Brexit

Labour grassroots members have turned against Brexit, with nearly 200 constituency parties pushing for a policy shift at the autumn conference next month. A motion to “stop Tory Brexit and win a radical Labour government” will be put forward by the unprecedented number of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs). Supporters want to see Labour vote down […]

Care workers must be prioritised under new migration rules to stop a post-Brexit shortfall in provision that would leave women quitting work to look after elderly relatives, according to a leaked government report. In the “worst case scenario” where EU migrants were stopped from coming to the UK, there would be a shortage of 6,000 […]

A successful deal with the EU remains the “most likely outcome” of ongoing Brexit talks, Downing Street has insisted after Liam Fox said the UK was odds-on to crash out without one. Theresa May’s official spokesman repeated the prime minister’s earlier warning that the UK’s European partners should not let ideology or bureaucracy get in […]

Michael Gove has been forced to deny reports he privately discussed a Norway-style solution to Brexit in the likely event that Theresa May’s Chequers strategy fails. The Financial Times reported the environment secretary and Brexiteer talked of “parking” the UK in the European Economic Area (EEA), like Norway, to avoid the chaos of a disorderly […]

Theresa May has been warned not to expect a Brexit breakthrough in talks with Emmanuel Macron tomorrow. The UK’s former ambassador to France said Mr Macron was “the last person” to want to break ranks with the rest of the EU to push for a softer stance from Brussels. Lord Ricketts also criticised foreign secretary […]

Warnings over the consequences of Brexit for the NHS have emerged from a hospital serving the Brexit secretary’s own constituents. Documents from Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust outline how NHS officials have highlighted the possibility of staff shortages and distractions, that costs “may go up” and that the quality and pricing of food could be […]

Claims by disgraced former minister Priti Patel that Remain campaigners breached spending rules have been rejected by the Electoral Commission. Former international development secretary Priti Patel claimed that three videos from lead Remain campaign group Britain Stronger in Europe (BSIE) should have been declared as “joint spending”. Ms Patel, who resigned in disgrace after secret […]

Councils across the UK are drafting emergency plans for delivering public services after a nightmare no-deal Brexit, it has emerged. A Sky News report revealed yesterday that Dover District Council and Kent County Council are preparing for a 13-mile Brexit lorry park on the M20 southbound to be in place for at least four years. […]

A food industry boss has called for a meeting with the government as he warned that Brexit is becoming “the stuff of nightmares”. Food and Drink Federation (FDF) chief executive Ian Wright urged ministers to explain the implications of a no-deal Brexit to businesses in the industry. He told the i newspaper: “Brexit is shaping […]

The likelihood of Britain exiting the EU without a deal is “increasing by the day”, Jeremy Hunt has said. Ahead of talks with his opposite numbers in France and Austria today and tomorrow, the foreign secretary insisted that if Brussels fails to strike a withdrawal agreement with the UK it would cause job losses on […]

Fears over the impact of a no-deal Brexit have been raised after it emerged Dover Council is considering converting a 13-mile stretch of the M20 into a giant lorry park to deal with backlogs. A report by the council expresses concern over the levels of readiness for the potential situation and states “urgent clarity” is […]

The government’s failure to set out a post-Brexit immigration policy has been sharply criticised by MPs. The Commons Home Affairs Committee has used a new report to warn those involved in the Brexit debate against exploiting or escalating tensions over migration in the run-up to EU withdrawal. Immigration policy now risks “being caught up in […]

Four in five doctors fear for the future of the NHS post-Brexit, a new poll suggests. A survey of more than 1,000 medics found the majority believe the impact on the NHS of leaving the EU will be negative. The survey, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, found nearly four fifths (79%) […]

British farmers say they are facing the “soul-destroying” prospect of leaving crops to rot in the fields unless a post-Brexit visa scheme for seasonal workers is announced soon. They say that many of the UK’s seasonal fruit and vegetable pickers have already started to look for jobs elsewhere in the EU after receiving no assurances […]

Theresa May has been accused of being behind public opinion after ruling out any second referendum despite a poll showing a majority now wants one. The PM’s spokesman reiterated today that there would “be no second referendum in any circumstance” following the publication of a poll showing that a majority now back a People’s Vote […]

Boris Johnson appears to have finally accepted that Leave means Leave as removal vehicles were spotted outside the grace and favour home he lived in as foreign secretary. Three weeks after quitting the Cabinet in a row over Theresa May’s Brexit plans, his belongings were being removed from One Carlton Gardens in central London. Mr […]

Only a quarter of Brits believe Theresa May will secure a good Brexit deal, a poll has shown. Some 72% of Britons lack confidence in her ability to reach a good deal with Brussels, the worst rating the prime minister has had in the Ipsos MORI political monitor. Her personal approval rating also hit a […]

Liam Fox has been accused of “burning collective responsibility to the ground” after he issued a stark warning to Theresa May over Brexit negotiations Dr Fox warned the prime minister that extending talks would be a “complete betrayal,” of Brexit voters, telling Business Insider that she should commit to instead leaving the EU with no […]

Veteran political reporter TOM BALDWIN’s new book explores how the worlds of politics and media have been changed for the worse in the last decade. This exclusive serialisation analyses what went wrong Tom Baldwin is a writer and journalist, and former Labour Party advisor. He is now director of communications for the People’s Vote campaign. […]

Theresa May’s bid to win European allies on Brexit has suffered a setback after she was warned she will struggle to find “loopholes” in the EU’s approach to talks. The prime minister will discuss her plan for leaving the EU with Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Czech counterpart Andrej Babis as she seeks to build […]

Facebook has handed over details of scores of shifty online ads targeted at its users by Brexiteers during the EU referendum campaign. The messages, handed to a House of Commons committee inquiry into fake news, confirm that Vote Leave relied heavily on its lie – even described as “misleading” by the official statistician – that […]

Police are having to deal with more racist hate crimes following a rise in offences around the EU referendum, figures show. The latest Home Office data shows an increase in the number hate crimes reported to the police, where race is the motivating factor, during the year of the Brexit vote. In the 2016-17 financial […]

Former England striker Gary Lineker has declared blocking Brexit is more important to him than football as he backed a summer campaign for a fresh referendum. The Match Of The Day host said he has been left more bewildered and worried than ever after catching up on developments since returning from Russia following his coverage […]

People who “undermine” the UK ‘through extreme EU loyalty’ should be tried for treason, a hardline Tory MEP has demanded. David Campbell Bannerman, a former Ukip deputy leader, made the astonishing call for thoughtcrimes to be prosecuted on Twitter, sparking accusations of “spiteful populist rhetoric”. He wrote: ‘It is about time we brought the Treason […]

Labour needs to set out a vision on Brexit that the whole country can get behind, says JOHN LEHAL Parliament may have risen for recess, but the Brexit secretary is already heading back to Brussels. This summer could well see the government’s chickens come home to roost. Far from a relaxing recess, the next few […]

Amid political stalemate a second referendum might be an idea whose time has come, writes BARNABY TOWNS With only 12% of voters backing the government’s ‘Chequers compromise’ in the latest poll, there are increasing calls for a People’s Vote, in which electors would be asked to choose either the government’s Brexit deal, assuming there is […]

A former chairman of Lloyd’s of London has written a letter tearing apart Brexiteer arguments and calling for “terrified” businesses and MPs to speak up. John Nelson, who was chairman of the insurance market from 2011 to last year said: “Never in 50 years of working life have I seen the UK facing such an […]

Theresa May has announced she is to take control of negotiations with the EU, with Dominic Raab’s department effectively relegated to planning for no deal. Just 15 days after replacing David Davis as Brexit secretary – during which Mr Raab boasted he would use August to “intensify” and “get some energy into” talks – Mrs […]

It could be illegal to pay pensions to many retired British expats if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal, the Association of British Insurers has told MPs. The trade association told members of the Commons Brexit committee that pensioners who receive their payments into bank accounts in their adopted countries could […]

A third of companies have shifted their contracts out of English courts’ jurisdiction since the Brexit vote, it emerged today. 35% of businesses say they had changed their contracts so that legal issues are heard in courts outside of England, according to new research, threatening its position as a world-leading centre for companies to resolve […]

A Tory minister has weirdly mocked calls for a People’s Vote on any Brexit deal by questioning if aliens or farm animals voted to leave the EU. Closing a House of Lords debate, Brexit minister Lord Callanan ridiculed the idea of a People’s Vote, asking “who voted in the first referendum, perhaps aliens or farm […]

Deselecting the maverick MP is tempting, says Labour activist TESSA MILLIGAN, but won’t solve the hole at the heart of the party’s Brexit policy Kate Hoey is an anti-EU maverick. Being a backbencher gives her the freedom to vote on her conscience. Labour Party whips mean little to her, and nor do pairing agreements by […]