Denis MacShane
The only way for May to save her deal
It is now clear that the Brexit deal has not been changed and the demands of the hardline anti-European MPs for the Withdrawal Agreement to be re-opened have been rejected by the EU27, writes Denis MacShane.
Brexit is dissolving British politics
The new eleven-member Independent Group is the latest product of a Brexit process that is dissolving British politics, writes Denis MacShane.
In the House of Commons, Brexit has no winners, only losers
Britain neither wants Brexit nor knows how to escape from it. The result is that everybody loses, and the camp of losers just gets bigger and bigger, writes Denis MacShane.
The Brexit saga will go on for years
The deal agreed between the United Kingdom and the European Union has detonated the biggest political dispute in British politics since Neville Chamberlain came back from Munich in 1938 waving a leaf of paper and proclaiming he had won “Peace in our time”, writes Denis MacShane.
As Putin falters, possible next leader of Russia in Brussels this week
Vladimir Putin is now 66, the average age of death for a Russian male. He keeps fit so we can expect he will live longer than his fellow Russian men, whose standard of living and health care has not been at the forefront of his near two decades of rule, writes Denis MacShane.
7 nightmare days for Theresa May
A second referendum or an extension to Article 50 could be the only way to cut the Brexit Gordian knot, argues Denis MacShane as he reflects on a nightmare week for Theresa May.
On Brexit, Theresa May is a true Fabian
As Theresa May returns from yet another European Council where she had nothing to say in concrete terms to her fellow 27 heads of government on Brexit, she could actually be copying the tactics of one of the most famous Roman leaders, writes Denis MacShane.
Johnson and Davis isolated as key Brexit Tory MPs opt for pragmatism
On the eve of the second anniversary of the Brexit plebiscite, nothing but nothing is clear on what the UK government’s policy is, still less on what the official opposition’s policy is. All the enthusiasm for Brexit has disappeared from political life in Britain, writes Denis MacShane.
Brexit turns into a constitutional crisis in Britain
Divisions across the UK's political institutions are turning Brexit into a major domestic constitutional crisis, writes Denis MacShane.
Mysterious Martin, Sinister Selmayr
Selmayr will have no role in the choice of the next European Commission president, but for Eurosceptics, it was a gift from heaven to read a long attack on Selmayr as proof of how the EU is run by a secret cabal of unelected power-holders who dictate what the EU is and does, writes Denis MacShane.
Barnier-Davis deal puts off all key decisions as Brexiternity beckons
A Brexiternity beckons for the years ahead, well past the next general election, as political, economic and policy shapers will debate and disagree on what kind of Brexit the UK wants and needs, writes Denis MacShane.
Ryanair right to warn on flights as British Airways waits for Brexit Harry Potter
UK-based airlines will face serious problems sorting out their flying rights when the UK leaves the Single Market and Customs Union, writes Denis McShane.
Tony Blair is right on immigration but did nothing to control freedom of movement
After Brexit, the rest of Europe will control freedom of movement sensibly without discriminating on grounds of nationality, adhering to the principle that has been in all European treaties since 1950, writes Denis MacShane.
Two cheers for Balkan Boris
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has come in for plenty of criticism in his 19 months in post. But there is one area of foreign policy where he has been faultless and where indeed Britain can play a leading role in shaping Europe’s future direction of travel, explains Denis MacShane.
From Queen Mary to Macron – the Calais problem is eternal
If the frontier was on British rather than on French soil, the French believe the immigrants would not be drawn to Calais, writes Denis MacShane.
Brexit set to dominate UK politics for years ahead
In March, Michel Barnier told me he had offered the UK a two-year transition period after April 2019 in which Britain could trade freely without tariffs or duties, provided London accepted existing EU rules and laws on social protection, environment and rights of EU citizens. Denis MacShane explains.
Does return of EU growth weaken case for Brexit?
One of the more powerful arguments advanced in Britain by Eurosceptics – from hardline Brexit ideologues to polite rationalists who disliked many aspects of European integration - was that the European Union had a dreadful economic tale to tell this century, writes Denis MacShane.
May and Corbyn now say yes to Europe – sort of
So now we know that the main party leaders in Britain would vote to stay in the EU if there was a second referendum - hence the growing attacks on the government from those in the Brexit camp, writes Denis MacShane.
Opting for EU realism, Corbyn tries to brand Tories as Brexit fundamentalists
Like a crab emerging cautiously from under his rock, the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is millimetre-by-millimetre re-calibrating his party line on Brexit, writes Denis MacShane.
EU socialists puzzled at Labour’s hostility to Europeans in UK
Jeremy Corbyn meets fellow centre-left leaders in the Party of European Socialists today to discuss Brexit, writes Denis MacShane.
Kosovo lurches to nationalism as Brussels lets down its friends
Elections in the West Balkans are never easy. Federica Mogherini might consider intervening now on the side of the pro-European forces in Kosovo, writes Denis MacShane.
Albania: How not to lose an election? Refuse to take part…
All eyes are on elections in Britain, France and soon Germany but quite the most bizarre election seen in Europe since the end of communism is due to take ten days after the British poll next month, writes Denis MacShane.
Brexit ‘letter’ is nothing new: What May did not say
After the Trump-like picture of Theresa May signing her Article 50 letter, there was nothing new in her statement in the House of Commons, writes Denis MacShane.