Brexit

A blistering assault on Brexiteers in the European Parliament, labelling them “political crooks”, is proving a viral sensation on social media. Viviane Reding, a former European commissioner, said that rather than the “global Britain” promised by the likes of Boris Johnson and Liam Fox, Brexit was ushering in “a lonely Britain”. And Britain was “at […]

RICHARD PORRITT with the week’s big stories, including Brexit health risks, trouble in Ukraine and controversy in Italy Nigel Farage’s former spokesman Michael Heaver has been chatting to the BBC about his time with UKIP. ‘Nigel Farage is such a machine,’ Heaver, who got the job aged just 27, said adoringly. ‘What was very important […]

An influential committee of MPs has thrown its support behind a Brexit transition agreement that sees EU laws continue to reign supreme, stressing that it would be a “price worth paying” for stability after March 2019. The Treasury Select Committee is urging the British government to put forward transition deal proposals that are straightforward and […]

Conservative former minister Dominic Grieve has suggested he and the government have run out of road over his call for a meaningful vote on any Brexit deal. The MP said what happens in such circumstances is “all rational discourse starts to evaporate”, adding the purpose of his amendment is “entirely lost in a confrontation” in […]

International trade secretary Liam Fox has used a speech in Argentina to lash out at “gloomy” Brexit commentators, urging them to be more positive. Sceptical pundits needed to understand Brexit was “not a time bomb” and leaving the European Union would allow the UK to have a “bold and confident” future, he said. It is […]

A Tory MP and leading Brexiteer has been accused of “Stalinism” over comments attacking those who want any Brexit withdrawal agreement to be put to MPs. Bernard Jenkin dismissed attempts to amend the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill to require the government to put any withdrawal agreement to a vote in the House saying it was […]

Alex Taylor, a British broadcaster working in France, was so angered by Brexit he decided to become French, a process which ended in a ceremony at the country’s Pantheon. Vanity Fair’s MARION VAN RENTERGHEM was there to watch it happen One day, earlier this autumn, Alex Taylor entered the Pantheon, in Paris. This is not […]

Theresa May has insisted that MPs will be given a vote on the Brexit withdrawal deal as she faced the prospect of a Tory revolt and embarrassing Commons defeat on the issue. The prime minister and Brexit secretary David Davis have mounted a campaign to win over would-be rebels ahead of the crunch vote on […]

Ministers must “give a little bit more” to build a consensus with the 48% of voters who backed Remain, a Conservative former minister has said. Anna Soubry said if the Government was genuine in “healing the great divide” it should “reach out and do the right thing” by tomorrow to ensure the “right result” is […]

The boss of the US civil aviation regulator has urged the UK to reveal by next month whether it will remain in a key safety body after Brexit. Michael Huerta of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flew from Washington to London today for talks with transport secretary Chris Grayling before meetings with European Union officials […]

Henry VIII would “blush” at the Government’s attempt to seize powers under key Brexit legislation, a former minister has said. Labour’s Chris Leslie raised concerns about the potential for ministers to use the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill to sign off changes into law which have an impact on people’s lives without requiring in-depth scrutiny in […]

EU nationals seeking to stay in the UK after Brexit will be able to complete applications in minutes, the immigration minister has claimed. Brandon Lewis told a House of Lords committee requests for the newly created “settled status” should be processed and answered within a fortnight after they are submitted. He said that the Home […]

The European Parliament is to demand that last week’s Brexit deal is converted into a legally binding text as soon as possible. The Parliament’s chief Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt said suggestions from David Davis that the agreement was not binding had undermined trust in the UK among MEPs. In a TV interview on Sunday, Mr […]

More than 60% of Britons believe MPs should be given the final say on the overall Brexit deal, according to a poll. The BMG Research survey found 61% think MPs should give their verdict, while 58% believe there should be a vote on the so-called divorce bill. The government faces a potential revolt over a […]

Firms in the Square Mile are planning to shift 10,500 jobs out of Britain by the first day of Brexit as the economic reality of the vote begins to bite. EY’s Brexit Tracker, which monitors 222 financial services firms, also shows that banks, asset managers and brokers are now expecting client facing and “front office” […]

Boris Johnson has been accused in the Lords of doing “immense damage” to Britain’s reputation abroad with his tendency to “speak first and think afterwards”. In a rare personal attack at question time, Labour’s Lord Soley said the foreign secretary had a “bad reputation” for it at home and overseas. Foreign Office minister Lord Ahmad […]

In a major climbdown on its flagship Brexit bill, the government has given in to rebels over greater oversight of ministers’ powers. An amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill tabled by the cross-party Commons Procedure Committee will stop ministers simply signing changes into law through so-called Henry VIII powers. Instead a new “sifting committee” of […]

David Davis has sought to address concerns about his performance as Brexit secretary by saying he does not have to be very clever to do the job. He told LBC radio: “What’s the requirement of my job? I don’t have to be very clever, I don’t have to know that much.” But he insisted “I […]

The option of staying in the single market must be kept on the table, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said, as he called for Labour to support his efforts to rewrite the Government’s Brexit Bill. Sir Vince said Jeremy Corbyn’s party had benefited from the support of pro-European Union young voters at the general […]

Labour would try to stay in a “reformed single market” if it was conducting Brexit negotiations, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said. He said he stood by his assertion that remaining inside the single market under current rules, which include accepting free movement of EU citizens, would not respect the Brexit referendum result. But he […]

Now that the European Commission has agreed that “sufficient progress” has been made on the UK’s EU withdrawal deal, what happens next? December 11 Theresa May expected to deliver a statement to the House of Commons. December 13 European Parliament debates and votes on the joint report drawn up by negotiators for the UK and […]

Theresa May grabbed only “a couple of hours” of sleep as she raced against the clock to get agreement on the terms of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU last night. The prime minister and close colleagues, including Brexit secretary David Davis and chief of staff Gavin Barwell, worked late into the night, as the Number […]

Here are the key points of the joint report agreed between the UK and EU on the expected content of Britain’s withdrawal agreement. Citizens’ rights Reciprocal protection for EU citizens in the UK and Britons living in the remaining 27 member-states who are resident at the time of the UK’s withdrawal, along with their family […]

In his debut column JAMES BALL explores the dangers of a soft Brexit and the implications for Remainers Eighteen months on from the Brexit vote, you could be forgiven for believing the UK might be limping towards a finishing line over leaving the EU. Getting to this point has required a series of humiliating concessions […]

The New European editor on why today’s “breakthrough” will trigger a very public cabinet implosion The Brexit can has been kicked down the road. But not far. ‘In the absence of agreed solutions, the UK will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union,’ reads Article 49 of the […]

MICHAEL WHITE on a week of confusion, bitterness and a very dangerous way to halt Brexit The very idea of the Democratic Unionist Party’s tribal leaders insisting on ‘regulatory alignment’ with the rest of the sort-of-still-United Kingdom ought to be enough to make an Irish cat laugh. But no one in Brussels on Monday afternoon […]

RICHARD PORRITT on the week’s big stories, including a big victory in Austria, the German foreign minister on the offensive and the prince of letters After all that fuss about Brexit impact statements, it appears they never really existed in any meaningful sense anyway. To widespread shock, David Davis admitted to a parliamentary committee on […]

Just 16 MPs and peers have read the government’s Brexit analysis papers, Andrea Leadsom claimed today. The Commons Leader, Brexiteer and brief candidate for the Tory leadership bemoaned the opposition for causing “enormous headlines and publicity” before adding “only 16 members across both Houses” had viewed them. A reading room has been established to allow […]

Jobs will be moved out of Britain unless Theresa May secures progress in Brexit negotiations at next week’s summit of EU leaders, the CBI warns tonight. The business lobbying group will say more than half (60%) of firms with Brexit contingency plans will activate them by Easter, meaning jobs leaving the UK unless the December […]

Commons speaker John Bercow has apologised after a slip of the tongue saw him dub a pro-Remain Labour MP the “member for Brexeter”. Mr Bercow’s blunder came in relation to Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw, as the speaker answered a series of points of order from MPs over Brexit. Having responded to five points of order, […]

Theresa May has been warned no Brexit deal is “reckless and dangerous”, as “utterly ruthless” dissident republicans would target border officials. Independent MP Lady Hermon (North Down) said a hard border would inevitably exist between Northern Ireland and the Republic if the UK and EU failed to agree a deal. She said the UK government […]

A Brexit deal giving special status to Northern Ireland could have put the entire future of the UK in jeopardy, the Scottish Conservative leader has claimed. Ruth Davidson said such a set-up could have “unravelled the entire United Kingdom”, telling how she had told the prime minister the 13 Scottish Tory MPs at Westminster would […]