Money to the NHS - they lied Exact same benefits - they lied No downsides - they lied No border in the Irish Sea - they lied Returns for asylum seekers - they lied Every Brexiter should be held to account for the endless lies & self harm perpetrated on this country. news.sky.com/story/leaked...

We’ve bankrupted our HE sector so a youth mobility scheme is under threat. Once again we want others to pay for our disastrous financial management of the public realm. on.ft.com/4dk5akO Plans to reset UK-EU relations hit trouble over fishing rights & youth mobility

🇪🇺 98.2% of businesses support accessing the European Single Market. The mandate for change is overwhelming, it's time for politicians to catch up.

98% of business want the UK to rejoin the single market 78% are pessimistic about growth 72% have been negatively impacted by Brexit 96% believe Brexit has harmed communities. Brexit has failed businesses, young people & communities. Time to rejoin. www.europeanmovement.co.uk/business-imp...

I just signed this petition calling for a better deal with the EU for British businesses who have been damaged by Brexit. Will you add your name, too? www.europeanmovement.co.uk/business-rep...

I do not take a position on Brexit, says Andrew Bailey, but we need to reverse the whole thing. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The most constructive thing we - as a small nation - can do to offer a positive future for young ppl & help combat global insecurity is to work ever more closely with our near neighbours & close allies. Stronger together always. 🇪🇺

On Europe Day, the flag flies on the Town Hall and Oxford for Europe celebrate in the Lord Mayor's Parlour, hosted by Cllr Tiago Corais, Deputy Mayor of Oxford, a Portuguese citizen. @grassrootsforeurope.org @oxfordforeurope.bsky.social @europeanmovement.co.uk @oxfordcitycouncil.bsky.social

Starmer’s duty is to protect Britain from a US wrecking the global trading system.. but the greater, more lasting protection will come only when the free nations unite to resist a US president bent on destroying so much that we all value – & not only on trade. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Britain hasn’t agreed a trade deal with the US – it’s ended a hostage negotiation | Gaby Hinsliff

With two 'deals' done on trade this week, our latest Chart of the Week looks at the value of the UK's trade with three of its partners. In terms of sheer volume, getting a third deal with the EU could make the biggest difference... Read more: buff.ly/VUT050m

Starmer can only advance the pro-European agenda so far, if he continues to do it by stealth & while keeping the anti-EU Trump equidistant. At some point, the time must come to win the argument. And that can’t happen with an argument that is never even made. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

One of the strangest ironies of the last ten years has been watching Britain immersing itself as deeply as ever in memories of WW2 while proudly turning its back on the project that emerged from it.

What a time to be alive when the British government not consenting to change its tax code to meet the demands of a foreign bully is considered a big win… Britain still just about sovereign

My take on today’s UK-US trade deal. The UK is a small weak country. It does what small weak countries do, which is to escape the bully, to pay the Dane-geld. Standing up for the multilateral rules-based trading system will have to be left for others.

If only Britain were part of some larger bloc that could negotiate on more equal terms with Trump rather than be the first to surrender to his shakedown…

VE Day. An important day to remember the ECHR - whose history is born out of WW2 & whose purpose is to protect human rights from abuse by the state. www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/what-i...

Eighty years ago, enemies laid down their arms. Since then, we, Europeans, have built something extraordinary: a Union of peace, democracy, and solidarity. An anchor of stability. Our Union was born as a peace project, and it remains one today.

To honour VE Day, we should reflect on the ambition that came out of WW2: “to recreate the European family, or as much of it as we can, and to provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, safety and freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe.” Churchill, 1946.

A poverty of ambition from uk govt looks set to stymie a youth mobility scheme. Fear of “freedom of movement” as well as wish for EU students to prop up our bankrupt HE sector seem to be the reasons. on.ft.com/3EXbYbf UK and EU split over youth mobility deal, negotiating document shows

"We ALL treat Reform like they're a new party, they very much aren't! They are UKIP, into Brexit, into Leave, into Reform with the same leader!" @maitlis.bsky.social on the danger of treating Reform as a fresh political force.

If you read nothing else today, read this. Naomi Klein deftly summarizes the whole ballgame. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

This really looks interesting and of particular interest to those doing business in Scotland and beyond. But really to all of us. Another top level event at #FestivalofEuropeScotland2025 #FestivalofEurope #ConnectingEuropeScotland festivalofeuropescotland.org/support/

Many congratulations to @laylamoran.bsky.social - sending you all our best wishes. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The more Labour chases Reform, the more votes it loses. In the next GE, the only way Labour achieves growth is an ambitious Brexit reset - a return to completely frictionless EU/UK trade. But for ppl to feel better off in 2029, it has to be done now. open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

“The reality is that Brexit has been a disaster” says Lord Billamoria on #r4tonight. “Every business audience I ask - domestically and internationally - 99% confirm it’s a disaster.”

Albanese won by refuting the idea that progressives must compete with the populists and nationalists on their own terrain. Starmer would do well to look at Albanese’s campaign & offer a far stronger narrative on what Labour stands for. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Maitlis is spot on here. Reform is not a new party. Stop treating them as such. Ukip - Leave - Brexit - Reform. The same leader. The same ideas. Call them out on the damage they’ve done - the 5% hit on the economy, the 15% slump in trade, for broken Britain. www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/epi...

Spot on. The govt is in thrall to the hard right narrative on Brexit betrayal. Brexit itself is a known failure so why is this persisting? I blame the BBC and our right wing media.

The BBC constantly frame the rise of Reform as taking Labour votes. But it is the descent of the Tories, a disillusion with Labour voters for WFA etc and a fragmentation on the Left that have boosted Reform. Very few Labour voters switch to Reform. samf.substack.com/p/the-reform...

New post: The mistakes that have led the Conservatives towards annihilation, and Labour copying them mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-... By paroting Farage on asylum/immigration, but failing to change things, the Tory government lost votes to Reform and their more liberal southern heartlands

There’s good advice here for both main parties: stop trying to out-Reform Reform. Be authentic & fight for your own principles. It used to be that elections were won on the centre ground, now it’s the Far right that dominates. It needn’t be so. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“In an era of muscular economies battling it out, the US, China, the EU, British exceptionalism looks more absurd than it did during the Brexit referendum.” Fateful historical parallels & need for Starmer to take on - & win - the argument. app.theneweuropean.co.uk/story/134607...

“Keeping an eye on Farage” while negotiating the Brexit reset is a recipe for watering down ambition. Starmer needs to be far bolder and to win the argument on closer European relations. www.politico.eu/article/its-...

'Don't you dare try to invest in our area or create jobs'. Just imagine this lot in charge of the country

Warmest congratulations to the Liberal Democrats for taking control of Oxfordshire. And look, Reform got just one seat here. Our county voted to remain in the EU … #libdems #oxfordshire

Poilievre loses his seat. Dutton loses his seat. Who’s to say that Farage & Reform wouldn’t lose seats at the next election *if you take on the arguments?*

Locals are different from General elections. Excellent to see the trend is away from Trumpian populist shitshows Message to Starmer - taking on the right works far better than adopting their arguments. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

We may have reached peak Farage, argues Toynbee. Who knows. But 2 things are sure: copying Farage’s easy answers & his ongoing record of disastrous campaigns will move us in the wrong direction. FPTP doesn’t work. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Labour's base-punching strategy reminds of the Seinfeld episode where George is so obsessed with making Jerry's girlfriend like him (she clearly hates him) that he neglects his own girlfriend (who does like him) and she leaves him

Turns out you can promise sunlit uplands in 2016 & keep promising sunlit uplands in 2025. Paradise is just over the hills of Brexit, immigrants, DOGE, human rights. All of them standing in the way. What next?

I’ve been writing a weekly newsletter on post-Brexit Britain for the last 5 years for @financialtimes.com — now I’ve filed my last dispatch as I head off to be World Trade Editor. It’s grim reading, I’m afraid, as this morning’s election results attest. on.ft.com/3RLViX1

You can’t rely on progressives lending you their vote if you seem more interested in appealing to Reform voters.

"[T]alking up the challenge of immigration while looking impotent against it, chasing popular ideas that deliver long-term problems, and failing to sing of your success while alienating bits of your bloc." A brilliant warning to Labour from one of the UK's best Tory analysts, @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk

Agree with Tomas. A succession of shocks, some self-inflicted - but I'd add that a more unstable world does require more investment in physical, energy, trade security. The EU will be an important partner in that.

Farage’s legacy. A weakened economy A weakened health service A depleted work force A divided country A vote for Farage & *Reform* is a vote for more of the same. But even worse.

Brexit lessons for Trump’s trade war. Big talk of holding all the cards looks even worse with the benefit of hindsight. on.ft.com/3EGhy1D

Brexit led to 1,500 deaths a year as EU nurses left UK, study finds. Quality of care dropped as staff were replaced with less experienced nurses, researchers at the University of Surrey say. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...