Brexit

In a field outside the Suffolk village of Barton Mills, a ‘Boris 4 PM’ billboard left over from last December’s general election has finally been replaced. The new advert reads ‘Primevil: Screaming Won’t Help’. There can be no better illustration of how dreams have turned to dread for the prime minister and his inner circle. […]

A former Tory minister has claimed that Boris Johnson “doesn’t really believe in Brexit” and that once he has achieved a deal he will be gone. George Walden, a former minister and Tory MP until 1997, said due to the pandemic the prime minister will deliver on his goal to “get Brexit done”, and that he will […]

A new YouGov poll has put the levels of Brexit ‘regret’ at the highest since the pollster started recording opinions on the vote. Polling found that 50% of the country now thinks Britain was wrong to vote to leave the European Union – the highest reported by the pollster. In hindsight, do you think Britain […]

European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic has reiterated calls for the UK to withdraw provisions in the Internal Market Bill overriding the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement by the end of the month. Following a meeting of the Joint Committee on the implementation of the agreement in Brussels, Sefcovic said the UK’s position was still “far apart” […]

More than 50% of Britons do not believe Boris Johnson will negotiate a good Brexit deal with the EU, a poll has revealed. A survey by Ipsos MORI found that 58% of the public think Britain will not receive a good Brexit deal, the Evening Standard has reported. Just 26% think the government is well-prepared […]

A leading Tory Brexiteer has been branded a hypocrite after accusing the government of trying to remove people’s liberties. Steve Baker, a former chair of the hard-line Eurosceptic Westminster group the European Research Group (ERG), said it was “only fair” MPs got a vote on coronavirus laws that would take away people’s liberties before they came into effect. Brexiteer […]

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has not ruled out voting down a possible Brexit deal between the UK and EU “if it harms our economy”. Appearing on LBC, Davey was asked if he would vote for a future trade deal, despite criticisms that Johnson had failed to secure the deal he had promised at the last […]

Jamie Oliver has joined fellow chefs and celebrities to warn the government about opening the floodgates to urge the government against diminished food standards after Brexit.  In a short video posted on social media they warn Boris Johnson over the impact of low-quality food imports under post-Brexit trade deals. Urging Johnson to make a “Brand Britain, […]

Thousands of UK citizens living in the EU are being warned their bank accounts could close due to Brexit. Lloyds Bank, Barclays and Barclaycard and Coutts – which is owned by NatWest Group – are all warning UK customers their accounts will close by December 31. Lloyds, alone, has written to 13,000 customers saying it will not be […]

The UK’s richest Brexiteer has officially moved to tax-free Monaco, saving himself nearly £4 billion in tax payments. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who had an estimated fortune of £17.5 billion, has left Britain for the sunny principality in the south of France. He changed his tax domicile from Hampshire to Monaco, the sovereign city-state that has a laxed […]

Dominic Cummings’ data protection shake-up threatens billions of pounds in trade with the EU, Brussels has warned. Cummings’ radical “pro-tech” plan to rewrite Britain’s data protection laws could jeopardise the flow of data between the UK and the EU, the Guardian has revealed. The government released its new data strategy report which promises a “transformation” of the UK’s […]

DR ROB DAVIDSON, director of Trade Deal Watch, says the UK’s government new trade deal with Japan is far from a cause for celebration. It is the first sign of our poorer future following Brexit. In the suburbs of Tokyo, it is unlikely that many people will be celebrating the hard fought terms for Stilton cheese […]

The latest Conservative attack lines over Brexit have backfired, after it tried to accuse Labour of taking the side of “the EU” in parliament by voting against Boris Johnson’s bill. Moments after the Internal Market Bill passed its second reading – designed to override the Withdrawal Agreement bill and international law – the Tories claimed […]

A fact checker has dismissed Liz Truss’ claims surrounding the new free trade agreement between the UK and Japan. The international trade secretary last week triumphed the deal as the first major trade deal made by the UK since it left the EU. The department said that the deal will deliver a £1.5 billion boost to […]

A Tory MP – who previously claimed they had ‘got Brexit done’ – was ridiculed when she tweeted again to say she had voted again to get it done.Dehenna Davison, the representative for Bishop Auckland, sent the tweet after the Internal Market Bill passed – which could override key aspects of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.The […]

STEVE ANGLESEY looks at the Brexiteers of the Week – including Kirstene Hair, who has become an adviser for the Scottish Tories, despite finding the EU referendum too “difficult”. KIRSTENE HAIRPeople are crying “foul” at football referee turned Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross’ big new signing, an adviser who will help him reach swift decisions […]

Liz Truss has bowed to public pressure and released meetings she had with an influential pro-Brexit think tank which were removed from the public register. Labour accused the trade secretary of performing a “shambolic” U-turn and claimed Truss had been caught trying to bypass rules to stop the “secret lobbying” of ministers. In August, Truss […]

A Tory Brexiteer has been given a haranguing online after posting a speech justifying Boris Johnson’s violation of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (WA). Desmond Swayne MP said it was fine for a country to break international law “when that obligation is interpreted in such a way as to undermine the very integrity of that country”. […]

The DUP’s chief whip in Westminster has labelled MPs who voted against or abstained from Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill “agents of the European Union”. Sammy Wilson, a fervent Eurosceptic who supports the Brexit pressure group Leave Means Leave, said he failed to understand why MPs would choose to vote against the prime minister’s internal market […]

A second coronavirus testing site has “disappeared overnight” to make way for a post-Brexit lorry park. The Tipner drive-through centre in Portsmouth, which is owned by Deloitte, was due to become a lorry site on October 5, but was moved to Southampton Airport ahead of schedule and without warning. Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for […]

A coronavirus testing centre in Kent is to close to make way for a post-Brexit lorry park. KentOnline reports that a leaked letter from Kent County Council confirmed the Ebbsfleet testing centre would close for use as a site to carry out customs checks of cross-Channel lorries after the Brexit transition period ends on December […]

France has hit back at the UK’s government attempts to try to secure a Brexit agreement by warning that the EU “won’t fall for a kind of intimidation at the European level”. The French have been angered by Boris Johnson’s attempts to override the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement signed this year, which is a breach of […]

The number of wealthy Britons seeking EU citizenship has shot up substantially since the beginning of this year, immigration agencies say. Investment immigration firm Astons has seen a 50% and 30% year-on-year increase in interest from clients seeking Cypriot or Greek citizenship respectively this quarter, Reuters reports. Henley & Partners also reported a rise in requests for advice […]

In his book on Winston Churchill, Boris Johnson wrote that “one man can make all the difference”. This biographer still had faith in the “great man” theory of history. In his admiration for a charismatic and controversial figure, Johnson seemed to be hinting, or perhaps thinking, that another latter-day controversialist might also make a pretty […]

Attorney general Suella Braverman has branded Labour “unpatriotic” for opposing the Internal Market Bill which will break international law. Braverman said Labour’s stance on the bill, which the government admitted broke the law in “a very limited and specific way” was “anything but patriotic”. Labour’s stance on the bill matches that of all living former […]

Children in care and modern slavery victims who are EU citizens could “fall through the cracks” and lose their right to live in the UK after Brexit, immigration experts have warned. A University of Oxford report found that members of the Roma community and other vulnerable people could be at risk of becoming irregular migrants […]

Attorney general Suella Braverman has defended the controversial internal market bill which will give the government the power to breach the withdrawal agreement after being accused of putting “Brexit fanaticism” ahead of the rule of law. The government’s top legal adviser has faced calls to resign as she told MPs it is “entirely proper, entirely constitutional […]

An industry body has said that requiring lorry drivers to obtain special permits to enter Kent from neighbouring counties is nothing short of “pointless”. Road Haulage Association (RHA) policy director Duncan Buchanan said the measure aimed at avoiding post-Brexit gridlock is simply a “tick box exercise”. Cabinet minister Michael Gove told the Commons on Wednesday […]

Liberal Democrat members are to attempt to overturn the party’s position to rule out campaigning to Rejoin the European Union. Members were left disappointed by leader Ed Davey’s pledge to “listen” to a wide-range of views after he was elected to the position, but dismissed the suggestion the party would back trying to reverse Brexit […]

Where does Brexit take us next? This government is on course to deliver the key goals that underpinned the commitment to take back control. But the force of the Brexit revolution is by no means spent. While the UK has reclaimed sovereignty, what that means for the future of this country remains far from clear. […]

This week we crossed yet another Brexit threshold: there are now fewer than 100 days left of the UK’s implementation period. Brexit is about to get real, and as it stands we will be in a no-deal situation in the middle of a coronavirus winter. There is still – just – time for the UK […]

Former Brexit Party MEP Ann Widdecombe has struggled to name a single country which does not have a trade deal with a country within 2,000 miles – reflecting the UK’s current situation. Appearing on the Jeremy Vine on 5 show, Widdecombe was challenged by pro-EU campaigner Femi Oluwole over the success of Brexit so far. Ann Widdecombe […]