Brexit

An Australian lawyer has slammed Priti Patel for appearing to copy her country’s asylum seeker policy, adding that any “decent” country would not process refugees offshore. Madeline Gleeson, a human rights lawyer, said the move to copy Australia’s immigration policy was “deeply concerning” and warned Westminster MPs against following suit. Gleeson’s comment comes after leaked documents showed the […]

The European Union has set the UK government a seven-day deadline over Brexit talks, as the bloc warns time is running out to ratify transitional arrangements. Officials on both sides are pessimistic about a deal being reached in the coming days, with the EU wanting an agreement by mid-November in order to allow MEPs to scrutinise the agreement […]

Historian Dan Snow has been left with his head in his hands after a Brexiteer made comparisons between Joe Biden’s support for the Good Friday Agreement and American support for the IRA. Lowri Turner -a former journalist and television presenter – appeared on the Jeremy Vine on 5 show to say that Biden was “not helpful” […]

Despite failing to mention it in his tweet, Boris Johnson was forced to talk Brexit with new president-elect Joe Biden. A spokesperson for the Democratic politician said that in the 25-minute telephone call there was a discussion about upholding the Good Friday Agreement, after Biden insisted it was essential to any future trade deal between […]

There are fears that Brexit could hold up the coronavirus vaccine in the United Kingdom,  as the transition period comes to an end on December 31.  At present, there is an agreement with the European Union to keep the same rules in place until the end of the year, but the country needs a deal […]

Tate and Lyle Sugars, a company that has backed both the Tories and Brexit, have issued a warning to customers that it could be hit by significant disruption at the end of the transition period later this year. The company, which supplies major supermarkets including Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencers has warned the […]

Boris Johnson’s Internal Market Bill – which attempts to override international law – is to be tested in Northern Ireland’s High Court. An anonymous litigant is challenging the prime minister for acting in bad faith over the Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union, and signing it “without ever intending he should be bound by it”. […]

Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said the UK could “struggle for relevance” under Joe Biden’s presidency. The Remain campaigner also warned that the Democrat election winner would view Brexit developments in a “completely different way” from beaten incumbent Donald Trump, given his strong Irish roots. Clegg, who was David Cameron’s deputy in Downing Street […]

Brexiteer Kate Hoey has claimed that opponents of Boris Johnson’s Internal Market bill – which would override international law – are stabbing “in the back of the people of Northern Ireland”. The former Labour MP urged peers to ignore the comments of president-elect Joe Biden, claiming the original Brexit deal has “sold out” the people […]

Iain Duncan Smith has become the latest Brexiteer to worsen relations between Boris Johnson and Joe Biden’s administration, by telling the president-elect that Brexit “has nothing to do with him”. Over the weekend fellow European Research Group member John Redwood was criticised for sending a “warning letter” to Biden over Brexit, claiming they have a […]

Ken Clarke has attacked the government for behaving like a “third-world dictatorship” with the Internal Market Bill, claiming what it was asking politicians to do was “ridiculous and deeply damaging to the reputation of the country”. The former Tory minister said that Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill was “inferior” in comparison to the three attempts Theresa […]

Former Brexit Party MEP Claire Fox has delivered a speech in the House of Lords attacking opponents of Boris Johnson’s law-breaking Brexit bill, before voting against it herself. By a significant margin, peers voted against the legislation which has powers to enable ministers to override international law. And the Baroness of Buckley was one of […]

Key parts of Boris Johnson’s controversial Brexit legislation have been defeated by the Lords by a huge margin. Peers moved to strip controversial clauses from the UK Internal Market Bill that would enable ministers to break international laws. The Lords voted 433 to 165, a government defeat of 268, to reject law-breaking powers after fierce criticism […]

Former Conservative prime minister John Major has savaged the Brexit project warning that Britain is “no longer a great power” and “will never be so again”. In a pre-recorded lecture at Middle Temple the former MP claimed “even more brutal than expected” due to the UK’s negotiating “failures” and warned of its impact on Britain’s standing […]

A former Tory leader has led the calls for the government to “think again” over its controversial Brexit legislation as the peers plan to strip out powers that enable ministers to break international law. Brexiteer Lord Howard of Lympne is one of the rebels planning to remove the contentious parts of the UK Internal Market Bill, […]

Opposition peers have accepted government assurances over post-Brexit food standards after MPs continued to overturn their amendments to the Agriculture Bill. Ministers have pledged to offer increased parliamentary scrutiny of free trade agreements to ensure consistency of standards on human health, animal welfare and the environment. The Trade and Agriculture Commission, which represents UK farmers, retailers and consumers, […]

Lord Kilclooney has been criticised for describing US vice president-elect Kamala Harris solely as “the Indian”. The former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) deputy leader was ordered to apologise and retract his tweet about Harris, who is the first black and Asian-American person to be elected to the role. The crossbench peer, who previously deleted a tweet […]

A Brexiteer MP has penned what pro-Brexit newspapers have described as a ‘warning letter’ to president-elect Joe Biden over Brexit. John Redwood said he accepted that Biden now has a “clear mandate” in America, but he also claimed there was a “larger percentage mandate” for the EU referendum result, despite both equating to around 52% of […]

Joe Biden’s triumph is a source of great celebration, but it also adds to the sadness I feel about the UK’s self-imposed decline, says ALASTAIR CAMPBELL  Sometimes, it is in emotion that deep truth is spoken. Anyone who, like me, was glued to CNN from Tuesday to Saturday last week, will have seen such a moment […]

Boris Johnson will not back down over the Internal Market Bill, despite it threatening to create early tensions with US president-elect Joe Biden, a cabinet minister has claimed. Environment secretary George Eustice said the government would reinstate controversial clauses that enable ministers to break international laws if Lords try to strip them out. Biden warned […]

Environment secretary George Eustice has admitted that post-Brexit trade talks with America may have to start again following Joe Biden’s win, before claiming a deal is no longer “critical” to the economy. Eustice said it could be possible to pick up on US trade negotiations with Biden’s administration where they were left with Donald Trump, […]

STEVE ANGLESEY lists his the Brexiteers of the Week. MARTIN DAUBNEY“‘Stay at home’? Good luck with that. I, and many others I reckon, would rather face jail than miss honouring Remembrance Sunday next week,” wrote the former Brexit Party MEP, Laurence Fox sideman and self-styled warrior against virtue-signalling woke snowflakes. Martin, it’s possible to remember […]

A Brexiteer has claimed that more British politicians should be like Donald Trump after the US election result showed the president performing better than expected in the polls. Simon Wolfson, the pro-Brexit boss of Next, said Trump’s success should be a “wake-up call” to politicians here. He told Question Time: “It does amaze me that Trump […]

In a deeply personal essay, writer PETER GUMBEL explains how the waning of national identities, combined with Brexit, has led him to reassess his own sense of who he is. November 9 is a day heavy with significance for my family: on that date in 1938, my maternal grandfather was arrested in his German hometown […]

Rory Stewart has called Boris Johnson the “most accomplished liar in public life” in a personal swipe against the prime minister in an article in the Times Literary Supplement. Stewart, who was of 21 rebel Tory MPs fired for voted against Johnson’s Brexit agenda last year, accused Johnson of being an opportunist who created the “historical forces” […]

MICHAEL WHITE on the growing twin nightmares of authoritarianism and incompetence in the week arch-opportunist Nigel Farage returns to frontline politics. Whatever the final outcome it was clear within hours of the polls closing that the result of the US election has not been the decisive repudiation of the Trump Era for which progressive opinion […]

A Brexiteer has fumed about the possibility of Joe Biden entering the White House, claiming the loss of Donald Trump will hit the UK, and that any economic damage will be the fault of Remainers. Express commentator Paul Baldwin sparked anger from pro-EU campaigners after he said it was the “rabble of Remainer cohorts” who would […]

LIZ GERARD is second to no one in her criticisms of Boris Johnson. Yet for all his manifest failings, she cannot help feel some sympathy for his current predicament. But when anger starts turning to pity, how long can a prime minister last? At what point does anger turn to pity? Do we rediscover our essential […]

Michel Barnier has said “very serious divergences” remain between the European Union and UK as efforts continue to strike a post-Brexit trade deal. The EU’s chief negotiator said the main stumbling blocks remained the “level playing field” aimed at preventing unfair competition on areas including state subsidies, fisheries policy and the governance of any deal. […]

MPs have for a second time overturned measures from peers aimed at protecting UK food standards in future trade deals. The House of Commons voted 331 to 272, majority 59, to disagree with a House of Lords amendment to the Agriculture Bill which sought to ensure imported foodstuffs met equivalent benchmarks to those followed by […]

Campaigners are embarking on a fresh bid to get the Brexit transition period extended during the continuation of the Covid-19 crisis. More than ten thousand have already signed a petition requesting an extension, which would also look to hold a referendum on any trade deal agreed with the EU, meaning the government must respond. It comes […]

Boris Johnson’s spokesman has confirmed that the UK government had missed the European Union’s deadline for replying to its formal letter of notice about the controversial Internal Market Bill. It leaves the government facing further legal action for failure to explain why he intends to break international law over Brexit, after ministers admitted an intention to […]