News and Opinion

The arrogance of Brexiteers is bad enough, says Ian Dunt. But what’s worse is that they make literally no sense. Their arguments have no factual underpinning, are logically impossible and intellectually worthless The oddest thing about Brexit is how utterly un-British it is. The vaguely antagonistic attitude towards the continent is familiar enough, of course, […]

The ‘post-truth’ era is upon us and we must fight to stop it becoming the norm, argues Bonnie Greer UK Independence Party (UKIP) leadership hopeful Raheem Kassam delivers a speech in Westminster, London, Friday, Oct. 28, 2016. Raheem Kassam delivered a campaign speech in the pub Friday, ahead of the expected upcoming party leadership vote. […]

Vile, boring, ludicrous and very predictable: Steve Anglesey reviews the inside story of Ukip & the chaotic Leave.EU campaign You might have seen Arron Banks photographed celebrating with the President-elect in Trump Tower; in his new book on the referendum campaign we encounter him at another victory party, in the early hours of June 24. […]

Can Brits remain members of the EU without finding a route to a foreign passport? Stuart Bonar has an idea Since the vote to leave the European Union, many friends have suddenly developed a keen interest in their Irish ancestry. One has already claimed German citizenship. Another, Cypriot. Yet another has secured permanent residence in […]

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron is determined to push for a further referendum on the terms of any exit Brexit deal https://twitter.com/TheNewEuropean/status/799554713767333888 I am absolutely clear – I will not allow a deal to be imposed on the British people that no-one has voted for. This process started in June with democracy and it must […]

Is this what Brexiteers voted for in the EU referendum? Share with a 52% friend and ask them #didyouvoteforthat? Brexit means shambles – Credit: Archant 1. Sterling down almost 20% against dollar On June 24 the pound was worth $1.49 but in early October it hit $1.21 via GIPHY 2. £65bn of UK investment on […]

Britain is not the only country rife with division amid referendums and bitter arguements over nationalism. Hispanophile Tim Parfitt examines another turbulant period in Spanish/Catalan relations It’s time for Madrid to stop treating Catalonia as the naughty kid in the Spanish classroom. Europeanism has always been a key characteristic of the Catalan independence movement. In […]

If MPs blindly follow an advisory referendum then history will pass its own judgment, says Professor A C Grayling The government has been reminded that it is responsible to parliament, and that the outcome of the advisory referendum of June 23 has to be debated in both the House of Commons and the House of […]

Gina Miller is just the latest woman to find that a high public profile comes at a cost: a deluge of rape and death threats. Barbara Ellen, on the most depressing of modern social developments https://twitter.com/TheNewEuropean/status/798483154310791168 After successfully challenging the government over triggering Article 50 without a parliamentary vote, investment fund manager, Gina Miller is […]

Darling of Remainers and a hate figure for Brexiters, Gina Miller is calling out the trolls, and calling in the police following High Court ruling on Article 50 https://twitter.com/TheNewEuropean/status/797070686070116352/ These have been, by any standard, interesting times. No sooner had Gina Miller secured her legal victory against the Government at the High Court last week […]

A poll carried out for The New European even found a significant number of people who voted to quit the EU are fast losing confidence in Theresa May’s ability to successfully negotiate Brexit. https://twitter.com/TheNewEuropean/status/797425207904505857 Confidence that Britain can make a success of Brexit has taken a massive hit since June 24. A poll carried out […]

Trump’s victory will bring the end of Anglo domination and hand global leadership to China, says Michael White Back in 1989, when the Conservative Japanese-American writer, Francis Fukuyama, first published his famously complacent essay, The End of History, he can’t have spared much time wondering if his triumphalist vision of liberal democracy – free markets […]

No one wears their poppy with more pride that I do. But in the row over whether international footballers should wear them, Fifa are right. And the hot air the issue has prompted tells you everything about what is wrong with Britain today https://twitter.com/campbellclaret/status/797130132502810624 Despite supporting an English football team, Burnley, to a degree that […]

Freedom and independence were the misleading rallying cries of the Brexiteers. But, as Denis Macshane explains, we may well have lost more than we’ve gained 1. Our freedom to live without let or hindrance in 27 other European nations 2. Our freedom to refer to a different source of judicial authority in business and trade […]

Former tabloid boss Paul Connew offers a glimpse inside the mind of an editor The second I finished reading Tony Blair’s article in last week’s The New European on the possibility of a second Brexit referendum I knew what was to come. And as surely as night follows day the indignant fury of the pro-Brexit […]

While one side of the political divide refuses to engage with the challenges of free movement and immigration, the other just wants to pull up the drawbridge. Labour MP Chuka Umunna finds another way The Brexit vote showed a country divided in so many ways: by age, region, ethnic and socio-economic groups. Yet despite the […]

As British Jews whose families once fled the Nazis apply for German passports, Bonnie Greer makes a plea for a world that seeks to expand, not restrict, horizons When I lived in New York City in the 1980s, the great 2nd Ave Deli was around the corner. This was the home of great Jewish ‘nosh’ […]

The UK does not want Brexit, says Professor Adrian Low as he analyses the polls since the EU referendum In total 46.5 million had the right to vote in the Brexit referendum. Of those 33.5 million – or 72% – voted. Compared to general elections it was an exceptional turnout, yet still, 12.9 million people […]

Can America recover, regardless of who ends up in the White House? Michael White explores the deeps roots of America’s current predicament L-R: Ronald Reagan, 1981 ? 1989; George HW Bush, 1989 ? 1993; Bill clinton, 1993 ? 2001; George W Bush, 2001 – 2009; Barack Obama, 2009 – Credit: Archant Just 43 years ago […]

Why is it left to Tony Blair to point out the government’s Brexit failings, asks Richard Angell She may have voted Remain, but after the country opted for Leave, Theresa May performed an about-turn to appoint herself the leader of the latter. Her ‘Brexit means Brexit’ slogan and the appointment of Boris Johnson, Liam Fox […]

It’s a great day for democracy, says Labour MP for Tottenham, David Lammy https://twitter.com/DavidLammy/status/794121823755583488 This is what regaining our sovereignty looks like. This is what taking back control really means – the High Court unanimously agreeing that the Government does not have the power to trigger Article 50 without our sovereign Parliament and elected representatives […]

Such is the position of our cherished health service, at the heart of British life, that the most famous claim of the entire referendum campaign related to the NHS. A young girl holds a We heart NHS sign in the crowds during the The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir performance on The Pyramid Stage at […]

We’ve been living with the consequences of the Referendum since June 23. A grand total of 134 days. Within that short space of time, the new Prime Minister has sought to redefine any debate around our exit from the EU and her right to unilaterally trigger Article 50 without parliamentary debate as subversion of democracy […]

In all fast moving political dramas mythologies erupt and begin to frame the debate. We choose to see not what is in front of our eyes but what the myths misleadingly convey. Brexit is an unusually highly charged drama. The myths erupt on a daily basis. As part of the current febrile mythology David Cameron […]

The centre ground of politics which New Labour once inhabited is gone. Tony Blair argues it must rise again to fight Brexit, the Conservatives and even the Labour Party https://twitter.com/tonyblairoffice/status/791987546020511744 Not since I became politically active four decades ago, has clarity of thinking been in such urgent demand or such short supply. Britain hurtles towards […]

MPs must act now, argues AC Grayling, or our grandchildren will look back and wonder at the act of national suicide of a once-great country When we ask Parliament to debate whether the ‘advice’ of the advisory referendum should be taken, and when we ask Parliament to debate whether or not to trigger Article 50 […]

The New European says: Tony Blair’s call to mobilise and organise against the stupidity of a headlong rush towards a blind Brexit is a searing broadside against both the dogma of Theresa May’s government and a Labour Party leadership too fixated on internal power struggles to be an effective opposition. https://twitter.com/TheNewEuropean/status/791899302960492544 When he talks of […]

The big lie is that there has been a big silence on immigration, I cannot think of any issue on which there has been so much noise, says Denis MacShane https://twitter.com/TheNewEuropean/status/790802725927804928 I first stood for Parliament in 1974. Then the only story in town was immigration. Enoch Powell had set politics aflame with his argument […]

Characterised as a hero of the 48%, Keir Starmer is the country’s most powerful critic of the current Brexit strategy. Since his barnstorming Commons performance in his first outing at the despatch box as the official Brexit watchdog, Keir Starmer has been characterised as a hero of the 48%. But after years in public life […]

Those in the Leave camp may ‘have had enough of experts’ (thanks for that, Michael Gove) but there are a few things we wish the Brexit battle bus had taught us prior to the EU referendum. https://twitter.com/TheNewEuropean/status/788455013886660608 1. Think the pound is strong? Think again.* The New European – Credit: Archant * in a week […]

What does Europe mean to you? Here are 16 heartwarming times the internet showed its love for Europe after Brexit https://twitter.com/emmariviere/status/784826712630652928 1. https://twitter.com/EleanorRehahn/status/785541449047769088 2. https://twitter.com/yeahokapi/status/761409482400423936 3. https://twitter.com/ruth_mottram/status/773794922323476481 4. https://twitter.com/beyer_char/status/784882913586315264 5. https://twitter.com/veilvind/status/785486026517209088 6. https://twitter.com/Remainia1/status/773886547401797632 7. https://twitter.com/fedepastor21/status/785502485792296961 8. https://twitter.com/beyer_char/status/785551279242240001 9. https://twitter.com/kellyhignett/status/762989738378792960 10. https://twitter.com/sguardiola86/status/784810482070917120 11. https://twitter.com/DeedeeVerde/status/784808291138433025 12. https://twitter.com/davefev/status/784832547872239616 13. https://twitter.com/DylanAbAlan/status/784818939977146368 14. https://twitter.com/spaceangel1964/status/784810331939938304 15. https://twitter.com/LadyValetta/status/773887917894819840 16. What does Europe […]

How well would you fare driving around Europe? Put your knowledge of European road signs to the test with this mulitple choice quiz