What makes the current election so unusual is not merely the depth of antipathy that much of the country so obviously feels towards both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn. It is also the nature of...
Elon Musk has said uncertainty over Brexit influenced Tesla’s decision to choose Germany over Britain as the site for its first European megafactory, which is expected to create 7,000 jobs. The...
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Simon NixonBrexit fears led Tesla to choose Berlin over Britain for the site of its new European mega-factory. Hardly a surprise but another depressing sign of the times...
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It is troubling that Boris Johnson should have chosen to launch his election campaign with two such obvious fibs. The first was that he had to call the election because parliament had blocked his...
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Simon NixonJohnson's Brexit deal will be almost as bad as no deal for many businesses. No wonder the prime minister refuses to be honest with voters about the trade-offs. My latest.
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Fifty years ago this autumn your columnist joined the Conservatives, signing up to a Tory ginger-group at university. Ten years later I was the MP for the Derbyshire constituency that remains my home.
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Simon NixonA remarkable column by Matthew Parris. No one else so unerringly and elegantly expresses what so many decent people are thinking.
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One of the most striking revelations in Anthony Seldon’s new book on Theresa May’s doomed term as prime minister, May at 10, serialised in The Times this week, is how poisonous were the...
By far the strongest argument in favour of Brexit was the “burning building” thesis. This held that the European Union was inherently unstable and liable to imminent collapse, so Britain’s...
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Simon NixonThe central premise of Brexit — that Europe was falling apart — was wrong. My latest on what lies at the heart of the Brexit crisis.
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By far the most jaw-dropping revelation so far to have emerged in the extracts from David Cameron’s memoirs was buried in his account of the build-up to the Brexit referendum. Recalling his efforts...
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Simon NixonThe most jaw-dropping revelation in David Cameron’s memoirs is an implicit admission that he didn’t understand how the EU works. Nor did May and nor does Johnson. Something has gone deeply awry with the British state. My latest.
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News that a Brexit withdrawal agreement might just, even now, be feasible is an astonishing achievement for the House of Commons. The prime minister insisted that without the threat of no-deal, EU...
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Simon NixonMatthew Parris vg here on what should surely by now be blindingly obvious: only a second referendum can bring an end to the Brexit debacle
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Simon NixonFirst the government lied about the Yellowhammer no deal papers leaked last month, then they tried to water them down, now they have decided they are still too alarming to be officially published. Outrageous.
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Exclusive: leaked report says at present there is no deliverable alternative to the backstop
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Simon NixonFurther evidence that this really is a new government in every respect. Johnson and co are finding out things for the first time that anyone who has been engaging seriously with the detail of Brexit understood years ago. Shameful.
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Finally, the truth is starting to seep out. Ever since Theresa May proclaimed in her Lancaster House speech that “no deal is better than a bad deal”, the government’s approach towards Brexit has...
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Simon NixonThe truth about no deal Brexit is finally starting to dribble out but it may already be too late. My latest on why business needs to speak out if there is to be any chance of stopping the Tories driving Britain over the cliff.
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In The Art of The Deal Donald Trump argued that the secret of success was to “play to people’s fantasies”. The trick, he wrote, is to present the biggest and most spectacular version of your...
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Simon NixonAll roads now lead to a confirmatory referendum - compelling column by @RSylvesterTimes. Baffling how Theresa May couldn’t see this months ago. The longer it is delayed, surely the more likely Remains wins.
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Theresa May’s greatest mistake was to think that she could deliver Brexit by stealth, hiding the real choices facing the country until after Britain had left the European Union. That strategy was...
Simon NixonAll EU deals are struck at the very last minute, invariably when the populist charlatans whose impossible promises caused the crisis accept reality and capitulate. The ERG approaching its Syriza moment? ft.com/content/44530d… via @financialtimes
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For the moment, I stay. No reason you should care, but here’s the story of the Conservative Party and me. I joined the Tories 50 years ago this September. Not CUCA (Cambridge University...
Anyone who has seen the film is sure to recognise the parallels. Fyre, a documentary released on Netflix this month, tells the story of the notorious Fyre festival in 2017 but could easily serve as...
One of the more alarming developments in recent weeks is the way in which the case for leaving the European Union with no deal and trading on World Trade Organisation terms has moved from the...
Vast amounts of academic, not to mention journalistic, ink have been spilt trying to define populism. The word has been used to describe so many disparate political forces of the left and right...