https://www.theguardian.com/politics/eu-referendum Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voice en-gb Guardian News &amp; Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2026 Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:07:54 GMT 2026-07-21T15:07:54Z en-gb Guardian News &amp; Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2026 https://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.png https://www.theguardian.com https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/21/eu-dilemmas-facing-burnham-food-exports-youth-mobility-starmer-europe <p>European leaders have made positive noises about the new UK PM, but he is likely to face the same restrictions as Starmer</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jul/21/andy-burnham-pm-labour-energy-bills-cost-of-living-cabinet-latest-news-updates">UK politics live – latest updates</a></p></li></ul><p>Andy Burnham is unknown in Brussels, but that will soon change. In his schedule for the autumn is an EU-UK summit that may underscore the same dilemmas that have confronted previous British prime ministers in the relationship with Europe.</p><p>EU leaders were quick to offer congratulations to Britain’s prime minister, the seventh since the 2016 Brexit referendum. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she looked forward to strengthening the EU-UK partnership “for the security of our shared continent” and “the prosperity of people on both sides of the Channel”. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, invited Burnham to visit Berlin “very soon”, noting that the UK and Germany’s “deep connection is particularly evident in these times”.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/21/eu-dilemmas-facing-burnham-food-exports-youth-mobility-starmer-europe">Continue reading...</a> Brexit Andy Burnham Labour Foreign policy Politics European Union Europe UK news Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:31:25 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/21/eu-dilemmas-facing-burnham-food-exports-youth-mobility-starmer-europe Photograph: Halyna Kavun/Alamy Photograph: Halyna Kavun/Alamy Photograph: Halyna Kavun/Alamy Jennifer Rankin in Brussels and Lisa O’Carroll in London 2026-07-21T11:31:25Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/17/new-entente-bayeux-tapestry-london-arrival-mending-post-brexit-relations <p>Culture secretary Lisa Nandy is among first viewers as epic embroidery is unpacked at British Museum, a landmark in Anglo-French diplomacy</p><p>In the decade after Brexit, the relationship between Britain and France has been defined by rows over fishing rights, Channel crossings and trade. Boris Johnson even mocked Emmanuel Macron, telling his French counterpart to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/22/aukus-row-boris-johnson-tells-france-donnez-moi-un-break">“donnez-moi un break”</a>.</p><p>This week, that fractious chapter gave way to one of the most significant acts of cultural diplomacy between the two countries in decades. Almost 1,000 years after it was created, the Bayeux tapestry arrived at the British Museum, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/10/bayeux-tapestry-arrives-british-museum-exhibition">transported from France under cover of darkness</a>, the culmination of years of painstaking negotiations between London and Paris.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/17/new-entente-bayeux-tapestry-london-arrival-mending-post-brexit-relations">Continue reading...</a> Bayeux tapestry British Museum London Culture France Europe Lisa Nandy George Osborne Politics UK news World news Brexit European Union Foreign policy Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:15:28 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/17/new-entente-bayeux-tapestry-london-arrival-mending-post-brexit-relations Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent 2026-07-17T15:15:28Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/15/spain-gibraltar-celebrate-deal-signed-border-controls-uk-territory <p>Treaty came into effect at midnight, eliminating border controls on land frontier with British overseas territory</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jul/15/ursula-von-der-leyen-ukraine-russia-volodymyr-zelenskyy-vladimir-putin-europe-live-news">Europe live – latest updates</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jul/15/keir-starmer-pmqs-andy-burnham-labour-leadership-kemi-badenoch-conservatives-nigel-farage-reform-uk-politics-live-news">UK politics live – latest updates</a></p></li></ul><p>Spain and Gibraltar are celebrating the fall of the last frontier fence in western Europe after the signing of a post-Brexit deal that brings an end to border checks for residents, tourists and the thousands of Spanish workers who cross into the British overseas territory every day.</p><p>The agreement, which was signed in Brussels on Tuesday and came into effect at midnight, marks the conclusion of more than four years of negotiations between the UK, Spain, Gibraltar and the EU after Britain’s departure from the bloc.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/15/spain-gibraltar-celebrate-deal-signed-border-controls-uk-territory">Continue reading...</a> Gibraltar Spain Brexit European Union UK news Europe World news Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:03:15 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/15/spain-gibraltar-celebrate-deal-signed-border-controls-uk-territory Photograph: Marcos Moreno/AP Photograph: Marcos Moreno/AP Photograph: Marcos Moreno/AP Sam Jones in Madrid 2026-07-15T12:03:15Z https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jul/13/the-brexit-effect-2016-2026-edited-by-anthony-seldon-review-life-without-eu <p>Essays by the great and the good address the legacy of Brexit, but ignore the nationalist elephant in the room</p><p>This massive collection of essays by 43 different authors, including seven lords, four baronesses, one dame and three knights of the realm, may be the nearest we will ever get to a semi-official reflection on the causes and consequences of Brexit. Its editor, Sir Anthony Seldon, is honorary historian at 10 Downing Street and has written definitive works on successive 21st-century British administrations.</p><p>Yet the phrase “English nationalism” appears precisely once in its 600 pages – in a glancing reference to the line taken by the Daily Mail during the referendum campaign of 2016. Strikingly, while there is a fine essay by Aileen McHarg called On Scotland, there is none called On England. There is no attempt to provide even a broad overview of the tensions, contradictions and anxieties within the part of the UK where Brexit was won: non-metropolitan England. For much of the political and intellectual establishment, it seems, Englishness is still the condition that dare not speak its name.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jul/13/the-brexit-effect-2016-2026-edited-by-anthony-seldon-review-life-without-eu">Continue reading...</a> History books Politics books Books Culture Essays Brexit Mon, 13 Jul 2026 08:00:41 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jul/13/the-brexit-effect-2016-2026-edited-by-anthony-seldon-review-life-without-eu Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Fintan O’Toole 2026-07-13T08:00:41Z https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/12/france-uk-increase-staffing-border-controls-travel-chaos <p>Disruption at Channel crossings expected to rise amid new fingerprint and facial recognition checks</p><p>France and the UK have agreed to increase staffing at border controls in response to warnings of travel chaos caused by new fingerprinting and facial recognition checks.</p><p>Disruption at Channel crossings is expected to rise sharply next weekend at the start of the summer holiday season, with MPs saying there would be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/08/port-of-dover-faces-utter-chaos-under-struggling-eu-entry-system-mps-warn">“utter chaos and miles of tailbacks”</a> unless the EU’s entry-exit system (EES) is fixed or checks are suspended.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/12/france-uk-increase-staffing-border-controls-travel-chaos">Continue reading...</a> UK news European Union France Heidi Alexander Europe Politics World news Brexit Foreign policy Sun, 12 Jul 2026 13:33:37 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/12/france-uk-increase-staffing-border-controls-travel-chaos Photograph: Paul Quayle/Alamy Photograph: Paul Quayle/Alamy Photograph: Paul Quayle/Alamy Matthew Weaver 2026-07-12T13:33:37Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/08/nigel-farage-reform-brexit-clacton-byelection <p>His byelection stunt shows he is clearly rattled by a perilous position. Wildcards rarely endure: his future is behind him</p><p>Britain’s politics was never so weird. First, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/20/andy-burnham-britain-makerfield-mp">people of Makerfield choose</a> who should be the new prime minister. Now the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/08/nigel-farage-win-clacton-credibility-survive-reform">people of Clacton are to confirm</a> the man who is currently his most popular challenger. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is <a href="https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/55116-voting-intention-5-6-july-2026-ref-25-con-21-lab-20-grn-13-ld-12">still running ahead</a> of all other parties, and he is ahead of all other current leaders. It would be foolish to underestimate him.</p><p>Farage is a cut above the normal populist upstart. His image as the amiable duffer in the golf club bar was once that of a traditional Tory backbencher. He took to Brexit not as an economic theoretician but as a flag-waving nationalist. He exploited race as a populist issue, coded as immigration, but had little interest in any wider political programme. Brexit to him was simply a mid-career adventure.</p><p>Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/08/nigel-farage-reform-brexit-clacton-byelection">Continue reading...</a> Nigel Farage Politics UK news Reform UK House of Commons European Union Brexit Wed, 08 Jul 2026 13:30:34 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/08/nigel-farage-reform-brexit-clacton-byelection Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters Simon Jenkins 2026-07-08T13:30:34Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/07/eu-ees-border-controls-airport-queues-delays-brexit <p>Officials admit new post-Brexit EES system is ‘not perfect’, as airports and airlines voice fears over delays</p><p>The EU has rejected calls by airports and airlines to suspend the implementation of new fingerprinting and facial recognition border controls even though it admits there are “20 difficult spots” with queue chaos.</p><p>With only a week to go before the peak summer holiday season starts, EU officials said the new entry/exit system (EES) was “not perfect” but it would tell travel industry representatives that a full suspension was “not needed” and “not possible”.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/07/eu-ees-border-controls-airport-queues-delays-brexit">Continue reading...</a> European Union Travel Travel & leisure Airline industry Brexit Business UK news Europe Air transport European Commission Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:36:26 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/07/eu-ees-border-controls-airport-queues-delays-brexit Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Lisa O’Carroll Senior correspondent 2026-07-07T11:36:26Z https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/06/nigel-farage-witch-hunt-reform-partygate-moment <p>Media scrutiny of party leader’s finances has undermined his claim to be a politician in tune with typical voters</p><p>With his personal funding once again under media scrutiny, Nigel Farage, the leader of the rightwing Reform UK party, is adamant he is the victim of an “establishment plot” trying to stop him from reaching Downing Street.</p><p>This time, Farage is facing questions about support for his lifestyle from the convicted criminal George Cottrell, just months after it was revealed by the Guardian that he also took <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/25/robert-jenrick-questions-about-5m-donation-nigel-farage-legitimate">£5m from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne</a> as a personal gift.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/06/nigel-farage-witch-hunt-reform-partygate-moment">Continue reading...</a> Reform UK Nigel Farage UK news Politics Boris Johnson Arron Banks Brexit Donald Trump Mon, 06 Jul 2026 17:12:05 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/06/nigel-farage-witch-hunt-reform-partygate-moment Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images Rowena Mason Whitehall editor 2026-07-06T17:12:05Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/06/waking-up-good-news-england-mexico-world-cup <p>Years of unremitting disasters have convinced me not to go to sleep with hope in your heart. But that footballing victory took me back to more innocent times</p><p>When I went to bed on Sunday, football commentators were killing time waiting for the England match by talking about Donald Trump, Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Folarin Balogun’s red card, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/05/folarin-balogun-red-card-suspension-lifted-usmnt-belgium-world-cup">waived for the US because of </a><em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/05/folarin-balogun-red-card-suspension-lifted-usmnt-belgium-world-cup">reasons</a></em>. None of the available words – “unacceptable”, “cheaty”, “absolutely stinks” – covered it. There’s no chance of Trump’s US playing nicely in an international tournament, especially when it’s hosting most of it. Does the US just get the trophy, whatever happens? Do they fashion two trophies, one for the winner and one for most winning host?</p><p>It was all a big deal for geopolitics, but for the more immediate matter of how to take seriously a competition in which there were no longer rules, it wasn’t the end of the world. Whatever happened, it definitely wouldn’t end in a showdown between the US and the UK, fixed in advance by a president determined to celebrate 250 years in style. Because, by tomorrow, I thought, England would be out. If we’ve learned anything from the past decade, it’s not to go to sleep waiting for news. Whatever the dawn breaks over will be bad.</p><p><em><strong>Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tone/letters"> letters</a> section, please <a href="mailto:guardian.letters@theguardian.com?body=Please%20include%20your%20name,%20full%20postal%20address%20and%20phone%20number%20with%20your%20letter%20below.%20Letters%20are%20usually%20published%20with%20the%20author%27s%20name%20and%20city/town/village.%20The%20rest%20of%20the%20information%20is%20for%20verification%20only%20and%20to%20contact%20you%20where%20necessary.">click here</a>.</strong></em></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/06/waking-up-good-news-england-mexico-world-cup">Continue reading...</a> World Cup 2026 Donald Trump Brexit Rupert Murdoch England Football World Cup Sport Mon, 06 Jul 2026 15:54:40 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/06/waking-up-good-news-england-mexico-world-cup Photograph: Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images Photograph: Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images Photograph: Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images Zoe Williams 2026-07-06T15:54:40Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/06/eu-uk-andy-burnham-britain-rejoin <p>Andy Burnham’s rise has stoked talk of the terms for a future British return – but this is the wrong question</p><p>The question of the UK’s relationship with the EU has resurfaced with Keir Starmer’s premiership drawing to a close and Andy Burnham, his likely successor, preparing to enter No 10. Wes Streeting, until recently one of the contenders for the top job and now a possible future chancellor of the exchequer, went as far as to say recently that <a href="https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/05/17/uk-leadership-hopeful-streeting-calls-brexit-a-catastrophic-mistake">Britain should be back in the EU</a>.</p><p>The “rejoin” debate in the UK has focused squarely and, parochially, on two things. The first is the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/14/how-uk-economy-changed-since-brexit-vote-charts">cost imposed by Brexit on the UK economy</a>, the second is the price of rejoining – in other words, whether the UK would be able to win back its previous <a href="https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/55023-ten-years-after-the-eu-referendum-do-the-french-and-german-publics-want-the-uk-to-rejoin">opt-outs</a> from the Euro and Schengen areas.</p><p>Mujtaba Rahman is the managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consulting firm</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/06/eu-uk-andy-burnham-britain-rejoin">Continue reading...</a> European Union Economic policy Economics Brexit Europe Politics UK news Mon, 06 Jul 2026 04:00:01 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/06/eu-uk-andy-burnham-britain-rejoin Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Mujtaba Rahman 2026-07-06T04:00:01Z https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jul/04/british-teens-eu-student-fees-jump-uk-degrees-brexit-loans <p>‘Home fee’ qualification ends in 2028, leaving those hoping to study in UK not now eligible for British loans</p><p>British teenagers living in the EU could be priced out of UK universities in two years’ time as a Brexit rule change means they face the double whammy of paying costlier international fees, while losing access to student finance.</p><p>British passport holders living in the EU still qualify for “home fee” status at UK universities. But this will no longer be the case when the grace period ends in 2028, meaning the first wave to be affected are starting their A-levels, or equivalent, this autumn.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jul/04/british-teens-eu-student-fees-jump-uk-degrees-brexit-loans">Continue reading...</a> Student finance Brexit Money Higher education Students Consumer affairs European Union UK news Europe Education Sat, 04 Jul 2026 06:00:06 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jul/04/british-teens-eu-student-fees-jump-uk-degrees-brexit-loans Photograph: Supplied Photograph: Supplied Photograph: Supplied Sandra Haurant 2026-07-04T06:00:06Z https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/04/uk-ireland-leaders-fear-union-future-nigel-farage-led-government <p>Politicians brace for constitutional turmoil if Nigel Farage’s party ends up in government – or even as a strong opposition</p><p>The rise of Nigel Farage has prompted political leaders across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to game the unthinkable: the breakup of the United Kingdom.</p><p>Unionists who wish to save the union and nationalists who wish to end it are bracing for constitutional turmoil if Reform UK emerges triumphant – with Farage as prime minister or official leader of the opposition – after the next election.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/04/uk-ireland-leaders-fear-union-future-nigel-farage-led-government">Continue reading...</a> Politics UK news Ireland Northern Ireland Wales Scotland Reform UK Nigel Farage World news Europe Brexit Good Friday agreement Mark Drakeford Scottish independence Scottish politics Welsh politics Northern Irish politics Sat, 04 Jul 2026 06:00:05 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/04/uk-ireland-leaders-fear-union-future-nigel-farage-led-government Photograph: Martin Pope/Getty Images Photograph: Martin Pope/Getty Images Photograph: Martin Pope/Getty Images Rory Carroll and Lisa O’Carroll in Belfast 2026-07-04T06:00:05Z https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/01/eu-rules-threaten-to-shut-out-uk-car-manufacturers-motor-industry <p> Bloc’s ‘made in Europe’ regulations risk shutting out British manufacturers in ‘most spectacular own goal in history’</p><p>The EU’s car industry has called for the UK to be fully included in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/11/the-guardian-view-on-a-made-in-europe-industrial-strategy-an-idea-whose-time-has-come">new “made in Europe”</a> rules that threaten to shut out British manufacturers from their biggest export market.</p><p>The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (Acea) on Wednesday urged Brussels to give the UK, Turkey and Morocco “justified, targeted exemptions” to the rules, which will require cars and parts to be made within the EU to qualify for subsidies or public procurement.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/01/eu-rules-threaten-to-shut-out-uk-car-manufacturers-motor-industry">Continue reading...</a> Automotive industry European Union Brexit International trade Business UK news Europe World news Economics Global economy Foreign policy Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:53:45 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/01/eu-rules-threaten-to-shut-out-uk-car-manufacturers-motor-industry Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA Jasper Jolly and Lisa O’Carroll 2026-07-01T13:53:45Z https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/30/eu-duty-free-steel-quota-uk-rate-brexit <p>Thirteen countries with a free trade agreement with Brussels have their quota reduced by just one-third</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/jun/30/uk-living-standards-fall-fastest-growth-in-g7-andy-burnham-pound-bonds-live-news-updates">Business live – latest updates</a></p></li></ul><p>The EU has halved the amount of duty-free steel it will accept from abroad, but has agreed higher import volumes for more than a dozen trading partners, including Britain.</p><p>However, some steel producers have been hit harder than others with Tata Steel UK, Britain’s biggest producer, revealing its duty-free exports have been slashed by 60%.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/30/eu-duty-free-steel-quota-uk-rate-brexit">Continue reading...</a> Steel industry International trade Global economy Business Brexit European Union UK news Europe Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:46:43 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/30/eu-duty-free-steel-quota-uk-rate-brexit Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Lisa O’Carroll in Brussels 2026-06-30T14:46:43Z https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/28/british-food-trade-deal-brexit-hitting-uk-farmers-hard <p>Home-grown food may become a niche product for wealthy in our supermarkets as British farmers’ incomes plummet</p><p>For Liz Webster, who farms 647 hectares (1600 acres) in Wiltshire, south west England, the latest impact of Brexit has been particularly brutal. About £400 per animal has been wiped off the price she can get for her beef cattle, a hefty blow at a time when all the inputs – feed, energy, fertiliser – are going through the roof.</p><p>The fall in price, on livestock that typically fetch £2,000 to £3,000 per animal, is the result of a flood of cheaper meat arriving from Australia, the result of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/31/uk-post-brexit-trade-deals-with-australia-and-new-zealand-kick-in">one of the new trade deals the government has signed</a> since the UK left the European Union. Prices for beef in the supermarkets have remained broadly the same, but farmers have seen their income plummet.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/28/british-food-trade-deal-brexit-hitting-uk-farmers-hard">Continue reading...</a> Farming Environment Brexit European Union Labour Politics UK news Europe Sun, 28 Jun 2026 11:00:07 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/28/british-food-trade-deal-brexit-hitting-uk-farmers-hard Photograph: Peter Llewellyn/Getty Images/iStockphoto Photograph: Peter Llewellyn/Getty Images/iStockphoto Photograph: Peter Llewellyn/Getty Images/iStockphoto Fiona Harvey, Environment editor 2026-06-28T11:00:07Z https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2026/jun/28/two-prime-ministerial-resignations-10-years-apart-brexit-represents-a-kind-of-faultline-in-british-history <p>Keir Starmer’s announcement on Monday was the latest convulsion since the Brexit vote. This week, as we marked 10 years since the referendum, our former national news editor Dan Sabbagh looked back to the start of Britain’s ongoing political chaos</p><p>Our political sketch writer John Crace has dubbed it the “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/22/keir-starmer-resignation-podium-of-doom">podium of doom</a>”. Just before a British prime minister steps out of 10 Downing Street to announce their resignation, a lone lectern takes centre stage and casts an ominous shadow across the ground. This week’s resignation of Keir Starmer was the seventh such lectern moment in a decade.</p><p>The first and longest of these shadows was cast 10 years ago this week, when David Cameron resigned after the UK voted to leave the EU. Before then, departing prime ministers mostly made do with a basic mic stand. Before then, prime ministers generally didn’t depart after mere months in the job.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2026/jun/28/two-prime-ministerial-resignations-10-years-apart-brexit-represents-a-kind-of-faultline-in-british-history">Continue reading...</a> Brexit Politics European Union Media Newspapers & magazines Digital media David Cameron Keir Starmer Sun, 28 Jun 2026 09:00:05 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2026/jun/28/two-prime-ministerial-resignations-10-years-apart-brexit-represents-a-kind-of-faultline-in-british-history Composite: Guardian Design Composite: Guardian Design Composite: Guardian Design Gautam Malkani 2026-06-28T09:00:05Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/27/people-britain-disagree-brexit-divided <p>Studies suggest the country is more divided than ever – but we won’t come together unless we begin to talk rationally and calmly</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/series/brexit-vote-10-years-on">Read more from the Brexit Vote: 10 Years On series</a></p></li></ul><p>When I first moved to England, nearly two decades ago, I was invited to attend a talk in London on “the future of British identity”. It was a heated debate from the start, and it became all the more intense when the subject of putting colonial history in the school curriculum was raised. The two main speakers held opposite views and they traded barbs wrapped in velvet – scathing but polite at the same time. It wasn’t just the particulars of the oratory that stayed with me, but what happened afterwards. When the session was over, I saw the speakers shake hands, and then I heard one of them casually ask the other whether he would like to go for a pint. Off they went looking for a nearby pub, these two men who were at loggerheads on so many issues.</p><p>I stood there absorbing what I had just witnessed. That two people with clashing worldviews could still find the openness of heart to share a drink together somehow left a bigger impact on me than anything that had been said that evening. This is because I came from Türkiye, a country of profound political chasms and unhealed social fractures. Equally, I had lived in the US for about five years in the aftermath of 9/11 – writing and teaching in various universities in Boston, Michigan and Arizona, which gave me the chance to observe the deepening fissures between liberal campuses and anti-liberal small towns.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/27/people-britain-disagree-brexit-divided">Continue reading...</a> Brexit Politics UK news European Union Europe World news Sat, 27 Jun 2026 05:00:33 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/27/people-britain-disagree-brexit-divided Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images Elif Shafak 2026-06-27T05:00:33Z https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/jun/27/profound-lessons-from-dog-training-the-story-of-the-brexit-campaign-and-frances-struggle-with-heat-trap-homes <p>Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the last seven days</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/jun/27/profound-lessons-from-dog-training-the-story-of-the-brexit-campaign-and-frances-struggle-with-heat-trap-homes">Continue reading...</a> Brexit Sport Dogs Animals Pets Sat, 27 Jun 2026 05:00:32 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/jun/27/profound-lessons-from-dog-training-the-story-of-the-brexit-campaign-and-frances-struggle-with-heat-trap-homes Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images/PA/Rex/Shutterstock/AP Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images/PA/Rex/Shutterstock/AP Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images/PA/Rex/Shutterstock/AP Guardian Staff 2026-06-27T05:00:32Z https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/26/brexit-britain-and-the-roots-of-its-discontent <p>Readers respond to an article by Rafael Behr in which he reflects on the ‘curse of Brexit’ and the reasons for Keir Starmer’s fall</p><p>Rafael Behr argues that Brexit created a politics poisoned by nationalism and that the real challenge facing Labour is “a&nbsp;battle&nbsp;to reclaim patriotism” (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/24/keir-starmer-brexit-nationalism-andy-burnham">Keir Starmer couldn’t beat the curse of Brexit – a politics poisoned by nationalism, 24 June</a>). Yet this framework risks reducing Britain’s political crisis to a dispute&nbsp;over competing versions&nbsp;of national identity.</p><p>Let us be clear: the social and economic conditions that produced Brexit were not created by nationalism. Regional inequality, economic insecurity and declining trust in political institutions long predated the referendum. Nationalist rhetoric provided a language through which these grievances were expressed, but it did not generate&nbsp;them.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/26/brexit-britain-and-the-roots-of-its-discontent">Continue reading...</a> Brexit Keir Starmer Andy Burnham Labour Politics European Union Europe UK news Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:11:27 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/26/brexit-britain-and-the-roots-of-its-discontent Photograph: WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Photograph: WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Photograph: WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Guardian Staff 2026-06-26T16:11:27Z https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/26/to-heal-itself-the-uk-must-face-up-to-why-it-voted-to-leave-the-eu <p>We are watching Britain lose itself in imperial nostalgia and self-delusion, writes <strong>Prof Berthold Schoene. </strong>And <strong>Ian Arnott </strong>remembers a warning to Brexiters Michael Gove and Boris Johnson</p><p>This kind of article annoys the hell out of me (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/20/boats-bankers-and-borders-five-symbols-that-sum-up-brexit-a-decade-on">Boats, bankers and borders: five symbols that sum up Brexit a decade on, 20 June</a>). We all know that the leave campaign was built on lies and manipulation. We are yet to see a list of Brexit benefits. Or, indeed, a list of names of the very few who did actually benefit. And none of the mendacious opportunists who drove the leave campaign have ever been held accountable. It is truly outrageous!</p><p>Meanwhile, Brexit took a very real toll on the many anglophile Europeans who, like me, entrusted their lives to the postwar utopian ideals and humanist principles embodied by the EU. Shocked that almost no one seemed willing to make a persuasive case for remain, I applied for British citizenship after 25 years in the UK and became British just a few weeks before the referendum. As a result, I was spared the worst of the&nbsp;nightmarish&nbsp;bureaucratic toxicity that was subsequently to consume many of my European friends and colleagues.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/26/to-heal-itself-the-uk-must-face-up-to-why-it-voted-to-leave-the-eu">Continue reading...</a> Brexit European Union Europe Foreign policy Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:11:21 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/26/to-heal-itself-the-uk-must-face-up-to-why-it-voted-to-leave-the-eu Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA Guardian Staff 2026-06-26T16:11:21Z