Brexit

A former top Whitehall civil servant has said landmark Brexit legislation “strikes a dagger” to his soul. Independent crossbencher Lord Butler of Brockwell, who headed the civil service for a decade, also issued a stark warning over Britain’s “illusory quest for independence” as it is “carried along on a tide of narrow nationalism”. However, he […]

A former Liberal Democrat leader has accused Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg of threatening the Lords over Brexit. Lord Campbell of Pittenweem even dubbed the leading Conservative Hard Brexiteer “Robespierre” after one of the most influential figures of the French Revolution. Prominent backbencher Mr Rees-Mogg, the bookmakers’ favourite to be the next Tory leader, has said […]

House of Cards author Lord Dobbs has warned fellow peers it would be “sad and unwise” to try to sabotage what he dubbed “the People’s Brexit”. The Tory said while the role of the House of Lords was to advise and improve legislation, it was not to “obstruct or overturn”. Speaking at the second reading […]

A Labour former minister has accused his party leadership of putting “tribe before country” over Brexit. Lord Rooker told peers there were factions in both Labour and the Tories who had more in common with each other than their party leaders on the issue. He also said he could consider joining a political movement led […]

A Tory former minister has called on the government to consider banning referendums, calling the 2016 EU vote “the most sordid political campaign I can remember in my lifetime”. Lord Higgins urged his frontbench colleagues to speed up the Brexit process by making its own amendments to the Bill to address issues raised by the […]

Labour former Cabinet minister Lord Mandelson has warned against the government taking the UK out of the EU in “just about any vandalistic way it chooses”. In the marathon Lords debate on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, Lord Mandelson said the only way to maintain “frictionless” trade was to enter the European Economic Area. Highlighting Cabinet […]

International trade secretary Liam Fox’s warning that some Tories will “have to live with disappointment” has drawn a sharp rebuke from fellow leading Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith. After days of Tory turmoil over the government’s Brexit strategy and questions over whether Theresa May can remain as prime minister, Dr Fox called for an end to […]

Theresa May is facing demands to publish the government’s latest Brexit analysis following a report it had concluded Britain would be worse off whatever deal is struck with Brussels. As the prime minister prepared to fly out on a three-day trade mission to China, opposition MPs said the public were entitled to know the true […]

The government says it is confident peers will be “constructive” over key Brexit legislation as a marathon two-day debate began. Lords leader Baroness Evans of Bowes Park said she did not share concerns that peers would ignore the referendum or use the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill to frustrate the Brexit process. She added she expected […]

Britain will have to obey the EU rulebook in full during a transition period after Brexit while having no voice in decision-making bodies, under proposals agreed by the remaining 27 member states. In a brief meeting in Brussels, the EU27 gave their approval to new guidelines for chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, ahead of talks […]

Jeremy Corbyn disappointed Labour members and supporters today as he explicitly ruled out supporting a second EU referendum. A week after a poll showed 51% of Labour’s potential pool of support backs a second referendum on the final Brexit deal, against 23% who oppose the idea, the leader told the BBC’s Andrew Marr that the […]

Failure by Britain and the EU to reach agreement on continuing access to financial markets after Brexit risks creating instability and market fragmentation, a parliamentary committee has warned. The Lords EU Financial Affairs sub-committee said it was in the interests of both sides to reach a deal which allowed the continued free flow of financial […]

A London council has become the first in the country to formally call on the government to halt plans for a Hard Brexit and give the British people a second EU vote. Labour-run Hammersmith & Fulham Council has passed a motion asking the government to ‘abandon any plans for a Hard Brexit and give the […]

Former Labour Foreign Secretary DAVID MILIBAND intervenes on Brexit, blasting both Labour and the Tories and calling on Jeremy Corbyn to consider committing to giving voters the final say It is strange to watch the unfolding trauma of Brexit from abroad. As the European economy gathers pace, as America abdicates global responsibility, as the UK […]

Remainers have seized on comments made by Brexit secretary David Davis today in which he said he had changed his mind on Customs Union membership – saying the British public could change their mind too. Giving evidence before the Commons Brexit Select Committee today, Mr Davis shrugged off previous comments he had made backing the […]

The government is heading for a “hotch-potch” Brexit deal amounting to “leaving without leaving” which will not be acceptable to voters, former prime minister Tony Blair has said. He suggested that public opinion may shift far enough to force a second referendum when voters were confronted with the reality that the deal they favoured was […]

Why are we so cynical about the foreign secretary’s motives, asks STEVE ANGLESEY? Probably for two reasons: everything he’s said and everything he’s done News that Boris Johnson is to demand in Cabinet a £100m-a-week ‘Brexit dividend’ for the NHS has been greeted with a mixed reception. In some quarters there’s disbelief. In others derision. […]

Embattled Ukip leader Henry Bolton has resisted calls to quit, insisting that he was focusing on the fight for Brexit. Despite a vote of no confidence in his leadership by the party’s national executive committee (NEC) and the resignation of a series of key figures, Mr Bolton insisted he would fight on. Mr Bolton hit […]

Ukip leader Henry Bolton is facing growing pressure to stand down as a series of senior party figures announced they were quitting over his refusal to resign. Deputy leader Margot Parker, trade and industry spokesman William Dartmouth and immigration spokesman John Bickley said his position had become untenable and urged him to go. The resignations […]

Brexiteers have reacted with fury after the Cabinet Office said there were no plans for Big Ben to chime to mark Britain leaving the EU next year. With not much than a year until Britain formally leaves the bloc, Conservative hardliners have shifted their attention from a lack of postage stamps to commemorate the move […]

A second referendum? It’s time to stop looking backwards and start making demands of the people who caused this problem in the first place, says MATT KELLY Be careful what you wish for. And be doubly careful if you ever find yourself nodding along with Nigel Farage, no matter how tempting it might be. There’s […]

The week’s big stories, including Donald Trump heading to Davos, Klingon sensitivity and France’s daftest crook It seems the purge has begun after Momentum seized the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee this week. Momentum founder Jon Lansman as well as Yasmine Dar and Rachel Garnham – also backed by the fanatical, Corbyn movement – have […]

British holidaymakers could have to provide their criminal record, immigration history and biometric data to travel in Europe after Brexit, peers have heard. Baroness Ludford warned that after the UK leaves the European Union those wishing to head to the continent may face “significant” fees and four-day waits for approval to travel. The Liberal Democrats’ […]

Brexit will “not be sustainable” if it does not work for young people, Justine Greening has said in her first remarks after being forced out of Theresa May’s cabinet. The former education secretary said that future generations of MPs could seek to “improve or undo” what the the current parliament implements. The intervention came just […]

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has urged Europe to stick together to protect and spread its values. Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg – the first leader to speak in the debate on the European Union’s future – Mr Varadkar warned that guarantees secured in the Brexit talks to protect the Irish border cannot be reneged […]

Jean-Claude Juncker has said he would be “happy” to help Britain rejoin the European Union if it wants to after Brexit. The European Commission president said the UK could apply to rejoin under Article 49 of the Lisbon Treaty even after it leaves the EU in March 2019 – if the government or British people […]

A group of UK citizens who live in the Netherlands have gone to a Dutch court in a bid to retain their EU citizenship rights post-Brexit. In a case that could have far-reaching consequences for around one million Britons currently living in European Union countries outside the UK, lawyer Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm launched summary proceedings […]

It is an “illusion” to think key Brexit legislation will have an “untroubled passage” through the House of Lords, a Tory former chancellor has said. Ken Clarke said he hoped the Lords would make an “enormous” number of changes to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill when it goes to the other chamber. He criticised the […]

Failure to incorporate the EU charter of fundamental rights into UK law after Brexit sends out “a really strange message” about the attitude of the Conservative Party, a senior Tory has said. Former attorney general Dominic Grieve said people now viewed things like LGBT rights “as being rights of a fundamental character”. He also accused […]

The House of Lords could face the prospect of fundamental reform if peers attempt to hamper Brexit, prominent Tory hardliner Jacob Rees-Mogg has warned. The upper chamber would be left looking “ridiculous” if peers tried to push for a second referendum, he claimed. The Hard Brexiteer, who has been tipped as a potential Conservative leader, […]

European Council president Donald Tusk has demanded more clarity from prime minister Theresa May over her plans for Brexit – and again held open the possibility of the UK changing its mind. Addressing MEPs in Strasbourg, Mr Tusk said: “If the UK government sticks to its decision to leave, Brexit will become a reality – […]

Theresa May has been accused of lying to the British people by a senior ally of German chancellor Angela Merkel over the plan to restore dark blue British passports after Brexit. German MEP Manfred Weber mocked the focus on changing the colour of the travel document and pointed out that it would have been possible […]