Brexit

Shares in JD Wetherspoon dropped today with a leading analyst suggesting it was due to chairman Tim Martin’s focus on campaigning for a hard Brexit. JD Wetherspoon’s share price was down 9.5% as investors absorbed a first-quarter trading update in which the chain said like-for-like sales increased by 5.5% and total sales were up 6.2%. […]

The UK’s chemicals industry is facing “a huge cliff-edge” on the day after Brexit, with possible loss of access to an £18bn export market and risks to human safety, a report has warned. The House of Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee said government plans for the post-Brexit regulation of the industry are “not progressing […]

UK pet owners could be forced to get their animals vaccinated up to four months before they travel to a European country in the wake of a no-deal Brexit. Dog and cat owners are being advised to speak to a vet as soon as possible if they want to take their pet on holiday after […]

A mooted £60m Hollywood adaptation of Nigel Farage and Arron Banks’ roles in the Brexit campaign is unlikely to happen, the publisher of the book it was due to be based on has said. It was reported last year that a major Hollywood studio was poised to sign a deal with Farage and Banks, who […]

Brexit campaign group Leave.EU and a firm owned by its founder Arron Banks face fines totalling £135,000 over breaches of data laws. A report from the information commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, confirmed that Leave.EU and Eldon – trading as GoSkippy – were being fined £60,000 each for “serious breaches” of the law which governs electronic marketing. […]

Reverend Richard Coles treated his Twitter followers to a quite incredible painting of Theresa May riding a lion, apparently discovered in a charity shop in Poole. The Saturday Live presenter tweeted the striking image to his 172,000 followers, saying: “This, spotted by someone in a charity shop in Poole apparently, must surely be saved for […]

A deal on the Irish border to break the Brexit deadlock is not close, the EU’s chief negotiator has said. Michel Barnier was speaking as Theresa May briefed the Cabinet on her plans to achieve a breakthrough in time to secure a special Brexit summit to seal an agreement in November. May is pursuing a […]

Fresh concerns have been raised over a nursing shortfall post-Brexit after a new review found that Britain could be left an additional 10,000 nurses short. In England, the latest nursing vacancy rate figure is 41,722. A new report explores the trends in the health and social care sector’s workforce, including the role of European nationals […]

Westminster’s environment committee has warned over a gap in environmental protections after Britain leaves the EU. Mary Creagh, who chairs the Environmental Audit Committee, said she was “deeply” worried there would be a hole in laws covering chemicals, waste, water and air. The government’s response to the committee’s recommendations, published today, still leaves one third […]

A manufacturing firm is to close two sites in the UK with “uncertainty” surrounding Brexit given as a factor behind the decision. Automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler said the sites in Plymouth and Llanelli, South Wales, will close within two years. It is understood that up to 500 jobs could be affected. The German-owned company […]

The SNP has said the “chaos and despair” of Brexit could result in a narrow majority of Scots voting for independence. The party made the claim after a new poll finding more than a third of people were more likely to back leaving the UK after the country exits the EU. Applying that to the […]

Remain would win a new Brexit poll by 54%-46%, according to analysis of one of the largest surveys carried out on the issue. Some 20,000 people were questioned in a Survation poll for Channel 4 which estimated 105 local authority areas that voted Leave in 2016 would now be carried by the Remain side. Channel […]

Ministers have been warned against causing further confusion over the post-Brexit future of EU citizens living in the UK. Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott spoke of the “very real distress” that mixed messages from the government had caused more than three million EU citizens, their families and employers – warning the “clock is ticking” and […]

Leading Brexiteers are urging their colleagues to put their phones in the microwave to protect them from eavesdropping by spies. A senior member of the European Research Group (ERG) of hardline Tory MPs has been urging his colleagues to buy microwaves for their parliamentary offices to stop Remainers and foreign spooks snooping on their talks, […]

Irish premier Leo Varadkar has told Theresa May that he will not accept a Brexit deal which gives the UK the unilateral power to halt “backstop” arrangements for the border with Northern Ireland. In a phone conversation with the Taoiseach, May said that any agreement would have to include a mechanism to bring an end […]

A £2.4m “no deal safety net unit” is being rushed through by the Metropolitan Police amid alarm over the loss of vital EU tools after next March. Police chiefs have warned home secretary Sajid Javid that losing such tools would make it harder to track sex offenders and terrorist suspects, according to internal police documents […]

Remainer Tory MP Dominic Grieve has said proposals for the UK to remain in a customs union after Brexit made the whole process “questionable”. The former attorney general told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “At the end of the day it highlights why the entire enterprise is questionable, because in fact what we are likely […]

Former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre has used his first public appearance since stepping down to defend his decision to describe high court judges as “enemies of the people” on his front page. Dacre, who left the job in the summer and has since been formed to watch his successor steadily dismantle his legacy, said […]

More than four in 10 Brits would support a second Brexit referendum offering a choice between a deal or staying in the EU, according to one of the largest polls conducted on the subject. Some 20,000 people were questioned by Channel 4 ahead of a live televised debate that will see senior politicians who supported […]

One thousand nationalists from across Ireland have sent a joint letter to the Taoiseach urging him to defend the rights of Irish citizens north of the border amid Brexit uncertainty. The letter to Leo Varadkar has been signed by actors, academics, professional athletes, entrepreneurs, lawyers, teachers, doctors and a range of other figures from within […]

Millions of Brits will stay at home and not book overseas holidays if the UK crashes out of the EU without a trade agreement, according to new research published today. A major report by travel research specialist Euromonitor International has predicted that a ‘no-deal’ Brexit scenario next March would hit the outbound leisure travel market […]

Pubs could run out of Guinness following Brexit, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable has warned – so you won’t even be able to drown your sorrows with the black stuff. Cable warned an extreme scenario caused by a no deal or a very bad deal could lead to the supply “drying up”. The MP was […]

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has been accused of “running away” from people living in a border town during his visit to Northern Ireland. The Tory minister arrived in Northern Ireland today for a one-day visit to the region. During his first stop to Warrenpoint Port, Raab was criticised for not meeting with public representatives and […]

Who is on Question Time tonight and where do they stand on Brexit? Here’s your guide… The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme tonight comes from Clacton-on-Sea, where the Pet Shop Boys filmed the video for their 1987 cover version of Always On My Mind. But who didn’t love the EU quite as often as they […]

Brexit is stripping cash from the arts with government funding for some of Britain’s most iconic museums plummeting since the referendum, The New European can reveal. Figures released under Freedom of Information laws show that eight out of 16 government-sponsored museums have seen their grant in aid funding fall since 2016/2017. 12 of the 16 […]

A leading SNP MP has cast doubt on his party’s backing for a People’s Vote on Brexit by warning it could pose “all sorts of risks to a future independence referendum for nothing”. Pete Wishart said the move could make it more difficult to resist calls for a similar second ballot in Scotland if nationalists […]

The look on chancellor Philip Hammond’s face was priceless today as Tory headbanger Peter Bone crowned him “the King of Brexit”. Hammond looked baffled as hardliner Bone claimed that his budget earlier this week had delivered “a Brexit dividend… if we come out of the European Union with no deal”. The chancellor had actually said […]

John McDonnell has announced today’s Labour Brexit policy: a customs union and a “close” relationship with the single market. The shadow chancellor said Labour MPs would vote in favour of a Brexit deal which “protects jobs and the economy” – echoing Jeremy Corbyn’s mantra of a “jobs-first Brexit” – but acknowledged that was “not the […]

The vote for Brexit has already cost the average British worker more than £1,100 in lost wages, campaigners for a People’s Vote have claimed. The campaign seized on earnings growth figures released by the Office for Budget Responsibility alongside chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget on Tuesday. Leading supporter Chuka Umunna said the OBR’s report showed that […]

Theresa May has again rejected a Norway-style deal with the EU after Brexit. The move comes after some Tories suggested a temporary “Norway for Now” option to soften EU withdrawal. Norway is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) and has full access to the single market in exchange for making financial contributions and […]

A former German ambassador to the UK has poured cold water on Brexiteers’ claims his nation’s carmakers would insist on a good deal, saying it was only ‘headache number 25’ for the industry. Thomas Matussek, who was Germany’s ambassador to the UK from 2002 to 2006, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Brexit played […]

Brexit may mean “much higher” mobile phone bills for Britons travelling on the continent, a committee of MPs has found. The government is not planning to maintain the EU’s ban on mobile roaming charges for voice, text messages and data following withdrawal, the House of Commons EU Scrutiny Committee said in a report. This means […]