Politics

The UK has begun a new relationship with the European Union with the Brexit transition period coming to an end. Despite leaving the EU on 31 January last year, the UK has remained subject to the bloc’s rules as a member of the single market and customs union. However, this ended at 11pm and the

The education secretary has told Sky News he is “absolutely confident” that secondary schools will be able to carry out mass testing with an extra week to prepare. Defending the decision to push back the return of pupils to secondary schools and colleges, Gavin Williamson told Sky News the move was about “rooting out coronavirus

Boris Johnson has said the UK’s destiny “now resides firmly in our hands” as his Brexit trade deal cleared Parliament and entered into law. It comes after MPs overwhelmingly approved the deal to pave the way for the UK-EU agreement to come into force at 11pm today, when the current Brexit transition period – during

Boris Johnson has hailed the “astonishing speed” with which the UK-EU trade deal was agreed and says the agreement “demonstrates how Britain can be at once European and sovereign”. It comes as MPs debate the deal ahead of a vote which could see the agreement ratified by parliament by the end of the day. If approved,

Boris Johnson will claim the Brexit trade deal agreed on Christmas Eve represents “not a rupture but a resolution” of relations between the UK and Europe, as he urges MPs to back the legislation that will put it into law. The government intends to pass the EU Future Relationship Bill through parliament at break-neck speed

The post-Brexit trade deal between the EU and UK has brought “a little stability” but there are still some elements of the bloc’s future relationship with Britain to determine, Brussels’ chief negotiator has said. Michel Barnier, who led trade negotiations with the UK on behalf of the EU, told French radio on Tuesday his team

Gibraltar’s chief minister has called on the UK and Spain to “grasp the nettle of history” with just days left to secure a post-Brexit border deal for the peninsula. Known as ‘The Rock’, the British territory was not part of the post-Brexit trade deal agreed between the EU and UK on Christmas Eve. Although Gibraltarians

The government is pushing ahead with plans for primary school and older secondary school children to return to classrooms next week – although a senior minister admitted “we always keep things under review”. There have been calls for the return of pupils after the Christmas holidays to be delayed until later in January, in a

EU officials are set to meet on Monday to discuss the Brexit trade deal agreed with the UK on Christmas Eve. If the agreement, covering £660bn of trade, can be provisionally approved by EU ambassadors, it will then move on to formal ratification by the European Parliament. The Brexit agreement will almost certainly be passed

The Brexit trade deal agreed on Christmas Eve can be an “enormously unifying moment for our country”, the chancellor has said. Rishi Sunak said anyone who is worried about the economic implications of the breach with Brussels should be “enormously reassured about the comprehensive nature” of the agreement. The deal gives that reassurance, he said,

Boris Johnson has appealed to hardline Eurosceptic Tory MPs to back his post-Brexit trade agreement in next week’s 11th-hour vote. The prime minister admitted “the devil is in the detail” of the more than 1,000-page treaty due to come into force from 1 January, but insisted it is “the right deal for the UK and

The home secretary has said the UK will continue to be one of the “safest countries in the world” despite being locked out of a key crime database from next year. Priti Patel said the EU and UK have “effective tools to tackle serious crime” going forwards. From July next year, the UK will start

Plans are under way for the new post-Brexit trade deal to be implemented, as EU ambassadors praised the bloc’s “resilience” during negotiations. Brussels’ chief negotiator Michel Barnier updated representatives of all the 27 countries on Christmas Day after yesterday’s last-minute breakthrough. He arrived at the event in Brussels in a mask, carrying a hefty blue

Boris Johnson has said the Brexit trade agreement is his Christmas present to the country – serving as “the feast” after he promised an “oven ready deal”. The prime minister also used his Christmas message to say he believes the agreement will be the basis of a “happy and successful” relationship with the EU. Speaking

So how will Europe feel about the UK finally walking out of the EU door? Well, it will mean different things to different countries, and there will be plenty who are relieved that the saga of Brexit negotiations has come to an end. Follow live updates and reaction to Brexit breakthrough Image: ‘Parting is such

When Boris Johnson stood up in the Greenwich Naval Observatory, less than 72 hours after Britain’s formal exit from the European Union on 31 January, he was unequivocal. The UK had “ended a debate that has run for three-and-a-half years” and “settled” the long-running question of sovereign authority, he said. To the sound of a