Third time’s the charm? We could be heading for another vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal
The withdrawal agreement went down by 149 votes — at the worst end of expectations
Brexit
Tuesday
Saturday
New York Times: Britain on verge of civil war, send more croissants
Yes, the British government are useless. But nobody in London is stockpiling food
Saturday
I strongly object to being called a fascist by white supremacist Nazis
Godfrey clashes with the Brexit protesters
Friday
Leading Brexiteers in DC to talk US-UK free trade agreement
As Theresa May’s government crumbles, David Davis and Owen Paterson make their move
Wednesday
More fake news on Brexit from the New York Times
Stephen Castle has painted a picture of a Britain in panic based off a Facebook group of 1,200 people
Monday
Brexit: a beginner’s guide
Americans often ask me ‘what is happening?’ in British politics at the moment. Well, here is my answer…
Thursday
The anti-Brexit movement has one big advantage: their opponents are in disarray
It may seem odd that a cabal of politicians, celebrities and millionaires can successfully present themselves as a great democratic force and seek to overturn Brexit, Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. But the people behind the People’s Vote have one big advantage: their opponents are in disarray. Vote Leave ceased campaigning after the referendum. Its organisers felt they had accomplished their mission, and the Conservative government could be trusted to execute Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. Boris Johnson now describes that decision as an ‘absolutely fatal’ mistake. As foreign secretary, Johnson admitted to dinner guests earlier this summer that ‘some of us were seduced by high office
Thursday
Boris Johnson: Why we sent the jihadi Beatles for trial in America
Surely there is a bit of humbug in this outrage about the two remaining jihadi Beatles, Kotey and Elsheikh, and Sajid Javid’s difficult but correct decision to send them for trial in America. Suppose the grisly pair had been located a couple of years ago in Raqqa. And let’s suppose there was a Reaper drone overhead, and that British intelligence could help send a missile neatly through their windscreen. Would we provide the details — knowing that they would be killed without a chance for their lawyers to offer pleas in mitigation on account of their tough childhoods in west London? Would the British state, in these circumstances, have connived
Friday
Admit it, Trump is right about Sadiq Khan
I’m sorry to say this, but Donald Trump really doesn’t think much about Britain at all. He may have some sentimental attachment to Scotland, because of his mother, but we’re not nearly as precious to him as the British like to think. He may be blowing British minds today with his explosive Sun interview, but he’ll just shrug it off, go play golf, and then meet Putin. But what Trump does have is an unthinking genius for sniffing out weakness, and he’s unthinkingly sniffed it out in Sadiq Khan. “I think allowing millions and millions of people to come into Europe is very, very sad. I look at cities in
Monday
The British government is in crisis, again. Enter Trump, stage right, again
Trump says he likes things ‘nice and complicated’ – well, in that case, he couldn’t be coming to Britain at a better time. Theresa May’s newly hatched soft Brexit plan, announced on Friday, has triggered two major resignations from her cabinet and another political crisis in Britain. David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, went late last night. Then Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary followed early this afternoon. Westminster is now alive with whispers of an imminent leadership coup; the Tory party looks hopelessly divided, the political system unable to cope. We may even have another general election, the third in four years. Enter Trump, stage right. He must be licking his
Saturday
None of my Harvard students thinks Brexit is a good idea
When I asked my study group at Harvard’s Kennedy School whether Brexit was a good idea, not a single hand went up
Thursday
Think being pro-Trump is bad? Try being pro-Brexit
When I mentioned on social media recently that I’d lost friends because of Brexit, I was quite surprised by the vehemence of the response. Lots of fellow Leavers had stories to tell about friends who now cut them dead or former clients who would no longer work with them. Many said they prefer to keep secret how they voted in the referendum for fear of the repercussions. This intolerance is especially bad if you’re a student. One undergraduate described to me how his politics professor had opened a lecture with a slide reading ‘Brexit is shit’ — apparently ‘to the cheers and adulation of the entire lecture theatre’. Another student
