Politics

The Labour Party has gained 100,000 new members since the EU referendum, taking it up to around half a million members. The previous peak under Tony Blair of 405,000 has now easily been surpassed under Jeremy Corbyn's reign, as the outspoken leader appeals to more grassroot supporters. Despite Corbyn losing the faith of Labour MPs it seems the EU referendum has bolstered his popularity among the party's members. Indeed, it is thought the boost in membership has come in a...

Ken Clarke and Sir Malcolm Rifkind have been caught on tape giving an unguarded opinion of the Tory leadership candidates. Michael Gove, Theresa May, Andrea Leadsom, Stephen Crabb and Liam Fox are running to take charge of the Conservative Party, but a scathing review of their policies by Clarke and Rifkind could dampen their chances. The full transcript broken down by candidate is below: On Gove:  Rifkind said:  "I don't mind who wins as long as Gove comes third. As long as...

Support for the European Union in Denmark has surged to new highs with Danish people keen to avoid putting themselves in the "kind of mess the British have created for themselves". A new poll has countered fears that the Scandinavian nation might be the next country to hold a referendum, revealing 69 per cent of Danish people now endorse the country’s membership of the union, up 10 per cent from the week leading up to the Brexit vote. The Voxmeter poll also...

Britain started the process of detaching itself from continental Europe following news that George Osborne plans to slash corporation tax to 15 per cent. The chancellor unveiled a five-point plan to protect the UK economy in the wake of the referendum vote, announcing that we are to remain competitive as an island by becoming more offshore in nature. Osborne says he also wants to secure new investment from China, boost banking lending, attract investment into the North of England and maintain...

Social research specialists NatCen have confirmed that the UK class divide is "alive and well" following a social attitudes study. The research revealed 77 per cent of people interviewed thought the class divide was either fairly wide or very wide, and just 26 per cent thought it was not very difficult to move between social classes, compared with 35 per cent in 2005. The British Social Attitudes survey is a tracker study that has been carried out every year since 1983, with...

Hundreds of racist incidents have been reported following the UK's decision to leave the European Union. The police online hate crime reporting site has been inundated with reports, with Twitter hashtag #postrefracism created to shame those involved on social media. One Twitter user, Ben Zen, wrote that two Britons waved an English flag towards him and, having heard him speak in Romanian, said: "We voted you out. Go home you f*****g immigrants." On Facebook, Ai Sha shared a video showing members of...

There has been a surge in demand for Irish passports following the UK's vote to leave the European Union. Foreign affairs minister Charlie Flanagan urged British citizens with the right to an Irish passport to apply only if it was necessary after significant interest from Britons seeking to ensure their long-term right to free movement after Brexit. Large queues formed outside the country’s passport office and post offices ran out of application forms. Mr Flanagan told the Times: "Following the UK referendum, there...

Jeremy Corbyn’s brother Piers has revealed he is a Brexiteer despite his brother campaigning for remaining in the EU. Speaking to the London Evening Standard he said "I voted to leave. Of course. “The EU has big problems.” The Labour party is in disarray following the Brexit vote, with several members of the shadow cabinet resigning in the wake of the vote. But Mr Corbyn’s brother today remained defiant over Labour’s chances of winning an election under its current left-wing leader....

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The under pressure Chancellor George Osborne has announced that tax rises and spending cuts will be needed to deal with the “shock” of Brexit to help the UK economy weather the storm. Osborne said that these cuts will need to be decided by the next conservative leader whoever that may be. Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, Osborne said he stood by his Remain campaign warnings about what would happen in a Brexit situation, saying...