Dems are ‘on the way back’ after this week’s local elections which saw the party reclaim Richmond council for the first time in eight years. Sir Vince said: ‘It’s certainly the beginning of the comeback of the Lib Dems. It’s not going to happen overnight – Rome […]

Test yourself on the continent’s literature with our great quiz Test yourself on Europe’s art with our fiendish quiz. Caution – it’s harder to solve than Brexit…

The new age of political hand holding and cheek kissing on display between world leaders It’s December 10, 2018, and a surreal scenario unfolds in Oslo, Norway. Holding hands and man-hugging each other, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un step forward to receive the Nobel Peace Prize to rapturous applause. Beyond satire? Not according to the […]

For three million people today this could be the last ever time they have the democratic right to vote in the UK. https://twitter.com/easternblot/status/991968201096552449 EU law gives every European citizen a vote in local and European elections wherever they live in the European Union. However, with Theresa May’s Brexit deadline just 330 days away this could […]

Who is on Question Time tonight and where do they stand on Brexit? Here’s your guide… The BBC Question Time panel for Thursday 3 May 2018. Picture: BBC Question Time. – Credit: Archant The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme tonight (3 May 2018) comes from St Albans, an area which voted 62.7% for Remain in […]

Despite all the Brexiteer talk of a looming era of ‘Global Britain’, the UK is becoming less important to African countries. This week, hundreds of African financiers and business leaders are descending on London for a flagship annual event, AFSIC. They will do so in order to sign deals, pitch opportunities and to network. The […]

Cambridge Analytica has declared bankruptcy – but the investigation into the firm will continue. The company, which worked on the Brexit campaign, sustained severe criticism over its gathering of data from millions of Facebook profiles to target users with personalised adverts. It announced it would be shutting down, claiming the coverage of the scandal has […]

It’s election day again which means photographs of dogs at polling stations is trending again on Twitter. https://twitter.com/SJLheating/status/991930593427456000 This recent tradition has become an essential part of polling days for the social media generation, almost as synonymous as David Dimbleby presenting the BBC election coverage and Jeremy Vine leaping around our screens as the results […]

After Syria and Salisbury, it is back to chaotic normal for the Prime Minister May backed into a corner. Illustration: Martin Rowson – Credit: Archant It would be easy to think that the most significant development of Theresa May’s week was the resignation of her Home Secretary Amber Rudd. It was certainly the most dramatic: […]

Theresa May has once again engaged her favourite tactic when it comes to quitting the European Union – the policy of putting things off. This is head-in-the-sand politics and, although it has saved her job thus far, the prime minister is heading for an almighty fall. By delaying any decision on a customs partnership with […]

A prominent Brexiteer has just told the House of Commons that there should be a statue of Theresa May erected in his constituency to commemorate the ‘Brexit Queen’. 'Will she come to Wellingborough where she will be carried shoulder-high through the streets to the echoing of cheering crowds?' @PeterBoneUK offering to show PM the site […]

Jeremy Corbyn covered lots of topics – clips for social media in mind – but again failed to make anything really stick. Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions Photo: PA – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images The Labour leader was quick out of the blocks asking ‘did the prime minister feel the slightest pang of […]

Next week’s local elections won’t even get close to addressing the biggest issue facing councils, says PETER HETHERINGTON What price sovereignty? With a once-vibrant local state embracing cities, towns and communities shrinking beyond recognition since 2010, it is a question that should be put to ‘Brextremists’ who want powers repatriated from Brussels to strengthen domestic […]

The local elections won’t even get close to addressing the biggest issue facing councils, says PETER HETHERINGTON Elections will be held in council areas across England next week with a wide range of local issues on the table. But the most important doesn’t seem to be on the agenda at all – the very survival […]

With Theresa May’s Brexit deadline just 331 days away, it is becoming even clearer Britain is not ready to leave the EU. However, some Leavers still think otherwise, so here is a list of ten questions to ask them. The list has been compiled by Twitter user @RJonesUX. 26% of NHS doctors are migrants. It […]

The European Research Group has issued a customs union ‘ultimatum’ to the prime minister ahead of a crunch Brexit war cabinet meeting. Jacob Rees-Mogg and his band of Brexit hardliners delivered the dossier of threats detailing their opposition to the plan, developed by the PM’s representative in the Brexit talks, Olly Robbins. May’s proposal – […]

The remarkable rise of Italy’s Five Star Movement ​is inspiring copycats elsewhere in Europe. But, as HANNAH ROBERTS explains, its innovative, technological strategy masks a movement without a soul Five Star Movement activists held a demonstration, in front of the Chamber of Deputies in Montecitorio Square, to protest against the proposal of the new electoral […]

The fallout from the government’s hostile environment immigration policy gets darker by the day. Now we are told in a report produced by a coalition of women’s groups that vulnerable women are so afraid for being kicked out of the UK they are not reporting violent and sexual abuse to the police. This is Great […]

When the Telegraph asked for poems about Brexit they probably weren’t quite expecting the reaction that it received. The problem was that most of the responses received didn’t come from the pro-Brexit supporters that rally behind their newspaper, but Remainers responding in their masses with their own unique take on Britain leaving the EU. Here […]