Brexit

Boris Johnson has been accused in the Lords of doing “immense damage” to Britain’s reputation abroad with his tendency to “speak first and think afterwards”. In a rare personal attack at question time, Labour’s Lord Soley said the foreign secretary had a “bad reputation” for it at home and overseas. Foreign Office minister Lord Ahmad […]

In a major climbdown on its flagship Brexit bill, the government has given in to rebels over greater oversight of ministers’ powers. An amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill tabled by the cross-party Commons Procedure Committee will stop ministers simply signing changes into law through so-called Henry VIII powers. Instead a new “sifting committee” of […]

David Davis has sought to address concerns about his performance as Brexit secretary by saying he does not have to be very clever to do the job. He told LBC radio: “What’s the requirement of my job? I don’t have to be very clever, I don’t have to know that much.” But he insisted “I […]

The option of staying in the single market must be kept on the table, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said, as he called for Labour to support his efforts to rewrite the Government’s Brexit Bill. Sir Vince said Jeremy Corbyn’s party had benefited from the support of pro-European Union young voters at the general […]

Labour would try to stay in a “reformed single market” if it was conducting Brexit negotiations, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said. He said he stood by his assertion that remaining inside the single market under current rules, which include accepting free movement of EU citizens, would not respect the Brexit referendum result. But he […]

Now that the European Commission has agreed that “sufficient progress” has been made on the UK’s EU withdrawal deal, what happens next? December 11 Theresa May expected to deliver a statement to the House of Commons. December 13 European Parliament debates and votes on the joint report drawn up by negotiators for the UK and […]

Theresa May grabbed only “a couple of hours” of sleep as she raced against the clock to get agreement on the terms of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU last night. The prime minister and close colleagues, including Brexit secretary David Davis and chief of staff Gavin Barwell, worked late into the night, as the Number […]

Here are the key points of the joint report agreed between the UK and EU on the expected content of Britain’s withdrawal agreement. Citizens’ rights Reciprocal protection for EU citizens in the UK and Britons living in the remaining 27 member-states who are resident at the time of the UK’s withdrawal, along with their family […]

In his debut column JAMES BALL explores the dangers of a soft Brexit and the implications for Remainers Eighteen months on from the Brexit vote, you could be forgiven for believing the UK might be limping towards a finishing line over leaving the EU. Getting to this point has required a series of humiliating concessions […]

The New European editor on why today’s “breakthrough” will trigger a very public cabinet implosion The Brexit can has been kicked down the road. But not far. ‘In the absence of agreed solutions, the UK will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union,’ reads Article 49 of the […]

MICHAEL WHITE on a week of confusion, bitterness and a very dangerous way to halt Brexit The very idea of the Democratic Unionist Party’s tribal leaders insisting on ‘regulatory alignment’ with the rest of the sort-of-still-United Kingdom ought to be enough to make an Irish cat laugh. But no one in Brussels on Monday afternoon […]

RICHARD PORRITT on the week’s big stories, including a big victory in Austria, the German foreign minister on the offensive and the prince of letters After all that fuss about Brexit impact statements, it appears they never really existed in any meaningful sense anyway. To widespread shock, David Davis admitted to a parliamentary committee on […]

Just 16 MPs and peers have read the government’s Brexit analysis papers, Andrea Leadsom claimed today. The Commons Leader, Brexiteer and brief candidate for the Tory leadership bemoaned the opposition for causing “enormous headlines and publicity” before adding “only 16 members across both Houses” had viewed them. A reading room has been established to allow […]

Jobs will be moved out of Britain unless Theresa May secures progress in Brexit negotiations at next week’s summit of EU leaders, the CBI warns tonight. The business lobbying group will say more than half (60%) of firms with Brexit contingency plans will activate them by Easter, meaning jobs leaving the UK unless the December […]

Commons speaker John Bercow has apologised after a slip of the tongue saw him dub a pro-Remain Labour MP the “member for Brexeter”. Mr Bercow’s blunder came in relation to Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw, as the speaker answered a series of points of order from MPs over Brexit. Having responded to five points of order, […]

Theresa May has been warned no Brexit deal is “reckless and dangerous”, as “utterly ruthless” dissident republicans would target border officials. Independent MP Lady Hermon (North Down) said a hard border would inevitably exist between Northern Ireland and the Republic if the UK and EU failed to agree a deal. She said the UK government […]

A Brexit deal giving special status to Northern Ireland could have put the entire future of the UK in jeopardy, the Scottish Conservative leader has claimed. Ruth Davidson said such a set-up could have “unravelled the entire United Kingdom”, telling how she had told the prime minister the 13 Scottish Tory MPs at Westminster would […]

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has demanded EU leaders give an immediate green light to talks on post-Brexit trade relations rather than waiting for a breakthrough over the Irish border. Theresa May is battling to break the deadlock over the border after botching a proposed deal on Monday, with the clock ticking ahead of a crunch […]

Theresa May has held telephone talks with Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster in a bid to break the Brexit deadlock over the Irish border issue. Mrs May is battling to get the DUP, who prop up the government in the Commons, to support proposals that would allow the EU to trigger the next stage […]

Scotland’s Brexit minister has called on rival parties to unite and “speak with one voice” in a bid to keep the UK in the single market. Mike Russell said there was “overwhelming support” for the position both at Holyrood and among the public as he urged Labour and the Tories to back the whole UK […]

The negotiating deadlock in the talks on Brexit has been branded a “car crash” by a former Northern Ireland secretary in the Lords. Labour’s Lord Hain asked why anyone was surprised by Monday’s negotiating “car crash” in Brussels after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refused to accept proposals on a customs border. “Unionists were quite […]

Theresa May has been touted for the vacant Scotland football manager’s job by the SNP for her ability to “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory”. SNP Europe spokesman Peter Grant mocked the prime minister following the latest Brexit talks, joking that she had been interviewed for the post as a potential successor to Gordon […]

David Davis has insisted Northern Ireland will not be “left behind” in the single market and customs union after Brexit as Theresa May works to get her botched negotiations back on track. The Prime Minister was telephoning Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster and Sinn Fein leader Michelle O’Neill today for urgent talks as pressure […]

Theresa May should “rethink her reckless red lines” and consider remaining part of the customs union and single market, Labour has urged. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said there needed to be a UK-wide response to Brexit, after the Democratic Unionist Party refused to accept proposals on a customs border, leading to a deadlock […]

Police do not have the numbers to protect a hard Irish border, a representative body has warned. Planning for a no-deal Brexit needs to begin urgently as it would cost tens of millions of pounds to secure the porous 300-mile (483km) frontier, the Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) said. All sides in the discussions […]

Brexit pressure intensified on Theresa May today as the leader of the Scottish Conservatives warned the prime minister not to cut separate deals for different parts of the UK. The intervention by Ruth Davidson came as Mrs May tried to plot a way forward in withdrawal negotiations after the Democratic Unionist Party refused to accept […]

Labour, the Government and the Democratic Unionist Party have all ordered their senior politicians to stay off the airwaves after crunch Brexit talks ended without a deal, BBC presenter Nick Robinson has claimed. The Radio 4 Today programme host hit back at complaints that representatives from the parties were not appearing on the show for […]

Failure to complete the first phase of Brexit negotiations is costing UK pharmaceutical companies “an enormous amount of money”, industry representatives have warned. With less than 18 months to go until the official date of EU withdrawal in March 2019, companies are having to make preparations now, with some setting up facilities and offices abroad […]

The Democratic Unionist Party has said it will not accept any Brexit deal which “separates” Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, it said today. DUP leader Arlene Foster said the party, which props up Theresa May’s Tory minority Government, would not allow “any form of regulatory divergence” from the UK. She spoke out […]

The EU has set up a working group to prepare for Britain crashing out without a deal, leaked papers seen by a German newspaper show. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is reporting that it has seen papers showing that the European Commission has set up the group reporting directly its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, to prepare the […]

Ireland should use its veto on Brexit negotiations if the DUP attempts to use its Westminster influence to impose a new border on the island, Sinn Fein has said. A senior Democratic Unionist has warned the Conservative Government will not be able to rely his party’s votes in Parliament for any Brexit deal that treats […]

The furore over high street chain Paperchase’s U-turn over advertising with the Daily Mail has caused an almighty row over what is pressure group Stop Funding Hate’s objective. LIZ GERARD investigates ‘The British people relish a good hero – and a good hate.’ Thus spake Sunny Harmsworth, first and only Lord Northcliffe, pioneer of popular […]