News and Opinion

Business leaders’ confidence in the British economy has plummeted as uncertainty about Brexit continues ahead of the March 29 withdrawal date. The cautious optimism shown by company bosses earlier in 2018 has entirely gone, according to a survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD). Overall optimism, which had briefly reached positive territory following the initial […]

It’s one of the most-watched Christmas programmes of the year, but there are fears that Brexit could hamper the programme’s success. Brendan O’Caroll wins an award for Mrs Brown’s Boys. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA. – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images While the nation may be split on whether or not Mrs Brown’s Boys is the best sitcom […]

Captain Scott’s last Antarctic expedition has long been overshadowed by its fateful end. But, says MICK O’HARE, we should also remember his team’s revolutionary research, which changed the way we understood the world and is assisting scientists to this day. Robert Scott and his party finally arrive at the South Pole only to discover the […]

France will overtake the United Kingdom to become the world’s sixth biggest economy next year as the impact of Brexit bites, a reports has said. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said “disruption” to the British economy was inevitable due to lower inward and business investment. The United States remains the world’s largest […]

Jeremy Corbyn responded to questions about an event by saying: ‘I was present (but) I don’t think I was actually involved’… but what was he talking about? We’ve picked 10 moments from the major political events in UK politics in 2018 to test your knowledge. How many can you get right? Share your score in […]

A quadruple whammy of rising flight costs, hotel prices, insurance prices and mobile roaming charges after Brexit will see the cost of winter holidays rocket. New research has found that the average cost of Brits’ winter holidays will increase by up to £113.50 under the government’s proposed Brexit plan. MORE: Lecturer: ‘Why I am considering […]

Stuck for something to do while the turkey cooks in the oven? Try The New European’s Christmas Quiz and share your score! 100 years ago 1 Which poet and soldier died on November 4, 1918, aged 25? His best-known works are Dulce et Decorum est and Anthem for Doomed Youth. 2 The premiere of which […]

X Factor’s advent was shortly to end the traditional fight for the festive top slot. But it went out with a bang in 2003, says SOPHIA DEBOICK. Comedian Avid Merrion launches his bid for the Christmas number one spot with Bo Selecta single “Proper Crimbo”. Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images – Credit: Getty Images Christmas […]

In a new video series, The New European meets some of the 3 million EU citizens living in the UK. Here we meet ALFREDO CASTRO, a university lecturer, who is considering moving back to Spain because of Brexit. There are fewer than 100 days left until the UK leaves the European Union and there is […]

Boney M.’s 1978 just kept on getting better. RICHARD LUCK recalls the German disco outfit’s annus mirabilis and the smash-hit festive No.1 that finished it off. The race for the Christmas No.1 has always been a big deal in the UK. Not that there were too many acts making a special effort to nab the […]

They are the hits you hear every festive season… but they might sound a little different this Christmas. MERRY BREXIT EVERYBODY Are you banging your poor head against the wall? It’s the time that Jacob Rees-Mogg has a ball Does his nanny always tell him That the old songs are the best? So he’s humming […]

Buying and decorating a Christmas tree along with baking 48 mince pies, RACHEL JOHNSON describes her life during the festive season. ‘There are things in this family that only I notice, care about, attempt to deal with or resolve, and I know it’s the same for you in your family, too.’ Thus Caitlin Moran began […]

EMMA JONES​ attends the rather unusual screening of a new movie which shows a different side to Laurel and Hardy – and the story’s leading man As screenings for A-lister films go, this is about the most curious and unpretentious I’ve ever been to. Rain beats down outside on a cold winter’s night, with just […]

Are you sitting comfortably? Then settle down for our special Christmas story… a fairytale for adults to match any told by the Brexiteers! Download as a PDF here or pick up the latest edition of The New European for an 8-page pull-out of the Brexit Bear story to keep.

‘It wasn’t easy for us to come here. There was a past that grabbed our ankles’ was a quote from a memorable moment in 2018. But do you remember the event and who said it? We’ve picked 10 similar quotes from major political and notable events in 2018 – all you have to do is […]

The 1930s and 1940s created a template for festive films which is as powerful now as ever, writes BONNIE GREER. While filming Discovering: Christmas Films, which will be shown on Christmas Day and over the season on Sky Arts, it suddenly became clear to me that it was the Baby Boomer generation that discovered this […]

At least 500 crimes mentioning Brexit have been reported to police since the referendum, shocking new figures have shown. Best for Britain, a group which campaigns for a second referendum, examined more than 20 Freedom of Information request responses from police forces across the UK and found a huge number of crimes committed in the […]

Jeremy Corbyn has taken a stance “completely at odds with the will of members” by saying Labour would continue with Brexit if they win a snap election, a former aide has said. Corbyn also hit out at EU laws on state aid which he said blocked investment. Labour passed a motion at its party conference […]

MPs who want to block a no-deal Brexit will have to either vote for Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement or a replacement to do it, Andrea Leadsom has warned. The Brexiteer Commons Leader warned politicians lining up to block efforts to take the UK out of the EU in March without an alternative no-deal was the […]

STEVE RICHARDS on a year in which events and politics moved so fast that the words of politicians could not keep up with them. How do we make sense of the dark nonsense? This was the political year when at some point most days a mind blowing twist was followed by a bizarre turn, each […]

The polls may show his ratings are holding steady, but Trump is losing control of events and his own destiny, says ALBERT SCARDINO. Donald Trump is drowning in the Washington swamp he vowed to drain. As this year opened, US news organisations were having trouble keeping up with the number of his falsehoods. As it […]

A grouchy MITCH BENN stays up late hatching a plot to finally put an end to Brexit. Every Leaver in Britain loved Brexit a lot… But the Gritch, who lived just outside London, Did NOT! The Gritch hated Brexit! The whole Brexitshambles! So he sat in his shed and he grumbled and rambled. It could […]

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said his party would continue with Brexit if it won a snap general election in the new year. The opposition leader told the Guardian he would “go back and negotiate and see what the timetable would be” with Brussels if Theresa May triggered a vote and lost, thrusting his party […]

The Tory Party is heading for a prolonged period in opposition “unless it engages more with modern Britain” and changes direction on Brexit, George Osborne has warned. The former Conservative chancellor warned that a general election was more likely than many people believed in 2019 in order to break the impasse in Parliament over Theresa […]

JANE MERRICK writes about an immovable political object facing irresistible forces. Britain’s blockage. Cartoon by Martin Rowson. – Credit: Archant It was one of the quickest turnarounds in British political history. Just five days after trying to topple the prime minister in a confidence vote, the ring-leaders of the coup declared their support for Theresa […]

Anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray has made himself an unlikely television star, with his photobombing antics on news reports outside the Houses of Parliament. TIM WALKER went to watch him at work, and hear about how the mood in the area is darkening Steve Bray’s placard appears during an interview with Jacob Rees-Mogg by Sky’s Kay […]

After 12 months of lunacy, Steve Anglesey names his twit parade, with JRM of the ERG at number one. THE BOYS OF ’90 ‘Have been so impressed with Jacob Rees-Mogg in the last few days,’ wrote England legend Peter Shilton on Twitter as December’s confidence coup against Theresa May failed, adding, ‘He really knows what […]

Restaurant chains Zizzi and ASK are switching from Italian to Welsh versions of cheese as it makes preparations for Brexit. Azzurri, the owner of both chains, took the decision as fears grow that a hard Brexit will disrupt food supply into the UK. It also said that air miles were a consideration. Kathryn Turner, director […]

Whitehall officials are reportedly planning to tell Britons that they may need to change what they eat in case of a no-deal Brexit. They expect that Britain crashing out of the European Union would lead to imported fresh food being cut off. According to the Times, the government is currently preparing for what will happen […]

Has my criticism of the BBC’s coverage of Brexit led to my ‘famine’ of TV and radio appearances, asks ALASTAIR CAMPBELL? Heaven knows how long it is since I have written a column here which did not feature the names of the prime minister or the leader of the opposition. As my Christmas present to […]

The ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ bus photobombed the national television news on its final lap of the country. There were red faces at ITV News as the bright yellow protest bus passed its cameras as it broadcasted live to the nation from outside the Houses of Parliament. Viewers thought it was appropriate that the bus sporting […]

Early in 2018 the chances of no Brexit seemed totally out of reach, but the battle is now between a second referendum or the disaster of no-deal, writes JAMES BALL in this week’s Deconstructed. Let’s start with the good news: over the course of 2018 the chances of stopping Brexit – and the movement for […]