business

Donald Trump’s pledge to end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his second term as US president was a sign of his unsuitability as a peace broker. A clearer sign was his apparent sympathy with Vladimir Putin. Mr Trump’s tone regarding the Russian president has cooled somewhat on the discovery that the … Read more

A £25m post-Brexit border control post in Portsmouth may have to be demolished if the UK government’s deal with the EU removes the need for health and veterinary checks on food imports, according to the port’s director. Mike Sellers had already spoken out last year about how more than half of the site would never … Read more

European leaders – who have promised to impose “massive” new sanctions on Russia following Vladimir Putin’s rejection of a ceasefire in Ukraine – face the prospect of having to introduce their planned expansion of economic restrictions on the Russian war economy without the United States. European hopes that Donald Trump might increase the pressure on … Read more

The UK’s trade deal with the European Union is expected to smooth trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but for some businesses in the latter it no longer matters, as they have ditched British suppliers. “Overall the deal is welcome but we’re indifferent,” said Peter Bradley, a director of the Mid-Ulster Garden Centre. “We … Read more

‘The boys are alt-right.” This seems to be the new consensus on far-right politics propagated in numerous articles and podcasts. But the media’s obsessive focus on the young men allegedly fuelling the rise of the far right isn’t just empirically flawed – it misses a much more significant shift in public opinion among young people. … Read more

Nigel Farage missed the parliamentary debate on the biggest reset to Brexit since the referendum because he is overseas on holiday, the Reform UK leader has said. Following speculation that he was on holiday in France, Farage, who has not been seen in the Commons this week and did not present his GB News show … Read more

British tourists will have to endure passport-stamping queues in the EU until at least October and possibly well into 2026 despite a high profile e-gates agreement unveiled at Monday’s EU-UK summit in London, it has emerged. According to the detailed text of the agreement, both the UK and the EU agree there will be “no … Read more

Like a Hollywood studio churning out the umpteenth sequel in a stale franchise, Westminster has manufactured another episode in the interminable Brexit Wars saga. The Reset is based on the true story of a prime minister negotiating improved terms of trade with the EU, against a backdrop of global insecurity and rising economic uncertainty. Many … Read more

As the Brexit Nostalgia festival – AKA the Earnestness of Being Unimportant – eased into its second day, Keir Starmer prepared to give a statement to the Commons on how his deal only marginally tinkered at the edges of the Brexit agreement reached by Boris Johnson and Frosty the No Man five years ago. Sorry, … Read more

A British cheese maker who was forced to sell his business because of a £600,000 loss caused by Brexit red tape has welcomed the new deal with Brussels – but says it comes four years too late. Simon Spurrell, who made headlines when he highlighted prohibitive export costs after the UK’s exit from the single … Read more