Brexit

A prominent MEP has suggested a Brexit trade deal was still possible and could happen “at the end” of December. Guy Verhofstadt said he was “optimistic” a deal between Britain and the EU could be struck at the last moment. Verhofstadt told Sky News: “I’m optimistic by nature. It happens always at the end. “If […]

Boris Johnson and the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said “substantial progress” had been made on a Brexit trade deal following a phone call on Thursday – but both are still warning there are significant obstacles to overcome. As the clock ticks towards the deadline for an agreement at the end of the […]

Former Conservative special advisor BARNABY TOWNS imagines an alternative political universe where the 2016 was never held, or won by Remain.  As Great Britain – England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland – stare down the abyss of casting aside nearly half a century of increasingly integrated trade and security relationships, it is worth […]

A toilet roll manufacturer has insisted they are “equipped to meet increased demand when required” over fears of Brexit panic-buying before the transition period ends on December 31. Manufacturers faced significant demand at the start of the year as the coronavirus pandemic hit, but said they are ready for no-deal Brexit panic-buying at supermarkets. Kimberley-Clark, […]

An MP who picked up the parliamentary mace in a Brexit protest has been branded “silly” by Jacob Rees-Mogg.  The Commons leader described the actions of the SNP’s Drew Hendry as “silly” and “childish”. Hendry, the party’s business spokesman, was suspended from the Commons after protesting against the UK Internal Market Bill. As proceedings on the Bill […]

Brexiteer Kate Hoey has claimed a no-deal Brexit is ‘not the end of the world.’ The former Labour MP and pro-Brexit life peer said she was not ‘too worried’ about the prospect of failing to agree on a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU. Hoey had previously criticised Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal as offering a “half in half […]

Brexit has made criticism of Boris Johnson and his government seem like “an act of disloyalty”, a national radio host has said. James O’Brien, a presenter on LBC radio, argued a lack of oversight had caused Britain to become one of the worst-hit victims of Covid-19 around the world. He said confusing messaging around what the public […]

Former Europe minister DENIS MACSHANE suggests the Brexit bluster is fading as the final deadline looms and predicts a feeble deal similar to the one offered to Theresa May The Brexit signals emerging from both London and Brussels are now pointing clearly to a deal largely on the terms that Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator, […]

Big Ben is to be reconnected so that it can ring in at 11pm on New Year’s Eve – the moment the UK leaves the European Union’s single market and customs union. The famous bell has been largely silent since 2017 due to repairs on the clock and Parliament’s Elizabeth Tower which houses it, only […]

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has clashed with a former Tory minister for suggesting his party may not back Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. Former home secretary Amber Rudd, appearing on Politics Live, told the pro-European that he should have originally backed a soft Brexit which Theresa May proposed. She explained: “I’m very very sad that […]

European Parliament group leaders have adopted a declaration setting a Brexit deadline date of Sunday to ensure a deal is achieved. The declaration from the Conference of Presidents, initiated by Spanish member Iratxe Garcia Perez, states they are ready to hold an extraordinary session at the end of December if an agreement is reached by […]

Twenty five years after a court ruling relating to an obscure Belgian midfielder transformed football here, is Brexit is about to reverse some of the changes? ROGER DOMENEGHETTI reports. In an era when footballers have the freedom to force moves between clubs and demand multi-million-pound salaries, it’s easy to forget that as recently as the early 1990s they were still effectively treated […]

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has admitted there might not be “appetite” amongst the public for him to run in an election again – even if Boris Johnson delivers a ‘Brexit in name only’. The politician – who lost in all seven elections he stood in and dropped out of the latest – said although […]

Priti Patel has sparred with a Sky News presenter after he suggested Britain could be “less safe” after Brexit. The home secretary threw aside claims Britain’s security and intelligence operations would be jeopardised by a no-deal Brexit. She appeared on Sky News to assuage concerns. Presenter Niall Paterson asked: “As things stand we do not […]

LIZ GERARD offers a lexicon for the last year, including many words you will never want to hear again. Activist lawyers Misguided solicitors and barristers who want the courts and the law, rather than Priti Patel, to determine whether migrants she doesn’t like should be deported. Anti-vaxxers Vocal ‘libertarians’ with a death wish for others. Often also […]

Things look particularly bleak this Christmas, but JAMES BALL finds some cause for optimism.  The midwinter is notoriously a bleak season – not for nothing is there a whole song along that theme. Similarly, it’s not coincidental that most cultures and religions mark some celebration of light or of joy in the middle of this […]

Once a fervent Eurosceptic, ED WEST explains why he has come to believe that leaving the EU will be a terrible blunder, in a thoughtful essay that will be a difficult read for Brexiteers and Remainers alike. Like a never-ending television series that should have been cancelled years ago, the Brexit saga reaches yet another season finale […]

Donald Trump is looking to secure a series of ‘mini’ Brexit trade deals with the UK, his trade chief has claimed. Trade representative Robert Lighthizer suggested that the US and UK could agree deals which reduce tariffs on items such as Scotch whisky if a pact is successful. The government hopes to broker a full free trade […]

An SNP MP has been suspended from a House of Commons sitting after he protested against the approval of controversial Brexit legislation. The party’s business spokesman Drew Hendry shouted “this is an outrage” as proceedings on the UK Internal Market Bill came to a conclusion following a lengthy parliamentary battle in recent weeks. Deputy speaker […]

Remainers are patriots who will be as pained as anyone by the damage that Brexit is about to cause their country, says IAN DUNT. The trap is right there waiting for us. Next month, Brexit goes from a theoretical issue to a practical reality. It will play out in declining GDP growth, investment, productivity and […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on how the UK needed someone serious to take charge of Brexit – but ended up with Boris Johnson. When Boris Johnson first became prime minister, I called round a few contacts in European capitals, to get a feel for how they viewed what was by any calculation quite a major change from […]

Despite his establishment credentials the author John le Carré remained an outsider all his life, says CHARLIE CONNELLY, and was increasingly radicalised by Europe and Brexit.  There’s a broad perception that people become calmer politically as they grow older, the youthful firebrand activist gradually sensing the flames of radicalism dying down towards a dotage of faintly glowing […]

Emergency stop-gap Brexit legislation is set to be rushed through the House of Lords in a day to ensure the UK is ready for its final departure from the EU at the end of the year. The “panic stations” bill has led to accusations of “chaos” being levelled at the government. The criticism came as […]

A former prime minister of the Republic of Ireland said a Brexit deal was inevitable “as long as” Boris Johnson does not get involved. Bertie Ahern, who helped broker the Good Friday Agreement, said striking a deal was only a matter of time and trade-offs. Ahern told POLITICO the EU could give into Britain’s demands on fishing […]

Boris Johnson has told Eurosceptic members of the Tory party’s European Research Group that they should ignore the messages coming from the European Union about a Brexit deal. According to the Express, Conservative backbenchers were told by the prime minister to ignore the “propaganda” and “fake news” from Brussels which has left Brexiteers unhappy. It […]

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said there is now a “path” to a deal in the post-Brexit trade talks with the UK. She told MEPs that “as things stand I cannot tell you whether there will be a deal or not”, but acknowledged a path way that was “very narrow”. “It is therefore our […]

New polling has found that 28% of Britons Boris Johnson has handled Brexit well – despite talks faltering and the prime minister failing to so far deliver his “oven-ready” deal he promised at the last election. A total of two-thirds of the country (63%) think the UK’s departure from the EU has been handled badly, according […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has claimed that the United Kingdom stronger as a result of Brexit- and that support for the European Union would fall after leaving the bloc in January. Speaking in The House magazine the pro-Brexit leader of the House of Commons claimed that the Westminster government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic – which resulted in the largest […]

MPs might not be able to vote on any Brexit deal agreed until after the transition period has ended, the leader of the House of Commons has admitted. Jacob Rees-Mogg said that MPs may be asked to “retrospectively correct” the law to recognise the agreement that Boris Johnson could sign before December 31. He admits it […]

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has described the prospects of a speedy trade agreement between India and the UK as “the biggest bucket of b*****ks” he has ever heard. Rudd said Australia’s own trade talks with India, which he launched in 2009, were still on going and that chances of Britain getting one sooner […]

A commentator has pointed out that Brexit “won’t get done” even if a deal is achieved by December 31. Author Jemma Forte said she believed Boris Johnson would likely achieve some sort of agreement with the European Union, which he would champion as a victory for Britain. But she warned the detail would be “paper-thin” […]

A list of “opportunities” awaiting Britons once they leave the EU, shared by the chair of the Brexit Party, has been ridiculed on social media. Richard Tice, a former Brexit Party MEP and now its chairman, said the country had “loads of opportunities” in store once it left the trading bloc. Appearing on LBC radio, […]