News and Opinion

What would happen if Theresa and the rest of Team May have got it all wrong? Let’s suppose Theresa May and her minders have got it all wrong, Unite’s Len McCluskey too, and that she manages to lose her ‘Me Election’ double-digit lead as the campaign ends. No, I don’t suppose it’s because she’ll be […]

We pick out the wrong and unstable leavers of the week 10. Boris Johnson Granted a rare day release from Lynton Crosby’s secure facility, the Foreign Secretary visited a market in Newport and told a comic book seller that his favourite character was The Hulk. No clue why Boris should relate to Bruce Banner, an […]

Election news, reaction and analysis on May 19. .

Get your weekly dose of politics as Matt Kelly, Steve Anglesey, Richard Porritt and Geri Scott dissect the Tory manifesto and crown Brexiteer of the week In episode two of The New European podcast, the team take a look back at a week in Brexit focusing on the Conservative Party’s manifesto, the state of the […]

On the panel: Priti Patel, Angela Rayner, Vince Cable, Jonathan Bartley and Charles Moore. .

The dangers of the presidential-style government Theresa May and her ‘team’ are seeking for the UK One of the advantageous of being an immigrant is that you can observe your new country in ways the native-born can’t. Or won’t. You can see things differently. If you choose to. And what I can see is the […]

Election news, reaction and analysis on May 18. .

Hard Brexit fanatic Nigel Farage has once again been baiting the very people the UK needs to keep on side – the ones we are about to spend months negotiating with. Farage warned Jean-Claude Juncker his ‘bloody rude’ behaviour and attempt to ‘bully the Brits’ could force Britain to walk away from Brexit talks within […]

The Liberal Democrats have put fighting Brexit at the heart of their manifesto. Banning diesel cars and helping young people buy their first home through rent payments are among other key policies. The party expects to raise £1 billion in revenue by legalising cannabis, but says it will not scrap tuition fees, insisting that the […]

Don’t turn your back on democracy on June 8, urged Miller Speaking at The Convention – a two-day public debate on the deep impacts of Brexit – Brexit campaigner Gina Miller urged voters to use their ‘enormous privilege’ by voting in ‘a smart, tactical way.’ ‘As for you, who maybe feel betrayed, or apathy or […]

Theresa May claims she is not like any Harry Potter character. Take our quiz and decide for yourself The Prime Minister has told youngsters in Birmingham she did not believe she was like any of the characters in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, but we’re not so sure… Take our quiz to see if you […]

Theresa May confirms she is not like a Harry Potter character: Five important things we learnt yesterday 1. Theresa May is a fan of Harry Potter. The Prime Minister, who is believed to be a muggle, told youngsters in Birmingham she had read all of JK Rowling’s wizard adventures and thought they were ‘very good’. […]

Election news, reaction and analysis on May 17. .

The NHS is Theresa May’s blind spot and it is being sidelined in the Brexit process. NHS staff retentionCreate bar charts For the last two or three years, the number one concern for most NHS organisations has been their ballooning financial deficits. And with demand for health services and the costs of delivering them still […]

The Tories are back with their promise to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands. By any stretch of the imagination, this target is unrealistic. However, recent history suggests that Theresa May will continue to pursue this goal, irrespective of the harm it will do the UK economy and society. During her six years […]

Election news, reactions and analysis as Labour reveal (again) its manifesto. .

Labour would not allow Britain to crash out of the European Union if no trade deal was in place at the end of Brexit negotiations. The party’s manifesto calls a so-called ‘no deal’ scenario ‘the worst possible deal for Britain’, adding that Labour will have a strong emphasis on retaining the benefits of the single […]

Theresa May has resisted calls to lower the voting age to 16, insisting young people could get involved in politics without casting a ballot. If you are 16 or 17 you can get married, join the armed forces and if you are working you will have to pay tax. And yet you have no say […]

Election news, reaction and analysis on May 15. .

An autopsy of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images For a party that could rightfully say it changed the very face of British politics, the end was ignominious. The United Kingdom Independence Party was pronounced dead on the morning of May 5 as results of the local elections flooded in. […]

What next for the pro-European cause in the Conservative Party, asks a Tory peer who has fought an often lonely battle against Brexit The ‘C word’ seems to have been banished from the blue party’s lexicon. As the hoardings at press conferences declare, it is now ‘Theresa May’s team’. She and the members of that […]

Why our Prime Minister is in bad company A few weeks ago, as France was facing the possibility of a Presidential election run-off between Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon, I was driving south down the A7 autoroute, listening to one of those seemingly interminable political debates that French radio does so well. It was […]

Election news, reaction and analysis on May 14. .

UK will be safest in the world online… after we’ve fixed that NHS cyber attack: Five things we learned on Saturday 1. The Conservatives would make Britain ‘the safest place in the world for people to be online’. With somewhat unfortunate timing, given the massive cyber attack that hit the NHS on Friday, Theresa May […]

Brexit blaming and sofa talk: Our (Brexiteer) diarist Iain Dale records a new election week I’m really not sure about this so-called ‘Progressive Alliance’. I mean, what’s progressive about subverting democracy? If a political party is serious about power it should stand in every seat. To pick and choose the seats you put up candidates […]

Election news, reaction and analysis on May 13. .

Is Theresa May more big time than the Tories? Five things we learned on Friday: 1. Theresa May thinks she is more popular than her party. She has already given speeches in front of billboards bearing her name but no mention of the Conservative Party. And she has introduced Tory candidates at rallies as ‘Theresa […]

Macron’s election raises the stakes in the governing game Beneath the flight path into Heathrow airport at Kew Gardens in West London stands an ancient tree called Turner’s Oak. Planted by a nurseryman of that name in 1798 – just as Napoleon Bonaparte, ten years younger than Emmanuel Macron, edged towards an even more audacious […]

We pick the most wrong and unstable Leavers from the week in Brexit 10. Bill Etheridge The prospective MP for Dudley North launched his election campaign in an Indian restaurant to ‘put to bed once and for all’ the idea that UKIP is racist. It’s hard to believe why anyone might think that of Etheridge, […]

Leaky Labour and the death of UKIP: The New European team take a look back at a week in Brexit focusing on Labour’s manifesto, UKIP’s woes and the resurgent centre in France. They also crown the Brexiteer of the Week. LIKE THIS? Subscribe to The New European podcast here. .

Well, not quite. UKIP’s disastrous performance and the local elections signals their engulfing by the lurch to the right by Theresa May’s Team (previously known as the Conservative Party). Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn’s Team – sorry, I’m falling for all this presidential campaigning nonsense – seems determined to take Britain back to the 70s. Again, not […]

Election news, updates and analysis on May 12. .