Tag Archives: brexit

If a travel agent sold you a ‘holiday of a lifetime’ and it turned out to be everything you’d been promised, you would be delighted. But if it turned out to be unpleasant, unhealthy and far more expensive than you’d been led to believe, you’d rightly be upset. That’s why most of us double-check before […]

Labour has published a list of 170 unanswered questions about the government’s Brexit plans. The full list is on the LabourList website and reproduced below. Free movement of goods and services We are assuming that the government has considered the following options for its continued post-Brexit trading relationship with the European Union: (i) maintaining full membership […]

The many thousands of people who joined the Marches for Europe across several British cities this weekend were not just “sore losers”. There were also “regretful winners”, and a large number of people from both camps who are worried about where we go now. Above all, the demonstrations were a further illustration of the fact […]

The cabinet away day in Chequers has perhaps shed a little light on what kind of Brexit deal the government intends to seek. Faced with the unpalatable choice between aiming for full access to the single market (at the price of accepting its rules, including free movement) or leaving it entirely (at the cost of […]

The key reason why the government doesn’t want to trigger divorce negotiations with the EU is that Britain still has to decide on what alternative relationship to seek. There was no consensus on the Leave side on this. Indeed, contradictory visions were offered. Some advocated seeking to keep full access to the European market which, […]

In a general climate of suspicion towards politics, the establishment, and globalisation, Leave campaigners managed to portray themselves as anti-establishment insurgents, despite being led by ultra-establishment figures. They they ran a ruthlessly efficient campaign, strong on the dark arts of manipulating media, manufacturing myths and rebutting anything — however authoritative — that didn’t support their […]

We send £350m a week to Brussels We can’t stop Turkey joining We can’t stop a European army We are still liable to pay eurozone bailouts The UK rebate can be changed against our will Our VAT exemptions will be ended Cameron’s deal was not legally binding EU law is adopted by unelected bureaucrats We […]

I am deeply saddened at the result, which will reverse forty years of outward-looking, progressive collaboration with our neighbouring countries in the European Union we have built together. This is a dark day for Britain, and one whose painful impact will be felt across the country and abroad. It has been a difficult fight, and […]

A Leeds imam, Qari Asim MBE, has written an open letter to Muslim communities and asked me to share it here. On Thursday 23 June, Britain will make a once in a life-time decision: should we remain within the European Union, or come out of it. As British Muslims we must play our role in this […]

Following up on yesterday’s contributions from constituents, today a well-argued Facebook post by a young man named Simon Budden was drawn to my attention. Everyone, I normally spare Facebook from my political views; I can’t think anyone particularly comes here to see me get up on my soapbox. However, I’ve broken that rule recently because […]

There is growing disquiet about the nature of the EU referendum debate, with contradictory claims being banded about and accusations that one or another side is resorting to lies, scare tactics or exaggerations. It’s predominantly the Leave campaigners who have a creative attitude to the truth. As some of them freely admit, a fact-free campaign […]

Last week, Boris kicked off his anti-EU campaign with a series of gaffes so embarrassing that even the Daily Mail couldn’t resist pointing and laughing. Has he finally gone off the rails — or is his instinct for self-promotion behind even his latest series of blunders? First he posed in the doorway of his Vote […]

Today, eurosceptic minister Michael Gove gave an interview to the BBC in which he repeated Vote Leave’s opinion that Cameron’s new EU-UK deal was not legally binding. A similar claim was also made earlier this month in David Campbell Bannerman’s tirade of myth and negativity, where he suggested that the deal amounted to no more […]

All eyes are on this evening’s crunch “summit” (European Council) meeting in Brussels, where David Cameron hopes to clinch a deal for his EU reform agenda. But how do these meetings really work? What happens if there is disagreement? Who will help broker the deal? I thought I’d give my behind-the-scenes insight (I used to […]

The recently relaunched ‘Labour Leave’ pressure group faces an uphill struggle. Its fundamental problem is that its name is a misnomer. This group no more represents Labour on Europe than the handful of MPs who rebelled over same-sex marriage in 2012 represented Labour on equality. In fact, the Labour party is squarely and unambiguously pro-European. […]

Labour’s campaign to keep Britain in the European Union launches today. One question that might spring to mind is why Labour even needs a campaign of its own. After all, there’s already a vibrant and fast-growing cross-party campaign, Stronger In, which is doing a great job. There are three reasons why we’ve decided to have […]

The Out Campaign have been preparing for the EU referendum for many years. They have UKIP donors funding them and are using that money to get their message out far and wide. Unlike them, the Stronger IN campaign is starting from scratch. It needs as many supporters as possible. To support the Stronger IN campaign […]

Britain needs independent voices from business, politics and civil society to speak out about the benefits of being part of the European Union. But a worrying trend has emerged. Instead of engaging with these arguments, eurosceptics are ruthlessly focused on trying to close down debate. They do this either by claiming that nobody except them […]

David Cameron told Andrew Marr on Sunday [pdf] that he “cannot rule out campaigning to leave if he cannot secure his goals”. Up to now, most pundits would have considered that to be rhetoric, assuming that he will come back from a meeting on Brussels proclaiming that his goals have been secured and duly campaign […]

The venom with which various ‘Out’ campaigners (Nigel Farage, Nigel Lawson, Arron Banks) have attacked each other over the last few days tells you a lot about what sort of politicians they are — more interested in how the referendum campaign can enhance (or shore up) their profiles than anything else. But there is an […]