Brexit

Downing Street is seeking to hire someone to help improve its image through engagements with social media influencers. The Cabinet Office is currently advertising for a Relationship Manager – Influencers and Civil Society to sell Britain’s “climate action” efforts and role in the COP26 – the UN’s annual climate change summit meeting – to “high profile influencers […]

British pensioners are being forced out of Spain’s Costa del Sol due to changes brought about by Brexit, ex-pats living in the country have said.  Under new rules introduced on January 1, tourists, including people who have a second home in the country but have not taken up residency, will only be able to spend […]

Hauliers are spending tens of thousands of pounds bringing empty lorries to Northern Ireland, an industry spokesman has said. Seamus Leheny, of Logistics NI, said exports of goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain are doing well, however, less is coming back across the Irish Sea as suppliers are faced with new customs demands. There […]

Border officials in the Netherlands have confiscated ham sandwiches and other food items from UK travellers due to post-Brexit rules. Dutch TV network NPO filmed customs patrols explaining to arrivals that they cannot take meat or dairy products into the EU. One driver who arrived by ferry at the Hook of Holland sea port was […]

Theresa May has insisted Britain must reject “any push towards nationalism and isolationism” if it wants to prosper post-Brexit and deal with the effects of Covid-19. The Conservative former prime minister also reiterated her criticism of Boris Johnson for cutting the UK’s aid and threatening to breach international law over Brexit, warning this risked undermining […]

A new insurance card enabling UK travellers to access healthcare in the European Union has been launched. Global Health Insurance Cards (GHIC) became available on Monday as part of the UK’s post-Brexit deal with the EU. It replaces European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC), which covered EU countries as well as some non-EU countries such as […]

A Fine Gael politician has warned that Brexit lobbying group Leave.EU may be breaking data protection rules ever since it moved to the Republic of Ireland this month. Neale Richmond, the Irish Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Rathdown, has written to the EU’s domain registry, EURid, and his own country’s data protection commissioner querying if Leave.EU was GDPR […]

The UK will have to “fight its way to the table” as US-president elect Joe Biden seeks to rebuild American relations around the world, according to a study. With MPs set to debate Britain’s future foreign policy in the Commons on Monday afternoon, a new research paper by Robin Niblett, director of the think tank […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he does not think there is a case for rejoining the EU, or “major renegotiation” of the trading arrangements set out in Boris Johnson’s trade deal. Sir Keir, who was a prominent voice in the campaign for a second referendum and in his leadership election promised to “defend […]

Britain will one day want to rejoin the EU, but will they have us back? Foreign policy expert NICK HOPKINSON outlines a possible route back to membership. Brexit is our biggest retreat from Europe since Dunkirk. We have distanced ourselves economically, and in many respects politically, from the EU as much as any European country can […]

A petition launched by touring musicians has amassed almost 230,000 signatures as they attempt to secure a free “cultural work permit” that would allow them free travel through the 27 member states to perform. The group of musicians and tour crew who have mostly been left unable to work due to the coronavirus pandemic say they […]

A seafood exporter has said the government has been “useless” at providing information to help businesses deal with new regulations caused by Brexit. Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, which represents chilled transport and storage companies, said hauliers were encountering issues at Britain’s borders despite the amount of cross border traffic still being quite […]

Percy Pigs could become more expensive because of tariffs caused by Brexit, Marks & Spencer’s chief executive has warned. The famous pink sweets are among more than 2,000 products sold by M&S that are affected by the “rule of origin” regulations set out in Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. The rules dictate whether import taxes, called tariffs, […]

A Brexiteer peer has accused politicians in the House of Lords who tried to block Brexit of “lacking the imagination to see life beyond Brussels”. Claire Fox, a former Brexit Party MEP, said such peers also shared with US president Donald Trump a “refusal to give losers’ consent”, and warned voters may look at “unelected lawmakers […]

A global parcel courier has said it has stopped road deliveries from the UK to the EU – including the Republic of Ireland – because of new “red tape” caused by Brexit. DPD said that as much as 20% of parcels destined for Europe are being returned because as they do not have the correct customs forms required under […]

Labour could dump Sir Keir Starmer in favour of a leader keen to rejoin the EU, a former frontbencher has warned. Former Labour whip Rosie Duffield said a majority of party MPs were “desperate to rejoin the EU at heart”. Speaking on HuffPost UK’s Commons People podcast, Duffield – who was forced to resign in May for […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has blocked an extension of a Commons committee tasked with scrutinising the Brexit process. The Commons leader rejected a last-minute request by Labour’s Hilary Benn to extend the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union beyond its expiry date of January 16 for a further six months. A letter by Rees-Mogg to […]

The prime minister’s father has said his application for French citizenship was a “sentimental gesture” to his mother and said Boris Johnson should be “jolly pleased” about it. Stanley Johnson revealed he was applying for a French passport in December, soon after the Brexit deal negotiated by his son was approved by MPs. Appearing on […]

The UK’s departure from the EU not only introduced new phrases, but showed how language can be used to shape political debate. ANDREAS BUERKI reports. A number of expressions have entered everyday use since Brexit started. Terms like ‘Article 50’, ‘no deal’, ‘hard border’ may now seem just part of life but they were seldom, if ever, […]

One of the most alarming aspects of the pandemic is the sight of the mainstream right degenerating into attacks on public health policy. This week, as the virus spiralled completely out of control, they were still spewing out gibberish from the studios and newsrooms of respected British media outlets. “Lockdowns don’t work,” Talk Radio host Julia Hartley-Brewer […]

Lorry drivers passing through Kent have been issued with more than £32,000 in fines since the end of the Brexit transition period. Under the new Brexit deal that came into effect on January 1, hauliers must have the correct permit to enter Kent on their way into mainland Europe. However, scores of drivers have not, while […]

A key Brexit lobbying group has moved its registrant address to a location in the Republic of Ireland in order to keep its .EU suffix. Leave.EU, the domain name behind the Leave the EU campaign body funded by British businessman Arron Banks and supported by Nigel Farage, changed addresses to keep its .EU suffix as thousands of domains in […]

A Tory peer recently ennobled by Boris Johnson has urged the prime minister to remove EU consumer and worker protections now that Brexit has happened. Daniel Hannan has said safeguards on the use of data, workers rights, GM foods, and environmental standards should be scrapped. “Change is coming. To succeed outside the EU, we need […]

We lost… but we can’t just get over it. First we need to understand why we couldn’t stop Brexit. ALASTAIR CAMPBELL kicks off a crucial debate. On New Year’s Eve, I took a pill at 9pm, so as to be sure of being fast asleep two hours later, when the actual moment of departure from […]

A senior Welsh Conservative politician has come under fire after comparing the storming of Capitol Hill by Donald Trump protesters to politicians who supported a second referendum on Brexit. Andrew RT Davies is facing calls to remove a tweet aimed at Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Labour MS (member of the Senedd) Alun Davies. […]

Dominic Cummings has threatened to expose Remainer civil servants who ‘sabotaged Brexit’ in his latest attack on Whitehall. Boris Johnson’s former senior adviser used Twitter to hint at naming and shaming civil servants he clashed with during his time in government. Cummings left Downing Street in November after falling out with the prime minister. He has used his […]

Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal is “very unstable” and could see the UK miss out on millions of pounds worth of investment, a legal expert has warned. EU legal scholar Catherine Barnard told MPs companies may be put off investing in the UK because of unresolved questions on tariffs and trade. This comes as customs professionals […]

The Government’s decision not to subscribe to the ERASMUS scheme for student exchange is desperately sad.  The scheme has benefited British young people since 1987. In the Guardian, Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex,  was quoted as saying that “the Erasmus programme transformed the lives of thousands of young people”. My life was […]

“Teething problems” with Brexit as well as the continuing pandemic have posed issues for Britons trying to enter EU countries. Travellers heading for Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden have been held up at borders following the UK’s departure from the single market. A number of passengers were stopped at Heathrow Airport as they tried to […]

Nigel Farage should have been included on the 2021 New Year Honours list, enraged Brexiteers have said. Right-wing commentator Isabel Oakeshott said Farage “did more than anyone else on the planet to get us out of the EU”. Oakeshott said Farage’s exclusion from the Honour’s list was “a nonsense” which showed the honours system was “corrupt”. Patrick […]

There is speculation Ann Widdecombe could become the next Brexiteer peer following a “sell out” move in which she supported Boris Johnson’s controversial appointment of a disgraced Tory treasurer to the House of Lords. The Mail on Sunday‘s Anna Mikhailova accused Widdecombe of using her latest newspaper column to defend the prime minister’s ennoblement of Peter […]

Specialist online retailers in several EU countries have said they will no longer deliver to good to UK customers because of tax changes caused by Brexit. Small businesses across the trading bloc have halted sending supplies to the UK, with many saying they have stopped to avoid customs declarations and registering for VAT. Some customers […]