News and Opinion

The ongoing disoute over use of the term ‘Macedonia’ represents a troubling tension in Europe. But a political solution is possible, argues NEOPHYTOS LOIZIDES In the latest volley of a long-running dispute over the right to the name ‘Macedonia’, an estimated 140,000 Greeks took to the streets of Athens last weekend to protest against its […]

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has accused British politicians such as Boris Johnson of talking “total nonsense” when they accuse him of seeking to create a European superstate. His comments came as he answered questions at a press conference in Brussels taking place as the foreign secretary made a high-profile speech on Brexit in London. […]

Brexit is on its way to becoming a mystical entity and a sign that the UK has gone mad suggests BONNIE GREER. Brexitarianism – we are now at the One True Faith stage – could soon achieve full convergence with that other True Faith: Trumpism. Just as one of the writers of The Simpsons recently […]

Troubling as it may be, Putin is the politician best attuned to the state of the world today, says JAMES RODGERS. All around was in ruins. It was an early spring day, and the air had just started to warm: the sting taken out of the North Caucasus winter. Among the rubble of the Chechen […]

Chancellor and cabinet remainer Philip Hammond has been dispatched on a Brexit charm offensive, with a brief to assure European counterparts and business leaders that Britain “still cares” about them. The man dubbed “Spreadsheet Phil” for his powder-dry demeanour is visiting European Union members Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal as part of his tour. […]

Readers are calling on Jeremy Corbyn to hold Labour’s own EU referendum and to act on party members’ wishes. The letter from Momentum supporter Jim Hoyle (issue 81) about attacks on Jeremy Corbyn in TNE misses the point. Huge numbers of Labour members and supporters, new and old, are bemused and depressed by the leadership’s […]

In his new stage review, TIM WALKER watches Long Day’s Journey into Night at Wyndham’s Theatre, London Long Day’s Journey into Night Wyndham’s Theatre, London, until April 7 FIVE STARS Nudging 70, Jeremy Irons is a brave man to make his West End comeback in, of all plays, Long Day’s Journey into Night. Eugene O’Neill […]

Amid the investigations into the Trump administration PAUL CONNEW wonders if the President’s longest-serving aide could be the one to bring him down. In the wake of high-profile sackings that have dogged US President Donald Trump’s administration, the White House Communications Director Hope Hicks (2L) remains in the president’s inner circle. Photo: PA Images – […]

MEREDITH SHAW delves into the literature the secretive state produces for its population and discovers reading between the lines. North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Un. Photo: PA – Credit: Yonhap News Agency/PA Images With colourful rhetoric about ‘dotards’ (the insult thrown at Donald Trump by Kim Jong-un) and nuclear buttons, North Korean propaganda is certainly attracting […]

The return of volatility to the markets is a reminder of the uncertainties out there in the ‘real world’, says ANGELA JAMESON. Just two weeks ago Donald Trump was bragging to the movers and shakers at Davos that the stock market was up 50% on his watch. The US president has tweeted more than 60 […]

Government minister Penny Mordaunt has promised ‘meat on the bones’ ahead of a series of big-hitting Brexit speeches. The International Development Secretary said a series of major speeches planned by Prime Minister Theresa May and Cabinet heavyweights would set out a Brexit ‘vision’. She told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show: ‘What the public want is […]

The New European’s Editor-at-Large, Alastair Campbell, on how the youth need to raise their voices and speak out against Brexit. You find yourself in some strange places when you have a book out. And so, on Sunday morning when I would normally be out on the bike, or re-watching Match of the Day to see […]

A vote among party members over Brexit would transform the debate and act as a trial run for the real thing, argues ANDREW ADONIS. According to a famous American of whom no-one in England has heard, ‘the best cure for the ills of democracy is – more democracy.’ So it is with Brexit. The 2016 […]

Campaigner Gina Miller tells TIM WALKER about her latest legal challenge to the government, and why the law still offers the best hope of holding it to account. ‘The Brextremists are calling for Theresa May to go full steam ahead, but that’s actually the last thing we want now,’ says Gina Miller. ‘We’re heading into […]

MICHAEL WHITE on the faux aristo with plenty of principles and views… but no policies. “Beware of the snides on the march”. Swords have been drawn as the Sunday Times threatened May with replacement. Picture: Gary Barker – Credit: Gary Barker Wrong, wrong, wrong! That’s how my prediction here last week looks after days of […]

Weaker, poorer, smaller. JAMES BALL looks at how Brexit will enfeeble Britain sector by sector. Jacob Rees-Mogg is on the warpath. The backbench faux-toff, who now leads a grouping of more than 50 hard Brexiteer Conservative MPs, is doubling down with his insistence that assessments produced by the civil service on the impact of Brexit […]

Agreement on a transition period to smooth Britain’s exit from the EU is “not a given”, Brussels’ chief Brexit negotiator has warned. After the latest round of talks between officials in Brussels, Michel Barnier said that three “substantial” disagreements remained over plans for the transition, expected to last around two years after the date of […]

Steve Anglesey names the worst Brexiteers of the week. Nigel Farage was told to ‘go back to where you came from’ by a heckler in Dublin. Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire – Credit: PA 10 JOHN REES-EVANS The failed UKIP leadership candidate whose manifesto advocated a new social media network for Kippers – he should have […]

In this week’s diary column, Lib Dems distance themselves from comedy stalwart and Tim Shipman considers a new Conservative ‘dream team’. Don’t mention the EU Referendum After parting company with his third wife Alyce Faye Eichelberger and any discernibly funny scripts, John Cleese’s relationship with the Lib Dems appears to have petered out, too. The […]

Checks at the Irish border will be “unavoidable” under Theresa May’s Brexit plans for the UK to leave the single market and customs union, Michel Barnier has warned. Brussels’ chief Brexit negotiator also told reporters that agreement on a transitional deal after the UK leaves the bloc in March 2019 was “not a given”. After […]

Brexit has become indelibly linked with Scottish independence north of the border. But PETER GEOGHEGAN investigates a delicate political situation. Time has done little to soften Nicola Sturgeon’s view of Brexit. The day after the European Union referendum, Scotland’s First Minister declared that a second vote on independence was ‘on the table’ after almost two-thirds […]

The government’s refusal to commit to publishing a paper on the financial services industry after Brexit has been condemned by the Treasury Select Committee’s chairwoman. Senior Tory Nicky Morgan said “the clock is ticking” for the vital industry and called for a position paper to be published immediately. In a withering response to the Treasury, […]

The Conservative Party faces an “immense challenge” to repair the schism caused by Brexit, former attorney general Dominic Grieve has warned. The former law officer, a ringleader of the rebels who inflicted Theresa May’s first Commons defeat over her Brexit legislation, warned that political parties can “fall apart” if the ties of tribal loyalty break. […]

RICHARD PORRITT with this week’s big stories, including an outlandish Danish immigration plan, why Austria is Europe’s ashtray and France’s least gangsta rapper In light of the latest polling, will Jeremy Corbyn finally wake up to the fact that much of his party doesn’t want Brexit? The youth vote, which has swelled the party’s membership […]

After the opening salvos over the Brexit bill in the House of Lords, the Lib Dem leader there, DICK NEWBY, looks ahead to the next round of battles Of the 190 speeches made during the Withdrawal Bill Second Reading in the Lords, three stood out for me. The first, was an excoriating critique of the […]

Keep resisting, says MITCH BENN. The facts are on our side and soon the majority of people will be too You know what? No personal anecdotes, pithy analogies or weird where-the-hell-is-he-going-with-this pop culture-based pre-amble this week. This week I’m cutting straight to the chase. Brexit has to stop. Not be softened, or ameliorated, or grudgingly […]

Nigel Farage has been attacked after claiming a Brexit transition period under the EU’s proposed terms would create “Vichy Britain” – a reference to the collaborationist regime in France during Nazi occupation. The former Ukip leader tweeted: “Mrs May’s transition period will be a worse form of EU membership during which the bully boys of […]

Theresa May has claimed she will be “robust” in Brexit talks as she dismissed as “noises off” Brussels plans allowing it to sanction the UK during transition. The prime minister’s so-called “war cabinet” of senior ministers is meeting today to attempt to chart a course through some of the most difficult issues in the Brexit […]

Tory MPs have called on the government to scrap its “vassal state” transition deal with the EU and instead purse a “Carlsberg Brexit deal” with the European Free Trade Association. Ministers were urged to opt for the “safe harbour” of EFTA while a more comprehensive free trade deal was thrashed out with the EU. Joining […]

Ireland’s deputy premier has called on the UK Government to drop its red lines and tough talk on its future relationship with the EU. Simon Coveney said a calm and rational debate on the merits of continued membership of extended customs union and single market structures was overdue. Addressing a packed audience at a conference […]

Theresa May’s inner “war cabinet” of senior ministers will meet today to chart a course through some of the most difficult issues in the Brexit process. The Brexit sub-committee meeting comes after it emerged the European Union wants to put in place a method to rapidly curtail the UK’s single market benefits if it breaches […]

The days of nipping over to Calais for a boot-load of bottles are numbered. SIMON WATKINS ​heads over in search of a bargain while he still can ‘The Brits don’t come to Calais for the beaches; the only reason they come here is for the wine,’ declares Simon Delannoy, proprietor of The Calais Wine Superstore. […]