Vince Cable, UK Lib Dem leader
POLITICO asked political figures from around Europe for their reflections on 2017 and their predictions for the new year. Here, U.K. Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable gives his take on Europe in the...
View ArticleUK holds back historic documents on EU
The British government held back documents related to the creation of the European Union from a trove of files from 1992 due to be released Friday at the National Archives, according to media reports....
View ArticleUK government under fire over Carillion liquidation
LONDON — The U.K. government is facing questions over why it awarded contracts to the troubled outsourcing company Carillion, which filed for compulsory liquidation on Monday. David Lidington, the...
View ArticleOn Brexit’s birthday, thousands march for second vote
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of central London on Saturday to call for a referendum on the final deal governing Britain’s exit from the EU. Marching on the second anniversary of the...
View ArticleLiberal Democrat leader to step down once Brexit is ‘resolved’
LONDON — Vince Cable said on Friday he would step down as leader of the Liberal Democrats once Brexit is “resolved.” The 75-year-old former business secretary will first oversee reforms to the party,...
View ArticleLondon mayor tells Michel Barnier no-deal Brexit would also hurt Europe
The consequences of the U.K. leaving the EU without a deal would be felt across the Continent, London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier. The two had a meeting in Brussels...
View ArticleUK government: Second Brexit vote would take a year to organize
LONDON — The U.K. government estimates that it could take more than a year to organize a second Brexit referendum, according a Cabinet Office paper seen by POLITICO. The existence of the document,...
View Article7 UK Labour MPs leave party to form breakaway group
LONDON — Seven Labour MPs have quit the party over the leadership’s stance on Brexit and foreign policy issues as well as what they regard as the failure to deal with anti-Semitism. The MPs, including...
View ArticleHow to watch the Westminster Brexit votes like a pro
LONDON — Experiencing déjà vu? It’s another day of non-binding votes on a U.K. government Brexit motion. The major flashpoint, Yvette Cooper and Oliver Letwin’s amendment seeking a path for MPs to...
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Brexit’s villains on trial
LONDON — For some Britons, the date the United Kingdom leaves the European Union — whether that ultimately falls on March 29, 2019 or a few months later — will be a day of national liberation and...
View ArticleVince Cable to step down as Lib Dem leader
Vince Cable said Thursday night he intends to step down as leader of the U.K.’s Liberal Democrats. “I indicated last year that once the Brexit story had moved on, and we had fought this year’s crucial...
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13 UK European Parliament candidates to watch
LONDON — There has never been an election quite like it. For starters, it was never meant to happen. Since the U.K. voted to leave the EU in June 2016 the assumption had been that its MEPs would leave...
View ArticleVerhofstadt backs Lib Dems on the ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ tour
LONDON — Remain-backing voters in the U.K. should vote for the Liberal Democrats as “the most pro-European” party, Guy Verhofstadt said on a campaign visit to London. The Lib Dems face a challenge in...
View ArticleChange UK candidate rejects restrictions on British MEPs
British MEPs elected to the European Parliament next week should have no restrictions placed on their work, even though Brexit is unresolved, said Jan Vincent Rostowski, a leading candidate for Change...
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Never mind the bollocks, here’s the Liberal Democrats
BRISTOL, England — The U.K.’s self-confessed Brexit “hard-liners” have rediscovered the art of insurgency. If the polls are correct, the Liberal Democrats are on course to shake off the taint of five...
View ArticleMichael Gove: Second Brexit referendum would be ‘undemocratic’
Allowing a second referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union would be “undemocratic” and could break up the United Kingdom, U.K. Environment Secretary Michael Gove warned Wednesday....
View ArticleFarage on Remainers: They think ‘we’re stupid, we’re ignorant, we’re racist’
The leaders of the two British parties ahead in the polls for the European election went head-to-head on Wednesday, and complained about the level of abuse directed at candidates. Nigel Farage of the...
View ArticleDoubt over Theresa May’s future overshadows UK vote
LONDON — The U.K. began voting in the European Parliament election Thursday, with polling day overshadowed by speculation that a disastrous result for the ruling Conservatives could trigger Theresa...
View ArticlePoll: Lib Dems would win most votes in UK election
The pro-Remain Liberal Democrats would win a U.K. general election if it were held now, according to a new YouGov poll for the Times newspaper. The Lib Dems would win 24 percent of the vote, closely...
View ArticleAnti-Brexit party Change UK splits
LONDON — Britain’s breakaway anti-Brexit party Change UK has split — barely three months after being founded. Following a disastrous set of European election results last month, the grouping of 11...
View ArticleBritain needs an anti-Brexit alliance
LONDON — Britain’s next prime minister is in the process of being chosen by around 160,000 Conservative Party members — a self-selecting “selectorate” that is predominantly over 55, relatively wealthy,...
View ArticleVince Cable: Boris Johnson could declare national emergency to force no-deal...
LONDON — A senior U.K. opposition MP voiced concern that Prime Minister Boris Johnson could declare a state of national emergency in order to bypass legislation aimed at preventing a no-deal Brexit on...
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UK’s Liberal Democrats pin hopes on presidential campaign
LONDON — Britain’s Liberal Democrats think they have a secret weapon — their fresh-faced new leader Jo Swinson. Britain’s third largest national party, which is fighting the U.K.’s December general...
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How the BBC lost the election
LONDON — The veteran BBC presenter Andrew Neil turned to the camera and did something that had never been done in the British public broadcaster’s history: He chastised a sitting prime minister for not...
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The UK trade negotiator reaching for Brexit’s greatest prize
This article is part of Britain Goes Global, a series highlighting the launch of Pro Trade UK. Sign up here for complimentary access to Morning Trade UK, POLITICO’s new daily morning newsletter....
View ArticleHow UK trade went woke
LONDON — Welcome to the new era of woke trade. New U.K. deals will reduce tariffs, ease the flow of data across borders and … improve gender rights. Sexism is just one of the social issues cropping...
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Where Britain went wrong
Where Britain went wrong How Britain became the sick man of Europe — again. By Sebastian Whale and Graham Lanktree Illustrations by Edel Rodriguez for POLITICO LIVERPOOL, England — On the long picket...
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Britain’s Labour Party doesn’t want to talk about a hung parliament. It might...
LONDON — Forget “snap election” or “boundary changes.” Few phrases pre-emptively exhaust British MPs like “hung parliament.” But even if the key opposition parties who could topple the Conservatives...
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Does Britain still care about Brexit? Even the (Brexit-hating) Lib Dems...
LONDON — Fighting Brexit was once their raison d’etre. Now Britain’s Liberal Democrats are fighting each other — over whether Europe is still a salient issue for the weary U.K. electorate. With a...
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‘Tell us what you want’: Labour gets cozy with the City as 2008 crash fades
LONDON — Financial crisis? What financial crisis. Fifteen years after the 2008 crash roiled the global economy, bankers are back in vogue. Britain’s new center-left government doesn’t just want to...
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Meet the UK party that thinks Trump-bashing is a vote-winner
LONDON — Almost every major British political party has bent the knee to Donald Trump. The Liberal Democrats are happy to stay standing. While Prime Minister Keir Starmer is busy trying to build a...
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