Opinion

The debate continues around this political cartoon. The Sajid Javid cartoon we printed in The New European last week. Image: The New European. – Credit: Archant Why I laughed at Neil Kerber’s cartoon had nothing to do with racism. It was because, although the Windrush issue, thanks to the Guardian, had been public knowledge for […]

Jeremy Corbyn used all six of his questions at PMQs on Brexit for the second week running – but what is his real motivation? Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images The Labour leader started with a real-deal zinger: ‘When the prime […]

Much has been said over the BBC’s possible Brexit bias, but what about Sky News, asks a reader. Much has been said over the BBC’s possible Brexit bias, but what about Sky News’ Sunrise? What is the point of having two guests in its Paper Review, if articles are shared between the pundits for them […]

Earlier this year The New European published a letter by me about an negative experience I had in Essex at Christmas. I – a woman of colour, domiciled in France – felt racially harassed at Southend airport when returning to Britain to visit my children. I attributed this, and still do, to the toxic climate […]

The will of the people want to stay within the Customs Union with the EU, argues Paul Smith. On last week’s Question Time, Martin Lewis, the undisputed master of figures and logic, made a crucial point on an imaginary referendum about staying in the customs union: ‘One would assume most Remainers were in favour of […]

It seems that, having done its dirty work, UKIP is content to fade into the background. Even to the extent of likening itself to a potentially recurrent strain of plague bacillus that will surface again in the event of an ‘unsatisfactory’ Brexit agreement. Having gleefully spooked David Cameron into calling what has subsequently come to […]

I voted for Brexit. I never expected it to actually happen. I voted for Brexit. I never expected it to actually happen. When I ticked the box marked No, I believed my vote would be a stern warning to the Eurocrats that their power had extended too far and that they were meddling too much […]

So, it turns out the Bad Boys of Brexit were actually very bad indeed. Now Leave.EU backer Arron Banks has vowed to take the Electoral Commission to court over the £70,000 fine they have dished out. This is great news. Speaking on the Today programme he said: ‘We view the Electoral Commission announcement as a […]

Young men are railing against the unfairness of the womenfolk of the world’s refusal to have sex with them. MITCH BENN sends them a public message. I’ve been thinking, as it would appear have quite a few columnists of late, about the whole ‘incel’ thing. Now ‘incel’, if you are fortunate enough to have avoided […]

If the Government is willing to admit defeat on our train system how can they be trusted to sort out Brexit, asks a reader. When the government cheerfully admits that it can not even run a workable and fair rail ticketing system via Network Rail, why should we have any faith that it can develop […]

Northern Ireland might be about to bear the brunt of Brexit but new government figures suggest that the region will be woefully unprepared for it. The New European has learned that of the £3 billion set aside for the monumental task of unwinding the UK’s decades-long EU membership, just £15.2 million – 0.5% of the […]

I once wrote for Bill Cosby, but turned down a chance to do more. Everyone is saying ‘Bill Cosby was America’s dad’. An easy thing to say. But this is what it means: The great Lenny Bruce used to have a joke about black men on television and in the movies: the noble Sidney Poitiers […]

The post-referendum debate is centred around the rapatriation of powers to Westminster and London. Tom Parkin says the regions are being ignored. I live in Evesham, a rural town in Worcestershire that voted by 58% to leave the European Union in June 2016. Evesham’s heritage is agricultural, but its economy less so. Like much of […]

With UKIP’s voters returning to the Conservative party, Michael Culver argues it’s no longer a party for right-thinking people. I write on behalf of my wife and myself to express our total agreement with the views expressed by Roger Adams in his letter (TNE #90). The Conservative party today is no longer one for any […]

In the fallout of Michelle Wolf’s set at the White House correspondent’s dinner Mitch Benn explores the potholes of a misunderstood joke. It’s quite the week to be in the comedy business, and in particular the political comedy business. The fall out from Michelle Wolf’s set at the White House correspondents’ dinner continues to rain […]

Labour’s position on illegal immigrants sums up the contradictions tying Labour in knots over Brexit, writes Graham Milne… We must all thank Diane Abbott for her part in weakening Theresa May by removing Amber Rudd, but her inability to coherently outline Labour’s position on illegal immigrants sums up the contradictions tying Labour in knots over […]

There are two choices for Amber Rudd now she has resigned, writes Isobel Wheeler… Do nothing and return to the Cabinet in a more minor role in six months to a year. Or, enjoying the freedom of the backbenches, make the case that British membership of the customs union must continue in order to avoid […]

Examining the roles of the three Brexiteers at the heart of the government’s Brexit negotiations Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images Upon becoming prime minister in July 2016, Theresa May created two new cabinet positions – vastly weakening a third in the process – splitting theoretical responsibility for Brexit among a […]

Theresa May has once again engaged her favourite tactic when it comes to quitting the European Union – the policy of putting things off. This is head-in-the-sand politics and, although it has saved her job thus far, the prime minister is heading for an almighty fall. By delaying any decision on a customs partnership with […]

Jeremy Corbyn covered lots of topics – clips for social media in mind – but again failed to make anything really stick. Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions Photo: PA – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images The Labour leader was quick out of the blocks asking ‘did the prime minister feel the slightest pang of […]

The fallout from the government’s hostile environment immigration policy gets darker by the day. Now we are told in a report produced by a coalition of women’s groups that vulnerable women are so afraid for being kicked out of the UK they are not reporting violent and sexual abuse to the police. This is Great […]

Losing Amber Rudd from the Brexit war cabinet is a blow to the Remain cause. She was perhaps the only truly sensible voice on Brexit that carried real weight around the cabinet table aside from the chancellor. Sajid Javid campaigned for Remain but he is unlikely to square up to the Brexiteers inside government in […]

The EU and UN are held together by compromises and fudges; so some of their critics do have a point. But JAMES BALL asks; does that mean Britain can back out of the mess? If you’re trying to defend internationalism – the idea countries should work together, look outwards and not inwards, and build closer […]

Why didn’t the BBC report the House of Lords’ victory over the Customs Union on their morning news, asks David Perrin. In the time I spent watching and listening to the BBC Breakfast programme on the morning of April 19, there was no mention of the very important amendment victory the Lords concerning remaining in […]

A survey of EU companies with a British base reveals 46% will be reducing UK capacity, explains Magdalena Williams. The list of industries either moving, considering a move, reducing capacity or shutting up shop altogether because of Brexit uncertainty and rising costs due to the weak pound, now stands at: Airlines, car manufacturers (2.7 million […]

In this week’s column, Mitch Benn explores who should be held accountable for the Windrush scandal. One of my favourite things about this job is that it’s never really been specified to me precisely what this job is. I know that I attracted the attention of the good folk here at New European Towers soon […]

A Brexiteer writes to The New European with a request… I, who voted Leave, read TNE avidly every week, not as Alastair Campbell said to ‘know thine enemy’ but rather because your other cultural and political articles are generally excellent and reflective of the broad cultural bond we have with Europe, and long may these […]

If Brexit happens next March it won’t be the end – just the ‘end of the beginning’, explains Will Goble. The best analogy I’ve yet heard about the lunacy of Brexit is from an anonymous poster in the comments section of an online newspaper. It goes something like this: A man is driving at speed […]

Right-wing Tories will be furious, Boris Johnson and Liam Fox will resign, and we’ll stay close to Europe. It’s a no-brainer isn’t it? With David ‘Two Brains’ Willetts seeking to persuade the government to pursue a less isolationist post-Brexit policy, the time is surely ripe for the less cerebrally-endowed politician – Lord Lawson, Theresa May […]

The debate on the customs union is a golden opportunity for MPs to discuss, sensibly, the impact quitting will have on Britain. This should be viewed as a chance to convince wavering Tories to be brave when the vote really matters next month – it is time for members to realise sometimes they must put […]

As an EU national who has resided in UK for the past eight years, I will be using the ballot box in May to articulate my discontent with Brexit. Although local elections concern local matters, as an EU national I only have the local elections at my disposal to signal my disagreement with the Conservative […]

Alastair Campbell (TNE #90) reminds us of just how extraordinary it is that someone so clearly unsuited to holding public office as Boris Johnson has managed to gain such a strong foothold in politics. Gary Neville summed it up for me when, following yet another bit of foot-in-mouth idiocy as the foreign secretary suggested we […]