Brexit

Britain leaving the European customs union to strike free trade deals with countries outside the EU is “giving up a three-course meal for the promise of a packet of crisps”, a top ex-civil servant has said. Sir Martin Donnelly, who left his role as permanent secretary to Liam Fox’s Department of International Trade last year, […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg, Kate Hoey, David Davis, Boris Johnson and that big red bus. Just some of the subjects covered by correspondents in this week’s mailbag. David Davis’ Vienna speech (it meant nothing to me) seemed to indicate that there would be no bonfire of regulations and standards after Brexit. Yet this is exactly where people […]

Even by his own standards, the hypocrisy of Boris Johnson’s attack on Jeremy Corbyn’s motives is breathtaking. It was, as a piece of naked hypocrisy, so brazen one could almost stand back and simply admire the sheer chutzpah. Almost. Boris Johnson’s response to Jeremy Corbyn’s setpiece Brexit speech, delivered – inevitably – in the form […]

Remaining in the single market would leave many voters feeling the referendum result had been ignored, Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell said today. Dismissing polls which have shown that an overwhelming majority of Labour members and supporters support Britain remaining in the customs union and single market after leaving the EU, Mr McDonnell insisted wider […]

Britain will be more like Love Actually than a Mad Max-style dystopia after it leaves the EU, Andrea Leadsom claimed today. The Commons leader and ill-fated Tory leadership contender likened the UK’s life outside the EU to the twee, dated romantic comedy, as she dismissed suggestions that it was heading towards an apocalypse. Brexit secretary […]

Patriotism and duty are strong, guiding, working-class emotions, says YASMIN ALIBHAI-BROWN. We need posters of Jeremy Clarkson saying ‘YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU to be in the EU’ I wonder how London’s weathered cabbies reacted to the recent Jacob Rees-Mogg programme on LBC. I bet they loved the 18th Century throwback just as they do the […]

As tickets for this year’s event go on sale, the dangers posed to it by leaving the EU become ever clearer, says Lib Dem MP CHRISTINE JARDINE Imagine the FIFA World Cup coming to the UK every summer and you begin to understand the value of, and the impact on, the country’s economy that the […]

The UK government has offered to change key Brexit legislation to ensure the “vast majority” of devolved powers returning from Brussels go straight to the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales. The Holyrood and Cardiff Bay administrations have refused to recommend granting legislative consent for the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill as it stands claiming it […]

Uncertainty related to Brexit is having a negative impact on sailing, skiing and other sports that rely on free movement within the European Union, members of the House of Lords have been warned. Experts representing national governing bodies, players’ associations and sports charities gave evidence today to a sub-committee hearing on what effect leaving the […]

Tories pushing for a Hard Brexit are putting Scottish devolution at risk, the country’s deputy first minister has warned. John Swinney claimed that key legislation necessary for Britain to leave the European Union “undermines the principles of devolution and the powers of the Scottish Parliament that the people of Scotland campaigned so long to win”. […]

Jeremy Corbyn’s position on Brexit is “evolving and deepening”, a shadow cabinet supporter of close ties with the EU has claimed. Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Owen Smith – who challenged Mr Corbyn for the Labour leadership in 2016 – told ITV’s Good Morning Britain he wanted the UK to remain in the single market and […]

Remainers have launched a campaign bus claiming the cost of quitting the European Union will be £2bn a week. The staggering figure is based on analysis of leaked government reports predicting that all Brexit scenarios will significantly hit the economy. Emblazoned with the slogan “Is it worth it?”, the bus will be touring the country. […]

Ministers want the post-Brexit transition period during which Britain will follow EU rules to be determined by how long it takes the government to introduce measures needed for life outside the union, a leaked official document shows. The paper said the length of the “status quo” transition “should be determined simply by how long it […]

Tory MPs have criticised a letter sent by Brexiteer colleagues in the hardline European Research Group aimed at piling pressure on Theresa May. Antoinette Sandbach said the views of the group of “hardline Brexiteers” were in marked contrast to the “vast majority” of her colleagues, while Vicky Ford said the letter risked tying the prime […]

Boris Johnson has claimed there will be a “great swollen, throbbing, umbilicus of trade” between the UK and EU, adding each side will be “mutually nourishing the other”. The leading Brexiteers’s remarks came as he also defended his widely-derided suggestion of a bridge across the Channel between the UK and France. Mr Johnson last month […]

Scottish government ministers have warned time is running out to reach a deal over key Brexit legislation. Brexit secretary David Davis is due to host talks in London on Thursday in a bid to resolve the stalemate between Holyrood and Westminster over the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. And ahead of those discussions the Scottish government […]

Brexiteers are risking fragile peace in Northern Ireland by questioning the future of the Good Friday Agreement, Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said. Simon Coveney, the Republic’s foreign affairs minister, said that the 1998 accord was being undermined in some political circles. Mr Coveney tweeted: “Talking down (the) Good Friday Agreement because it raises serious […]

Brexit secretary David Davis will today seek to reassure businesses about Brexit, saying Britain would not become “a Mad Max-style world borrowed from dystopian fiction”. In a keynote speech in Vienna today, Mr Davis will deny ministers are preparing a programme of sweeping deregulation and say the UK wants to maintain “close, even-handed co-operation” with […]

A co-leader of a new party committed to stopping Brexit has likened the organisation to the “more military arm” of the Remain campaign. James Clarke, one of three “principals” at the head of Renew, said the fact the party planned to field candidates across the country at the next general election would put pressure on […]

Boris Johnson, the UK’s most senior diplomat, has compared a dead monkey’s head to a Labour backbencher. The foreign secretary was on a visit to a police unit which confiscates wildlife products. He muttered the remark after asking officers what species a trophy monkey was. A police officer suggested a macaque, but Mr Johnson offered […]

Remainer NICK TYRONE is starting to think a hard Brexit might now be the only answer for Britain. It may sound very strange for a Remainer to say that I think hard Brexit has become necessary. But that’s where I think we might now be. Despite a terrible, shambolic set of negotiations so far by […]

Ukip’s new acting leader Gerard Batten has defended his description of Islam as a “death cult” and insisted a “significant minority” of Muslims were extremists who wanted to be martyred. London MEP Mr Batten, who took over at the head of the crisis-hit party after Henry Bolton was ousted yesterday, said Islam “glorifies death”. He […]

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has dismissed calls for Labour members to have a greater say on the party’s Brexit policy, saying it would be “very difficult” to remain in the single market. More than 16,000 people have emailed Labour over the past five days, urging the party to consult members on Brexit after MPs […]

Most British firms want the UK to remain in the customs union after Brexit, a survey has indicated. The Harvard Kennedy School study was carried out by researchers including former shadow chancellor Ed Balls and involved interviews with more than 80 small and medium-sized firms and trade associations. Mr Balls said: “It is the most […]

Liberal Democrat president SAL BRINTON believes the crisis facing the NHS is being compounded by Brexit and a divided government that can’t deal with our public services falling apart Last Friday on Any Questions Therese Coffey MP was the latest Remain voter and Minister trying to defend Theresa May’s position on Brexit. Like the country, […]

The German government has called on Theresa May to present her squabbling government’s plans about the future relationship between Britain and the EU after it leaves. A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said today: “It’s important for us that Britain concretise its plans… time is running out.” Mrs Merkel is meeting with Mrs May in […]

Boris Johnson today fired another salvo at Philip Hammond, claiming it would be “mad” to end up with a Brexit settlement that did not allow the UK to enjoy the “economic freedoms” of leaving the EU. Signalling the need to diverge from EU rules after leaving the bloc, the foreign secretary insisted that the UK […]

Boris Johnson’s keynote Brexit speech should not be taken seriously “given everything he said about that bus”, former Labour minister Yvette Cooper has said. The foreign secretary is expected to insist that leaving the bloc is a cause for hope, not fear, as he sets out his vision for a post-Brexit Britain. To make Brexit […]

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has accused British politicians such as Boris Johnson of talking “total nonsense” when they accuse him of seeking to create a European superstate. His comments came as he answered questions at a press conference in Brussels taking place as the foreign secretary made a high-profile speech on Brexit in London. […]

Chancellor and cabinet remainer Philip Hammond has been dispatched on a Brexit charm offensive, with a brief to assure European counterparts and business leaders that Britain “still cares” about them. The man dubbed “Spreadsheet Phil” for his powder-dry demeanour is visiting European Union members Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal as part of his tour. […]

Agreement on a transition period to smooth Britain’s exit from the EU is “not a given”, Brussels’ chief Brexit negotiator has warned. After the latest round of talks between officials in Brussels, Michel Barnier said that three “substantial” disagreements remained over plans for the transition, expected to last around two years after the date of […]

Checks at the Irish border will be “unavoidable” under Theresa May’s Brexit plans for the UK to leave the single market and customs union, Michel Barnier has warned. Brussels’ chief Brexit negotiator also told reporters that agreement on a transitional deal after the UK leaves the bloc in March 2019 was “not a given”. After […]