Brexit
EU summit marked by Brexit threats and ultimatums
By Chris Marsden, 22 September 2018
Theresa May's address was met with silence and her implied threats were stonewalled, as the main players within the EU combined the next day to declare her proposals to be “unworkable.”
Labour’s John McDonnell embraces Blairite “new economy” plan
By Laura Tiernan, 19 September 2018
Labour’s endorsement of the IPPR plan makes clear that, behind the talk about governing “for the many, not the few,” Corbyn and his allies are adopting trade war policies.
What is behind the talk of a Brexit “national emergency”?
By Julie Hyland, 3 August 2018
Underlying the febrile atmosphere that has developed since the Brexit referendum vote are explosive class tensions.
Brexit crisis prompts calls for national unity government
By Robert Stevens, 21 July 2018
The call for a national unity coalition seeks to address fears that May’s downfall could end in the election of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
UK: May government in meltdown over Brexit
By Robert Stevens, 18 July 2018
May’s attempted compromise over Brexit has blown up, due not simply to events in Britain, but also to the antagonisms between the US and Europe.
Concerted efforts to save May’s government and the chance of a “soft Brexit”
By Chris Marsden, 11 July 2018
US President Trump has made no secret of his hostility to the EU and desire to weaken what he considers a rival trade bloc, including by supporting Brexit and imposing sanctions.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson resigns to prepare possible Conservative leadership challenge
By Chris Marsden, 10 July 2018
Unlike David Davis, who stressed that he remained loyal to Theresa May, Johnson quit in a manner designed to inflict maximum damage to the prime minister.
Resignation of Brexit secretary David Davis prompts talk of leadership contest, British general election
By Robert Stevens and Chris Marsden, 9 July 2018
Fear of triggering a general election is all that continues to hold the Tory party together, such is the depth of the rift over Europe.
EU citizens must register, carry ID cards, in post-Brexit Britain
By Steve James, 27 June 2018
As the Home Office scheme currently stands, EU citizens will be required to carry identity cards, which have never been enforced in Britain.
Britain’s Tory government offers concession to pro-EU MPs to advance Brexit bill
By Robert Stevens, 21 June 2018
With the May government beholden to its pro-Brexit wing, there is a stepped-up effort to use Labour as the political vehicle for preventing Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Brexit crisis intensifies as “Remain” Tories reject bogus compromise on parliament having “meaningful vote”
By Chris Marsden, 15 June 2018
Divisions within the Tories were matched by those in Labour, as 90 Labour MPs rebelled against leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Brexit constitutional stand-off reaches UK Supreme Court
By Steve James, 9 June 2018
The escalation of tensions risks becoming a conflict not only between England, Scotland and Wales, but between London and Brussels.
House of Lords Brexit revolt hits Conservatives and Labour
By Paul Mitchell, 10 May 2018
Theresa May’s Conservative government suffered another defeat in the House of Lords on Tuesday, as peers voted for an amendment to the European Union withdrawal bill.
UK: Brexit divisions threaten government defeat
By Chris Marsden, 28 April 2018
The prime minister is under pressure from both sides of her party to clarify her position on the customs union, the mechanism allowing goods to be transported tariff-free between European Union member states.
UK: May government declares against customs union as Brexit crisis intensifies
By Robert Stevens, 25 April 2018
Support for the customs union from a sizable cross-party faction is a stalking horse aimed at ensuring the UK remains in the Single Market and possibly reversing Brexit entirely.
Claims by Cambridge Analytica whistleblower used for new electoral investigation into Brexit
By Julie Hyland, 3 April 2018
The Electoral Commission’s latest investigation testifies to the deep tensions within the British bourgeoisie over Brexit.
UK-EU draft deal pleases neither side of ruling elite’s Brexit divide
By Chris Marsden, 21 March 2018
Struck against the background of demands for action against Russia, the agreement gave expression to rising antagonisms between the UK and its European rivals.
Theresa May’s Brexit speech gets short shrift from European Union
By Chris Marsden, 3 March 2018
Despite her conciliatory tone, May failed to meet EU demands to flesh out what her government means by “ambitious managed diversion.”
Draft EU Brexit agreement deepens divisions over Northern Ireland
By Steve James, 2 March 2018
The European powers’ draft, put together in consultation with the Irish government, is an aggressive response to British maneuvers.
UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn slithers toward sellout
By Chris Marsden, 1 March 2018
Corbyn’s speech expresses the role that would be played by any future Labour government, under conditions where a deepening Tory crisis could hasten a general election.
As May faces leadership challenge, Corbyn and Labour make Brexit pitch to employers’ groups
By Chris Marsden, 2 February 2018
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn met privately with the leaders of the major employers’ organisations, including the Confederation of British Industry, Institute of Directors and the Federation of Small Business to discuss Brexit.
EU summit agrees talks will move forward, but Brexit crisis continues
By Chris Marsden, 16 December 2017
Guidelines issued for the UK on Brexit stipulate that it must adopt all new European Union laws created during the transition period, while being excluded from any decision-making role.
Brexit crisis deepens after Tory revolt on eve of EU summit
By Chris Marsden, 15 December 2017
The parliamentary defeat for Prime Minister Theresa May has been hailed as proof of a majority for a “soft Brexit”—preserving at all costs full access to the Single European Market.
Brexit talks with EU to proceed after climbdown by UK prime minister
By Chris Marsden, 9 December 2017
The European Union will likely allow the UK to move on to the next stage of discussion on the terms of Brexit, focusing on a future trading relationship.
Former UK minister indicates Brexit referendum “deal” between Rupert Murdoch and David Cameron
By Julie Hyland, 7 December 2017
According to Ken Clarke, Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of Murdoch’s British arm, News International, said she was “running the government now in partnership with David Cameron.”
Proposed Brexit deal blocked by Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party
By Robert Stevens, 6 December 2017
The May government has failed to reach an agreement with the European Union after seven months of acrimonious talks.
Political turmoil over Ireland’s post-Brexit status escalates
By Steve James, 28 November 2017
Northern Ireland has not had a functioning government for months. Now the government in the Republic of Ireland faces collapse.
UK Electoral Commission investigates Leave campaign finances in Brexit referendum
By Julie Hyland, 25 November 2017
The UK Electoral Commission is investigating whether the Vote Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum on British membership of the European Union breached its £7 million spending limit.
May’s Conservative government faces possible collapse over Brexit
By Chris Marsden, 11 November 2017
European Union officials have let it be known that they are making contingency plans based on Prime Minister Theresa May not surviving beyond the end of this year.
Rift deepens between Britain and European Union as talks reach no agreement
By Robert Stevens, 19 October 2017
EU leaders will today inform British Prime Minister Theresa May that after five rounds of negotiations over the terms of its exit from the EU, the UK needs to make further concessions.
Row over Brexit punctures myth of unity behind Corbyn at Labour Party conference
By Robert Stevens, 27 September 2017
The conference vote on Brexit took on surreal elements, being held on the same day that it was announced that the beginning of a fourth round of talks between the UK and the EU again broke up without agreement.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale quits
By Steve James, 25 September 2017
Dugdale’s career points to the hollowed-out character of Labour and leader Jeremy Corbyn’s refusal to wage a struggle against the party’s right-wing.
May’s overtures to European Union on Brexit terms falls flat
By Robert Stevens, 23 September 2017
While Conservative Prime Minister May’s speech in Florence was flagged as bridge building with the European Union over Brexit, not a single EU leader or representative was present.
UK wields military and security cooperation as a weapon in Brexit negotiations
By Robert Stevens, 22 September 2017
The British government’s position paper on the terms of its exit from the EU stresses the UK’s role as the second military power in NATO, to underline the implicit threat that it will withdraw military and defence co-operation with the bloc.
UK parliament approves sweeping executive powers under Brexit bill
By Julie Hyland, 13 September 2017
The so-called Great Repeal Bill, incorporating European Union (EU) legislation into British law, passed its second reading in parliament early Tuesday morning.
UK: Tony Blair calls for anti-immigration policies to stop Brexit
By Robert Stevens, 12 September 2017
The former Labour prime minister called for EU nationals without work in the UK to be barred from renting homes, opening bank accounts and receiving health care.
Labour will seek to block Brexit bill
By Julie Hyland, 7 September 2017
As parliament begins its debate today on the second reading of the so-called Great Repeal bill, the Labour Party officially announced it will vote against.
No progress in UK- European Union talks over Brexit
By Julie Hyland, 5 September 2017
The European Union insists there can be no progress to discussion on future relations without Britain settling its “divorce” bill first.
Corbyn and Labour backtrack on Brexit
By Chris Marsden, 30 August 2017
The Financial Times welcomed Labour’s support for continued membership of the European Union Single Market, saying that it put the party “firmly on the side of business.”
Brexit crisis tearing apart UK’s Conservative Party
By Chris Marsden, 22 July 2017
The political turmoil and economic dislocation surrounding Brexit has dramatically undermined the authority of Britain’s rulers, not only in Brussels but also in the eyes of millions of workers.
All-party pro-European Union group formed by UK Labour’s Chuka Umunna
By Chris Marsden, 13 July 2017
The formation of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on European Union Relations comes prior to the moving of the Great Repeal Bill concerning Britain's exit from the European Union.
UK: Conservatives seek toxic alliance with Democratic Unionist Party
By Steve James, 24 June 2017
The DUP’s current policy is to extract as many concessions as possible to offset the catastrophic economic impact of Brexit, while maintaining Northern Ireland’s position in the UK.
Exit talks begin between UK and European Union
By Chris Marsden, 20 June 2017
Britain’s Brexit Secretary David Davis and Michel Bernier of the European Union launched negotiations Monday on the terms of Britain’s exit from the trade bloc.
Corbyn makes his appeal to become Britain’s next prime minister
By Robert Stevens, 27 May 2017
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn gave his response to the Manchester suicide bombing yesterday, amid the further unravelling of the government’s narrative of the attack.
UK Conservative manifesto outlines stepped up austerity and militarism
By Robert Stevens, 22 May 2017
The commitment to Britain’s exit from the European Union is a pledge to proceed with intensified attacks on the working class.
NATO requests UK troops for US-led surge in Afghanistan
By Paul Mitchell, 11 May 2017
The Stoltenberg-May talks confirm that behind the official reasons given for the calling of a snap general election, one of its central aims is to further the UK’s war agenda in alliance with US imperialism.
Prime Minister May accuses EU of meddling in UK election
By Chris Marsden, 4 May 2017
May’s accusation that the EU is interfering in the UK election in language hitherto reserved for Vladimir Putin testifies to an escalation of hostilities with Europe.
European Union issues hard-line Brexit negotiating strategy
By Robert Stevens, 1 May 2017
Under the guidelines, discussions on trade between the EU and the UK can only proceed after the divorce payment and agreement on other terms of Britain’s EU exit.
Ahead of EU Brexit summit, Merkel takes tough stance on UK
By Johannes Stern, 29 April 2017
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the UK “will not have the same rights and cannot expect to be treated better than a member of the European Union.”
Labour outlines pro-business “soft Brexit” policy for June 8 vote
By Robert Stevens, 26 April 2017
Labour's preoccupation is satisfying the concerns expressed by the majority of Britain’s bourgeoisie, which supported Remain and whose interests are tied to the EU.
Leading ministers outline war agenda behind UK’s snap general election
By Chris Marsden, 22 April 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May’s calling of a general election is an attempt to shape post-Brexit politics based on an agenda of trade and military war.
UK parliament votes for snap June 8 general election
By Robert Stevens, 20 April 2017
In calling the election, UK Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking to expand her government’s majority by exploiting the crisis facing Labour.
Snap UK general election called amid continuing Brexit crisis
By Chris Marsden, 19 April 2017
Events in Britain are unfolding at a time of a build-up to a possible US war against North Korea and unending anti-Russian propaganda.
Aggressive claims by Spain helped provoke Gibraltar flare-up with Britain
By Alejandro López, 6 April 2017
Sections of the Spanish ruling class have calculated that Brexit offers Spain an opportunity not only to reclaim Gibraltar but also to possibly become Washington’s new strategic ally in Europe.
The UK’s Great Repeal Bill: A bonfire of workers’ rights
By Julie Hyland, 1 April 2017
The bill is framed to meet the demands of banks and big business to end all regulation of their predatory activities.
Triggering of Brexit intensifies national tensions in Europe
By Robert Stevens, 31 March 2017
Representatives of the EU and the continent’s major powers reacted with undisguised hostility to Prime Minister Theresa May’s triggering of the Article 50 process.
UK officially begins process of exiting the European Union
By Chris Marsden, 30 March 2017
The centrifugal forces tearing apart the EU reveal the failure of any attempt to overcome, within the framework of the capitalist system, the national antagonisms that gave rise to two world wars.
UK government to trigger Brexit amid calls for second Scottish independence vote
By Chris Marsden, 15 March 2017
As the Tory government presses on with its plans to leave the EU, the United Kingdom could itself face the same dissolution that threatens the European Union.
Border issues and Brexit dominate Northern Ireland elections
By Steve James, 27 February 2017
The British and Irish governments have insisted that, post-Brexit, no border checks will be imposed, but no one has yet come up with a means to explain how this can be done.
UK Labour Party by-election defeat prompts new moves against Corbyn
By Robert Stevens, 25 February 2017
In the face of a renewed offensive against him by the Labour Party right wing, Corbyn and his key supporters again called for unity with his opponents.
The way forward in the fight against Trump and May
By Chris Marsden, 18 February 2017
The two rival groups organising overlapping rallies on February 20 offer no means to wage a struggle against Trump’s cabinet of billionaires and social reactionaries and May’s pack of baying Thatcherites.
Report co-authored by murdered British MP Jo Cox advocates for war
By Richard Tyler, 11 February 2017
Cox’s brutal murder shocked millions, but her death has been used in the most cynical fashion by the most right-wing forces within the Labour Party.
UK House of Commons approves Brexit
By Robert Stevens, 9 February 2017
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn ordered his MPs to support the government’s bill whether his party’s amendments were accepted or not.
Theresa May’s White Paper offers no plan for post-Brexit Britain
By Robert Stevens, 4 February 2017
The government promises the best of all possible worlds for British imperialism, with no means of achieving this ambitious goal.
British government secures vote to proceed with Brexit
By Chris Marsden, 2 February 2017
Following the vote, the UK will enter a period of intense political crisis.
UK Labour Party split threatened over Brexit
By Paul Mitchell, 31 January 2017
Political divisions have been brought to the peak of intensity by Prime Minister Theresa May’s efforts to cultivate relations with the US administration of Donald Trump.
Trump’s meeting with the UK’s Theresa May and the US/European conflict
By Chris Marsden, 27 January 2017
It is a measure of the deterioration in relations between the US and the rest of the world that May’s visit has prompted bitter recriminations from leading voices representing British imperialism.
British Supreme Court rules only Parliament can trigger Brexit
By Robert Stevens, 25 January 2017
While the Supreme Court came down in favour of Parliament, nothing has been resolved politically by its verdict.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May pledges hard Brexit, threatens trade war
By Chris Marsden, 18 January 2017
May’s aggressive posture is bound up with efforts to forge an economic and political alliance with the incoming administration of Donald Trump in the United States.
Brexit deepens existential crisis of UK and European Union
By Chris Marsden, 10 January 2017
The row over what relationship the UK will have with the European Union takes place under conditions where its very survival is threatened.
British Labour Party moving to support ending free movement of EU workers
By Robert Stevens, 7 January 2017
The Tories and Labour are fighting over which party is more stridently opposed to immigration.
Brexit seized on by Scottish government to mount new power grab
By Steve James, 28 December 2016
The Scottish National Party government are hoping to directly benefit from the Brexit debacle by laying claim to additional powers for the Scottish parliament.
UK: Labour says free movement in Europe must be curtailed post-Brexit
By Julie Hyland, 17 December 2016
Labour’s Keir Starmer called for a “national consensus on Brexit,” with freedom of movement restrictions central to negotiations with the European Union.
UK Supreme Court completes hearing on Brexit procedure
By Robert Stevens, 10 December 2016
Whatever verdict on whether Prime Minister Theresa May has the power to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, it will only deepen the schism in ruling circles.
UK parliament passes Labour motion calling for government to publish “Brexit plan”
By Robert Stevens, 8 December 2016
Prime Minister Theresa May originally opposed the motion, but was forced to accept it as between 20 and 40 pro-EU Tory rebels were pledged to back Labour.
UK Supreme Court hears opposed arguments on whether Parliament must vote to trigger Brexit
By Robert Stevens, 7 December 2016
The Supreme Court hearing takes place amid an escalating political crisis over Britain’s exiting the European Union, as the EU itself descends ever deeper into chaos.
Supreme Court Brexit hearing begins amid growing divisions in UK ruling circles
By Robert Stevens, 6 December 2016
The case stems from the major constitutional and political crisis sparked by the narrow June 23 referendum vote to exit the EU.
UK Independence Party selects new leader as post-Brexit crisis deepens
By Julie Hyland, 2 December 2016
New leader Paul Nuttall’s promotion of anti-immigrant and law-and-order rhetoric is a right-wing populist veneer for the defence of British capital against the working class.
Tony Blair heads new pro-European Union movement
By Chris Marsden, 26 November 2016
Support for a second referendum on the UK’s European Union membership has only minority support in Parliament but cuts across existing party divisions.
Guardian columnist Will Hutton rants against the Brexit “mob”
By Paul Mitchell, 21 November 2016
Hutton’s defence of a political and economic system that is committed to austerity only legitimises UKIP’s demagogic posturing as the voice of the “people” against “the elites.”
Trial of fascist accused of murdering UK Labour MP Jo Cox begins
By Richard Tyler, 19 November 2016
Cox was shot and stabbed multiple times in broad daylight on the way to her MPs surgery.
Irish ruling elite in deep crisis over Brexit
By Steve James, 14 November 2016
The collapse in the value of the pound against the euro is increasing the price of the €4.4 billion in food exports from the Irish republic to Britain.
UK: Corbyn threatens to block Brexit and trigger general election
By Robert Stevens and Chris Marsden, 7 November 2016
In portraying the European Single Market as progressive, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is siding with finance capital and big business interests against the working class.
Speculation mounts over snap general election as UK Brexit crisis intensifies
By Robert Stevens, 5 November 2016
The High Court ruling that only parliament may trigger Britain’s exit from the EU has spurred collaboration between pro-remain forces committed to overturning the referendum vote to leave.
High Court verdict on EU Brexit plunges UK deeper into crisis
By Julie Hyland, 4 November 2016
The High Court ruled that Parliament alone has the right to trigger Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Scottish National Party pushes for second independence referendum
By Steve James, 25 October 2016
For Sturgeon and the SNP leadership, the threat of a new independence poll is a tool to extract concessions from London—primarily over the terms of Brexit.
Legal challenge to Brexit threatens constitutional crisis in UK
By Robert Stevens, 24 October 2016
Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she will activate Article 50 by the end of next March.
British press witch-hunt refugee children from Calais
By Robert Stevens, 20 October 2016
A xenophobic campaign by British politicians and media is being waged against children arriving in the UK from the Calais migrant camp.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson maps out post-Brexit agenda
By Robert Stevens, 4 October 2016
Johnson gave a disgusting panegyric to militarism and empire, bragging that Britain “has directed the invasion or conquest of 178 countries” over two centuries.
UK Prime Minister announces timetable for UK exit from European Union
By Robert Stevens, 3 October 2016
According to plans put forward by Theresa May, Britain will be out of the European Union by March 2019—a year ahead of a scheduled 2020 General Election.
UK political crisis deepens over Brexit
By Robert Stevens, 10 September 2016
Representatives of the ruling elite who favour EU membership are loudly voicing their concerns that the May government is bereft of any strategy following the Brexit vote.
UK Conservative divisions over Brexit go public once again
By Robert Stevens, 7 September 2016
May’s mantra that “Brexit means Brexit” can no longer conceal the air of crisis and paralysis surrounding the government.
US and Japan attack plans for post-Brexit Britain
By Julie Hyland, 5 September 2016
President Obama made plain Washington’s opposition to the UK leaving the EU, while Tokyo warned that Japanese corporations would leave the UK if it went ahead with the move.
Divisions grow over British withdrawal from the European Union
By Robert Stevens, 30 August 2016
Prime Minister Theresa May has reportedly ruled out a parliamentary vote on “Brexit” before formally triggering withdrawal from the European Union.
Britain: Labour’s National Executive extends purge of party membership
By Robert Stevens, 27 August 2016
Ronnie Draper, the general secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers union and a Labour Party member for 40 years, has been suspended from membership.
Divisions rise inside EU at summit between Germany, France and Italy
By Alex Lantier, 23 August 2016
Amid the escalating crisis unleashed by the Brexit vote, the remaining major EU powers barely succeeded in papering over the divisions between them.
Workers and youth speak on Corbyn and the British Labour Party
By our reporters, 22 August 2016
The <em>World Socialist Web Site</em> interviewed several of those participating in a Sheffield rally called in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The ruling class and the spectre of Leon Trotsky
By Chris Marsden, 20 August 2016
Seventy-six years after his assassination at the hands of a Stalinist agent, Trotsky remains not only a towering historical personality, but also a figure of acute contemporary political relevance.
UK media denounces Corbyn’s refusal to support war with Russia
By Robert Stevens and Chris Marsden, 20 August 2016
Corbyn’s comments occasioned a slew of articles and commentary declaring that he could not be trusted with the reins of power if he were not ready for all-out war.
Britain’s Financial Times calls on anti-Corbyn plotters to prepare Labour split
By Julie Hyland, 20 August 2016
The FT said the Labour right must think “through what a new party of the centre-left would stand for” and make “serious preparation” for a breakaway.
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