Whenever I think about Boris Johnson, the old French proverb ‘après moi le déluge’ comes to mind. It means a blithe, even nihilistic disregard for whatever ruination ensues after one’s own time. For many years, it was thought to have originated with Louis XV or his mistress Madame de Pompadour in the 1750s. It thus […]
At a few minutes past six on Friday morning, in a leisure centre on the Essex coast, the returning officer reached the bottom of a ballot paper roughly a metre long and announced a number that deserves more attention than it is likely to receive. Nigel Farage, 22,239 votes. The commentary had settled into its […]
This weekend the Telegraph ran a story with the striking headline ‘Burnham told to trade nuclear umbrella for access to single market’. The idea is the brainchild of Nick Boles, the former Conservative MP who quit the party in 2019 over Brexit, switched his allegiance to Labour and helped to advise Keir Starmer on the […]
When Waitrose suspended mackerel sales over fears of overfishing, it was a warning. Weeks later, M&S followed suit. And as stocks continue to plunge, retail giants like Sainsbury’s and Morrisons sit poised to take similar action. The crisis in our seas has finally hit the supermarket shelves, but in reality, it runs far deeper. Today, […]
The Government is consulting on a requirement for the provision of pay details in job advertisements. This is part of a wider consultation being run by the Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) on equal pay and pay discrimination. The remorseless expansion of the scope of equality legislation never slows, driven as it is by […]
As we reflect on the decade since the EU referendum, one question is seemingly on everyone’s lips – was it worth it? I answer this with an unequivocal yes. Brexit has definitely been worth it. When I speak to people, the motivation behind this question often seems to be driven by a feeling that politicians […]
I was going to open this column by listing the soppy reasons I was a Remainer: the EU represented a model of tolerance, compassion and partnership that would contribute to a more peaceful world; Brexit was revolutionary, therefore unconservative; abandoning our closest trade partnership would harm the economy. These are all perfectly good arguments which […]
Ten years ago, the EU referendum created two new political tribes: Leavers and Remainers. As Sara Hobolt and I show in our new book ‘Tribal Politics: How Brexit divided Britain’, both tribes are very much still with us. Even today, about 60% of people in Britain identify as a Remainer or a Leaver, and people’s […]
The first rule of Labour’s EU Club appears to be that ‘you do not talk about rejoining the EU’. Indeed, Andy Burnham’s and Wes Streeting’s not-very-principled position on Brexit seems to be that they want the UK to rejoin the EU but do not want to be too open about this until after either of […]
In a spirit of amused devilment, I took part in the first great March by the ‘remaniacs’, as it entered Trafalgar Square and went down Whitehall. Led by Eddie Izzard, Peter Tatchell and Madeleina Kay (the so-called ‘Super EU’ girl) and her dog on Sept 16, 2016. At the time I was amazed that they […]
Rachel Reeves is getting her excuses in early ahead of next month’s Budget, which looks set to be a painful repeat of last October’s ‘one off’. The Chancellor has already blamed ‘external headwinds‘, ‘Tory austerity‘ and ‘the ongoing impact of Liz Truss’s mini-Budget‘. It is no surprise that she has now dropped the ‘B-word’ too. […]
For years, the Remainiacs and their cheerleaders in the establishment – academe, unions, the media and celebrity circles – have relentlessly attacked Brexit as a wasteland, barren of benefits. They’ve mocked it with gimmicky books featuring blank pages, jocularly symbolising, they claim, the absence of any tangible gains. Well-funded think tanks, like the Tony Blair […]
The Government wants a new deal with Brussels. A ‘very ambitious’ Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement (otherwise known as a ‘veterinary agreement’) with the EU to smooth the flow of food in both directions. The prize makes sense – getting away from the need for paperwork, certificates and SPS checks at Border Control Posts (BCP) […]
Addressing the UK’s growth problem is paramount and underpins virtually everything when it comes to public policy. Rejoining the EU, its Single Market (SM) or its Customs Union (CU) will not provide a solution to the UK’s growth challenge and should not be part of any pro-growth strategy. As Keir Stamer said in his BBC […]
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been talking in recent days about Labour’s ambition to revise the UK’s trade deal with the EU. Closer alignment of regulation is a key part of that. One of Labour’s main ambitions, set out in its manifesto, is an agreement with the EU on veterinary regulations. But in Reeves’ view, […]
An anachronism? Any Martian who spent the year 1991 observing events on Earth would have concluded that something called ‘sovereignty’ was one of the most important elements of human affairs. The year began with a military confrontation in the Gulf, which then turned into a full-scale war, to restore the sovereignty of Kuwait. The focus […]
An academic study published this week found that people with ‘lower cognitive ability’ were more likely to vote Leave in the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership. This was, of course, seized upon by many Remainers as more evidence that Brexit was a ghastly mistake. But does this stack up, or it is just another […]
Much jubilation has ensued following the Prime Minister’s announcement that the UK is rejoining the European Union Horizon science programme. Many of my colleagues are extremely relieved that they can at last apply for the fat grants which make careers and reputations for those lucky enough to get them. Heads of large scientific organisations and […]
One of the reasons it is deeply in the Conservatives’ interests to win the next election – not so much doable as a matter of formality in the immediate aftermath of 2019 – is that it will finally put the issue of the European Union to bed. By 2029, we would have been out for […]
Despite the Prime Minister’s boast that he has resolved the problems caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol with his Windsor Framework, the reality is that trade between Great Britain and the province is still disrupted, new EU laws are being imposed on NI on a weekly basis, and only this week EU Vice President Maroš […]
Looking through the Retained EU Law Dashboard is a dispiriting experience. The Dashboard is the Government’s list of EU laws and regulations which we kept on to ensure legal continuity after Brexit. There are over 4,800 edicts on the list, and this is probably an underestimate of the total. Successive trawls of government records have […]
Importers of cheese and charcuterie can breathe a sigh of relief. According to the Financial Times the Government’s much-feared import checks on food from Europe have been delayed once more. Jeremy Hunt apparently intervened to push the introduction of new checks from October until the New Year, following fears that they would increase food prices. […]
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