Brexit
It is time to make friends with the EU
On Monday morning, Clément Beaune, Emmanuel Macron’s Europe Minister, clipped out the section of his media interview criticising Britain’s vaccination…
The EU needs to stop punishing Britain for Brexit
There have always been those on the European side who believe that for the EU project to succeed, Brexit must…
Labour’s damning silence on Brexit
The Labour party has updated the old metaphysical question: ‘If a tree falls in a forest and no one is…
Biden’s rift with Brussels is only set to grow
It was meant to be a special relationship. After the tumultuous Trump years, President Biden was planning to reset relations…
The Northern Ireland protocol problem
Ursula von der Leyen now admits that she overreacted in the EU’s vaccine row with the UK. She has spoken…
Von der Leyen has learnt nothing from the EU’s vaccine fiasco
As non-apology apologies go, it was right up there with the best of them. Speaking to MEPs today, the president…
The year of living contagiously
We have reached Covid-19’s first anniversary in the UK — and I really think we should do something fitting to…
A boost for the Tories
Imagine for a minute what British politics would be like without a Covid vaccine. The cabinet would be deeply, and…
One year after Brexit, Britain is reaping the benefits of independence
A year ago today Britain awoke to a rather muted celebration – which seemed to consist largely of a bubble…
Can Spain’s faith in the EU survive Covid?
According to ancient Moorish legend, when the world was created each land was given five wishes. Spain’s first four wishes…
What’s next for the Special Relationship?
This is a crucial year for the UK’s two most important relationships. The Anglo-American alliance, our strongest diplomatic and security…
The EU’s vaccine opportunism will not be forgotten
At first, it sounded like empty rage. The European Union had spent all week making wild statements about controlling vaccine…
How the EU vaccine row could escalate
The EU is now insisting that AstraZeneca use vaccine produced at its UK site to make up for a shortfall in…
The rise of the super pessimist
Covid isn’t the only thing to have developed a dangerous strain in the UK; pessimism has also mutated and is…
Looking back at Brexit
Robert Tombs’s new book is not long: 165 pages of argument, unadorned by maps or images. But brevity is good,…
Farewell Richard. You were the best of us
I heard the shocking news last week that one of my oldest friends — Richard Edwards — had died suddenly…
Britain’s got talent
Brexit and Covid have pushed us out of the common musical market and thrown us back on homegrown sprouts. Good, says Norman Lebrecht
Has Covid killed the EU’s dream of open borders?
‘All non-essential travel should be strongly discouraged both within the country and of course across borders,’ Ursula von der Leyen,…
France’s Covid response is a source of national shame
France is the only permanent member of the UN Security Council not to have developed a coronavirus vaccine, and it…
Brexit Britain’s new place in the world
What will Brexit Britain do differently? This is going to be the most important question in our politics for the…
Why Tesla has to be a better bet than bitcoin
Which is madder, bitcoin at $41,500 — oops, make that $31,000 on Monday — or Tesla shares at $880 apiece?…
Portrait of the Week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, announced harsher coronavirus restrictions in England, resembling those last March, except that bubbles continued.…
The Brexit deal has left the City to fight for its own future
‘This Article shall not apply with respect to financial services.’ That’s what it says on page 92 of the EU-UK…
History shouldn’t be used against us
Can you feel the fascism yet? You ought to by now, more than a week after Britain leaving the EU.…
Real life
Our battle with the EU has given me an insight into the parking disputes outside my house. Or is it…
