News and Opinion

Even at a most basic level there is a complete lack of knowledge about the very nature of the Irish border, says SARAH JANE SMYTH I was born in November 1997, just five months before the Good Friday Agreement was signed. Because of this, some may assume I have seen little of the conflict which […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL: Former-head of the Civil Service, Jeremy Heywood, was living proof that fairness and impartiality are essential The news that Jeremy Heywood had died came through just as Arron Banks was getting his make up on in advance of his weekend joust at the BBC. Talk about the good dying young, while the bad […]

They be only modest, but let’s take them while we can, says MICHAEL WHITE In a week when Brexit’s self-styled Bad Boy, Arron Banks, got a short, sharp shock from the news National Crime Agency coppers were looking for campaign dark money, his fair weather friend, Donald Trump, got his own arresting setback. Enough Americans […]

It is that time of the week again – the podcast is live. Richard Porritt and Steve Anglesey return to talk all things Brexit as the madness continues. This week they delve into the US mid-terms and the messy aftermath, poke fun at bungling Brexit secretary Dominic Raab who has only just realised the Dover-Calais […]

A no-deal Brexit would be a ‘disaster’ for one of the UK’s most important trade routes, the government has been warned. The stark appraisal was delivered by Port of Calais chief Jean-Marc Puissesseau who added that it would cause chaos in Dover, Calais and elsewhere in northern France. The warning came a day after Brexit […]

Theresa May has been told she cannot promise everything to everyone on Brexit. Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned the government is risking a disastrous Brexit by making promises it cannot keep. She claimed May is not constructing a lasting deal and is trying to dupe people and hide the damage leaving the EU […]

The most frustrating thing about the culture secretary’s apparent indifference to his brief is that there is a much better candidate for his job, says JANE MERRICK I have to confess I don’t know many things about Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, except that he almost appeared on stage at the Conservative party conference as […]

Mysterious billboards celebrating the UK and Russia’s ‘Brexit collaboration’ have been erected across London. A billboard featuring Russian leader Vladamir Putin, in Stoke Newington, north London Photo: PA / Caitlin Doherty – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images A group calling itself Proud Bear, which claims to be a ‘collective of Russian intelligence agents’ are behind the […]

The United Kingdom is already falling behind Europe economically and it is going to get a lot worse, according to new forecasts. The European Commission predicted the UK will remain at the bottom of the growth league in the years after Brexit. And the gloomy forecasts are a best-case scenario for Brexit as they are […]

RACHEL JOHNSON on remembering conversations and getting a name drop in Vanity Fair Whenever someone publishes a memoir I am staggered. How do they remember the names of all their siblings, let alone reproduce 50-year-old conversations verbatim? I am mystified by the neurological mechanics of the genre. How did Gerry remember what Larry said to […]

They have been maligned by Donald Trump and have the might of the US military awaiting them. But the migrant caravan plods on. Will Worley caught up with it in Cordoba, Mexico. Throughout the day, people of the so-called ‘migrant caravan’ making its way north through the country come, having hitched rides or walked from […]

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 Dulwich’s James Allen’s Girls’ School, whose alumni include the actress Sally Hawkins. But who will prove Happy-Go-Lucky about Brexit – and who will find themselves getting An Education from their […]

MIC WRIGHT on James McClean and those seeking to enforce what should be an individual act of remembrance. The Cookie Monster wears a poppy. We know this for sure because on Monday November 7, 2016, the fluffy blue puppet appeared on The One Show – the BBC’s flagship programme for awkward chat and celebrity product-plugging […]

The Trump resistance has won an important battle but the search goes on for a new Obama, says ANDREW ADONIS When the great oracle of the electorate speaks, it isn’t always clear what the great oracle said. The message of this week’s mid-term elections in the US is unusually opaque, with the Senate and the […]

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has told a tech event that he “hadn’t quite understood” the importance of the Dover-Calais crossing for UK trade. According to the website Politico, Raab was speaking last night when he confirmed the choice of goods available to buy in the shops would be hit unless “frictionless trade” was maintained at […]

Concern about Brexit has risen sharply among over-65s to a level almost matching the youngest voting age group, a survey suggests. Some 61% of those aged over 65 say they are worried about the impact of Brexit, a 34 percentage point increase since September 2016, when Which? began recording the data. Among those aged 18 […]

Michael Gove has been warned not to let Brexit preparations get in the way of work to protect the environment. Some 400 staff have been loaned or seconded to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from its agencies. Environment secretary Gove insisted that “priority roles” in bodies including Natural England (NE) and the […]

Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel 4’s bombshell new poll showing a significant swing. Their faces said it all. As I read out the final numbers from the survey suggesting the UK has changed its mind on Brexit you could almost see the thought bubbles hanging over the politicians’ heads. They had surely prepared for this. After […]

The Scottish Parliament has backed holding a public vote on the final terms of the Brexit deal. Holyrood voted 66 to 28 in favour of a People’s Vote after it was put forward in a Liberal Democrat amendment to a government motion during a chamber debate on the Brexit threat to international scientific research in […]

MPs should resist the pressure to accept any old Brexit deal and stand up to the new nationalism by demanding another people’s vote, says Labour MP Owen Smith The Thiepval Memorial looms over the rolling hills of the Somme region in northern France, a permanent reminder of the blood of nations that irrigated its fields […]

Ministers have been invited to read the ‘final’ draft of the prime minister’s Brexit deal – but there is something missing. Cabinet members were sent an email saying they could come and view the Withdrawal Agreement and several dropped everything and dashed to the cabinet office. But upon closer inspection it became clear the Irish […]

A report has suggested the “only winning scenario” for Northern Ireland following Brexit is a united Ireland. The Costs of Non-Unification – Brexit and the Unification of Ireland report forecasts that both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic will suffer economically after the UK leaves the EU. The report examined three potential scenarios: a hard […]

Leaving the EU without a deal would be “absurd” and the whole process of Brexit can still be stopped, Tony Blair has said. The former prime minister said the British people should be given the chance to vote again on whether to remain in the EU because otherwise they faced either a “pointless” or a […]

A massive abuse of public trust will only increase the case for a People’s Vote on any Brexit deal, writes LAURA GRIFFITHS of For our Future’s Sake Arron Banks is a name few of us had heard before 2014. Unveiled that year as a record donor for the UK Independence Party, he has gone on […]

Theresa May has faced demands from both her own Cabinet and her DUP allies to show the full legal advice behind her Brexit plans. The Cabinet is on stand-by for fresh talks to agree a Brexit deal amid claims by Tory Leavers that the prime minister has already reached an agreement, while May will update […]

MATT KELLY watched Channel 4’s What the Nation Really Thinks and saw a sobering night for Nigel Farage We’re rubbish at international negotiations, our government is the laughing stock of the planet and our economy has gone from leading global growth to also-ran. But when it comes to world-class eye-rolling, Britain is still a force […]

A once-in-a-generation exhibition, featuring most of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s surviving works, shines new light on a painter the world was slow to appreciate, ALASTAIR SMART reports. Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Peasant Wedding. Picture: KHM-Museumsverband – Credit: Archant Precious little is known about the life of the great Netherlandish painter, Pieter Bruegel the Elder. […]

British hauliers are being forced to turn down European work with some of the biggest American bands due to the threat of a no-deal Brexit. The Sun reported that one haulage boss had said fears of a logjam at Dover meant he had to turn down a £250,000 contract for a 25-truck tour with a […]

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 […]

Sir Keir Starmer will use a top-level, Brussels meeting to warn of the looming danger of a ‘blind Brexit’. Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary will raise his concerns that the UK and European Union will end up striking a loose deal on future relations. He believes Tory divisions have stalled progress on trade links and will […]

A dominant, if unconventional, Irving Berlin was confounding the critics, as music took its first tentative steps towards ‘pop’. SOPHIA DEBOICK reports Sheet music cover image of ‘That International Rag’ by Irving Berlin. Picture: Sheridan Libraries/Levy/Gado/Getty Images – Credit: Getty Images Progress was the watchword of 1913. The US was at the vanguard, with the […]