Brexit
£350 million for the NHS: How the Brexit bus pledge is coming true
A fortnight before Philip Hammond delivered his last Budget, the chief executive of the NHS gave a speech making the…
Bernard-Henri Lévy: ‘Brexit will not happen’
I meet Bernard-Henri Lévy in a colossally luxurious hotel on a tree-lined avenue just behind the Elysée Palace. The French…
We need to stop buying into this ‘divided Britain’ narrative
Amid all the argument in Westminster, everyone can agree on one thing: the country is bitterly divided. The 52:48 divisions…
The eradication of South Georgia’s rats proves we can do anything – even Brexit
The extermination of every single one of South Georgia’s rats, for the sake of its birds, was confirmed at a…
Will LSD cure my Brexit obsession?
An 87-year-old friend, a former doctor, has been urging me for some while to have a look at the latest…
The Iran deal is a western concession not matched by change on the other side
The point behind the argument about the Iran nuclear deal goes beyond precise nuclear facts. It is like the row…
I suspect that Brexit is driving me mad – but I will not shut up
Rosé wine is, I know, considered naff. Were you unaware of this you’d fast conclude as much from the incidence…
The Irish border is the EU’s problem, not ours
In deference to public exhaustion, I’ve largely avoided Brexit in this slot. But a columnist’s output ought rightly to echo…
Our great universities are struggling – but not because of Brexit
British universities have serious problems. The recent strikes protesting against a sudden reduction in pension rights were unusually effective, and…
Interview: what Aussies really think of Brexit
When friends speak, you should listen — and you would be hard pressed to find a better friend of this…
Portrait of the week: a new royal baby, more Brexit rows and the Trump-Macron bromance
Home No. 10 insisted: ‘We will not be staying in the customs union or joining a customs union.’ The undertaking…
Britain was utterly wretched in 1975. No wonder Europe seemed a better bet
‘I voted to stay in a common market. No one ever mentioned a political union.’ It is the complaint of…
I’m an optimist for trade despite the idiocies of politicians
I’m proud to be a member of the 661-year-old Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York, having qualified…
The wrong Brexit: what happened to ‘Global Britain’?
A few months ago, Britain’s most senior ambassadors gathered in the Foreign Office to compare notes on Brexit. There was…
Not one of my Harvard students thinks Brexit is a good idea
My wife laughs that my love of gadgets is a remnant of my Communist upbringing, when western toys were objects…
Brexit for eight-year-olds
A week ago I plucked my eight-year-old grandson Oscar from the bosom of his rumbustious young family and took him…
The Good Friday Agreement is not a peace but a truce
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), which celebrates its 20th anniversary this week, is not a peace, but a truce. This does…
Will Britain find a new role in the world after Brexit?
Britain’s imperial past distorts the debate about our place in the world, but not in the way that is commonly…
So farewell Toys ‘R’ Us, the predator that became the prey
I remember the arrival of Toys ‘R’ Us in Britain, because as a young banker in 1984 I was tasked…
Britain has lost control of the Brexit talks
If Brexit was going to be as easy as some of its advocates had believed, we would not have had…
British fishermen sold down the river in Brexit transition deal
Home Britain and the European Union agreed on a transitional period after Brexit on 29 March 2019 until the end…
It is the Europhiles who are the head-bangers now
For almost as long as I can remember, Eurosceptic Tory MPs have been defined by the media as ‘head-bangers’. As…
Sorry fishermen, but we were never going to win back control of our waters
My decision to vote Remain was driven in part by an exercise in which I tried to identify anyone close…
Let’s find the most idiotic Brexit headlines
Gimson’s Prime Ministers, out this week, is a crisp and stylish account of every one of them. I happened to…
Back off, Barnier – you don’t need to invent obstacles to Brexit
There’s an unwritten law governing Boris Johnson in Westminster: every-thing he says or does is a gaffe, or can be…
