Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Theresa May urges EU to ‘step forward together’ onto next stage of Brexit talks… Theresa May has urged the European Union to “step forward together” with her by moving Brexit negotiations onto urgently needed trade and transition talks. Arriving at a summit in Brussels… the prime minister used coded language to appeal to other EU leaders to move on in return for new concessions from Britain. “What I am clear about is that we must step forward together. This is for both the UK and the European Union to move on to the next stage,” she said. – The Times (£) > Watch on BrexitCentral’s Youtube Channel: May says UK and the EU must step forwards together …but Donald Tusk says Britain has 10 days to fix the Irish border issue if it wants Brexit breakthrough… Theresa May has 10 days to resolve the issue of the Irish border if she wants to make a Brexit breakthrough at a key summit next month, Donald Tusk warned today [Friday]. The Prime Minister met Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, in Brussels as she signalled she is prepared to give ground on the Brexit divorce bill if the EU commits to trade talks. Mr Tusk said that a breakthrough at the European Council summit on December 14 is “possible” but will still be a “huge challenge”. He added that progress must be made “on all issues, including on Ireland”. – Telegraph (£) May says positive vibe but EU warns of ‘huge challenge’ – BBC …as he blames Russia for Britain’s referendum result Russia engaged in “hostile activities” during the EU referendum which may have included cyber attacks and the spreading of fake news, Donald Tusk has suggested. The President of the European Council appeared to point the finger at unwanted interventions from Moscow in democratic votes as he insisted the EU needed to “protect” itself from cyber attacks, fake news and hybrid warfare. Mr Tusk appeared to claim that Theresa May had outed Russia for interfering in the UK when she delivered a speech earlier this month. However, while the Prime Minister did attack Russia for such behaviour she did not explicitly say that the country had intervened in the EU referendum. – Telegraph (£) Dublin accused of hijacking Brexit talks amidst domestic political crisis The Irish government is using Brexit to force through a united Ireland by demanding a special status for the North, Arlene Foster has claimed. The DUP leader accused Leo Varadkar’s government of “using the negotiations to put forward their views on what they believe the island of Ireland should look like in the future”. Mrs Foster was speaking on BBC Radio 4 the day after Simon Coveney told an Oireachtas committee that he wanted to see a united Ireland in his political lifetime. “We’ve heard from the foreign minister of the Republic of Ireland just yesterday talking about his aspiration for a united Ireland. He is entitled to have that aspiration but he should not be using European Union negotiations to talk about those issues. What he should be talking about are trading relationships,” Mrs Foster said. – The Times (£) The Irish question is back to bite Britain’s rulers once more – The Times (£) The Irish stance against Brexit is a dangerous gamble – James Forsyth for the Spectator Is an east-west border the answer to the Ireland question? – Peter Foster for the Telegraph (£) Ireland and the EU need to stop using the border as a stick to beat us with – Telegraph editorial (£) A General Election is inevitable – The Times Irish edition (£) > Kate Hoey MP on BrexitCentral today: Leo Varadkar needs to stop the hypocrisy and remember who Ireland’s true friends are > Watch on BrexitCentral’s Youtube Channel: DUP say Irish Government using Brexit to get a united Ireland > Watch on BrexitCentral’s Youtube Channel: Irish Foreign Minister says every EU country fully supports Michel Barnier May reportedly considering giving the European Court of Justice a role post-Brexit Theresa May is thinking of handing the European Court of Justice a role in post-Brexit Britain. The Sun today reveals reports that she has held talks about a referral system to the ECJ for EU nationals who stay here. UK judges would refer a case to Luxembourg if a query arose on a point of law that has not previously been addressed during our time as a member state. The idea was debated during a meeting of Theresa May’s inner Brexit Cabinet on Monday, James Forsyth reveals in his column today. A senior Government figure believes the solution is a “good compromise” that could represent a major breakthrough in the Brexit negotiations. The source claims it would be acceptable to Brexit-backers as the decision to refer would “still be a UK court decision” and the “numbers would be very small”. – The Sun Theresa May is struggling to exit the Brussels maze and start Brexit trade negotiations – James Forsyth for the Sun Bulgarian prime minister breaks ranks with EU27 and says Britain and the EU are headed for ‘hard’ Brexit Britain and the European Union are headed for a hard Brexit, the prime minister of Bulgaria said today in Brussels before warning the EU was not ready for a bitter divorce from the UK. Boyko Borissov broke ranks with the remaining 27 member states and admitted that the EU could not afford an acrimonious split with Britain. “Regrettably, this possibility is more and more mentioned, that there would be no agreement. I am not saying it on behalf of the EU or of our presidency, and I don’t want to be misunderstood. But this is my sentiment,” Mr Borissov told the EurActiv website. – Telegraph Bulgaria’s black belt PM tells rest of EU they cannot afford to let Britain crash out without a post-Brexit deal – The Sun Gove attacks ‘distorting’ social media after animal sentience row Michael Gove has hit out at the way social media “corrupts and distorts” political reporting and decision making following a row about animal welfare. The environment secretary said attacks on MPs over a vote on an EU protocol about “animal sentience” had been “absolutely wrong”. The Commons vote sparked protests and a celebrity-backed social media campaign. Last week MPs voted not to incorporate part of an EU treaty recognising that animals could feel emotion and pain into the EU Withdrawal Bill. Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas had tabled the amendment to the EU bill, which would have transferred the EU protocol on animal sentience – the ability to experience feelings – into domestic law. But ministers argued that the recognition of animals’ sentience already existed in UK law and MPs rejected the amendment. – BBC Michael Gove signals clampdown on puppy farming after Brexit – The Times (£) Shanker Singham: Britain needs a clean break from day one outside the EU When the UK and the EU finally embark on trade negotiations to determine what the future trading relationship looks like, it should be relatively easy for both sides to be open to each other’s goods and services in a classical trade sense. The difficult issue we will face is how we manage regulatory divergence. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the risk that we face is not that we diverge from the EU regulatory system and lose equivalence with it. The risk is actually that we will lock in so much to the EU system that we will lose the ability to have deep agreements with others, improve our own environment and influence the WTO agenda in pro-competitive ways. – Shanker Singham for the Telegraph (£) Fraser Nelson: After Brexit, Britain will still have European cities. Can someone tell the EU? When Britain voted to leave the EU, it didn’t necessarily follow that we’d be kicked out of its European Capital of Culture scheme – given that it aimed to be exactly that, rather than an EU Capital of Culture. After all Istanbul, Reykjavík and Stavanger all qualified and all won. There were some ominous signs: a few weeks ago, the European Parliament voted to amend the rules the scheme should be open to candidate states and EEA nations but made no mention of former members. So Iceland would be included in consideration for European status, but former members like Britain excluded. – Fraser Nelson for The Spectator Whatever will we do without the blessing of hosting the EU’s ‘capital of culture’? – Juliet Samuel for the Telegraph (£) Culture does not need the EU’s approval to thrive in Britain – David Meacock for the Telegraph (£) Peter Divey: December Council summit is judgement day Should a Brexit trade deal remain out of sight come December’s European Council summit, the UK must get up off its knees. Failure to do so would sacrifice yet more of our collective dignity. December is our last chance for our Brexit. If the Trade deal is still out of reach then climb off the floor and walk away. The UK is a laughing stock. At home and abroad. The EU sees nothing but a quivering and fawning coward. The rest of the World sees the same, and shake their heads in astonishment. Barnier has only to lift an eyebrow and the British negotiators fall back as if they have been poleaxed. – Peter Divey for CommentCentral Brexit in Brief Ministers need to stop setting ludicrous expectations for Brexit: they are only strengthening Remain – Tom Harris for the Telegraph (£) We owe the EU nothing – John Redwood’s Diary Ireland has punctured Brexiteers’ wishful thinking – Alex Massie for The Spectator What London can learn from Kiev – Rustam Gilfanov for City A.M. Brexit is ‘opportunity for UK’s young people as foreign worker numbers slashed’, says CEO – Express Czech MEP says EU Brexit negotiator must go for trying to ‘punish’ Britain – Express