News and Opinion

Wadi Camacho punched out his sixth success in Area title fights at York Hall on Saturday and now wants to move up to challenge for a Commonwealth belt. Camacho convincingly crushed Danny Couzens in his latest defence, which was also a Commonwealth title eliminator so he wants challenge for that crown. ‘I am ready to […]

Anti-Brexit MP Chuka Umunna has spoken of his frustration that many in the Labour Party see his battle as being about opposing Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour MP, who last month launched a coalition of forces including The New European to fight a Hard Brexit and push for the public to get a say on Theresa […]

Brexit secretary David Davis has hailed the UK’s transitional period deal amid accusations the government has ‘surrendered’. At a joint press conference the European Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said a decisive step had been taken. ‘What we are presenting to you today, here with David, is a legal text,’ he said. ‘A joint legal […]

France’s National Front is trying to bounce back. But, JASON WALSH asks, is there any hope for the far-right basket case? The National Front (FN) is no more. Meet the new face of France’s far-right: the Rassemblement National (National Rally). The name was unveiled by party leader Marine Le Pen at its gathering in Lille […]

Vince Cable was not ‘insulting 17.4 million voters’ when he said that nostalgia played a part in the referendum result; he was telling the truth, argues Sarah Thomas. After years of peace and economic stability, the referendum took place at a time when the news was dominated by ISIS, Calais and austerity. No wonder some […]

Grassroots anti-Brexit movements are planning to hold a series of rallies across the UK to mark one year since Theresa May triggered Article 50. Remain supporters in London, as they take part in the March for Europe rally to Parliament Square. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas. – Credit: PA WIRE The rallies aim to send a clear […]

Remainers need to get out of their echo chambers and stop “wrapping ourselves up in the European Union flag” to win over Leave voters, Lib Dem deputy leader Jo Swinson told a Brexit conference today. She told the ‘Should I Star or Should I Go’ conference in central London that she was “concerned that we […]

MICHAEL WHITE on the Kremlin, Rex Tillerson and spreadsheet Phil’s positive spin. There’s nothing like a top-notch spy scandal to distract the Great British public, which has been spoiled rotten by them since Burgess and Maclean did their Keystone Cops flit to Moscow in 1951. It set the parameters for John Le Carre’s Cold War […]

A tetchy Boris Johnson took a move from the Trump playbook today, describing Brexit criticism as “BBC claptrap” while promising “a gigantic free trade deal” with the EU after Britain leaves. The foreign secretary was in a particularly cantankerous mood as he appeared on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, employing the US president’s favoured techniques […]

Germany’s new grand coalition seems to have pleased very few people. But for the country’s Social Democrats it is a particular disappointment, says PATRICIA HOGWOOD. This time last year, Martin Schulz was announced, with great fanfare, as the new leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD). As the party’s candidate for chancellor, ‘Saint Martin’ was […]

It takes some arrogance to rewrite Shakespeare, says TIM WALKER. The sheer size of the National Theatre’s Olivier stage seems to have thrown everyone involved in this production of Macbeth into a state of utter panic. Set designer Rae Smith tries to make it feel more manageable by throwing down several vast curtains of cheap […]

From his position inside UKIP GAWAIN TOWLER witnessed the rise of pan-European nationalism. In his first article since quitting as communications chief he offers an insight into a worrying trend. There are some things so obvious that they don’t need to be said. Things we hold as self-evident. Brunel was a fine engineer, Shakespeare had […]

Brexiteers said we would ‘get back control of our borders’ after leaving the EU – but it appears that might not quite be the case. It now seems that Whitehall is floating the idea of not imposing border checks after Brexit if there is no agreement about customs arrangements. This would solve the problem of […]

The first ministers of Scotland and Wales have written to peers setting their own proposed changes to crucial Brexit legislation. The Scottish and Welsh governments have been locked in a dispute with the UK government over the return of devolved powers from Brussels once Britain leaves the EU. While UK ministers have brought forward amendments […]

This week’s New European podcast is available now. Richard Porritt, Steve Anglesey and Geri Scott delve into another week in Brexit paying special attention to Philip Hammond’s Spring Statement and the news that we will still be paying off the divorce bill in 2064. And Richard is joined by New European Editor Matt Kelly to […]

The New European’s Editor-at-Large ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on a memorable exchange between Blair and Putin. Well, there’s certainly a lot of Putin around right now. ‘The New Tsar’, as the title of last week’s BBC documentary put it, the commentary suggesting he was now ‘the world’s scariest and most powerful leader’. For glimpses of the scary […]

Jeremy Corbyn is meant to be a break from Labour’s recent past, but he risks making the same mistakes as Tony Blair and Ed Miliband, says ZOE WILLIAMS. Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit has been defined by ambiguity – when he was campaigning to Remain, did he mean it? When he embraced the result, what was that, […]

Who is on Question Time tonight and where do they stand on Brexit? Here’s your guide… The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme returns tonight from Cruise Terminal 1 of Dover’s Western Docks. With a list of issues longer than the backlog of lorries on Kent’s roads once the Hard Brexiteers get their way, who’s on […]

As complex as the border issue is, there is something more fundamental at play in the latest wranglings, argues Irish journalist JASON WALSH Supposedly solved in December last year, Brexit has once again crashed against the rocks of the Irish question. The Irish question… to which the Irish answer has always been: there is no […]

Steve Anglesey names the worst Brexiteers of the week. THE OWNER OF A ‘BREXIT’ NUMBERPLATED ASTON MARTIN Spotted in Hong Kong by Tim Freeman… because nothing screams ‘I’m taking back control from the moneyed elite’ more than a personalised numberplate on a £100,000 Aston Martin parked in a tax haven. HENRY BOLTON The former UKIP […]

The chancellor’s financial briefing delivered a few Brexit home truths, says ANGELA JAMESON It was renamed the Spring Statement, but there was little to put a bounce in your step. The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s update on the economy and the public finances was certainly shorter than the usual March statement but Philip Hammond seemed […]

The impact of leaving the EU is to be discussed at a conference on Monday. Speakers including New European contributor Professor AC Grayling, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable and Labour’s Chuka Umunna will address delegates at the ‘Brexit: Should I stay or should I go’ conference on Monday at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in […]

Jeremy Corbyn’s response to the prime minister’s action over the Russian spy poisoning scandal was met with condemnation. And it was not just the government benches shaking their heads as he fell short of fully backing the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomatic staff – among other sanctions – but also many on his own side. […]

Even Brexiteers should be appalled at the way the government is mishandling Britain’s trade, says Liberal Democrat MP WERA HOBHOUSE To negotiate our own trade deals is one of the last hopes of the Conservative government to persuade the public that Brexit is a good thing. The term ‘Global Britain’ has been used time and […]

A little-known and little-noticed provision in the European Withdrawal Bill could be the key to triggering a referendum on any Brexit deal, writes ANDREW ADONIS Always read the small print. The monstrous EU Withdrawal Bill, meandering slowly through the Lords, contains a provision which virtually no-one noticed until a few weeks ago. In an apparently […]

MITCH BENN examines tweets from an organisation that claims to be returning conservatism to the grassroots A tweet appeared a few days ago from the group Activate UK; this organisation describes its objective in its Twitter ‘bio’ as ‘Creating a united platform for young conservatives and returning power to the grassroots’. Leaving aside the slightly […]

Whatever else you can say about an assassination attempt with a powerful Russian nerve agent on its soil, it has certainly told Britain who its friends are. The US, the power the Brexiteers and their press supporters told us repeatedly would be our firmest ally after Brexit (party, and curiously, because Donald Trump’s mother liked […]

Michael Gove thinks he landed a blow on the EU over banning plastic straws. But, as JANE MERRICK​ discovers, environmental groups remain concerned about Brexit The wild-eyed optimism from Theresa May’s government over how Britain would fare post-Brexit has faded, replaced by something a little closer to reality. A year ago, Brexit secretary David Davis […]

The European Commission president has sent a dire warning to the UK over Brexit: ‘You will regret your decision.’ Jean-Claude Juncker said things ‘cannot remain as they are’ for the UK in its relationship with the EU after leaving the bloc. Addressing the European Parliament, Juncker was cheered by Eurosceptic MEPs as he noted the […]

Fascism arises when people have a yearning for order and peace at any cost, says BONNIE GREER A recent image stands out. It is the sight of Vladimir Putin. He strides across a long expanse of stage to a rapturous standing ovation. He stands at a lectern, a huge backdrop behind him. The image on […]

It might not be getting many column inches, but what is currently happening in the Upper House is encouraging. Peers are conducting their detailed, line-by-line analysis of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill during its marathon committee stage. And so far it has not made pleasant viewing for the government. The bill has been pulled apart and […]

Is the advertising industry obsessed with London over the rest of the UK? EMMA JONES investigates – and tackles youth speak and culture along the way Incongruously, this week I found myself in an urban ‘woke’ situation. I was part of a debate panel IRL (in real life) on the banks of the Thames. I […]