News and Opinion

Government departments have been “too slow” to begin practical preparations to get the country ready for Brexit, a parliamentary report has warned. With just 14 months to go, Whitehall has still not faced up to the need to reprioritise its work to be ready for Brexit day in March 2019, including halting other programmes so […]

Businesses’ patience with the Cabinet’s “continued division” on Brexit is “wearing thin” and Theresa May must urgently deliver a clear statement of what the government wants, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has said. As ministers in the prime minister’s Brexit “war cabinet” prepared to meet to discuss what they want from the future relationship […]

Ugandans are incredulous that sophisticated Great Britain is in such a state of disarray and disunity, says YASMIN ALIBHAI-BROWN Just got back from Uganda, where I was making a Radio 4 documentary on what has been happening in the country since 1972, when we Asians, who had been there for generations, were ignominiously thrown out […]

Nicola Sturgeon has demanded “urgent and meaningful” discussion with the devolved administrations on the direction of the Brexit negotiations. Scotland’s first minister has written to Theresa May to say the Scottish government must be able to influence the exit objectives ahead of the UK government cabinet sub-committee on the EU exit negotiations. Ms Sturgeon reminded […]

The environment secretary has no hope of delivering his green dream for the countryside, says PETER HETHERINGTON Dream land, or a brave new world for farming and the countryside? Environment Secretary Michael Gove’s post-Brexit vision for agriculture and rural England, due to be outlined in a white paper shortly, risks colliding with the harsh reality […]

Theresa May’s response to the devastating BuzzFeed leak of impact assessments is to say that they are irrelevant because the Government will soon sign a wonderful bespoke trade deal with the EU which will lift all boats and dispel all gloom. This is impossible because of the red lines she has already set down. The […]

The home secretary has said she “hopes” the Government will set out what it wants from Brexit “within the next few weeks”. Amber Rudd also insisted the government had always held the position that the UK should not be part of a customs union with the European Union after leaving. But she did little to […]

Leading pro-Europe Tory Anna Soubry has told the prime minister to ‘sling out’ Hard Brexiteers as she threatened to quit the party if Jacob Rees-Mogg or Boris Johnson became leader. The ex-business minister claimed Theresa May faced the same fate as David Cameron and John Major unless she “stood up to” the plotting pair. Ms […]

The TV historian talks about a missed opportunity and what you can and cannot learn from the past. Waterloo. Couldn’t escape if I wanted to. Because there was a tree down on the line to Guildford. So I’m in a roof terrace overlooking the station, demanding Dan Snow tells me why he didn’t stop Brexit. […]

Former Whitehall chief Gus O’Donnell has stepped up his criticism of politicians accusing civil servants of bias over Brexit, arguing their attacks amounted to bullying. Independent crossbencher Lord O’Donnell, who headed the civil service for six years, also warned that it was damaging to democracy. His comments came amid a continuing row over Treasury forecasts […]

Theresa May’s decision to leave the EU’s customs union will cause “unavoidable” barriers to trade, Michel Barnier has warned. The European Union’s chief negotiator visited Downing Street for talks with Theresa May and Brexit secretary David Davis in which he pushed for greater clarity about the UK’s approach to the next phase of the process. […]

As celebrities battle for female empowerment, Emma Jones discusses her struggle to keep with the stars of stage and screen. Lorde is a high profile supporter of the #MeToo movement. Picture: Instagram – Credit: Archant Unlike Donald Trump, who shocked no one by saying he is not one, I am a feminist. And I wear […]

Michel Barnier has warned there is “not a minute to lose” in efforts to achieve a Brexit deal as he prepared for talks with Theresa May. The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator was travelling to London as Downing Street insisted the UK would not remain in a customs union with the EU after leaving the […]

The discussion that the Labour Party must have with itself to help save the country from Brexit Years ago, in a big London prison, I attended the disciplinary hearing of a homeless prisoner. Sometimes he apologised for his rule-breaking, sometimes he denied it but most of the time he was keen to talk about some […]

Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said ministers will not be intimidated by threats of a leadership challenge to Theresa May from Tory Brexiteers. As the Cabinet’s Brexit sub-committee prepares to meet for two days of talks on the UK’s future relationship with the EU, Ms Rudd insisted they would come forward with proposals which would […]

Former cabinet secretary Lord Gus O’Donnell said attacks on the civil service for allegedly sabotaging Brexit are “completely crazy”, following claims officials were “fiddling the figures”. Yesterday the leading Tory Hard Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg accused Treasury officials of “fiddling the figures” to show that Britain would be worse off outside the EU, whatever the outcome […]

In this week’s diary column, Cameron welcomes the plaudits and Gina Miller suppresses her political endeavours. Cameron wields the airbrush With an ongoing bloodbath in Libya and Brexit among his dubious achievements, no wonder David Cameron wants to go down in history as the man who legalised same-sex marriage in the UK. The former prime […]

Editor-at-Large Alastair Campbell on the PM and Britain’s position as Z-listers at the world’s most obnoxious party. The judgement of the Davos crowd is not one that I would necessarily set up as the arbiter of who and what does and doesn’t matter in the world. The last time I went there, several years ago, […]

Leaders of the Liberal Democrats, SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens have signed a joint letter calling on Jeremy Corbyn to rethink Labour’s position on Brexit ahead of a meeting with his MPs. Following the leaked government Brexit analysis showing that, under the three most plausible Brexit scenarios, there is no scenario that does not […]

Why POTUS’ attempts to evade questions on the special counsel and the Russian Connection investigation are futile. ‘Fake news, folks…fake news.’ Donald Trump felt the need to say it twice as reporters tried to question him at Davos over whether he tried to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Fake news, Mr President? Not according to […]

Andrew Adonis turns to Orwell to find out what the author would have made of Brexit. In his brilliant essay, Politics and the English Language, George Orwell wrote that in times of crisis ‘political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind’. So it is […]

Leaked impact assessments have revealed that a hard Brexit would shrink the economy by 8% and leave the UK £196bn-a-year poorer. Usually, when the government keeps something secret, it’s because the information isn’t widely known and would do damage to the country if it were made public. That’s why we don’t publicly reveal the location […]

Brexit talks gather pace next week as the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier travels to London to meet Theresa May and David Davis. The prime minister and Brexit secretary will be keen for negotiations on a proposed transition deal to step up a gear as Mr Barnier arrives for face-to-face dialogue in Downing Street next […]

Brexiteers are seen overseas as a “bunch of emotional nutcases”, a former Tory minister has said. Lord O’Neill of Gatley, who quit his post as a Treasury minister last year and switched to the crossbenches in the upper house, urged Leave backers to be “realistic” about the impact of Brexit on the economy. The ex-Goldman […]

A cross-party group of politicians has gone to a Scottish court in a bid to seek a European legal ruling on whether the UK Parliament can unilaterally halt the Brexit process if the final deal is deemed unacceptable. Elected representatives from four parties – Green MSPs Andy Wightman and Ross Greer, Joanna Cherry QC MP […]

It’s Friday which means the latest episode of The New European podcast is live. This week the team tackle the news of Theresa May’s begging-bowl jaunt around China and the revelations from the ‘secret’ Brexit impact assessment. Richard and Steve take an in-depth look at Mrs May’s prospects after another bruising week for the PM […]

A Brexit minister has avoided being sacked but was forced into a Commons apology for raising allegations which suggested Treasury officials were trying to keep Britain in the customs union. Steve Baker said he should have corrected or dismissed an account of the claim relayed to the Commons by Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, which he […]

Labour MP Chuka Umunna has 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 May’s final deal to leave the EU. The Grassroots Coordinating Group, made up of bodies representing more than half a million members, will come together […]

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran argues that doing the right thing on European nuclear cooperation still can’t trump the Brexit dogma. Discussion of Europe’s nuclear community – Euratom – didn’t feature heavily during the referendum campaign. As well as nuclear safeguards, Euratom also governs the trade of nuclear materials, allows for scientific research, and provides […]

Michael White discusses Tory infighting and the soft Marxist looking on in opposition Is it over yet? Has the latest ‘May Must Go’ spasm convulsing the Tory ranks and the Brexit end of Fleet St subsided? Has the proxy slogan ‘Hammond Must Go’ and its more tentative rival ‘Hammond must definitely be reined in’ given […]

Jeremy Corbyn has come under renewed pressure to commit Labour to remaining in the single market and customs union after Brexit. The Labour leader said he wanted to ensure that British firms and universities continued to have “close relationships” with the European Union. Labour wants a “tariff-free trade relationship” and “a form of customs union”, […]

An increasingly ruffled David Davis finally had his department draw up a Brexit impact analysis. And it is nightmarish. Now we all know the reason why Brexit Secretary David Davis looked such a shambles when he appeared before the House of Lords European Union committee at the start of this week. He had seen his […]