Tom Goodenough is online editor of The Spectator.
The EU withdrawal bill survived its first Parliamentary test last night. But it still has a long way to go, and a group of Tory MPs are likely to ensure that it is far from plain sailing for the government. For those on the Conservative back benches plotting to defy the Prime Minister on this
Brexit means Brexit, but unfortunately the EU withdrawal bill – which actually does the legislative job of taking Britain out of the EU – is somewhat trickier to get to grips with. The original bill is 60 pages long, and there are now 470 amendments – running to some 200 pages – and counting. The House of
It once seemed a near certainty that Brexit talks would progress on to the next stage by Christmas. Now, it seems somewhat less likely: David Davis reportedly told business leaders it was a 50-50 chance of making a breakthrough by December, according to Bloomberg (although Davis denies saying this). So what explains the latest hold-up?
The Maldives’ spotless beaches mask the story of a troubled nation. The country’s former president, Mohamed Nasheed, is in exile in Britain, having been sentenced to 13 years in prison on what are widely seen as spurious terror charges. Protests on the streets of the capital, Male, are frequent. Soldiers recently locked down the country’s parliament in an
Another week, another Cabinet minister heads for the exit. Priti Patel’s departure means Theresa May now faces another difficult decision in choosing who should replace her. But was she right to get rid of Patel? The newspaper verdict is unanimous: ‘We like Priti Patel,’ says the Sun: ‘But she had to go’. After all, ‘fierce
Priti Patel has resigned from the Cabinet. Patel said that she accepted her decision to hold meetings with Israeli officials during her summer holiday without the prior say so of the government meant that her ‘actions fell below the high standards that are expected of a secretary of state’. The secretary of state for international development went
Priti Patel could well follow Michael Fallon in making a departure from the Cabinet today. If she does leave, she’ll be the second minister to go in the space of only a week. So, is this bad luck on the part of the government? Not so, says the FT. The paper says this is a
Priti Patel’s vacation to Israel certainly has the feeling of a busman’s holiday to it. The international development secretary is now admitting she met several Israel cabinet ministers, as well as the country’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, during the summer trip which she paid for herself. Patel’s big problem doesn’t only stem from these undeclared
On this week’s episode we look at the sexual reformation, Donald Trump’s ties with Russia and dining with Modigliani. First: in the wake of Michael Fallon’s resignation from the Cabinet last night, Westminster is awash with rumours of sexual wrongdoing. But while it’s good that victims of abuse are able to speak out, is something
Eight people have been killed in yesterday’s terror attack in New York – the deadliest such incident in the city since 9/11. The alleged attacker has been named as Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, a 29-year-old Uzbekistan national who came to the United States in 2010 and worked as an Uber driver. The New York Times is
The Catalan crisis deepens by the day. This afternoon, the region’s parliament backed a declaration of independence from Spain. Here is the moment Carme Forcadell, president of the Catalan parliament, announced the outcome of the vote: The country’s senate did not take long to react by voting to impose direct rule in Catalonia. This triggering
The Czech election was something of a shock to those who thought the ‘march of the populists in Europe’ is over Andrej Babis – who ‘shares the anti-migrant stance and hatred for EU refugee policy of Hungary’s premier Viktor Orban and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Poland’s ruling party’ – was the ‘clear winner’, says the FT. What’s
The predictions of doom and gloom about Britain’s prospects after Brexit were widespread in the run-up to the referendum. One by one, these warnings have failed to materialise: yesterday, we learned from the ONS that the economy grew by 0.4 per cent in the last quarter in a clear sign it has ‘outperformed expectations again’.
David Davis’s revelation that Parliament may not get a vote on a Brexit deal until after Britain has actually left the EU has provoked a flurry of criticism. The Government has been accused of railroading Parliament and treating MPs with ‘contempt’. It’s an ‘undemocratic disgrace’, says Open Britain. Yet Davis is only really stating the
Jared O’Mara is yet to actually speak in Parliament but when – or if – he does take to his feet in the chamber, it seems he will do so without the Labour whip. Following days of allegations about what the MP for Sheffield Hallam has written online, the party has finally acted to temporarily
Jared O’Mara is yet to make his maiden speech in Parliament, says the Sun – and ‘it might not be a bad thing if it stays that way’. The ‘disgraced’ Labour MP – who ousted Nick Clegg from his Sheffield Hallam seat at the snap election – has said sorry for his ‘crass comments’, which
Ten years on from the crash, the banks have few friends and fewer still who are willing to speak up for them. Now, with the uncertainty of Brexit looming, there are fears banks and their staff could up sticks to the continent. Like them or loathe them, this wouldn’t be good for Britain’s economy: financial
Deal or no deal? Whatever type of Brexit Britain ends up with, the government should take the prospect of walking away with nothing seriously, says the Daily Telegraph. Yet the postponement of the EU withdrawal bill, which may not now come before Parliament for several weeks because of a looming Tory rebellion, does not bode
Monday night’s Brexit dinner was ‘constructive and friendly’, both sides have insisted. Yet it’s hard to tell what purpose the discussions involving the Prime Minister and Jean Claude-Junker actually served, says the Daily Telegraph. The ‘deadlock’ remains firmly in place, and ‘the best Mrs May managed to extract was that negotiations would “accelerate” in the
Hate crime is up – and Brexit is to blame. It’s a familiar story and one doing the rounds again today following the publication of Home Office statistics on the level of hate crimes last year. The numbers do seem troubling: these offences rose by a third last year, and there was a spike in
