Brexit

The UK will not take the lead in rescuing Eurostar as it is majority-owned by France, a cabinet minister has said. Transport secretary Grant Shapps told MPs that the government is “very keen for Eurostar to survive” but insisted “it’s not our company”. The cross-Channel rail operator revealed in November that it is “fighting for […]

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suggested to the House of Commons he could invoke Article 16  “to ensure that there is no barrier down the Irish Sea” after Brexit. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, DUP MP Ian Paisley said people in Northern Ireland were being made to “feel like foreigners in our own country” by […]

Brittany Ferries has introduced three new freight services between the Republic of Ireland and France as a result of new post-Brexit laws. The sailings will begin on Thursday, February 4, with a sailing between Rosslare and St Malo. Meanwhile, the first of two new sailings out of Cork to Roscoff will begin this Saturday.   Normally, most […]

The government has been defeated a second time over its post-Brexit trade bill. The legislation would allow the UK government to forge new agreements with other countries after leaving the EU. But opponents want to see parliament given a bigger role, with a former Tory minister leading calls for ministers to publish draft negotiating objectives to […]

Offices belonging to anti-Brexit Alliance Party politicians in Northern Ireland have been daubed with graffiti. North Down MP Stephen Farry and Strangford Assembly member Kellie Armstrong were targeted. The vandalism included “RIP Good Friday Agreement” in a reference to the 1998 peace deal which largely ended decades of conflict. Alliance leader Naomi Long said: “This […]

Independence would hit the Scottish economy harder than Brexit, and rejoining the EU would make little difference, a team of academics has said. The economic damage from leaving both unions would be the equivalent of an income loss of between £2,000 and £2,800 per person, according to an analysis of trade by the London School […]

No 10 has said a three-month Brexit grace period for retailers in Northern Ireland should be extended in order to avoid further trade disruptions. Cabinet minister Michael Gove admitted there had been “significant” problems at the Northern Ireland border ever since the UK left the single market on January 1. Supermarkets in the region have been […]

A beekeeper trying to bring 15 million bees into the UK says he has been told they may be seized and burned because of post-Brexit laws. Patrick Murfet wants to import the baby Italian bees for his Kent business and to help farmers pollinate valuable crops. But new laws that came into effect after the […]

Twitter users have chided Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns for a post she sent celebrating the one year anniversary of Brexit. Jenkyns, a Brexiteer, posted a photo of herself with constituents celebrating Britain’s formal exit from the EU on January 31, 2020. “A year ago today when we had our ‘Big Brexit Bash’ Celebration in Morley. Happy […]

Arlene Foster has accused Boris Johnson of a dereliction of duty over Brexit after claiming he is not doing enough to address Irish Sea trade disruption, claiming his excuses were “patronising and offensive”. Northern Ireland’s first minister demanded action from the prime minister amid the continued fallout from the EU’s botched move to invoke a […]

An anti-Brexit campaigner has called on politicians in Westminster and Brussels to “think more maturely” after the EU invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Scientists for EU director Dr Mike Galsworthy said the “kerfuffle” over the weekend “in no way justifies burning £200billion on Brexit”. On Friday, EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen triggered Article 16 of […]

MITCH BENN on how Remainers are now accused of revelling in the adverse impacts of Brexit. There’s always an element of ‘preaching to the choir’ when it comes to print journalism in this country; pretty much every newspaper on the stands has, to varying degrees, a political standpoint of which its readers are aware and, presumably, endorse. So […]

One month on, its obvious faults have already emerged. More worrying though is the way Brexit has consolidated its backers, says NICK COHEN. The comforting thing to say about Boris Johnson is that he is a laughable idiot. And not just a village idiot. But an idiot for all seasons, an idiot who bestrides the narrow world […]

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said he halted a post-Brexit review of workers’ rights because it was not a “constructive thing to do”. Kwarteng took over as secretary of state from Alok Sharma, who has been appointed full-time president of the UN Cop26 climate conference, three weeks ago. He told the BBC’s Political Thinking that […]

A clip of Boris Johnson laying out the case for the union has backfired spectacularly after Twitter users pointed out the ‘hypocrisy’ of his argument.  Johnson toured a vaccine facility in Scotland on Thursday where he said he “believed in the power of doing things together”.  The prime minister’s comment comes as he toured the […]

Former chief Brexit negotiator David Frost has been appointed as the head of a new International Policy Unit in No 10, the prime minister has announced. Lord Frost had been due to be the new National Security Adviser, a role which will instead be filled by Sir Stephen Lovegrove – the permanent secretary to the Ministry […]

James O’Brien has warned the debate surrounding Scottish independence risked turning the UK “upside down again”. The LBC presenter’s comment comes as Boris Johnson visited Scotland on Thursday in a bid to “shore up” the union. Johnson defied advice from Scotland’s first minister that visiting the country would amount to breaking lockdown rules and that he should […]

Without Scotland and Northern Ireland, England and Wales will need its own campaign to rejoin the EU. There us a simple requirement for a new political party with one objective: for England and Wales to rejoin the EU. (Scotland is going to do under its own steam, Northern Ireland has not left.) This is urgent […]

Readers are sceptical momentum behind Rejoin will come before the 2030s. I have just finished reading the excellent Brexitland by Maria Sobolewska and Robert Ford (recommended in TNE some weeks ago). It provides an analysis, often of survey information over decades, of why the UK divided, and continues to divide, into two camps over Brexit. […]

The UK government shut down the chance of continuing the Erasmus programme because it was “too European”, a Scottish minister has claimed. The education exchange programme was one of the casualties of the Brexit process, but Scotland and Wales are continuing to push for access to it. The UK government has announced a replacement scheme, […]

A review of worker’s rights post-Brexit, which unions feared would lower standards, will no longer be going ahead says business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng in an abrupt U-turn. The move has come as a huge surprise after he confirmed to MPs just last week that the government would be investigating how EU employment rights protections might change […]

The first inaugural meeting between the UK’s new diplomatic team in Brussels and senior EU officials since Brexit has been “postponed” in response to a spat over the bloc’s diplomatic status. Lindsay Croisdale-Appleby, formally appointed this month to represent the UK in Brussels, was due to meet the chief aide to the European council president, Charles Michel, […]

Touring musicians and road crews have been “betrayed” by the government in the Brexit trade deal, the Lords has been told. Liberal Democrat Lord Strasburger urged ministers to apologise for having “screwed up” negotiations and come back with nothing. Leading musicians have criticised the government’s Brexit deal for not including visa-free travel for musicians, with […]

Samantha Cameron has said her fashion label has faced “challenging and difficult” times since Britain left the EU on January 1. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, Cameron said her company had experienced “teething issues” in trading with the EU and urged No 10 to speak with small businesses. “[We] definitely deal with having […]

Readers have their say on how to fix Britain after Brexit. I think Ian Dunt’s list has some excellent ideas  (“15 ways to fix Britain”). However, I take exception to the idea that the only issue with British ‘citizenship’ is its prohibitive cost for new applicants. The fact is, that having now ceased to be […]

A Brussels politician has recommended Boris Johnson “pay for EU workers to stay” in the UK in a direct swipe at the government’s voluntary scheme to repatriate them. Former Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt said it was Britain’s “loss” and the EU’s “gain” after hearing about a scheme by the Home Office to pay EU nationals to voluntarily return […]

The Home Office has launched a voluntary repatriation scheme for EU nationals living in the UK. The Guardian has learned EU citizens are being offered financial incentives to leave the UK, months before the deadline to apply for settled status. Since January 1, EU citizens have been added to the government scheme which promises to pay […]

An expert has warned that Brexit negotiations with the EU could continue for half a century – as Britain tries to improve the existing deal it has agreed. Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, told the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that the UK could end up like Switzerland – a […]

Nigel Farage has been reminded of a comment he made claiming that fishing rights would be the “acid test” of any Brexit deal. A 33-second recording showing Farage making those claims have resurfaced on Twitter around the same time a former campaigner complained Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal had left her with “no fish”. “Acid test of Brexit […]

Conservative MPs have abstained on a motion to protect holiday pay, paid breaks, the 48-hour working week limit and legislation that bans firing and rehiring. While the motion was supported by 263 MPs, Tory MPs did not vote, with many Tory politicians failing to turn up for the debate. Labour frontbencher Andy McDonald told the Commons: […]

A group of EU citizens living in the UK who were prevented from voting in the 2019 European Parliament elections because of onerous registration requirements is preparing to take the government to court. The3million, which campaigns for an estimated three million EU citizens living in the UK, has taken legal action against the Cabinet Office […]

The UK’s role in a diplomatic row with the EU over the status of the bloc’s ambassador in London has been branded “vindictive” and “offensive” in the Lords. Foreign office minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon said the government continued to engage with the EU on the long-term arrangements for the EU delegation. Lord Ahmad told […]