James Brokenshire defends Chris Grayling after government scraps no-deal ferry contract February 10, 2019 Housing minister James Brokenshire this morning defended transport secretary Chris Grayling from calls that he should be sacked over the collapse of a no-deal Brexit ferry contract with a firm that had no ships. Asked by the BBC whether he had confidence in Tory MP Grayling following the cancellation of the contract, Brokenshire replied: "Chris Grayling [...]
Theresa May promises MPs another Brexit vote by end of February if no deal is agreed with EU February 10, 2019 Theresa May is bargaining with MPs to give her more time to secure a Brexit deal with the EU by offering them another Brexit vote by 27 February. The Prime Minister has been in Brussels this week seeking concessions on the Northern Irish backstop, the reason many MPs rejected her vote by historic margins in January. However, [...]
Nigel Farage suggests he could become new Brexit Party leader February 9, 2019 Nigel Farage has said he will stand to be leader of the Brexit Party should the UK’s departure from the European Union be delayed. The Eurosceptic party was officially confirmed by the Electoral Commission on February 5 and Farage has said the party “has my absolutely full support”. The former UKIP leader said that if [...]
Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger faces no confidence vote as antisemitism row drags on February 8, 2019 Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger is facing a no confidence vote by Labour members in her Liverpool Wavertree constituency amid an ongoing row about antisemitism with the party. Berger has been a prominent campaigner against anti-semitism and has been a magnet for online abuse and threats, to the extent she was given a bodyguard to [...]
Kamikaze Brexiteers may end up in a hell of their own making February 8, 2019 Hell hath no fury like a Brexiteer scorned. From the backlash this week, you would have thought that European Council president Donald Tusk had suggested that the EU get custody of the Queen in the Brexit divorce. “I’ve been wondering what that special place in hell looks like, for those who promoted Brexit, without even a [...]
Revive that entrepreneurial spirit and get Britain building again February 8, 2019 Politicians have recently become fond of talking about how to tackle our alarming housing crisis. Yet little is delivered – and what is achieved focuses on inflating demand, with schemes like Help to Buy which do nothing to address the underlying supply shortage. In the third quarter of 2018, building on 46,930 new homes began [...]
Donald Tusk talks up Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit plan February 7, 2019 Donald Tusk has backed Jeremy Corbyn’s call for the UK to stay in the EU’s customs union as Theresa May suffered a disappointing day in Brussels. In a letter to the PM, the Labour leader set out the terms on which he would support her on Brexit – including a permanent customs union with the [...]
Editor’s Notes: Corbyn’s short-lived romance with the darling of the US left February 7, 2019 The rising star of the US Democratic party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (or AOC, as she is known) said she had “a lovely and wide-reaching conversation” with Jeremy Corbyn earlier this week. For his part, the Labour leader said he wanted to “build a movement to take on the billionaires, polluters and migrant baiters.” On paper, these two [...]
Theresa May refuses to take no for an answer in Brexit backstop talks February 7, 2019 Theresa May has said she will continue to fight for changes to Brexit backstop protocol, despite being told by EU it is not up renegotiation. The Prime Minister travelled to Brussels on Thursday for a series of meetings designed at kick-starting a fresh round of talks to break the impasse in negotiations. Read more: Juncker [...]
France recalls ambassador from Italy as diplomatic row escalates February 7, 2019 France has recalled its ambassador from Italy as relations between the two countries hit a post-war low. In a statement issued on Thursday, the French foreign office claimed the country had been the subject of “baseless attacks and outrageous statements” from the Italians. The spark for the recall appears to have been a meeting between [...]