Brexit

Ireland’s premier insisted the Northern Ireland Protocol offers many benefits and opportunities for the region as he stressed the importance of its full implementation. Taoiseach Micheal Martin welcomed efforts by the UK and EU to find ways to resolve some of the trading problems created by the protocol since it came into force at the […]

Labour MPs have expressed a sense of bewilderment at orders from the party’s high command to remain silent on Brexit issues. MPs are being asked not to focus on problems caused by Brexit when asking questions in parliament, dealing with the media, or posting on social media, sources in the parliamentary party have said. Senior party figures were also […]

Pro-Europeans are planning to declare themselves proudly European in the forthcoming census as the result of a new campaign. The survey, which happens every 10 years, will question all of the people and households in England and Wales about issues surrounding society. The responses stay on record for 100 years and help to paint a picture […]

Bookmakers have given their verdict on the likeliness of the UK attempting to rejoin the European Union. Betfair now believes the odds on the UK re-entering the bloc by 2026 stands at 5/1, as frustrations around the Brexit agreement grow.  By contrast, the firm believes there is a 10/1 chance of Brexit not being reversed […]

The world’s largest daffodil farm, which is based in Cornwall, is being forced to let hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of flowers rot after encountering troubles hiring staff since Brexit. Varfell Farms, at Long Rock, Penzance, produces 500 million stems a year and needs 700 workers to pick them. However, since Covid and the end of free […]

Another layer of Brexit red tape associated with the Northern Ireland Protocol has come into effect, with health certificates on Great British sausages and mince now required. The UK government-designed export health certificates to allow such products to enter Northern Ireland are only temporary, as from July 1 they are set to be banned from […]

DUP leader Arlene Foster and senior party MPs are launching legal action challenging the post-Brexit agreement surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol. They will be joining other unionists from across the UK in judicial review proceedings unless alternative trade arrangements are put in place which secure their consent. DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds, the party’s Westminster […]

Historian JAMES HAWES reviews Gavin Esler’s new book foretelling the imminent end of the UK. Things that have been a long time coming, finally come suddenly. And the end of the UK has been a long time coming. The band may still be playing, but it is playing on the deck of the Titanic: we […]

A man has been charged with sending threatening emails to a series of anti-Brexit politicians – including former Commons speaker John Bercow and European Movement leading campaigner Dominic Grieve. Court documents show Paul Ritchie, 34, has been charged with nearly 30 counts of sending a letter, communication or article conveying a threatening message against a […]

Brexit has caused hauliers to become “their own customs agents” due to shortages, MSPs have been told. Appearing before the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee at Holyrood, Martin Reid, the Scotland and Northern Ireland director for the Road Haulage Association (RHA), said his members had been forced to recruit and train administrative staff […]

The number of companies moving to the Netherlands because of Brexit remained consistent in 2020, despite foreign investment falling by a quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic. Amsterdam topped the list of favoured Dutch cities by companies looking to relocate, after it overtook London as the largest trading hub in Europe last month. The Dutch capital has lured […]

Newly-released UCAS statistics show that the number of EU citizens applying to study in the UK has dropped by 40% since Brexit. UCAS reported a 26,010 drop in the numbers of students from the European Union looking to study here this September. It is a 40% drop and UCAS reports it reflected the uncertainty surrounding the UK’s […]

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has been given a new role as a government adviser following Brexit. The Brexiteer rejoins government to become an adviser to Boris Johnson on regulatory reform after the UK departed from the European Union. He will chair the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform (TIGRR) alongside Theresa Villiers and George Freeman. […]

There is an urgent need to reboot security cooperation with the EU in the wake of Brexit deal which has left the UK “less safe and less secure”, a group of former Tory MPs have told Boris Johnson. The prime minister is being accused of “not being ambitious enough” after his deal shut down access […]

Boris Johnson has created a minister for Brexit post – months after claiming he had got the issue “done”. Former negotiator Lord Frost will become an unelected member of the cabinet, overseeing the future relationship with the European Union. Downing Street said that the Conservative peer will become a minister of state in the Cabinet Office, reporting […]

We must not forget the plight of EU citizens in the UK. The Sun has been full of praise for the government’s treatment of European citizens in the UK. A recent piece celebrated the fact that “five million EU citizens apply to REMAIN in Britain despite us leaving the bloc”. It had all been an extraordinary […]

Steve Anglesey brings you your weekly check on how Project Fear is becoming Project Reality. It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain, with Brexit red tape causing trade to take a Monty Python turn. There are empty shelves in some smaller UK cheese shops, with Michael Harte of importer […]

A majority of the public is unhappy about the post-Brexit trade agreement that Boris Johnson secured with the EU, a new survey has found. The report, published by the British Foreign Policy Group, an independent think tank advocating for a stronger UK global presence, shows that under a quarter of respondents believed the prime minister’s […]

A DUP minister has said she would not oppose an EU/UK deal on agri-food movement similar to the one the bloc has with Switzerland. Stormont economy minister Diane Dodds she would not be against anything that offered “short-term relief” from recent Irish Sea trade disruption. However, Dodds expressed doubt about whether the UK government would […]

Michel Barnier has launched his own political faction, fueling speculation he could be preparing to challenge Emmanuel Macron in next year’s presidential elections in France. The EU’s former Brexit negotiator announced on Tuesday that he would be establishing a new political group within the French Conservative party, Les Républicains – mere weeks before his mission in Brussels […]

A senior Tory MP has ridiculed Boris Johnson’s plans for a 25-mile undersea tunnel connecting Scotland and Northern Ireland – calling for ministers to focus on the issues surrounding the Brexit deal instead. The tunnel – dubbed the ‘Boris Burrow’ – could cost £10 billion to create and was seen as a compromise to a […]

Is the Remain cause destined to share the same fate as the Jacobite one… romantic but doomed, and destined for the dustbin of history? Writer JAMES HAWES explores the parallels and decides probably not.. at least not yet. Consider a time when a great part of us Britons has been led by vain and tactically catastrophic leadership into epochal […]

A French journalist has called into question Britain’s vaccine strategy after pointing out the UK lagged behind the EU in fully immunizing its population. Writing in the Guardian, Jean Quatremer, of the French newspaper Libération, said the reality of the UK’s vaccine drive was “a little more complex – and not quite such a stunning UK […]

MITCH BENN gives a pro-European take on why he’s keeping the Union flags in his Twitter handle. Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have noticed that I have two little flag emojis appended to my Twitter handle: the EU flag and the Union flag. I hope you’ll forgive my observation of the […]

The EU has admitted that mistakes were made in the process leading up to its recent attempt to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol – but pointed out it resolved its mistake within a matter of hours. The European Commission’s vice-president Maros Sefcovic said that the commission “deeply regrets” how it handled the […]

Liz Truss has been accused of refusing to answer questions about post-Brexit trade with Europe at the despatch box. The international trade secretary has reportedly “transferred” all questions about the topic at a forthcoming session of the Commons to other departments, despite the fact it is her job as minister to answer enquiries on trading […]

Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart and Dame Julie Walters have joined some of the biggest names in British theatre to urge Boris Johnson to change post-Brexit visa rules to allow more flexible travel for artists. In a letter from the Equity union, the new rules are described as a “towering hurdle” for the industry. […]

Boris Johnson has claimed he has had “fantastic conversations” with new US president Joe Biden during an interview with an American TV network. In an interview with CBS, the prime minister said that UK and US thinking had been coming together on a range of issues in recent weeks. “I’m very delighted, to have a […]

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has urged people to wait a decade before judging whether Brexit has worked or not. Raab, appearing on The Andrew Marr Show, insisted that businesses take a “10-year view” to the troubles sparked by Brexit, before blaming the European Union for new bureaucracy. “We have always been clear that there are changes […]

Irish politician NEALE RICHMOND on how Ireland has reacted to Brexit. After more than four years of protracted negotiations and preparations, the Brexit transition period ended and reality has begun to set in. Queues at ports and airports, customs charges and trading issues are now the norm for consumers and businesses in Ireland and Britain alike. […]

The City was largely overlooked in the Brexit talks. That means an almighty struggle is about to kick off, as London tries to make the most of new opportunities while facing a rearguard action against a covetous Europe. SUNA ERDEM reports. Thirty-five years ago, Margaret Thatcher gave us the Big Bang. Deregulation ushered in the Golden Age […]

Michel Barnier has accused Downing Street of not correctly explaining the consequences of Brexit to British businesses as a row surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol continues to heat up. The EU’s former Brexit negotiator hit out at No 10, insisting scenes of empty supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland were not the result of new checks in […]