News and Opinion

The history and legacy of slavery is what this popcorn-selling blockbuster both fights and mourns, says playwright, author and critic Bonnie Greer Black Panther is on its way to joining an elite society: the Billion Dollar Movie Club. Steeped in Afrofuturism and African American phantasmagoria, this is the film that has defied expectations. And what […]

Rick Llewellyn wrote to his MP one final time before leaving Britain and emigrating to France. Here he quotes the parting words he received from his MP. On February 24 I wrote to my (now ex) Labour MP John Cryer asking to be removed from his mailing list. I explained: ‘As a consequence of Brexit […]

Progressives expect great things from Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau. But can the telegenic leaders actually deliver, asks Paul Knott. Handsome, charismatic, liberal and francophone. French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could be caricatures of a New European reader’s dream political leader. Critics with different perspectives have dismissed the duo as […]

Whatever the truth behind the suspected poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, former diplomat PAUL KNOTT has already seen – at very close quarters – exactly what the Russian regime is capable of. The as yet unexplained sudden collapse of the exiled former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on the […]

This week’s New European podcast is available now. In this episode the team tackle all the big news stories and Geri Scott reveals what the expats in Spain think of Brexit. They also take a look back at a week of warnings from the Lords and poke more fun at Henry Bolton. Another Brexiteer of […]

One reader has started defining the Brexiteers that the BBC and mainstream media continues to roll out as the ‘Dismissers’. I wrote to the BBC, almost daily, during the Referendum of June 2016 complaining of their bias. Then, as now, the Remainer argument is put forward first, to be followed by some standby Brexiteer who […]

David Woodhead wants to remind Eurosceptics what former Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher had to say about Europe. Andrew Adonis refers to Margaret Thatcher’s Bruges speech of 1988. Although this is regarded as having injected the anti-EEC/EU poison into the Conservative party from which we have suffered ever since, it is worth recalling those aspects of […]

Readers cautiously welcome Labour’s shift in position on Brexit – here they explain why. Jeremy Corbyn’s speech does not go far enough for me and I cringed at the ‘Brexit that puts the working people first’ soundbite. However this is a welcome first step. We have moved on significantly from sixth-form dismissals of the EU […]

In this week’s diary column, EU workers find a champion in the Home Office and the plan is laid out for the next phase of the Leveson inquiry The European Union’s managerial class has found an unlikely champion in the Home Office. Mandrake hears that Amber Rudd’s department has not taken kindly to Amnesty International’s […]

The government has been accused of a Brexit power grab amid a furious row with Scottish and Welsh ministers. Details of the devolved powers at the heart of a dispute have now been published. The government want to retain temporary control in areas such as agriculture, fisheries, food labelling and public procurement after Brexit. Ministers […]

It is no secret that Russia attempted to influence the outcome of Brexit. The same is likely true of the US election. And now Moscow is the prime suspect in a targeted hit on British soil. Apart from booting out some Russians and sending them packing back to Moscow what can Theresa May do? She […]

The New European’s Editor-at-Large on Theresa May’s strategy of wishful thinking in Brexit negotiations Wishful thinking. We all do it. I hope Burnley win at West Ham on Saturday. That is my wish. At the far end of fanaticism – mine runs quite deep and I have the obsessive personality medical certificates as evidence – […]

Steve Anglesey names the worst Brexiteers of the week You’ve heard of knobbly knee contests – now meet the winner of the ‘knob on your knee’ contest… DANIEL HANNAN ‘The Leave campaign shit up shop 19 months ago,’ began a hastily-corrected if wholly accurate tweet from ‘Brain of Brexit’ Hannan last weekend. The rewritten version […]

Nicola Sturgeon has hit out against Theresa May’s ‘extreme Brexit’ warning it will leave future generations to ‘bear the brunt of another right-wing ideological experiment’. The SNP leader insisted Conservative plans to remove the UK not only from the European Union but from the customs union and the single market as well represented a ‘comprehensive […]

Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU. And yet, Lib Dem leader VINCE CABLE argues in an exclusive article, they face the hardest Brexit of all Theresa May has been seriously hampered by her own Brexit negotiations with her misconceived and premature red lines. There was no need to rule out staying in the […]

Cakeism is now a thing. Coined in the pages of The New European by the likes of Bonnie Greer and Michael White it is a brand of politics aligned with populism – basically they tell the electorate, like Boris did, we can ‘have our cake and eat it’. Of course, that is utter nonsense when […]

He was supposed to be its biggest fan, but Donald Trump has just declared war on Brexit, says ANDREW ADONIS Terrible news for the Brexiters: Trump has declared war on Brexit. The good news is that he has done so in time for us to reassess the value of the EU for our trade and […]

The government has been accused of a “total betrayal” of EU nationals living in Britain who believed their future status had been secured post-Brexit. Former ambassador Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, who wrote Article 50 which triggered the formal withdrawal process, warned that the exodus of essential workers would only speed up. The independent crossbencher made […]

Heard the one about the comedian being sued by an ex after she used him in her act? IAN WILKIE says it is no laughing matter Stand-up comedian Louise Reay is being sued by her ex-husband for defamation after allegedly referring to him in a derogatory manner during her show at the Edinburgh Fringe. The […]

“A price worth paying” is the Brexiteers’ answer to everything. But, says MITCH BENN, they’ve yet to specify what it’s worth paying for I had a stand-up gig in Norwich the other night, and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t especially looking forward to it. It’s not that there’s anything objectionable about the comedy club in […]

Vladimir Putin is not going to be brought to heel with vague threats we might not send Prince Edward to football’s global jamboree Cancel the World Cup! Tear down the stadia! Burn the Panini albums! Rescind Clive Tyldesley’s flight to Moscow (actually, definitely do this one). For foreign secretary Boris Johnson has told the Commons […]

It was years of failure on immigration by then prime minister David Cameron and home secretary Theresa May that caused Brexit, argues Progress director RICHARD ANGELL In the roll call of guilt for why Brexit happened, it is the names of two people ostensibly on the ‘Remain’ side of the debate that come to my […]

The UK economy will benefit from sticking as closely as possible to European Union rules after Brexit, a senior MEP said after talks with Theresa May. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator, said he wanted the UK to sign an association agreement with the EU to cover its relationship after leaving the bloc. Meanwhile, […]

Ousted Ukip leader Henry Bolton today attempted to channel Disraeli as he launched a new political party. Mr Bolton, unceremoniously axed from the Ukip leadership last month following a row over racist texts sent by his girlfriend, said OneNation would serve “a need for a truly professional political party that believes in Britain, that preserves […]

In the bicentenary of Frederick Douglass’ birth, the city of Newcastle is remembering the pivotal, if little-known, role it played in the life of one of America’s greatest sons. When President Donald Trump spoke at a breakfast to launch black history month last year, he gave the impression that he thought Frederick Douglass – the […]

The Conservatives have abandoned decades of pragmatism in pursuit of a pipedream. A former adviser to William Hague argues the Party desperately needs a rethink. Will Darkest Hour sweep the board at the Oscars? Its theme of Britain standing alone heartens Brexiteers on both sides of the Atlantic. Channelling Gary Oldman’s Winston Churchill, Tory and […]

Donald Trump had Britain’s best interests at heart, said the Brexiteers. As he now threatens the world with a trade war, they’re being remarkably quiet One of the most curious assertions of the Brexiteers was that America, and, more specifically, Donald Trump, had Britain’s back. That, despite wildly diverging priorities and interests, Uncle Sam would […]

Patients’ lives could be put at risk after Brexit unless there is progress on continued research co-operation with the European Union, Labour is warning. Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth will say it is “utterly unacceptable” for there to be uncertainty about the arrangements after Brexit. He will also promise that Labour would ensure medics and […]

The prime minister has said the government was looking at customs arrangements between the United States and Canada as a possible solution to the Irish border issue – despite it having armed guards. Speaking in the House of Commons, Theresa May, in answer to a question from Labour MP Emma Reynolds, said: “There are many […]

Why Labour and Tory propositions on Brexit are much less than they appear. The recent Brexit propositions of Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May have succeeded only in adding to the muddle. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Wire/PA Images – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images If you’re a politician, or a toddler, it is possible that you now believe […]

The New European’s Editor-at-Large on his passion to halt the madness of Brexit You sometimes get the best answers by throwing back questions to the people who asked them, and seeking the wisdom of crowds. So, Monday night, Edinburgh, and in the question and answer, a man asks me, having heard me on Brexit, Trump […]

Claims Theresa May’s chief of staff leaked an explosive letter Boris Johnson sent to the PM highlight the toxic atmosphere in the cabinet. Perhaps not surprisingly the claims have been denied – but the letter was leaked to the media by someone for some reason. What is undoubtedly true is that the cabinet remains at […]