Opinion

Brexit was never going to be hell, says JAMES BALL, but the government is making sure it’s purgatory. It was supposed to be done. We were told it was done. We were promised it was done. An hour before the seemingly endless month of January drew to a close, the UK left the European Union. […]

BONNIE GREER says a new era has begun, as Brexit Britain is born into a presidential shakedown A week into Brexit, the UK faces some big dilemmas: Huawei and US opposition to it; and a US/UK trade deal, and who ultimately shapes and controls the agreement that Trump dangles before Boris Johnson. One of the […]

Readers have a mixed reaction to an opinion column from a Brexit Party official telling Remainers to be more measured over a 50p Brexit coin. A bong reverberates for about 15 seconds; a coin will be around for scores, perhaps hundreds of years. Mr Towler, for many the new coin is a permanent reminder of […]

Readers are split over what action Remainers should take next on Brexit. I couldn’t disagree more with Matt Kelly’s injunction to avoid “I told you so” (“Remain must become something bigger”). We now live in a post-truth nightmare. To not throw every single example of the predictions of “Project Fear” coming true back in the […]

Former Conservative adviser BARNABY TOWNS says that conversations in Labour and the Lib Dems must return to working together to stop a second win for Boris Johnson. In 91 years of the universal franchise, parliamentary majorities of 80 or more have rarely been overturned in one general election. The exceptions are 1935, 1959 and 1966. […]

As MITCH BENN neither celebrates nor commiserates the big moment, he has a special message for Remainers, Brexiteers and our fellow Europeans. So how are you going to spend tonight? I’ll be working, I expect; such is the life of the jobbing comedian. This ‘profession’ is the graveyard of friendships and relationships; our job hours […]

Accordance VAT chief Lucy Franklin explains why her firm is marking Brexit Day with a symbol of pro-EU unity After three years of uncertainty, appalling rhetoric and delays, today is the day millions of us hoped would not come to pass. Despite the best efforts of UK politicians, MEPs, business people, academics and individuals up […]

JAMES BALL on how the media coverage of Brexit – caught up in the twists and turns – meant the public consistently missed the story. Anyone who’s lived near the sea – and no-one in the UK lives further than 70 miles from it – knows that it’s the tide that matters. It’s the rising […]

Meeting controversial actor Laurence Fox demonstrates the importance of talking to those we disagree with, insists BONNIE GREER. I did not know Laurence Fox when he tweeted me recently and asked me to meet him for coffee. Like most people who might recognise his name, I knew him as an actor. I have done lectures […]

The Council of Europe is set to take on more, not less, significance for the UK after Brexit, says Labour MP Kerry McCarthy Much has already been written about the contrast between the two events that bookend this week. Monday was Holocaust Memorial Day – a solemn day of commemoration and remembrance in its own […]

Birthday boy MITCH BENN comes up with a proposal to help take the heat out of our polarised times. There’s always a bit of a balancing act to being a columnist; on the one hand you’ve been engaged by the publication you’re writing for to provide your own personal ‘take’ on things and it’s to […]

Remember when the chancellor once claimed that Britain is better off in the single market? Are all the former Remainers now in Johnson’s cabinet as shockingly fickle as Sajid Javid? As David Cameron’s business secretary, and therefore well-placed to know all the facts, he said in the 2016 referendum campaign: “I still believe that Britain […]

Readers question the decision for politicians to centre their Brexit celebrations around London. If the Brexiters want a bell-ringing party, why don’t they hold it in Grimsby, Sunderland, Stoke etc rather than the cradle of the metropolitan elite? I suspect we know the answer: now Johnson and Farage have got what they wanted out of […]

One reader has a suggestion for anyone feeling dispirited ahead of Brexit day on January 31st Yesterday, in driving rain and buffeting wind, I drove six miles home in deep gloom, my default position since December 12. I switched on the car radio and caught the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – the Ode […]

The fall out between American progressives will only help Trump, aruges BONNIE GREER. While most registered Democrats and just plain “We’re voting Dem in November because we want to beat Trump” people are paraphrasing Martin Luther King Jr’s speech at the 1963 March on Washington (“Impeached at last! Impeached at last! Thank God almighty Trump’s […]

Trump’s crimes are far worse than Nixon’s, but unlike his political hero he is going to get away with it, says JAMES BALL. If headlines are any indication of the era we’re living in, 2020 is off to something of a slow start: a wealthy couple are going to move house and change their jobs, […]

After a recent trip to Dublin, BONNIE GREER reflects on what lessons Ireland can give post-Brexit Britain. Returning from another trip to Dublin, it is apparent to me that Ireland is ready for the ‘Roaring Twenties’. Of course it has its problems. That, no one can deny. For example, one of my previous visits brought […]

Readers respond to an article suggesting a citizens’ assemblies could help pave the way to rejoining the European Union. Although I have the greatest respect for AC Grayling and cannot fault his analysis of the present political situation, nevertheless I find his proposed solution an unbelievably rosy response to it. “Imagine the effect of assemblies […]

MITCH BENN says that immigration is not the drain on the NHS that some claim it to be – but, in fact, a vital part of it. Before I begin, a quick heads-up: at about the 200-word mark of this column I’m going to say something which, at first glance, might look a bit racist. […]

Readers have their say on our special edition of The New European asking what’s next for the pro-European movement. While James Ball’s assessment of what happens next to the ‘Remain coalition’ is balanced and very sensible, it leaves out the most important – but unpredictable – element. Michael White, in his weekly assessment, touches upon […]

The EU’s head-in-sand approach to keeping the Iran deal afloat has highlighted the organisation’s weaknesses, says JAMES BALL. The new decade has started with one of the stupidest and most dangerous escalations in history, thanks to – at least in the short-term – the short fuse of President Donald J. Trump and his continued presence […]

Leading second Brexit referendum campaigner and MP PETER KYLE on why he’s backing Ian Murray for deputy leader of the Labour Party. Solidarity and internationalism are in Labour’s DNA. That’s why every Labour government has championed the Union, fighting for communities in every nation and region of the UK. Unlike Nationalists, we don’t believe in […]

The only thing that hasn’t changed since the election is Boris Johnson, argues MITCH BENN. So how do Remain regroup and go forward? As you may recall, I left last week’s column on a cliffhanger, saying I’d been thinking about things we – as in the Remain movement – could still do in this new […]

In response to Michael Haldane’s demand for another pro-EU march. This is far too short notice. It’s going to work far better to march on June 23, to protest the loss of our EU rights. Plenty of time to prepare for a big march, plenty of time to respond to what’s unfolding. Julian Skidmore Birmingham […]

Readers believe the Australian fires are a sign that more focus needs to go on climate change – and that Remainers can play a part in the fight. For over three years now the UK has, in effect, fiddled while Rome burned with endless talk about deals and borders and “taking back control”. Ignoring the […]

BONNIE GREER says we need to move on from blaming Corbyn for Brexit, and move on to closely scrutinising the Tories. I hesitated about beginning this article reflecting on what will now happen to the ‘Remain movement’ by mentioning an argument I had on the subject, and the outcome of last month’s election, while in […]

It could be too late to stop Brexit, but it’s not too late to build a better world. JAMES BALL says there’s plenty for Remain to get started on. Welcome to a new decade, one in which the UK will cease to be a member of the European Union before we end its first month. […]

Readers argue that there needs to be political reform to bring about a fairer society. There is really no point in talking about regrouping, rebuilding, or mending our broken politics and country until we get rid of one of the main causes of it: the first past the post system. It effectively amplifies the front-running […]

Readers respond to Andrew Adonis’ call for the Lib Dems to disband and to join the Labour Party. Andrew Adonis asks whether the Liberal Democrats now have a reason to exist. The answer is plain: now more than ever. It may pain him to acknowledge the fact, but the Lib Dems (and Liberal Party before […]

With Zac Goldsmith, Nicky Morgan and Iain Duncan-Smith all receiving awards in the last month one reader believes there was an oversight in the list. Despite having read every name on the New Year honours list twice, I was amazed not to see the words “Chris Grayling” amongst the luminaries. Surely, being the worst transport […]

BONNIE GREER says centrists can be radical too – and points to Symone Sanders as an example of someone who is just that. I was recently called a “centrist” by a Millennial friend of mine. I can only assume by his tone of voice and facial expression that being called this is A Bad Thing. […]

If Russia interfered in the general election we should expect more of the same during Brexit trade talks in the coming months, writes JAMES BALL. Russia very likely interfered in the UK’s 2019 general election, and virtually no-one cares. The documents which Labour used to suggest the Conservatives had a secret plan to put the […]