News and Opinion

Leaving four-fifths of our economy outside Europe’s single market could leave previous recessionary policy errors in the shade, writes BARNABY TOWNS With the government losing its foreign and Brexit secretaries and suffering a string of lower-rung ministerial resignations, the fragile ‘Chequers truce’ did not last 48 hours. Backbench Brexiteers literally waited in turn to pile […]

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she cannot support Theresa May’s Brexit plan “as it stands”. The SNP leader also said it was “highly questionable” as to whether the prime minister would be able to command majority support in the House of Commons for the proposals agreed at Friday’s meeting of the Cabinet at […]

How the world’s press responded to the resignations of the two Cabinet ministers over Brexit. Here is how some media outlets around the world view the ‘chaos’ facing Theresa May following the resignations of Boris Johnson and David Davis as the foreign and Brexit secretaries. France’s Le Figaro leads with Mrs May’s crisis, saying she […]

MICK O’HARE tells the story of a revolt that figures as no more than a footnote in the wider history of the Second World War. but arguuably led to the creation of a nation 50 years later. SLOVAKIA – SEPTEMBER 01: Drinek’S Partisans In Slovakia, 1944 (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images) – Credit: Gamma-Keystone […]

Donald Trump has looked ahead to his trip to the UK this week, saying the country is in “turmoil” and it is “up to the people” whether or not Theresa May remains prime minister. The US president will have also delighted Mrs May by saying that he might take time during his UK visit to […]

Chaos. Disarray. Mayhem. But is anyone really surprised? itemtype='https://schema.org/VideoObject'> Brexit has been bedlam since the beginning – and there will be more confusion and tumult to come. There will be no tears shed over the resignations of David Davis or Boris Johnson. Both were inadequate at best. But Theresa May needs to take some of […]

This is only the beginning, says NIKOS SKOUTARIS Two years after the referendum, the UK government briefly appeared to agree on its vision for the future UK-EU relationship. A three page document, outlining the UK position, was published following a long meeting of cabinet ministers at the prime minister’s country retreat of Chequers on July […]

A contest to select a new leader of the Conservative Party would take place if Theresa May resigns or loses a vote of no confidence among her MPs. To trigger a no-confidence vote, 15% of Tory MPs must write to the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, currently Sir Graham Brady. With 316 Conservative MPs […]

Foreign secretary Boris Johnson has resigned amid growing anger at Theresa May’s Brexit plans. His resignation follows that of Brexit secretary David Davis who quit late last night. Senior Tory sources are now briefing they expect May to face a leadership challenge. The prime minister now faces a crunch meeting of the parliamentary party this […]

Brussels officials have batted off David Davis’ decision to quit as Brexit Secretary, saying it will not hit Brexit talks. The European Commission will “continue to negotiate in good faith” with prime minister Theresa May, Margaritis Schinas insisted The chief spokesman said he did “not have a specific comment” about the resignation and refused to […]

Dominic Raab has been appointed as the new Brexit secretary. Raab, who is promoted from housing minister, now faces the difficult task of calming nervous Brexiteers within the Tory ranks who are threatening to derail Theresa May’s plans. After he sensationally quit David Davis warned the UK is giving ‘too much away, too easily’ in […]

Steve Portugal answers one of the great urban conundrums of our time It may not seem like one of life’s great mysteries, but a quick internet search reveals that people from across the world – London to Hong Kong, Cape Town to Buenos Aires – are asking this same question: for all the pigeons out […]

Theresa May faces a leadership crisis after David Davis savaged the government’s approach to Brexit while dramatically quitting as the minister responsible for the UK’s departure from the EU. His resignation was warmly welcomed by hardline Eurosceptics in the Tory ranks who were already expressing reservations about Mrs May’s leadership after her Cabinet agreed a […]

A future trade deal with the United States is “totally up in the air” after the Cabinet signed off on a new Brexit strategy at Chequers, the US ambassador to the UK has said. Donald Trump will discuss how an agreement could be struck after Britain quits the EU when he visits the UK later […]

Never mind Brexit, the 50,000 people of the Faroe Islands could be headed towards Faroexit, with full independence from independence from ‘mother Denmark’. STAN ABBOTT reports ‘My mum voted Yes in 1946 and she’s 95 now,’ says Magni Arge. ‘She would love to see independence in her lifetime.’ Arge, of the left-leaning pro-independence Republican Party, […]

Many years ago, I was among environmentalist campaigners who were labelled ‘terrorists’ in the press. We did not deserve this because we were seeking not to damage the country but to save the world, based on scientifically-agreed, evidence-based, truths. Our crime was to protest against new coal-fired power stations. But now it is my turn […]

Nicola Sturgeon has declared it is “game on” for campaigners hoping to keep the UK in the single market and the customs union after the UK Cabinet signed up to plans which could keep the UK closely tied to Brussels. After a day of intensive discussions at Chequers, Theresa May managed to secure the agreement […]

Theresa May faces a battle to win over her party after Jacob Rees-Mogg began the revolt against what he called her “softly boiled” Brexit. The prime minister’s plan, which will be assessed by the EU, would result in the creation of a new UK-EU free trade area for goods, with a “common rulebook”. A new […]

It’s interesting that Theresa May lectures other EU leaders on security, even though it has always been low on her agenda if present at all. It’s almost as though she was trying to generate supportive headlines in the British press rather than negotiating with other EU leaders. It looks to me like May knows that […]

The fact that there are actual positions regarding a hard Brexit or a soft Brexit, when in fact there is just Brexit, is one of the hallmarks of our current Age Of Absurdity writes BONNIE GREER The fact that there are actual positions regarding a hard Brexit or a soft Brexit, when in fact there […]

YASMIN ALBHAI-BROWN challenges Tim Martin, boss of the Wetherspoon chain of pubs who still carries on barking and nipping at our EU neighbours. Tim Martin, boss of the Wetherspoon chain of pubs is a choleric British bulldog, who did more than his bit for Brexit and still carries on barking and nipping at our EU […]

In a Brexit process full of stupid and meaningless rows, former Obama senior adviser Ben Rhodes managed to accidentally set off what might be the stupidest yet, says JAMES BALL In a Brexit process full of stupid and meaningless rows, former Obama senior adviser Ben Rhodes managed to accidentally set off what might be the […]

Here are some of the key details contained in the government’s summary of the Brexit plan Theresa May’s Cabinet agreed at Chequers. At the core of the proposal is the establishment of a “free trade area for goods” to “avoid friction at the border, protect jobs and livelihoods, and ensure both sides meet their commitments […]

Theresa May appears to have faced down Brexiteer Cabinet ministers after securing agreement on plans which will keep the UK closely aligned to Brussels. The proposals, which will now be assessed by the European Union, would result in the creation of a new UK-EU free trade area for goods, with a “common rulebook”. But under […]

Two years on from the referendum, the public call for a People’s Vote vote is clear. Some 48% of voters now say they want a second poll on the final deal Theresa May negotiates with the EU, compared to just 25% who disagree. This is hardly a surprise. A report from the Centre for European […]

Does Tony Blair help the cause to remain in the European Union – or does he hinder it? I was pleased to read Alastair Campbell’s article in last week’s TNE defending the Blair government’s record. I am astonished how much liberal vitriol there is against Blair until I realise that it largely comes from younger […]

Labour will not rule out a referendum on the final Brexit deal, Sir Keir Starmer said as he acknowledged leaving the EU would mean “things will get worse” in the short-term. The shadow Brexit secretary told a private meeting that Labour was not explicitly calling for a public vote on the final deal and respected […]

There is no Brexit dividend. There is only Brexit debt. If our net payments to the EU are about 0.5% of GDP, we’ve already dug a bigger hole than that thanks to the referendum – losing 2% of GDP growth over the last two years. If we do actually pull the plug on our net […]

Public health in the UK has been underpinned by a network of cross-border initiatives. But they are all now at risk. Professor MARTIN McKEE reports • PLAGUES AND PESTILENCE Infectious diseases don’t respect borders. In 1348 the Black Death swept through Europe killing a third of the population. The flu epidemic in 1918 killed more […]

Spanish nurse Joan Pons Laplana talks to KATHRYN BREITNER about the experiences of EU staff on the front line For 17 years, Joan Pons Laplana has been working as a nurse in the NHS. For him, the UK is home. But just recently he has not been feeling so welcome here. He says this shift […]

Its European staff have long been a backbone of the NHS. But, as Dr MIKE GALSWORTHY explains, Brexit has had a chilling effect For a while last autumn, controversy raged over whether or not Brexit was driving EU nurses and doctors away from working in the UK. But no longer. It is clear that NHS […]

MICHAEL WHITE on more infighting at home and abroad as leaders wobble but won’t fall down, just yet. Do you feel relieved, or ever so slightly disappointed, when you open the morning paper or switch on the radio to learn that nothing sensational has happened anywhere overnight? Since the headline-hungry resurgence of authoritarian and nationalist […]