News and Opinion

The number of Brits seeking to reclaim their German citizenship has leaped following the Brexit vote, it has been revealed. A German government response to opposition politicians published today says 1,667 people applied to Germany’s embassy in London last year to reclaim the citizenship they or their ancestors were stripped of by the Nazis. The […]

Brexiteers have made some pretty daft comments about the Irish border recently, but this could be the worst of all. If a backstop is such a good idea to sort the border issue why do we not go for a backstop around the entire British Isles then Irish Republic can be part of it too […]

Alastair Campbell on Nigel Farage’s beloved Brexit betrayal narrative and The Late Late Show in London Last Friday I had the very pleasant experience of travelling to another country without leaving my own. A short tube ride down the Jubilee Line and I was in Ireland. The Late Late Show, one of the most high-rating […]

Download the free podcast from the team at The New European to hear our review of the week in politics. Every Friday Richard Porritt, Steve Anglesey and Geri Scott review another wild week in post-common sense Britain. The podcast is packed full of big news, comment, and irreverent views. Lord Adonis being interviewed by Richard […]

A series of catastrophic missteps by Theresa May, Arlene Foster and others look like condemning Britain to the very worst possible outcome in the Brexit negotiations. JANE MERRICK reports The Brussels adage that ‘nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’ is now more than just a cliché about negotiations coming together at the last moment. […]

A Remain pressure group has teamed up with the country’s top comedians to urge us all to ‘stop being so British’. The video has been produced for Best for Britain by David Schneider and Ingrid Oliver, with the hope it will fuel more Britons to speak out against Brexit. The comedians have used a number […]

Why are our institutions and public servants being stopped from doing their jobs, asks a New European reader. The Met Police are stalling on an investigation of the Leave campaigns which broke electoral law because it is too ‘politically sensitive’. The head of HM Revenue and Customs has received death threats after setting out the […]

Jeremy Corbyn pledged an end to austerity and insisted Labour has what it takes to win back Leave voters in the next election, during a visit to a solidly Brexit-voting area of the Midlands. The Labour leader said his party offered ‘a real end to austerity’ and slammed prime minister Theresa May for cutting council […]

The Brexit vote illustrated justified anger in Yorkshire – but exiting the EU will only create more misery, CHEVAN ILANGARATNE argues, as he prepares to march for a people’s vote in London. In the South of England, people from the North – Yorkshire in particular – are often characterised as ‘thick’, ‘ignorant’ and ‘racist’. And […]

MPs are to go ahead with their week-long break in February despite it coming just weeks before Brexit. There had been speculation that the annual break would be dropped in order to allow time to push through vital Brexit legislation. But Commons leader Andrea Leadsom today told MPs that Parliament would rise on February 14 […]

As Estonia celebrates its 100th anniversary, SI HAWKINS finds an unusual national symbol at the centre of commemorations, which chronicles every twist of the country’s exceptionally eventful century The crew of the Kalev at the 1937 Portsmouth naval parade. Photo: Estonian Maritime Museum – Credit: Archant For a nation which has endured so many sea […]

Stannah has become the latest business to erect a large yellow sign warning about the consequences of Brexit. This company, which is known for producing its stairlifts as well as escalators and conventional lifts, has warned Brexit will put its business at risk. It has said that over a half of its stairlifts are sold […]

MICHAEL WHITE on the looming conclusion for Brexit’s ring a ring o’roses and why we’re all about to fall down I turned on Radio 4 one morning this week to hear a Sinn Féin politician lecturing the UK government on morality (sic) and opportunistically suggesting an Irish referendum on the border might now be due. […]

Heading to the People’s Vote march on Saturday? Download our free placard and display it proudlyIn June more than 100,000 campaigners marched against Brexit. On Saturday organisers are expecting an even bigger crowd calling for a People’s Vote. Signs and banners are encouraged – for those less creative, why not download The New European’s placard, […]

Outspoken Brexiteer Theresa Villiers has been schooled by Adam Boulton for thinking she knows better than car manufacturers on trade. While most presenters would normally allow an European Research Group members to whiter on about plans for a ‘Canada-style free-trade agreement’ Sky News’ Adam Boulton was taking no prisoners. MORE: ‘Are you a spokesman for […]

Anti-Brexit figurehead GINA MILLER​ issues a final rallying call ahead of this weekend’s protest There is no question in my mind that this Saturday’s People’s Vote ‘March For The Future’ will break records. The reason is simple: there is a record-breaking number of people in our country who feel utterly disenfranchised politically. They feel ignored […]

Multimillionaire Hollywood actor Sir Michael Caine has weighed into the Brexit debate, saying he would rather be poor and outside the EU than rich and in it. The star, who has an estimated fortune of £57m, also repeated the long-since-dismissed claim by Brexiteers that getting a deal with the EU would be fine because of […]

Theresa May is facing a backlash from Brexiteers after indicating she is ready to consider extending Britain’s transition out of the EU for a further year, to the end of 2021. The prime minister told a crunch European Council summit in Brussels that she was “ready to consider” the extension floated by EU chief negotiator […]

LIRON VELLEMAN calls on Labour supporters to be heard loud and clear at the People’s Vote March. Respect for human dignity and human rights. Democracy and equality. These are reasons why I joined the Labour Party in 2011. They are also the basic tenets of the European Union. I’ve been an active campaigner ever since. […]

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 Guildford in Surrey, hometown of The Stranglers. Will there be a European Female on the panel – or just another case of No More Heroes? Here’s who’s who and where […]

The public expects Britain to crash out of the EU without a deal and a rising proportion now expects living standards to drop, according to a major new study. The survey, by the Policy Institute at King’s College London, in partnership with Ipsos MORI and the UK in a Changing Europe, reveals what the public […]

MITCH BENN has a simple message for all of those considering marching on Saturday – get on the bus and turn up! It can be tricky sometimes, when trying to spur one’s contemporaries into action (which appears to be pretty much my full-time job these days) to strike the proper balance between urgency and despair. […]

While People’s Vote campaigners prepare for one of the biggest political protests in over a decade just a dozen turned out for a ‘Save Brexit’ protest in London. Anti-Brexit demonstrators. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images. – Credit: AFP/Getty Images The pro-Brexit protesters were chanting ‘bin the backstop’ outside Downing Street as the urged Theresa May to […]

A top health official has admitted concerns over medicine supplies after Brexit are keeping him awake at night. Sir Chris Wormald told MPs he also lost sleep about the impact quitting the EU would have on the NHS workforce as well as future arrangements about treating patients on their travels. The issues were the same […]

Former prime minister Sir John Major has attacked Brexiteers who told ‘vote-gathering fantasies’ during the referendum campaign. Delivering the Michael Quinlan Lecture in central London, Sir John said ‘it should not be forgotten that we ignore the EU, disdain it, or stand aside from it, at our own risk’ and added: ‘There is irony here: […]

Tory hardliners have been dealt a blow after a senior US Treasury department official warned that a hard Brexit could hurt global financial stability. David Malpass, Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, said the US was working with officials in the UK and EU to limit the risks of Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc. The admission […]

In a heated exchange on the Today programme John Humphrys said that Boris spoke ‘for a very strong powerful force of public opinion’. The Radio 4 presenter was debating with the Irish deputy prime minister Simon Coveney whether or not the proposed backstop would push Northern Ireland into deeper and closer links with the EU. […]

Margaret Thatcher’s former press secretary has urged Theresa May to ditch diplomacy in Brexit talks with the EU and claimed the Northern Irish “might be glad of a hard border”. Sir Bernard Ingham, who served as Thatcher’s chief spinner from 1979 to 1990, also bizarrely claimed that the Union’s “Franco-German bosses and their lackeys” were […]

A no-deal Brexit will wreck the economy, the SNP’s Westminster leader has warned. Ian Blackford slammed Theresa May’s government saying it would be ‘madness’ to leave the EU without a deal. His comments come as May prepares to address EU leaders in Brussels amid falling expectations and heightened fears the UK is set to spiral […]

BELLA FRIMPONG says the UK has benefited hugely from the freedom of movement. Here she gives a personal account of how it has helped her family. ‘Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.’ A question that sends a shiver down the spine of most normal people, forced upon us by ‘facilitators’ to make us acquaint […]

Brexit could be delayed beyond March to give extra time for a fresh referendum or another general election, a former EU official has claimed. The former Eurogroup president and Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that the deadlock behind negotiations may continue for some time. In a blog post on LinkedIn he said that ‘there […]

SOPHIA DEBOICK on one of the most spectacular musical performances ever staged The first years of Georgian England were ones of political intrigue against a background of beauty and grandeur. As the musical baroque reached its apotheosis, and new ways of thinking emerged, Europe stood on the threshold of the Enlightenment and the age of […]