News and Opinion

YASMIN ALIBHAI-BROWN argues that Britain is part of Europe’s progressive, enlightened and savage history. If you really want to annoy Nigel Farage, accuse him of hating Europe. I did that some years back on the LBC, and he went a bit bonkers. We were on Iain Dale’s show, reviewing the year – I think it […]

The chair of the Commons Treasury Committee has called for more clarity on what impact Brexit will have on VAT bills for firms importing goods from the EU. Former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan, who was a leading figure in the Remain campaign, has written to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to seek guidance on […]

Brexit is a career-killer for freelancers, argues reader Jayne Hamilton. I read your article on freelance musician Anneke Scott with sadness as I know exactly how she feels. If current negotiations are anything to go by, I will lose two-thirds of my livelihood at the very least because of Brexit. While companies export products, we […]

Trump’s fortunes are not looking so rosy, says PAUL CONNEW. If 2017, and Donald Trump’s first 12 months in the White House, marked a surreal year of living dangerously and chaotically, then 2018 is set to offer not just more of the same, but danger and chaos on an even greater scale. The explosive combination […]

Amid much global gloom, PAUL KNOTT finds an area of the world which much to be confident about​. Anyone despairing about the rise of extremism in Europe and the US can look to Latin America for encouragement. For all its ups, downs and Venezuela, the region has progressed remarkably since the dark days of the […]

What can Remainers learn from Leavers and their ideas about what Britain post-Brexiter should look like, asks ZOE WILLIAMS. Dan Hannan, Member of the European Parliament. Photo: Sachs Ron/PA – Credit: ABACA/PA Images The last thing I’d advocate is for the Remainers to become more like Leavers. Succumbing to the inevitable, Leavers – having a […]

BONNIE GREER says we are not on board for the anti-immigration; nativist; and economic protectionism of the culture wars known as MAGA and Brexit. There can be no doubt that the presidency of Donald Trump will be a different one, 12 months or so from now. Trump himself will guarantee it through, among other things, […]

Theresa May has sent a warning out to those trying to topple her stating she will be Prime Minister for ‘as long as people want me to serve’. May has also confirmed she is preparing a Cabinet reshuffle which could see leading Brexiteer Andrea Leadsom sacked from her post as Leader of the House of […]

Jeremy Corbyn has been dubbed ‘pathetic’ and accused of failing millions of working families over Brexit. The Labour leader rejected a call from the SNP to join a cross-party coalition to keep Britain in the EU single market after Brexit. The SNP said the Labour leader was failing working families by snubbing the invitation to […]

The war on drugs is no longer just going after the usual suspects. ANDREW PURCELL reports on the opioid crisis gripping the States and the role played by the pharmaceutical industry. The ‘War On Drugs’ has been a cornerstone of US criminal justice since Richard Nixon coined the phrase in 1969, and every president since […]

With disaster looming, Liberal Democrat leader VINCE CABLE explains how best to exit from Brexit. Brexit has become a long, draining, war of attrition: the EU negotiating process is not due to be completed until the autumn of 2018 at the earliest. It could drag on for years beyond that. The debates in parliament are […]

As the new year gets underway, JAMES BALL argues that pinning your hopes on BINO* (*Brexit In Name Only) is pointless. If you believe the new upbeat tone of lots of Brexit coverage, we enter 2018 with the chances of a cliff-edge Brexit much reduced: the EU and UK have agreed a deal for ‘phase […]

The first New European podcast of 2018 is live. Richard Porritt, Steve Anglesey and Geri Scott return from the festive break with another pod packed with news, comment and irreverent views. This week the team tackle Tony Blair’s attack on the Government and Labour, the revelations from within Trump’s trouble White House and the UKIP […]

Chancellor Philip Hammond has refused to rule out Britain being part of a customs union with the European Union after Brexit. The Remain supporter, whose opposition to a hard exit from the bloc has angered some of his colleagues, left the door open to the UK signing up to an agreement that could restrict international […]

In dangerous times, the Labour leader needs to work harder or give way, argues MICHAEL WHITE. Contrary to hysterical expectations just a few months ago, Theresa May is still prime minister this New Year and looks likely to stay put a while. Emboldened by her Brexit negotiating reprieve in Brussels, she reminded Jeremy Corbyn of […]

Who will be at the heart of the storm this year as Brexit resumes its place as the British family argument that will not die? This year’s New European Brexit Power List, our highly unscientific and unapologetically subjective take on those – from both sides – who will most influence the debate, provides a clue. […]

STEVE ANGLESEY counts down the worst Brexiteers of the week. BILL ETHERIDGE The West Midlands UKIP MEP believes he has uncovered a secret EU ruse to form an Olympic superteam at the 2036 Games in a cunning bid to out-medal Team GB. Etheridge told the Telegraph he had overheard plotters ‘using the word solidarity, which […]

In another important intervention, TONY BLAIR lashes out at a deeply divided Tory government and a feeble opposition while highlighting the damage Brexit is already causing 2018 will be the year when the fate of Brexit and thus of Britain will be decided. 2017 was too early in the negotiation. By 2019, it will be […]

Our editor-at-large ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on the influence wielded by Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, on Brexit ‘Only one more Brexmas to Brexit,’ taunted one of my few remaining Brexit-supporting friends. ‘Happy New Year.’ Happy New Year? Fat chance, unless 2018 is the year the Brexit Blunderbus is brought to a halt or, failing […]

RICHARD PORRITT on the week’s big stories, including stern warnings in Greece, unlikely heroes in Rome and Denmark’s most unfortunate taxi driver Sir Vince Cable’s vow to use the House of Lords in a bid to stop the UK leaving the EU will likely irk many Brexiteers. The Lib Dems have long called for reforms […]

Labour’s “timidity” will usher in Brexit if the party continues to go along with leaving the European Union and insists on withdrawing from the single market, Tony Blair has said. The former prime minister criticised Labour’s position and urged the party he once led to instead “make Brexit the Tory Brexit”. Mr Blair said he […]

A former Treasury minister has described Boris Johnson as “ludicrous” as he criticised the government’s approach to future trade deals after Brexit. Lord O’Neill of Gatley said it was “mad” that international trade secretary Liam Fox and the foreign secretary “spend half of their time travelling to New Zealand” instead of building relationships with the […]

RICHARD PORRITT takes a look at what each of the three main English parties must do in 2018 So, farewell then 2017 – another year of utterly insane politics. The turn of the year is a time when plans are hatched, hopes are high and optimism rules… but how long can it last for Theresa […]

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable has defended plans to use his party’s strength in the House of Lords to fight Brexit, even though he views the unelected chamber as a “bad system” that he did not want to be a member of. Sir Vince said the Lords had limited political impact, but the upper […]

Here is a selection of some of the best quotes from an extraordinary year in politics. ‘Before Easter I spent a few days walking in Wales with my husband, I thought about this long and hard and came to the decision that to provide for that stability and certainty, this was the way to do […]

The government has been criticised for plans which could involve volunteers patrolling borders at air and sea ports. The Home Office confirmed that proposals for ‘Border Force Special Volunteers’ at small air and sea ports were being discussed. They would be used to bolster Border Force staffing levels, in a similar vein to police community […]

The attacks in Cologne on New Year’s Eve two years ago had a profound effect in Germany… as well as the UK, says GAVIN FEARNLEY. The middle-aged man at the table next to mine puts his coffee down. Leaning towards his friend, he says ‘Beware of the NAFRIS, okay?’. The other chap nods his head. […]

There was no more brutal expression of the divisions of the Cold War than the Berlin Wall. IAN WALKER looks back at the moment the barrier went up, and how the world reacted. On the night of August 13, 1961, the East German Government closed the border between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, […]

Lord Adonis has quit the government’s infrastructure role delivering a scathing verdict on the handling of Brexit and claiming the PM has become an ally of UKIP and the Tory hard right. The Labour peer resigned as chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission, saying he was ‘duty bound’ to oppose the Government’s European Union (Withdrawal) […]

There could be more frustration in store for Brenda from Bristol in 2018 with the possibility of another snap general election against the background of turmoil of Brexit. "NOT ANOTHER ONE!"Watch Brenda's reaction when I tell her that the PM wants a General Election. Safe to say, she's not impressed.#Bristol pic.twitter.com/IYEdGBryyZ— Jon Kay (@jonkay01) April […]

The UK’s entry into Europe was as much the result of French politics as it was British, argues OLIVIER DUHAMEL. And it was his own father who ensured that it happened. With Brexit now upon us, let’s look back, and reflect a little about ‘Brentry’. It is of course well known that the UK’s entry […]

The New European best of 2017 podcast is live. Richard Porritt, Steve Anglesey and Geri Scott have put together some of the best and funniest moments from the podcast this year. Enjoy again the shock at Theresa May’s calamitous conference speech, the morning after the election night before and remember some of the most bonkers […]