When the Brexit referendum result was announced last June, I was working on the Turks and Caicos Islands, one of the UK’s overseas territories in the Caribbean. A collection of about 40 tropical islands, of which eight are inhabited, people there were shocked at the result. They were annoyed they hadn’t had a chance to vote, and concerned about their future.
Battle of Britain Sunday commemorates the great victory won by the Royal Air Force (RAF), which saved Britain from invasion in 1940. On Sunday 15 September came what Sir Winston Churchill called “one of the decisive battles of the war” and with it, the Luftwaffe’s greatest defeat.
Tory MPs have rallied round Theresa May after her conference speech on Wednesday was marred by mishaps. James Cleverly said he was “proud” of the PM for contending with a persistent cough and a prankster and John Redwood said MPs backed her “strong message”.
Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay formally launched South America’s three-nation bid to host the 2030 World Cup on Wednesday and said Argentina would likely host the majority of the tournament’s stadiums. The presidents of the three nations, who announced in August that they were teaming up to bid for the tournament, kicked off the campaign at the Casa Rosada, Buenos Aires’ government palace.
Three full days after Catalonia’s controversial independence referendum, a top European Commission official finally spoke out about the issue tearing Spain apart. The Spanish government’s “proportionate use of force” was necessary to uphold the rule of law, Vice President Frans Timmermans said.
Businesses need more clarity on Brexit, the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has acknowledged. Speaking at the BBC's Today program he said the sooner the government gave businesses more certainty about the process, the sooner the economy would pick up.
European Parliament's Brexit coordinator has said he got a shock on his recent visit to Belfast when he saw the city's peace walls. Guy Verhofstadt described Northern Ireland as having a frozen conflict, and said the Good Friday Agreement must not be damaged by Brexit.
One of the reasons for the Brexit vote was working class voters throwing a bit of a tantrum over immigration, UK government minister Sir Alan Duncan claimed before an audience in Chicago. He said the campaign had stirred up a lot of sentiment about migration among people who do not usually vote.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said it is time to “let the British lion roar” as he called for Brexit to be a moment of national renewal. Addressing Tory activists he said the UK “can win the future” and should stop treating the referendum result as if it were “plague of boils”.
Catalonia will declare independence from Spain in a matter of days, the leader of the autonomous region has told the BBC. In his first interview since Sunday's referendum, Carles Puigdemont said his government would “act at the end of this week or the beginning of next”.