Brexit

DONALD MACINTYRE on the squealing and dealing from Boris Johnson’s government over Brexit. We’ve been here before, of course. It was on March 13, 2003, that the cabinet were told “the message that must go out…[is] that we pin the blame on France for its isolated refusal to agree.” This was three days after Jacques […]

JAMES BALL on how the spell is broken for a one-trick phoney. Any man can tell you he can jump off the roof of a building, entirely naked and free of strings, parachutes, or similar, and levitate safely to the ground. An incredibly persuasive man, perhaps backed up by faked video evidence and more, might […]

A former EU diplomat has described Boris Johnson’s last-minute meeting in Brussels as ‘just for show’, claiming the prime minister was adamant about pursuing a no-deal Brexit. Sir Ivan Rogers, the former UK ambassador to the EU, said Johnson had intervened in Brexit talks too late to yield a positive result. Rogers said officials in Brussels believe […]

A Brexiteer MP in the House of Commons has been accused of treating Britain’s EU partners with “patronising contempt” by a Maltese MEP after he claimed Britain was nothing like her country. Daniel Kawczynski took to Twitter to complain about the EU’s handling of Brexit talks. He said: “Mistake EU making is they are treating us as if we […]

Boris Johnson has been told he has “no mandate” for a no-deal Brexit after a petition was handed in urging him to strike a deal with the EU. More than 100,000 people signed the petition organised by European Movement UK, a grass-roots campaign group focused on Britain’s relationship with Brussels. Signatories claimed that “a damaging No Deal […]

Michael Gove has been compared to Bart Simpson for his refusal to accept responsibility for the “chaos” caused by Brexit. But instead the Cabinet Office minister compared himself to Groundskeeper Willie – the fictional Scottish school janitor – only to be told that Willie declared his support for Scottish independence at the 2014 referendum. SNP MP Owen […]

A grammar school in Kent will close for two days after Christmas over fears Brexit will cause debilitating traffic jams. Maidstone Grammar School (MGS) will instead teach pupils virtually between January 4 and January 5. The all boys secondary school is located a mile away from the M20 , which is expected to rammed with lorries […]

Ireland’s deputy leader said he believes Boris Johnson would be willing to make concessions to get a post-Brexit trade deal, claiming his politics is closer to the “liberal” view he took as mayor of London. Leo Varadkar said the European Union and the UK have “more to gain and more to salvage” from an agreement […]

Number 10 has been left angered after the SNP’s constitution and Brexit secretary branded Boris Johnson and his Tories as ‘extremists’. Michael Russell hit out at the Westminster government for their “damaging and harmful” Brexit ideology. Speaking at Holyrood, he told MSPs: “It is utterly incredible that some 1,629 days since the European Union referendum, […]

Boris Johnson has scrambled together a new unit in Downing Street to manage the government’s response to the “nightmare scenario” of a no-deal Brexit. The winter control and co-ordination cell, based in No 10, will report daily confidential briefings to the prime minister about emerging threats such as a surge in Covid-19 cases and extreme […]

A radio presenter has made a passionate plea for Brexiteers to let go of their “incoherent anger” – insisting they will not be blamed for the outcome of their vote. LBC radio presenter James O’Brien was keen for Brexiteers to drop the anger now that the UK has left the European Union, after still receiving […]

Former Tory chancellor George Osborne has claimed that one of the biggest winners of Brexit will be the European Union. Writing in the Evening Standard, Osborne said that although the “sovereignists” would be clear victors, he said there was so few of them who would actually welcome the outcome of Brexit. He explained: “Even among Eurosceptics, […]

Ineos boss Jim Ratcliffe has been accused of making “hollow promises” about the benefits of Brexit after he confirmed the new Grenadier cars will be built in France, and not in Wales, as had been hoped. The firm said the former Mercedes-Benz Hambach factory in Moselle, France, will build the new model of 4x4s following a deal […]

A BBC presenter has clashed with two Labour MPs over a series of “clarifications” about Boris Johnson’s ‘oven-ready deal’ Brexit deal comments after she claimed he had only promised to deliver the Withdrawal Agreement. On Tuesday’s programme, Politics Live presenter Jo Coburn dismissed suggestions from Labour MP Angela Eagle that the prime minister has misled the electorate with […]

A war of words has broken out after a BBC presenter was criticised after issuing two clarifications over Boris Johnson’s ‘oven-ready deal’ Brexit deal comments, claiming he had only promised to deliver the Withdrawal Agreement. On Tuesday’s programme, Politics Live presenter Jo Coburn dismissed suggestions from Labour MP Angela Eagle that the prime minister has misled […]

Michael Gove has been challenged to explain why it is a good thing that Northern Ireland is given the “best of both worlds” with access to the benefits of the UK and European Union, but that it should not apply to England, Scotland or Wales. Gove told reporters that the agreement with the EU will […]

Tory Brexit hardliners have issued a fresh warning to Boris Johnson ahead of his meeting with EU leaders in Brussels. Sir Bill Cash, chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee, told the prime minister that they will be “watching” with “great diligence” over what he proposes and they hope their confidence in him will be justified. The MP […]

Tory claims that Boris Johnson’s “oven-ready deal” only referred to the Withdrawal Agreement have been disproven by the re-emergence of a video from the last general election. MPs on the government’s benches have scrambled to dismiss questions about the prime minister’s claims of an agreement “ready to go” by claiming it only referred to the […]

Brexiteers in Spain are “the ones who are moaning the most now” about leaving the EU, a Briton living in the country has said. A caller by the name Gareth has told the LBC’s James O’Brien that Remainers living in Europe had “adjusted” to the Brexit process better than “the Leavers”. Gareth, a Remainer with Veterans for Europe,  said […]

The Belgian prime minister had reminded Boris Johnson that the UK’s Covid-19 vaccine was actually “Made in Europe”. Alexander De Croo trolled Johnson after he tweeted his thanks “to our NHS, to all of the scientists who worked so hard to develop this vaccine, to all the volunteers” as the UK began its roll-out of […]

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has been reminded that he swore on his job that the government would not back down on the Internal Market Bill. Hours after MPs voted to reinstate clauses which break international law into the Brexit bill after the Lords rejected them, Gove announced that it would drop parts of the […]

MPs could be forced to sit in the House of Commons over Christmas to rush through a Brexit deal if one is agreed with the European Union at the last minute ahead of the end of the transition period. It is expected the House of Commons will rise on Monday 21 December to Monday 4 […]

A food and beverage boss has described preparing for Brexit in the middle of a pandemic like “an assault on people’s headspace”.  Ian Wright, chief executive of the UK’s Food and Drink Federation, told a Commons committee on his industry faces a triple whammy of financial hardship if Downing Street proceeds forward with leaving the EU […]

The European Commission has said no date had yet been fixed for a Brexit meeting in Brussels between prime minister Boris Johnson and president Ursula von der Leyen. Commission spokesman Eric Mamer told reporters in Brussels the call had focused on the “sticking points” in the negotiations but said it was a “very cordial” call. There will […]

A pro-Brexit caller on the James O’Brien show said he was delighted to be free of EU regulations but struggled to name one he disagreed with. Dave from Epsom told LBC listeners he was a Brexiteer because he did not believe in a “federal Europe”, which at first he struggled to define but eventually described […]

Boris Johnson has said he is still hopeful about reaching a Brexit deal with the EU but that it was proving “very, very difficult” to make progress. Later this week Johnson will head to Brussels for face-to-face talks with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in an attempt to salvage a deal, with time […]

Matt Hancock has ignored Britain’s medicines regulator to repeat a debunked claim that Britain fast-tracked the approval of a coronavirus vaccine thanks to Brexit. The health secretary doubled down on claims that being outside the EU allowed Britain to “change the law” to allow a speedy approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine last week, becoming the first country in the world to […]

MPs have voted 357 to 268, a majority of 89, to reinsert a controversial section of the UK Internal Market Bill which enables ministers to breach international law over Brexit. These are the politicians that voted with the government to overturn a House of Lords decision to remove them: Conservative Adam AfriyieAdam HollowayAlan MakAlberto CostaAlec […]

MPs have voted 357 to 268, a majority of 89, to reinsert a controversial section of the UK Internal Market Bill which enables ministers to breach international law over Brexit. The House of Commons restored sections of the Bill removed by peers, as talks between the UK and EU continue in search of a deal […]

The government has been defeated in the Lords over giving parliament a bigger say in the approval of post-Brexit trade agreements. Peers backed by 308 votes to 261, majority 47, a cross-party amendment to the Trade Bill calling for greater accountability and transparency of deals. The legislation will enable the UK to forge new commercial […]

Shadow chancellor of the Duchy Rachel Reeves has put down James Cleverly over his claim that the “oven-ready deal” promised at the last general election had been delivered. Cleverly, appearing on BBC Breakfast earlier, said that Boris Johnson’s comments only related to the Withdrawal Agreement and not a Brexit deal overall. He said: “That ‘oven-ready’ that […]

A charity that advocates for migrant rights’ has launched legal action against Priti Patel arguing the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) causes unlawful discrimination. The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) is calling on the home secretary to scrap or at least extend the scheme beyond June 2021.   They warn failure to do so could result in tens of thousands EU nationals losing […]