Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Brexit, Boris Johnson and a British state in crisis
Brexit and Boris Johnson have thrown the 'permanent state' into permanent crisis — but it will never side with the left, explains KEVIN OVENDEN

“WE are dealing with a political generation which has no serious experience of bad times and is frankly cavalier about precipitating events they cannot then control, but feel they might exploit.”

Britain’s former ambassador to the EU Sir Ivan Rogers could scarcely be more scathing of the country’s political class in his book, “9 Lessons in Brexit.”

And that was before the forced resignation last week under a Twitter tirade from Donald Trump of Britain’s ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch, following leaks of his unvarnished cables.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Monica Crowley, White House chief of protocol (obstructed at left) greets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, upon arriving to meet with President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, August 18, 2025
Features / 28 August 2025
28 August 2025

US tariffs have had Von der Leyen bowing in submission, while comments from the former European Central Bank leader call for more European political integration and less individual state sovereignty. All this adds up to more pain and austerity ahead, argues NICK WRIGHT

Guillaume Périgois
Politics / 14 August 2025
14 August 2025

Starmer sabotaged Labour with his second referendum campaign, mobilising a liberal backlash that sincerely felt progressive ideals were at stake — but the EU was then and is now an entity Britain should have nothing to do with, explains NICK WRIGHT

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer listens to a question from the press, after making a statement in Downing Street, London, July 29, 2025
Neoliberalism / 31 July 2025
31 July 2025

Deep disillusionment with the Westminster cross-party consensus means rupture with the status quo is on the cards – bringing not only opportunities but also dangers, says NICK WRIGHT

Jack Murillo, a Marine veteran, holds a sign in front of law enforcement guarding a federal building on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Los Angeles
Features / 19 June 2025
19 June 2025

There is no doubt that Trump’s regime is a right-wing one, but the clash between the state apparatus and the national and local government is a good example of what any future left-wing formation will face here in Britain, writes NICK WRIGHT