Brexit

Judges at Scotland’s highest civil court have rubber-stamped a European Court of Justice decision allowing the UK to unilaterally revoke its withdrawal from the EU. The Luxembourg court ruled last week that the UK can go back on its decision to trigger Article 50, which started the Brexit process, without the agreement of the other […]

Embattled Theresa May finally found somebody willing to back her Brexit deal today – Russian president Vladimir Putin. Putin used his annual televised press conference to say the UK should not hold a second referendum insisting May must ‘fulfil the will of the people’. The president said he ‘understood’ May’s position in ‘fighting for this […]

The UK Government has failed to recognise the reality of devolution in its “amateurish” approach to the Brexit negotiations, a Holyrood minister has said. Scottish constitutional relations secretary Mike Russell said Theresa May’s failure to work effectively with leaders of the opposition parties at Westminster, as well as with the devolved governments, had created the […]

Fiona Onasanya’s conviction could shift the political balance in the House of Commons and even have an influence on the outcome of Brexit. Labour has suspended former whip Fiona Onasanya and said she should resign as an MP after she was convicted of lying to police to avoid a speeding charge. The 35-year-old solicitor, who […]

If the prime minister wanted to use PMQs to scotch the idea her no-deal planning is a ruse to coax MPs into voting for her deal, she didn’t do a very good job of it. There is a view common among MPs that, rather than no-deal Brexit planning being a serious contingency measure – after […]

Brexit poses a “grave danger” to the NHS and is distracting attention away from the urgent issues facing the service in what could be the “toughest winter yet”, senior doctors have warned. The British Medical Association is marking the 100 days until Brexit milestone by repeating its call for a second referendum. The doctors’ union […]

Theresa May’s deputy has been forced to deny Brexit has forced the government to put any of its functions into “deep freeze”. Cabinet Office minister David Lidington issued the denial as Labour warned the Tory administration was in an “advanced state of decay” and seeking to abandon “non-essential” government business as it advanced preparations for […]

The European Commission has triggered an action plan to protect EU citizens and businesses from “major disruption” if the UK crashes out without a deal on March 29. With just 100 days to go the scheduled date of Brexit, and the UK Parliament far from ratifying Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement, the commission said it was […]

Britain will drop from the world’s fifth largest economy to its seventh next year as Brexit hits growth, a new analysis says. The country will drop two places in the rankings of the world’s largest economies in 2019, falling behind India and France as Brexit and the relatively weak pound knocks the country’s comparative status, […]

Britain’s army of small firms are being hung out to dry by the government and should ready themselves for the hardest EU divorce imaginable, a business adviser has warned. Speaking as the clock read 100 days to Brexit, Paul Hodges, who runs the company Ready For Brexit, warned that “all roads lead to no deal”. […]

Britain’s five main business groups have issued an urgent warning about a no-deal Brexit, saying many firms are now reaching “the point of no return”. Contingency plans are being put in place for the UK leaving the EU without a deal, which are a “significant drain” on companies’ time and money, the government was told. […]

Health officials lack a clear post-Brexit recruitment plan which could intensify current medical staff shortages, MPs have warned. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it had not been reassured by a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) “assertion” that there had not been a large exodus of staff since the 2016 referendum. In a […]

A Tory former minister has threatened to resign the party whip and vote against the government if it adopts a policy of seeking a no-deal Brexit. Grantham and Stamford MP Nick Boles said on Twitter that he would “vote in any way necessary to stop it from happening”. The former skills minister under David Cameron […]

The government is playing the “ultimate game of brinkmanship” over Brexit, a Tory backbencher has warned. Former business minister Anna Soubry branded the delay to Parliament’s meaningful vote on the prime minister’s Brexit deal “deeply irresponsible”. Her comments were echoed by fellow Tory Justine Greening, who said she would be “happy to sit through Christmas […]

Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of being “the midwife of Brexit” after failing to call a no-confidence vote in the government. The Labour leader tabled a motion calling on MPs to declare they have “no confidence in the prime minister due to her failure to allow the House of Commons to have a meaningful vote […]

3,500 troops will be on stand-by to deal with the impact of a no-deal Brexit, it has emerged as Theresa May ramps up her planning. The prime minister’s Brexit deal remains the preferred outcome for the government, she continues to insist, but with just over 100 days until the UK’s departure from the bloc the […]

Britain’s politicians and people have “dropped the vase” over Brexit and left the country in chaos, one of Theresa May’s closest EU allies has said. In an open letter to Dutch voters, Netherlands prime minister Mark Rutte compared the UK to a fragile vase and warned that it could “easily break”. He held up the […]

A Tory MP has said planning for a no-deal Brexit should have started straight after the vote in 2016 – not three months before Britain’s planned exit. Colin Clark, MP for Gordon, said there must be a plan in place in the event of the UK departing the EU without a deal. Prime minister Theresa […]

Who is on Question Time tonight and where do they stand on Brexit? Here’s your guide… David Dimbleby hosts the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme for the final time tonight, before a much-hyped, budget-blowing CGI scene in which he regenerates as Fiona Bruce. But aside from a final chance to hear the only man left […]

MALCOLM GARRETT, who designed Buzzcocks’ striking cover designs, is behind this week’s stunning New European front page. Download it here Next year will be the 50th anniversary of John and Yoko’s original War Is Over If You Want It poster campaign, which led a couple of years later to the Happy Xmas (War Is Over) […]

Hardline Tory Brexiteer Nadine Dorries has compared her own party leader to Adolf Hitler in his bunker at the end of the Second World War. In a full-frontal attack on the PM in the Commons, the Mid Bedfordshire MP said: “The prime Minister I think is being very badly advised by third-rate advisers in Number […]

Jeremy Corbyn has disappointed supporters by insisting he will wait until the “appropriate time” to table a motion of no-confidence in Theresa May’s government. The Labour leader told MPs that May must admit her Brexit deal is “dead” and criticised her “shambolic” Brexit negotiations, before adding: “She no longer has the authority to negotiate for […]

Veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner has been branded a “thug” after he appeared to call an SNP MP a “piece of shit” in a Brexit debate in the Commons. Skinner, who has served as MP for Bolsover for 48 years, could be seen angrily remonstrating with SNP MPs after Jeremy Corbyn was heckled during a […]

Theresa May’s desperate tour of Europe’s leaders took a farcical turn today as she managed to get locked inside her car ahead of meeting Angela Merkel. The prime minister’s door remained locked while staff worked to open it, eventually managing to let her out. Theresa May gets locked inside her car as she attempts to […]

Senior MPs have raised concern that the government could use parliamentary “trickery” to keep the Commons in Brexit “limbo”. Labour former minister Yvette Cooper has called for urgent assurance that ministers will not try to use “loopholes” to stop MPs having a say if the UK does not reach a deal with the EU. Cooper […]

John Bercow has mocked Philip Hammond after the Chancellor told Labour MPs to vote for Theresa May’s Brexit deal so “we can all move on”. The Commons speaker pulled Hammond up in Treasury questions after he, in answer to a question from the Opposition benches, said “there is a deal on the table” and MPs […]

A host of household names from the world of music have joined several leading industry bodies in calling on the government for an alternative to Brexit. Stars signing the letter drafted by Music4EU include Oscar winner Annie Lennox, Hall of Fame inductee Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, Brit-award winning pop star Paloma Faith and Grammy […]

An influential committee of MPs has criticised the government for failing to produce any short-term analysis of its Brexit deal and failing to model the Irish backstop. The Treasury Select Committee said it was “disappointed” that the Whitehall paper provided an analysis of the “Chequers” plan set out in the prime minister’s White Paper in […]

Theresa May will bring her botched Brexit deal back before the House of Commons “before January 21”, Downing Street has insisted. The prime minister has embarked on a desperate tour of European capitals to seek reassurances to get her deal through Parliament, after cancelling a vote scheduled for yesterday which she accepted she would lose […]

Leaving the EU without a deal could cost three quarters of a million workers in Britain their jobs, a new academic report says. The study, by the UK Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex, also says a soft Brexit would see almost 400,000 jobs lost around the country. It warns that under a […]

Who is on Question Time tonight and where do they stand on Brexit? Here’s your guide… The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme tonight comes from Penzance, Cornwall, the home town of Thandie Newton. But who will put in a stellar Solo performance – and whose appearance will be an almighty Crash? Here’s who’s who and […]

Michael Gove tried to speak French in the Commons today – but reverted to speaking English with a French accent instead. The environment secretary and Brexiteer’s ‘Allo ‘Allo moment came as he was answering a question from Tory MP Kevin Foster, who asked about President Emmanuel Macron’s recent comments on fishing rights and demanded a […]