Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson threatens to take on Remainer Tories by sacking MPs who vote to block a no-deal Brexit… Tory MPs who vote to block a No Deal next week will be sacked from the party, we can reveal. No10 will bar Remainer rebels from standing at the next general election. Boris Johnson is planning the move to quell a bid by MPs to rush a law through Parliament to delay Brexit beyond October 31, Sun columnist James Forsyth reveals today. The PM will treat next week’s vital Commons votes like a no-confidence vote in his Government, with rebel Tories disqualified from contesting their seats. Former pro-Remain Cabinet ministers such as David Gauke and Philip Hammond would end their careers as Tory MPs if they back the legislation. No10 hopes the move will persuade some waverers not to rebel. It deals a major blow to Remainers’ hopes of blocking a No Deal as they see next week as the last chance to thwart Mr Johnson’s Brexit plans before he suspends Parliament the following week. – The Sun Tory rebels who try to block no-deal Brexit told they will have whip withdrawn – Sky News …as he warns that MPs trying to block No Deal make it more likely… The PM has warned MPs they are damaging his chances of getting a deal with the EU by trying to block a no-deal Brexit. Boris Johnson said the UK would leave the bloc “do or die” on 31 October – prompting some MPs to act to stop the UK leaving without an agreement. But he said the more MPs try to block a no-deal Brexit, “the more likely it is that we’ll end up in that situation”. It comes after the PM announced he would be suspending Parliament for five weeks over September and October. Mr Johnson said it was to allow the government to hold a Queen’s Speech and outline its “very exciting agenda” for the future. But critics claim his intention is to prevent any moves in the Commons to stop a no deal. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called the PM’s comments “complete nonsense”. He said he was working with all the opposition parties to “challenge the government” to stop a no-deal Brexit next week and he was “hopeful” of securing the backing of the Commons. – BBC News …and tells would-be Tory rebels: it’s me or Corbyn chaos… Boris Johnson today warns Tory MPs they face a historic choice this week — back him to deliver Brexit and a £3.5bn spending “bonanza” for public services, or see Jeremy Corbyn take over and “plunge the country into chaos”. In his first newspaper interview since becoming prime minister, Johnson delivers an ultimatum to former ministers leading the charge against him to pick a side. About 20 have talked about breaking away from the party if he makes them fight a snap election on a no-deal manifesto. Locked in the deepest constitutional crisis for a century, the prime minister promised to unveil the “biggest, most generous spending review since the height of Tony Blair’s New Labour” in Wednesday’s spending review. Local councils will get £3.5bn extra — the first real-terms rise in their budgets for a decade — with £1bn earmarked for social care. “We need to put a tiger in the tank, put our pedal to the metal, foot to the floor,” he said. “We’re putting a huge amount into social care, into schools, into transport and education.” But Johnson also warned Conservative MPs intent on “parliamentary shenanigans” this week to block a no-deal Brexit that they would make it “impossible” for him to get a new deal with Brussels and would put Corbyn in power. – Sunday Times (£) Boris Johnson exclusive interview: ‘I work nonstop. Always working. I burn the candle at both ends’ – Sunday Times (£) …but the rebel alliance of MPs summon the force to fight a hard Brexit nonetheless… Up to 20 Tory MPs, most of them former ministers, have discussed plans to break away and fight the next general election as independent Conservatives opposed to a no-deal Brexit. In a move that would send shockwaves through the party, senior Tories against a hard Brexit have privately vowed to walk out if Boris Johnson makes them sign a public pledge to support a no-deal manifesto in a snap election. The group has already been dubbed the “rebel alliance”, echoing the Star Wars films’ resistance movement. Potential rebels Philip Hammond, David Gauke, Greg Clark, Rory Stewart and Justine Greening have held discussions about launching a new Tory campaign organisation opposed to no deal. But the rebels have also drawn up contingency plans in case Johnson and chief aide Dominic Cummings enforce a so-called coupon election in which every Conservative candidate would have to sign a declaration confirming that they supported no deal. A former cabinet minister said: “I’m not signing a coupon that will wreak havoc on this country. In most elections you sign up to support the party. You don’t have to agree with every word in the manifesto. If they make that impossible, we will have to make other arrangements. I have every intention of standing at the next election.” On Tuesday, with the backing of John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, they will try to pass a motion enabling them to dictate the business of the House on Wednesday and Thursday. On those days they will try to pass a bill demanding that Johnson seeks an extension to Article 50 lasting “a small number of months” beyond the existing October 31 deadline. The legislation is written in such a way that the delay could be used to get a new deal with Brussels — or hold a public vote. Those familiar with the drafting say the extension would be far more suited to an election than a referendum. – The Times (£) …with Johnson poised to trigger a general election within days if his no-deal plan is blocked Boris Johnson is poised to trigger a General Election within days if his Brexit plan is scuppered by Remainers this week. He put his troops on alert as he gears up for a six-day scrap with MPs and peers that will decide Britain’s future — and his own. The PM plans a snap poll if a “rabble alliance” of wreckers finds a way to block him from leaving the EU by October 31. In the past few days ministers have been ordered to submit vote-winning policy ideas for a future Tory manifesto and the party’s election planning machine is in overdrive. Tory MPs and officials are braced for an early campaign if Parliament knocks him off course this week. If they fail, and he delivers a Halloween Brexit, Boris will look for a pre-Christmas election – with December 5 earmarked as a possible date. One senior aide said: “It’s clear an election is looming on the horizon. The only question is when. “We’ll probably have a better idea after the events of the next few days have played out.” – The Sun David Gauke and other Tory rebels consider siding with Labour as the effort to stop No Deal begins… David Gauke and other Tory rebel MPs are considering siding with Labour and other opposition parties as the effort to stop no deal begins. Some rebels have said they are prepared to lose their jobs if it meant stopping Boris Johnson taking the UK out of the European Union without a deal. It comes as Labour were at odds over the party’s Brexit tactics with shadow Chancellor John McDonnell suggesting a different strategy to the party’s Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer on the timing of a no confidence vote. Mr Gauke told Sky News’ ‘Sophy Ridge on Sunday’: “If it is the position now that defying the whip on a European vote is a matter that you lose the whip from the Conservative party, then I think there are quite a lot of Conservative MPs who over the recent months would have lost the whip. But sometimes there is a point where you have to judge between your own personal interests and the national interest and the national interest has to come first, but I hope it doesn’t come to that.” – Telegraph (£) Gauke brands hopes no-deal threat could force EU to shift as ‘fantasy’ – Independent Why I believe that Parliament must stop a No Deal Brexit this week – David Gauke MP for ConservativeHome > WATCH: Remainer MP David Gauke discusses what action he plans to take to stop a no-deal Brexit …as Johnson cancels meeting today with Tory Brexit rebels Boris Johnson has cancelled a meeting with Tory Brexit rebels, heightening party tensions ahead of what could be an explosive week in Westminster. Talks with the so-called “Gaukeward squad”, who are against a no-deal Brexit and include former justice secretary David Gauke, had been due to take place on Monday. But Downing Street said the prime minister had a diary clash, Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates reported. A one-to-one meeting with former chancellor Philip Hammond may still be offered, but “that’s it”, Coates added. Mr Hammond has described a no-deal departure from the EU as a “betrayal of the 2016 referendum result” and has written that it “must not happen”. Earlier, Mr Gauke dismissed threats that he could be thrown out of the Conservative Party if he sides with Labour in a House of Commons vote. Speaking on Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday, he said the “national interest” would trump his “personal interest”. – Sky News Sir Keir Starmer confirms MPs will bring forward legislation to block a no-deal Brexit this week… A cross-party group of MPs will lay out legislation this week to try and stop a no-deal Brexit, Sir Keir Starmer has revealed. Appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, the shadow Brexit secretary said he had been working with Conservative MPs over the summer recess to formulate the legislation. He argued the proposals were for “a very short, simple exercise” aimed at stopping Prime Minister Boris Johnson from forcing through a no-deal. According to Sir Keir MPs would also be seeking an extension if there was enough support for the plans in Parliament. “The legislation is intended to ensure we don’t leave without a deal, that will require an extension,” Sir Keir said. He added: “The length of the extension is secondary, frankly. We have simply got to stop us leaving without a deal. I’m not going to go into the details, but the purpose of the legislation is clear, and that is to prevent us leaving without a deal”. – iNews > WATCH: Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer on his plan to stop a no-deal Brexit …and Michael Gove refuses to rule out the Government ignoring any such law Michael Gove has repeatedly refused to rule out the possibility that the government could ignore any law passed by parliament to stop a no-deal Brexit and insisted there would be no food shortages if the UK did crash out of the EU on 31 October. The comments by Gove drew condemnation from both Labour, the SNP and Conservative rebels, including one Tory MP who said it showed democracy was under threat. Gove, who is in charge of planning for no deal, did not commit to abide by any law which rebel MPs will attempt to pass this week that could mandate an extension to article 50 in the event of no deal. “Let’s see what the legislation says,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. “You’re asking me about a pig in a poke. And I will wait to see what legislation the opposition may try to bring forward.” Asked again whether it would be extraordinary for a government not to abide by the law, Gove said: “We will see what the legislation says when it is brought forward. For me the point is that we already have legislation in place which an overwhelming majority of MPs voted for [article 50].” – Guardian > WATCH: Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove on Brexit preparations and prorogation Scottish court bid to halt Boris Johnson proroguing Parliament thrown out by judge… A Scottish court has thrown out a legal bid to halt Boris Johnson’s plan to shut down Parliament. Lord Doherty, presiding over the bid, denied campaigners an injunction that would have put a temporary hold on the Prime Minister’s prorogation of Parliament. Campaigners are expected to appeal. Lord Doherty ruled that Johnson does hold the power to prorogue Parliament, and would not issue a temporary order stopping the process. But he said a full hearing on the matter should be held on Tuesday, September 3 – the day Parliament returns from Summer recess. Remain activists branded the PM’s plans an “assault on democracy” on Wednesday as they submitted the motion to Edinburgh’s Court of Session – the highest civil court in Scotland – asking for the move to be suspended. It’s understood the motion was submitted in Scotland because the English high courts are closed for the Summer. The case was taken by a cross-party group of more than 70 MPs and peers, with the support of the Good Law Project led by QC Jolyon Maugham. – Mirror …as Labour chiefs and hard-left activists call on people to blockade Britain, ‘stop the coup’ and scupper Brexit Labour chiefs and anti-Brexit campaigners have claimed “hundreds of thousands” of people will take part in protests aimed at grinding 32 towns and cities to a halt today. The Stop the Coup protesters will attempt to flood the streets to demonstrate against Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament in his bid to deliver Brexit. Hotspots are expected to be outside Downing Street and cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow. The PM blasted the mob, saying they should respect the views of the 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit in 2016. He told Sky News: “My message to them is that I think the worst thing for democracy now would be to cancel the referendum which is what some people are now suggesting – to nullify, to annul that result, to tell people that they were going to be ignored, after all the promises that have been made. “It will do lasting and catastrophic damage to the major parties in this country and I think this political generation won’t be forgiven for failing to honour that promise.” BoJo’s comments follow Jeremy Corbyn’s “smash-and-grab-raid against democracy” criticism. Shadow attorney general Baroness Chakrabarti also called on anti-Brexit protesters to take the streets. – The Sun Protesters bring London to standstill with demonstration against parliament suspension ‘coup’ – Sunday Telegraph (£) > Dr Sheila Lawlor on BrexitCentral today: Those protesting against the prorogation are the ones really seeking to obstruct democracy Jeremy Corbyn hits back at Johnson ahead of anti-No Deal shadow cabinet meeting… Jeremy Corbyn has lashed out at Boris Johnson ahead of a shadow cabinet meeting aimed at stopping a no-deal Brexit “disaster”. It continues a bitter spat between the two party leaders, after the PM warned rebel Tories they had a “fundamental choice” between him or “chaos” under Mr Corbyn. In a speech in Salford on Monday, Mr Corbyn will insist Labour is doing everything necessary to “bring Britain back from the brink”. However, the Tories have hit back at his comments stating: “All Jeremy Corbyn offers is more delay and uncertainty.” Speaking ahead of Monday’s meeting of the shadow cabinet, Mr Corbyn will attack the Prime Minister’s plans to suspend Parliament as an “attack on democracy which will be resisted”. He is expected to say: “Today the shadow cabinet will be meeting to finalise our plans to stop the disaster of no-deal ahead of the return of Parliament tomorrow. “We are working with other parties to do everything necessary to pull our country back from the brink. Like all progressive change, democracy was won from below, it wasn’t handed down from above.So, when a prime minister who hasn’t won an election and who doesn’t have a majority decrees that Parliament will be shut down because he knows his plan for a disastrous no-deal doesn’t have the votes we say that is an attack on democracy which will be resisted.” – Evening Standard …although Labour reportedly ditches plan for caretaker Corbyn premiership… Labour has shelved its plan to install Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister in a last-ditch attempt to block a no-deal Brexit. A vote of confidence in the government next week has been ditched in favour of trying to pass legislation forcing Boris Johnson to extend the provisions of Article 50 beyond October 31 in a climactic parliamentary showdown. Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, told The Times that next week was “almost certainly the last chance” to stop a no-deal Brexit, and urged Conservative MPs and those from opposition parties to “leave their differences at the door” to unite against the government. He also revealed a new Labour strategy to cast Mr Johnson as “Trumpian”, warning that the prime minister had opened up a new cultural divide in Britain and people had to ask themselves “Whose side are you on?” Mr Corbyn will seek to seize the initiative next week by taking the entire shadow cabinet for a meeting in Salford, followed by a speech setting out his strategy for the week ahead. – The Times (£) …but Corbynistas ‘threaten Harriet Harman with deselection’ to ensure Corbyn becomes PM if the Tories are toppled over Brexit… Labour activists have launched a bid to guarantee Jeremy Corbynleads any interim anti-No Deal Brexit government by knocking rival Harriet Harman out of the race. They have demanded that Ms Harman gives her party leader a clear run, despite fears that Mr Corbyn will never win backing from other parties to head the ‘unity’ administration. The ultimatum, from her local Labour constituency party, came after Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson claimed Ms Harman could be the person to bring all the opposition parties together. The challenge emerged amid reports of a possible deselection threat to Ms Harman from hard-Left activists infiltrating her South London constituency. Labour’s plan to force Boris Johnson out in a Commons confidence vote and replace him with Mr Corbyn suffered a blow last month when Lib Dems and Conservative rebels signalled they could not support a Corbyn-led administration. Ms Swinson also infuriated the Labour leader’s inner circle by saying she had spoken to Ms Harman and got her assurance that she was ready to ‘put public duty first’ by becoming interim PM. In a letter seen by The Mail on Sunday, Ms Harman’s Camberwell and Peckham constituency party chairman, Isabella Niven, demanded answers from the former Cabinet Minister. – Mail on Sunday …as Tony Blair wades into the Brexit row yet again as he heaps praise on Corbyn… Tony Blair will issue a stark warning to the Labour Party to oppose any move by Boris Johnson to hold an emergency general election until Brexit has been resolved, it has been revealed. The Remainer and former prime minister will say Labour should not “fall into the elephant trap” of backing a Westminster poll if MPs cannot agree on Brexit. Mr Blair will say Labour should throw its weight behind supporting legislation to prevent a no deal Brexit, not a vote of no confidence in the Government. In an address at the Institute for Government on Monday, Mr Blair will say: “Should the Government seek an election, it should be refused in favour of a referendum. “It is counter-intuitive for opposition parties to refuse an election. But in this exceptional case, it is vital they do so as a matter of principle, until Brexit is resolved. Brexit is an issue which stands on its own, was originally decided on its own and should be reconsidered on its own. But the Brexiteers are laying a trap, to seem as if pushed into an election against their will, when they’re actively preparing for it.” Mr Blair will praise Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for his stance. He will say: “In backing away from the idea of himself as a ‘caretaker prime minister’ Jeremy Corbyn has behaved responsibly, and if he continues to put country first, he will benefit the country and himself. – Express …and Unite indicates support for Labour MPs who back a new Brexit deal Unite’s general secretary, Len McCluskey, has suggested that his union will protect any Labour MP who votes for a new Brexit deal if they face deselection by party members – even MPs on the party’s right. The remarks from the trade union boss come ahead of a key speech by Jeremy Corbyn in Salford in which the Labour leader will appeal to leave voters, saying efforts to stop no deal were about confronting those “hijacking the referendum result”. Corbyn will warn of the threat of a no-deal exit from the European Union, ahead of parliamentary efforts by Labour and Tory rebels to stop Boris Johnson crashing the UK out of the bloc. He will say: “The battle to stop no deal isn’t a struggle between those who want to leave the EU and those who want continued membership. It’s a battle of the many against the few who are hijacking the referendum result to shift even more power and wealth towards those at the top.” Though Labour has made it explicit that it will campaign for another Brexit referendum, including backing remain against any Conservative-backed deal, McCluskey has been one of the key sceptical voices. The Unite boss, a close ally of Corbyn, said MPs should not be targeted if they backed Brexit and he would make his views known if members wanted to deselect them on that basis. – Guardian Tory MPs plot to remove Commons Speaker John Bercow after he sided with Remainers over prorogation… Furious Tory MPs are plotting to revive their attempts to remove controversial Commons Speaker John Bercow. They are furious that he appears to have taken sides in the row over the decision to ask the Queen to suspend Parliament. Mr Bercow interrupted his luxury holiday in a four-star hotel in Turkey to issue a statement branding the move a “constitutional outrage”. He said: “However it is dressed up, it is blindingly obvious that the purpose of prorogation now would be to stop Parliament debating Brexit and performing its duty in shaping a course for the country.” Mr Bercow also accused the PM of undermining his democratic credentials. Tory MP Sir Mike Penning said: “This time he has completely overstepped the mark. The best Speakers are good referees who facilitate debate. It is not the role of the Speaker to make pronouncements like this. If he wants to make these sorts of comments, then he should come back to the back benches, rather than abuse the office of Speaker.” – The Sun …as his former deputy says he is ‘in open opposition to people who voted Leave’ Speaker John Bercow is “in open opposition” to people who voted Leave in the Brexit referendum, a former deputy has claimed. Natascha Engel, who served in the role until her defeat in the 2017 general election, said Mr Bercow should accept he cannot change his role from “impartial referee to partisan player-manager”. The Speaker of the House of Commons is a non-partisan role but MPs have levelled accusations of bias against Mr Bercow after he allowed a vote on the so-called Grieve Amendment on a version of Theresa May’s Brexit deal and refused to hold a third meaningful vote on the deal in March. Mr Bercow will play a pivotal role in the Brexit drama in Westminster this week as he has the authority to control debates and choose which MPs speak and which amendments can be debated. He called the proposal to prorogue Parliament a “constitutional outrage” last week and Conservative rebel ringleader Sir Oliver Letwin said he had been in talks with the Speaker, adding he thought “there probably is time” to get a measure to block a no-deal Brexit through Parliament. Ms Engel, a former Labour MP, wrote in the Mail on Sunday: “The Speaker is doing nothing less than changing the historic relationship between Parliament as the legislature and the Government as the executive in a fundamental way. If he succeeds, it won’t be the Prime Minister proroguing Parliament that will be remembered as a ‘constitutional outrage’, to quote Mr Bercow’s own words last week.” She added that Mr Bercow’s reported willingness to extend Brexit beyond October 31 could have unintended consequences. He could lose everything and be blamed by both Leavers and Remainers for changing the rules on something that – for both sides – is really not a game,” she wrote. – Belfast Telegraph > Jason Reed on BrexitCentral today: Speaker Bercow’s increasing partiality on Brexit is a grave constitutional concern More than 50 rebel MPs pledge to convene alternative parliament… More than 50 MPs from the main parties have pledged to occupy an alternative House of Commons if the prime minister suspends parliament in September, saying they are determined to continue to debate Brexit policy over the five-week period. In a letter to the Guardian coordinated by Best for Britain, backbenchers from the Conservatives, Labour, the SNP, Liberal Democrats, Change UK and Plaid Cymru said they would convene an alternative parliament should they be barred from the chamber. Signatories include the Labour MP David Lammy, the current and former Lib Dem leaders Jo Swinson and Sir Vince Cable, the Green party MP Caroline Lucas and Conservative MPs Antoinette Sandbach and Guto Bebb. “We cannot allow the government to avoid scrutiny at this time of national crisis,” the letter reads, saying MPs will convene “an alternative parliament to continue holding the government to account and fight this most damaging Brexit”. Those who voted to leave in 2016 were promised a negotiated deal by the Vote Leave campaign,” the letter reads. “The prime minister has now announced that he will prorogue parliament in a bid to get a no-deal Brexit through. Such an unconstitutional coup risks compromising people’s jobs, security and living standards, not to mention the Good Friday agreement. Now Boris Johnson is jeopardising all this for the sake of his own personal polling.” – Guardian …amidst a threat to deactivate Commons passes of anti-Brexit MPs to stop a sit-in Mutinous MPs face having their Commons passes deactivated to stop them staging a sit-in to block Brexit. It is among a range of measures open to security chiefs to stop this week’s debates descending into chaos. Officials fear some will resort to desperate action as feelings run high over Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament. Some MPs have secretly discussed occupying the Commons in defiance of the Queen’s decision to halt sittings from next Monday temporarily. Any votes taken would only be binding if the mace — symbol of the monarch’s authority and kept by pro-Remain Speaker John Bercow — is in the chamber. But contingency plans have been drawn up by security officials to cover every eventuality, including a threat to bust prorogation. One option discussed was to deactivate the Parliamentary passes which MPs and peers must swipe to gain entrance to the estate. – The Sun Transport Secretary Grant Shapps insists UK is ready for no-deal Brexit… Britain is far “better prepared for no deal than most people realise”, a senior Tory minister has claimed, quashing fears that crucial imports will be delayed at ports. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told talkRADIO’s Julia Hartley-Brewer that “every single conceivable scenario” had been gone through with a “fine toothcomb” in response to Ms Hartley-Brewer’s concerns about medicine imports. The talkRADIO host said: “I spoke to the Royal College of Nursing yesterday. They, along with the British Medical Association and other health unions are very, very concerned about the risk to the health service. “Medicines, cancer treatments – a lot of these treatments can’t be kept sitting on lorries for any length of time, they’re dependent on the temperature. And they are genuinely worried that we’re going to see real problems with vital medicines coming into the country. “Can you reassure people that the Government is prepared to handle any of those problems?” Without hesitation, Mr Shapps replied: “Yes. We have now, with a really fine toothcomb, gone through every single, conceivable scenario. – Express …as Michael Gove watches no-deal Brexit practice run in Port of Calais… The Port of Calais has staged a no-deal Brexit rehearsal to test new systems ahead of the UK’s anticipated departure from the EU on 31 October. Michael Gove, the minister in charge of no-deal planning, witnessed the practice run during a visit to France on Friday afternoon. The French minister of public action and accounts, Gerald Darmanin, met Gove at the port and they viewed the operation, according to a press notice about the visit from French government officials. Darmanin told French radio station RTL on Friday morning that there would be a “dress rehearsal” period for a month, when companies and authorities would be able to prepare for systems post-Brexit. Gove toured the site, saw how passenger vehicles were inspected and commercial traffic managed as part of systems being tested. French authorities have reportedly recruited 700 additional customs officials and upgraded their technology in an effort to ensure the smooth transit of goods in and out of the European Union after the UK leaves. – Guardian …and ‘Get ready’ advertising campaign launches An information campaign urging the public to “get ready for Brexit” has been launched by the government. The campaign began on Sunday with the launch of a website, gov.uk/brexit. Billboards and social media adverts will appear in the coming days and TV adverts will air later this month. Michael Gove, who is in charge of no-deal plans, said the adverts encourage “shared responsibility” for preparing to leave the EU on 31 October. It has been reported that the campaign could cost as much as £100m as ministers seek to inform people what they might need to do, if anything, ahead of the deadline. An image showing one of the campaign’s billboards was issued by the Cabinet Office ahead of their roll out this week. Leaflets, online seminars, and information stands at events will also be used. British citizens who are intending to travel to Europe and businesses which export to the EU are among the specific groups targeted by the campaign. The campaign encourages people and businesses to visit the government website to answer questions and receive advice on preparing for Brexit. – BBC News You still don’t know how to beat the backstop, Brussels tells UK… The government has insisted that Britain has an alternative to the Irish backstop after growing complaints from Brussels that nothing credible has been put forward. EU foreign ministers meeting in Helsinki yesterday expressed concern at the lack of detail from Britain as the clock ticks towards the October 31 Brexit deadline. Concern is also growing across the EU over the government’s decision to prorogue parliament and the risks that the political fallout could pose to negotiations. European governments have so far stayed out of Britain’s domestic constitutional controversy but the restraint is slipping amid fears that the EU is turning a blind eye to the abuse of democracy. “We all want to get a deal, but, at the moment, nothing credible has come from the UK government in terms of alternatives to the backstop,” Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister and deputy prime minister, said. “If that changes, great, we will look at it in Dublin, but more importantly it can be the basis of a discussion in Brussels. But it has got to be credible.” – The Times (£) …as Michel Barnier lobbies EU leaders to apply tough ‘stress test’ to Boris Johnson’s Brexit backstop proposal… EU Brexit chief Michel Barnier has been lobbying EU leaders to back a tough new “stress test” to be applied to any new British proposal to replace the hated Irish backstop, The Sun can reveal. The European Commission and the Irish government fear that key EU leaders like Angela Merkel are preparing to back down and offer Boris Johnson a key concession on the Irish border issue in a last ditch bid to avoid a No Deal Brexit. That has spurred Mr Barnier, Brussels’ chief Brexit negotiator, to tour European capitals to present his uncompromising conditions to any attempts to revisit the Irish backstop. And in another sign of Mr Barnier’s panic, he wrote an article in a Sunday newspaper in the UK declaring he will not scrap the backstop. Mr Barnier’s tough new conditions include ensuring that there are no checks or controls on the island of Ireland – a rebuff to Alternative Arrangements as an immediate fix. Instead he insists policing of goods required by EU rules must happen at the entry point to the island – meaning a partial border in the Irish Sea. The list marks a doubling down of the bloc’s position on the backstop over fears Mr Johnson is trying to “move the goalposts”. – The Sun …while rejecting demands for the backstop to be axed… The EU’s lead Brexit negotiator has rejected Boris Johnson’s demands for the Irish backstop to be scrapped. Michel Barnier said the backstop – intended to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland – was the “maximum flexibility” the EU could offer. Mr Johnson has previously told the EU the arrangement must be ditched if a no-deal Brexit was to be avoided. Meanwhile, the PM has told rebel Tories they face a “fundamental choice” of siding with him or Jeremy Corbyn. His comments come as some MPs who oppose a no-deal Brexit – including Conservatives – are planning to take action in Parliament next week. The UK is due to leave the EU on 31 October, with or without a deal. The backstop is part of the withdrawal agreement negotiated between Brussels and former Prime Minister Theresa May, which has been rejected by Parliament three times. If implemented, it would see Northern Ireland staying aligned to some rules of the EU single market, should the UK and the EU not agree a trade deal after Brexit. Mr Johnson has said there has been some movement from the EU, as he attempts to broker a new deal and remove the arrangement, which he has described as “undemocratic”. However, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Barnier said: “On the EU side, we had intense discussions with EU member states on the need to guarantee the integrity of the EU’s single market, while keeping that border fully open. In this sense, the backstop is the maximum amount of flexibility that the EU can offer to a non-member state.” – BBC News …as the UUP suggests proposals to replace the Irish backstop… A former Ulster Unionist Party leader has proposed the creation of a new North-South ministerial body as a means of monitoring and regulating trade across the Border after Brexit. Lord (Reg) Empey has also proposed as an alternative to the backstop that the British government would indemnify the European Union against single market infractions. He further proposed the creation of a new offence in British law for knowingly transporting non-compliant goods to the EU. Lord Empey said he was putting forward the proposals in good faith in a bid to break the stalemate over the backstop. He told the Press Association that the proposals represented an “Irish solution to an Irish problem”. “What we are trying to do is to stimulate a debate. We need a solution. The roaring and shouting that has accompanied Boris Johnson’s activities in the last period doesn’t remove the need for a deal and it doesn’t remove the need for a solution to the problem,” he said. “What we have been told by Dublin and Brussels is that they need an insurance policy to protect their single market. We accept that,” said Lord Empey. “So what we are saying is the United Kingdom would make it an offence for its territory to be used to subvert the single market by sending goods through the UK to the single market knowing they were not compliant with single market rules, so people could be prosecuted as a result of that.” – Irish Times …while Ireland says it will not act for Boris Johnson’s ‘political convenience’ Ireland has said it cannot agree to Boris Johnson’s demands just for his “political convenience”, giving the lie to fresh claims that the EU was about to compromise on the Irish border backstop. In an interview in Dublin, the deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, strongly criticised Johnson’s aggressive approach, saying Ireland would not take its instructions from No 10 just because of the threat of havoc all round. “What we are not in the business of doing is essentially being told by a British prime minister that this is the way it is now, and that because of the British parliament insisting on something, that everybody else then has to accept that, or else the house of cards gets pulled down for everybody,” he told the Sunday Business Post. Coveney, who has just returned from a week-long tour of EU capitals, said support for Ireland was solid across the bloc, despite the efforts by the UK to split EU leaders. “There isn’t a single EU member state putting pressure on Ireland to move away from that position, despite the fact that the UK has spoken to all of them and used all of the persuasion that they can muster to actually move countries away from that position,” he said. – Guardian Gordon Brown claims EU is ready to offer UK an extension to Brexit deadline The former Prime Minister said he had been told by European leaders that they were prepared to scrap the 31 October cut-off. Boris Johnson has insisted that the UK will leave the EU on that date “do or die”. Brexit was initially supposed to take place on 29 March, but Theresa May was forced to seek an extension after Parliament repeatedly rejected the Withdrawal Agreement she struck with the bloc. Speaking in Edinburgh, Mr Brown said the 31 October was suggested by French president Emmanuel Macron, but that it could be ditched as early as next week. The ex-Labour leader, who opposes Brexit, said: “My information is that Macron no longer holds to that deadline. It was really introduced for his campaign in the European elections to make him sound tough. And none of the other European Commissioners, including the new President of the European Commission [Ursula von der Leyen], I believe will hold to that 31 October deadline. So really the Government has two arguments that they want to get across – that it’s a sovereign people against a non-sovereign Parliament, and it’s Britain against Europe. Pull the rug from under that argument by saying it’s not Europe that’s being inflexible, it’s up to Britain now, the 31 October deadline can be removed. I think if that happened next week it would help us win a vote in the House of Commons and help put the pressure back on the Government.” Mr Brown’s comments come ahead of a tumultuous week in Parliament, when opposition MPs and rebel Tories will join forces in a bid to block no-deal. – PoliticsHome EU ‘wants to extend Article 50 to avoid no deal Brexit’ as Eurosceptics say Brussels cracking under pressure – Telegraph (£) Angela Merkel praises Boris Johnson’s ‘professionalism’ since becoming Prime Minister but urges him to sign a Brexit agreement as No Deal looms Angela Merkel has been impressed by Boris Johnson’s ‘professional’ approach as Prime Minister, but she has made clear to him that he needs to ‘move rapidly’ to secure a new Brexit deal, according to leaked EU minutes seen by The Mail on Sunday. British officials who met their German counterparts in Brussels on Thursday were told that the German Chancellor regarded her first encounter with Mr Johnson in the run-up to last weekend’s G7 summit in Biarritz as ‘constructive and professional’. According to the minutes of the meeting, UK negotiators have been told that Ms Merkel’s remarks during the meeting that Mr Johnson had ‘30 days’ to sort out a new Brexit deal was ‘not fixed’ – and a new deal was not expected before the next EU summit on October 17. ‘The German Government is clear that things can and need to move rapidly,’ the minutes say. Last week, Mr Johnson said it was time to ‘step up the tempo’ in the talks and announced that senior aides from both sides will meet twice a week throughout September – with the possibility of additional meetings – in the hope of reaching a new Brexit agreement. But the minutes of the meeting add: ‘Merkel still needs facts, and the German Government, as well as the rest of the EU, are waiting for concrete proposals from Johnson. ‘Once again the ball is in the UK Government’s court.’ – Mail on Sunday End to freedom of movement after Brexit reportedly postponed The government’s plans to end freedom of movement at midnight on October 31 have been torn up after lawyers warned that ministers risked losing a court case that would derail no-deal preparations. Priti Patel, the home secretary, signalled last month that freedom of movement would legally end when the UK leaves the EU. However, plans to change the law in one move were shelved when lawyers hired by the Home Office said this could cause chaos. Freedom of movement for EU nationals was to be abolished using the upcoming Immigration Bill, but that will not become law in time for the Halloween deadline. Ministers then explored plans to use provisions in the European Union Withdrawal Act that would allow ministers to change the law without primary legislation. The government’s no-deal war cabinet — known as the XO committee — was told last week that doing so would result in ministers being taken to court, where they would have a 70% chance of losing. A Whitehall source said: “The legal advice was that this would not be an appropriate use of the powers and there would have to be an affirmative vote in both houses of parliament for it to happen.” – Sunday Times (£) Chancellor Sajid Javid will pledge £200m to boost Britain’s trade capabilities after Brexit… Britain is to pump millions of pounds into boosting its post-Brexit role on the world stage. Sajid Javid will announce a £200million package of measures to enhance the nation’s “soft power” in his spending round this week. The Chancellor will stump up cash to support exports, celebrate our culture and seize opportunities by building new, independent trading relations. Mr Javid said: “Across our history, Britain has thrived as an open, free-trading nation. As we leave the EU, we are deeply committed to playing a leading role on the global stage. That means bolstering alliances, celebrating our culture, building new trading relationships and making sure we can act when needed to keep our people safe.” Measures to get funding will include £90 million to upgrade our diplomatic presence, £60 million to extend the “Great” tourism campaign for another year, £13 million to back our G7 presidency in 2021. A further £46 million will support the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and a boost to the overall defence budget, exceeding pledges to boost spending by 0.5 per cent above inflation and spending at least two per cent of national wealth. – The Sun …as he summons City leaders to sell no-deal ‘opportunities’ Sajid Javid has summoned some of the City’s most high-profile business leaders for a meeting today in a bid to persuade them of the “opportunities” presented by a no-deal Brexit. Jes Staley, the Barclays boss, David Schwimmer, the London Stock Exchange’s chief and Howard Davies, the RBS chairman are among more than a dozen bosses who will meet Mr Javid and John Glen, the City minister. Sources told Sky News, which first reported the meeting, that talks would focus on “Brexit opportunities and challenges”, rather than the public sector spending review due to be set out later this week. Mr Javid is likely to face a sceptical audience as many City institutions have warned the Government over the risks they fear leaving the EU without a deal would pose to the financial services sector. In May Miles Celic, head of lobby group TheCityUK, warned that a “crash-out Brexit” would “bring more uncertainty, higher risks, disruption, and significant adverse economic impact”. Others due to attend include Antonio Horta-Osorio, Lloyds boss and Richard Gnodde, Goldman Sachs’s international chief. – Telegraph (£) Government urged to abolish ‘absurd’ airline taxes after Brexit Across-party group of MPs has urged the Government to slash or scrap the UK’s sky-high airline taxes if it wants the economy to flourish after Brexit. A report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Air Passenger Duty Reform claims APD is the highest tax of its kind in Europe and that cutting it would open up dozens of new routes both domestic and international. Introduced in 1994, APD adds £13 to the cost of every short-haul ticket and £78 for long-haul in economy, rising to £176 for long-haul flights in first or business class. The long-haul rate is now almost seven times as high as when it was first introduced and the short-haul rate has more than doubled. A survey of airlines found that more than two thirds would invest in new routes outside of London and the south-east if APD was cut by 50pc and nine in ten would invest more in existing routes. Meanwhile two thirds would look to reduce or remove services if the tax was increased. The report said: “APD runs counter to many of the Government’s stated priorities, including increasing exports and creating jobs; its removal will give Britain’s aviation sector the chance to flourish once more, boosting connectivity and driving economic growth.” – Telegraph (£) > Henry Smith MP on BrexitCentral today: Cutting Air Passenger Duty can give us the flying start to our post Brexit future Michael Gove: Parliament must give Boris Johnson the space to secure a better Brexit deal At times in the last three years it has seemed that Parliament will do anything but the one thing it promised. To honour the democratic vote to leave the EU. Instead of coalescing behind a deal to get us out, Parliament has quibbled, prevaricated, delayed and disappointed. The Commons has repeatedly said what it won’t accept but has never accepted that we are here to serve the people and respect their decision. The Labour Party, in particular, have been guilty of the most spectacular bad faith. They promised on page 24 of their 2017 election manifesto to honour the referendum result but then, with some honourable exceptions, have consistently voted not to. The Prime Minister has made clear that we will, at last, honour the referendum decision. We will leave on October 31, deal or no deal. And, already, that resolution is helping us secure a solution. EU leaders are now ready to talk about a different way forward. As of next week we will be in talks with the EU to try to find a new deal which can command the confidence of the Commons. The EU knows that a deal which has failed to pass the Commons three times cannot be brought back unamended. The only possible way forward that has ever commanded a majority in the Commons was the principle put forward by my colleague Sir Graham Brady – that the central issue with the Withdrawal Agreement has always been the backstop. Until now, the EU has refused to entertain that idea. Now they are shifting. Which is why I hope my colleagues in the House of Commons will give the Prime Minister the time and space to pursue that opening and get a deal we can all support. The best way to leave with a deal is to back the PM in his approach which has, at last, got the EU to move. The aim of Labour, the SNP, the Liberal Democrats and others is not to stop a no-deal Brexit but to stop Brexit altogether. – Michael Gove MP for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Iain Duncan Smith: Only Whitehall stands in the way of our Gatt 24 ‘get out of jail free’ Brexit card It was supposed to be a “gotcha” moment. During the Conservative leadership election, Andrew Neil sought to ambush Boris Johnson, challenging him on his claim that a World Trade Organisation (WTO) deal called GATT Article XXIV (GATT24 to the layman) could be used to smooth a ‘No Withdrawal Agreement/No Deal’ Brexit. But it wasn’t Boris who was wrong; it was, most uncharacteristically, Mr Neil. Boris Johnson has had a fearsomely successful first few weeks as Prime Minister and has transformed the situation. Finally, the UK has the leadership it needs – a Prime Minister confident on the world stage, who is able to stand up to the EU and make it clear what needs to be done. Already, they are responding with flexibility and positive noises. Clarity of leadership at the international level – particularly when dealing with an organisation like the European Union – is everything. As Boris made clear, May’s Withdrawal Agreement is dead. The problems stretch far beyond just the backstop. The WA – three times rejected by the House of Commons – was the culmination of three years of dithering and delay from a government and civil service who didn’t truly believe in Brexit, and weren’t psychologically prepared to seize this golden opportunity. Now, the country has leadership which is excited by the prospects of leaving the EU. – Iain Duncan Smith MP for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Penny Mordaunt: We must reunify the country – and MPs can start by helping, not hindering, Brexit It is incumbent on all of us – not just the Prime Minister – to show leadership at this time. And exiting the EU in a way which is best for the UK must be part of a programme to swiftly restore the standing of our politics and trust and confidence in each other. We have that opportunity next week. There is talk of parliamentary gymnastics to stop a No Deal, while the clock ticks down to precisely that. Have we learnt nothing? If you don’t want to leave without a deal, then you need to get one. If we focus on that real issue, and the outcome I think most MPs want to see, then our actions could be the start of restoring that pride and trust. The nation needs us to deliver on the referendum. I know the chap outside Parliament with the glockenspiel doesn’t, nor do those MPs who want to stop any form of Brexit. But a majority voted for it and an even larger majority wants us to get it done. So if, like me, you hope to do better than parting on WTO terms or in a disorderly way, can I suggest that we all focus our efforts on ensuring we secure a deal. There’s not been much commentary on the chances of a deal, but there is a good chance. It is, and has always been, manifestly in the interests of EU member states that the UK secures one. Commissioners recognise, and have said, that they know they must compromise further to give the UK Parliament an acceptable arrangement. There is no practical impediment to it. It’s a matter of political will. It’s a matter of good will. I’ve been struck that those objecting to the Prime Minister’s latest move only seem to talk of being able to debate Brexit or stop no Brexit. Not a pip-squeak about the time it may take to get a deal negotiated and passed through both Houses. All efforts should be on that task. It’ll be a challenge in the timeframe, even if the starting point for it is the Withdrawal Agreement. So next week MPs’ true motivations will be laid bare. – Penny Mordaunt MP for ConservativeHome James Cleverly: Voters scream ‘let’s get on with it’…so respect them and do it MPs have a clear responsibility when we return to the House of Commons next week. Having spent the summer speaking to voters both in my constituency and across the country the message I heard over and again was short and to the point. On door step after door step I was told simply to ‘get on with it!’ That means leaving the EU by 31 October and delivering on the domestic issues that will unlock the potential of people and places in every part of the country. We have a lot to be proud of but so much further to go. The Prime Minister has listened to people’s concerns and it’s time to turn his plans into a reality. A Queen’s Speech – which sets out the Government’s legislative agenda – will allow us to do just that. Those who seek to portray this as antidemocratic are playing politics. The current session is the longest in nearly 400 years. A new parliamentary session will let us revitalise the House and introduce the legislation we need to support our NHS, reduce violent crime and cut the cost of living. Not only this, but MPs from across the House have been asking for a Queen’s Speech. In May, the Shadow Chancellor criticised the Government for not putting a Queen’s Speech before Parliament, while the Shadow Leader of the House has been asking for a Queen’s Speech for over a year. Strange, then, that she now considers it ‘antidemocratic’ for the Government to take the steps needed to introduce one. Let’s be clear. In a phoney defence of democracy, opposition MPs are clubbing together in an attempt to overturn the democratic decision of the British people. Together with the Lib Dems and SNP, Jeremy Corbyn is actively seeking to undermine negotiations and stop Brexit happening altogether. – James Cleverly MP for the Sunday Express Jacob Rees-Mogg: The people will never forgive Remain plotters if they don’t back down The next two weeks will shape the country’s future. If MPs honour the instruction they were given, and support the Government in its negotiations, the Government will be able to complete its mission of leaving the EU and embarking on an exciting new domestic agenda next month. If not, the parliamentary diadem that adorns the nation’s brow will be in peril. The stakes are unquestionably high. In the United Kingdom, parliamentary democracy rests on a simple premise: power lies with the people. That is reinforced when Parliament asks the people directly to make a decision. The EU Referendum Act was passed by a ratio of six to one in the Commons. That Act deliberately and unambiguously gave responsibility for the final decision on our membership of the EU to the British people and promised to honour the vote. More than 17 million people then voted to leave the EU so that, as the Prime Minister has said, laws would be made ‘by people who they can elect and they can remove from office’. It is more than three years on from that historic vote. Parliamentarians have so far failed to deliver on the promises made to the people. It has become a grievous test of their patience. – Jacob Rees-Mogg MP for the Mail on Sunday Suella Braverman: Ditching the backstop is just the start – we must overhaul Political Declaration to pass a Brexit deal As the next Act in the Brexit drama begins, I ask myself how the theatrics will play out. Blazing tragedy or stunning spectacle? The optimist in me hopes for a peripeteia and a closing scene of a sovereign, global-facing, dynamic UK liberated from the trammels of EU institutions. I know this is possible and that Boris Johnson is the best man to direct such a grand finale. There will no doubt be twists and turns in the plot. One thing is clear: the script needs to change. In order for the UK to leave the EU with ‘a deal’ (by far my preferred option – and I say that as someone who resigned from Government and voted against the last ‘deal’ on three occasions), the Withdrawal Agreement including the Northern Ireland Backstop and the Political Declaration need major editing. The current deal will not pass the House of Commons- it must be declared dead, finito, no more. An overhaul of the Political Declaration is needed if this deal is to command more support. Importantly, a clearer commitment to a Free Trade Agreement is essential if we are to trust that the UK will be able to develop an independent trade policy. All reference to a ‘single customs territory’ (ie, a customs union) must be removed from the spirit and the letter of the deal. We must know that we are heading out of the EU, not tying ourselves indefinitely to it. We need to see in black and white that the UK will have the power to set her own tariffs and be outside the Common Commercial Policy. Any glimmer of Chequers, or the ‘facilitated customs arrangement’ must be done away with. Brexit will be meaningless and hollow if we are still, in practice or in law, tied to the EU’s customs rules and regulations. – Suella Braverman MP for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Douglas Murray: Delivering Brexit is the only way to end the performative rage of the Remainers Prorogation is the new backstop. There’s an ugly little sentence. And one that no one in history had cause to write until this week. But “prorogation” is indeed the latest thing that a portion of the country has decided to become instant experts on in order to expend all their available fury over. Those of us who lived through the “backstop” years can recognise the signs. As it happens, I spent a portion of my life focusing on Northern Ireland. A decade ago I wrote a book on the province and, while the subject has always fascinated me, the signs that not everyone shared my enthusiasm were always there. The way people used to look at their watches was one. As was the way in which they claimed their glasses needed refilling, and never returned. There were also the steps backwards – imperceptible at first, but often ending in a crazed dash for the door. Over the course of years these, among other subtle and not-so-subtle indicators, persuaded me that chat about Northern Ireland was one way to empty a room in record time. So the instant expertise on border arrangements that emerged in recent times always struck me as suspect. People who had never been near the Irish border began to say: “Ah, but what about the backstop.” The question well served that portion of the nation which was busily adopting that special manner of our time: omniscient fury. This week, the backstop crammers found a new word to crowd around. In its way, the mainstreaming of “prorogation” has been a magnificent thing to behold. No sooner had the Government made clear that the House of Commons would not be sitting for three days in September than the Eumenides showed that they had found their newest plaything. – Douglas Murray for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Pieter Cleppe: Has Boris’s prorogation move spooked Brussels into scrapping the backstop? With the prorogation of Parliament, and Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator David Frost now due to meet twice a week with his European counterparts over the next month, the big question is whether the EU will now soften its position, and make concessions around the backstop. Boris Johnson and his allies have been very transparent with their strategy. The idea is to make sure that there are only two options left: a deal acceptable to the UK, or “no deal”. The whole point is to therefore rule out all the other options: extending UK membership, a second referendum, revoking the request to leave the EU or deposing the current government. As Jacob Rees-Mogg, a staunch ally of Boris has put it: “If you seek a deal prepare for no deal.” But will the EU play ball? We still cannot know, but what we do know is that we have – finally – entered the beginning of the end. Especially as Angela Merkel would reportedly like to know a month before exit day whether there’s going to be a deal or not, which makes October 1 the target day for a deal. There is already some evidence of Brussels softening its position. The EU no longer rules out any legally-binding changes to Theresa May’s deal, having previously repeated ad nauseam that there would be no reopening of the Withdrawal Agreement. – Pieter Cleppe for the Telegraph (£) Sarah Pittam: The intended audience for the prorogation is the leadership of the EU There has been no shortage of intemperate outbursts from the chatterati in response to the Prime Minister’s decision to prorogue Parliament. Those that have condemned it are all convinced that these are the workings of an arrogant, dismissive Prime Minister determined to avoid the rightful scrutiny of Parliament at a time of national crisis. In fact, they are all wrong and the angry statements of John Bercow (‘a constitutional outrage’), Jeremy Corbyn (‘a smash and grab raid on our constitution’) and Hugh Grant (‘**** off you over-promoted rubber bath toy’) reveal that they flatter themselves. So intoxicated are the commentariat, broadly defined, with their own self-righteousness that it has escaped their notice that this strategic decision was not about any of them. No-one in the UK is the intended audience for this remarkable decision. The intended audience is the EU leadership. This move reveals the determination of the Prime Minister to inform the EU leadership in word and now deed that the only way to avoid No Deal is for the EU to compromise and that the procedural machinations of the House of Commons will not come to the EU’s rescue in the way that they did in January of this year. – Sarah Pittam for ConservativeHome Telegraph: Tory Remainers are standing in the way of genuine democracy Sir John Major has joined Gina Miller in an effort to stop the prorogation of Parliament via the courts. The judge ought to ask: “If Sir John thinks prorogation is such a bad thing, then why did he do it when he was prime minister?” In 1997, in the dog days of his wildly unpopular government, Sir John prorogued Parliament for just under three weeks before the general election. He was accused of trying to avoid the publication of an embarrassing report into cash‑for-questions – a far more squalid reason to prorogue than the current Government’s objectives of having a Queen’s Speech and getting Brexit done. Yet the former PM seems to be presenting himself as a champion of democracy. He joins the growing ranks of Tory Remainers who are on a holy war against their own party. Politicians often confuse “democracy” with “getting what I want”. That’s understandable. One of the ways a democracy is measured is its ability to translate the popular will into action – and, given that no one can agree what the popular will is, that also leads to differing interpretations of what is and isn’t “democratic”. To Remainers, Brexit is bad and thus Parliament is democratic for trying to scrutinise/prevent it. After all, Britain is a parliamentary democracy. – Sunday Telegraph (£) editorial James Forsyth: It’s the rogue ones vs. the prorogue ones as MPs return from their summer break to seize control of Brexit Next week will be one of the most tumultuous, ill-tempered and consequen-tial weeks in recent British political history. MPs will return from their summer break on Tuesday and anti-No Deal members will immediately try to seize control of the order paper, allowing them to determine what gets debated in the Commons and when. With the connivance of the Speaker John Bercow, they will almost certainly succeed. Having gained this power, they will set about binding Boris Johnson’s hands. They will try to legislate to ensure this country cannot leave the European Union without a deal. Do they have the numbers to pull this off? Probably, yes. The ranks of Tory rebels have been swelled by the arrival of former Cabinet ministers such as Philip Hammond and David Gauke, and the Government’s decision to prorogue Parliament means that plans to wait until the end of September to act have been dropped. One former minister says the “prorogation scandal has tipped things over the edge”. If they have the numbers, do they have the time? This is more doubtful. No10’s decision to prorogue Parliament means they would have to get a bill through both Houses in just over a week. With Bercow’s help, it will be possible for them to rush it through the Commons quickly. But it will be much harder to do that in the Lords. Even if the rebels can get a bill passed, the Government’s actions this week are designed to show that they won’t simply comply with it. They want the rebels to think they can’t succeed unless they change the government. “The aim is to force a binary choice between Corbyn and our Brexit plan,” is how one of those at the heart of things explains it. Those close to Boris Johnson believe this is their best chance of getting things through. They calculate that, ultimately, the Commons will not be prepared to take the risk of making Jeremy Corbyn prime minister. – James Forsyth for The Sun Michel Barnier: We will only start work on alternative arrangements if the current deal is ratified More than three years ago, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. Shortly afterwards, the then Prime Minister, Theresa May, said that this meant that the UK would leave the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union. The current Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has confirmed this position. The consequences of these decisions are clear: they create barriers to trade between the EU and the UK that do not exist today. After two years of painstaking talks, the EU and the UK reached an agreement on operational solutions for a whole range of areas where the UK’s withdrawal creates uncertainty: first, how do we make sure that UK and EU citizens continue to enjoy their existing rights, with strong enforcement mechanisms and life-long guarantees? What happens to researchers or organisations in the UK that receive EU funding? What should we do after Brexit with the extradition of criminals that began under EU law? How should we make sure that Cypriots living in the UK Sovereign Base Areas continue to enjoy their rights under EU law? It is now nine months since the 27 EU governments reached an agreement with the UK on the terms of an orderly withdrawal and on the framework for the future relationship. So far, the House of Commons has failed to approve the agreed package. Some MPs voted against it because they do not want Brexit at all, others because they would prefer a “no-deal” outcome. Some MPs said “nay” because they want a much closer economic relationship with the EU, others because they want a more distant future relationship and less stringent conditions on fair competition between the EU and the UK, for instance on environmental laws and labour rights. As the EU’s negotiator, I know very well how divided the UK still is on what future it wants with the EU. That is why the Political Declaration points to a Free Trade Agreement as a baseline and leaves open the possibility of a closer relationship with the EU should the UK’s red lines evolve. In all circumstances, however, the relationship will consist of an appropriate balance of rights and obligations. – Michel Barnier for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Zoe Strimpel: I voted to Remain… but I am glad the Brexit ball is rolling now It’s increasingly hard to picture the time before the Brexit vote, which now feels like a faraway land of peace and simplicity. A time in which people chatted amicably at dinner parties and barbecues and could meet friends in the pub and not get into a heated argument about whether a coup had or had not taken place in the United Kingdom. A time when Jeremy Corbyn was just a fringe-y, loony Left MP that few had heard of. I voted Remain but, three years on, I have changed my tune on Brexit. Despite the plunge in the value of my flat, I now want to leave. I want to leave because a) it has to be done, and b) I just can’t take the stodge of parliamentary deadlock any more. Anything is better than what we have been through in the last three years – and my fellow Britons appear to agree. A recent poll of 3,000 people for political website Politico found that voters would rather leave without a deal or revoke Article 50 altogether. All of which is why Boris’s sensational move last week to prorogue parliament for an extra week in October felt so… right. So thrilling. So new! We are finally, finally on the move – to where we don’t quite know yet, but at least it’s somewhere. – Zoe Strimpel for the Sunday Telegraph (£) The Sun: Jeremy Corbyn and panic-stricken Remainers are resorting to blatant lies after days of hysteria After days of laughable hysteria over Boris Johnson, panic-stricken Remainers now resort to blatant lies. Witness Jeremy Corbyn and his Labour thugs aiming to blockade cities illegally while ridiculously painting a No Deal Brexit as an “establishment coup” by an “elite, eroding democracy”. Can they not hear themselves? The “elite” backed Remain en masse: Cameron, Osborne, Blair, Brown, Obama, big business, the banks, the ocean-going hypocrite John Major, the vile Speaker Bercow, every showbiz luvvie, the millionaire busybody Gina Miller, the pontificating prat Gary Lineker, Corbyn’s middle-class Momentum fan club and (allegedly) Corbyn himself. This is the real elite, now taking to our streets and flouncing off to our courts trying to “stop No Deal” — that thin smokescreen for annulling Brexit itself. This, not Boris’ brief suspension of Parliament, is the true assault on our democracy and the biggest ballot box mandate it has ever delivered. A winning majority of 17.4million people backed Brexit. – The Sun says Paul Goodman: Johnson’s real plan. To get a deal – and stuff the Spartans We won’t insult our readers’ intelligence by parroting the Government’s case for prorogation. Yes, this Parliamentary session is already the longest since before the English Civil War. Yes, a Queen’s Speech is therefore well overdue: Valerie Vaz, Labour’s Shadow Commons Leader, has called for one at least three times since May. Yes, Boris Johnson doubtless has legislation he wants to implement (though how he expects to get it passed without a working majority, goodness only knows). And, yes, the number of days that Parliament now won’t sit is only six more than was originally planned. But to compare an autumn recess without prorogation to one with it would be to compare apples and pears. Prorogation ends the session: during it, no motions or questions can be tabled. And this will be a very long prorogation: it is to last the best part of five weeks. At a stroke, the Prime Minister has thus prevented those MPs opposed to a No Deal Brexit, or indeed to Brexit itself, from seizing control of the Commons timetable and extending the September sitting into the Party Conference season. In short, he has given them as little time to postpone Brexit on October 31 as he can get away with – just as Ben Wallace suggested in a moment of on-camera candour. This is bending the rules. But it is not breaking them. Parliament is not being shut down. (It will sit next week and after October 14.) Johnson is not acting unconstitutionally (because if he had been, the Queen would not have agreed the prorogation). And he is not, repeat not, re-enacting the Reichstag Fire. The Commons can pass a no confidence motion in him – this week, if it wishes. At the risk of invoking Godwin’s Law, the German Communist Party was not in a position to move such a vote against Hitler in 1933. One has to be very clever indeed to suggest a parallel so profoundly stupid, but that’s the effect of Brexit for you. – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome Nigel Lawson: Johnson the proroguer is serving democracy More than three years after the British people decided to leave the European Union, those claiming that democracy is being treated with contempt are in a state of hysteria. But the hysteria does not emanate from any of the 17.4m who voted “leave”, and who have been waiting with ever-increasing exasperation for their ballot to be honoured. No, it comes from the most unreconciled of those on the other side of the most significant popular vote in British history: they are shocked and outraged that parliament might (finally) be thwarted in its refusal to approve any form of Brexit. Specifically, they claim to regard Boris Johnson as a latter-day Adolf Hitler (Richard Evans, the distinguished historian of Nazi Germany, wrote of “a Reichstag fire decree moment”) after the prime minister gained the monarch’s assent to the prorogation of parliament ahead of a Queen’s speech. In fact, this has chopped barely a week off the time MPs had believed would be available for them to prevent a so-called no-deal Brexit on October 31. It will still leave adequate time for Johnson’s opponents to oust him in a no-confidence vote (if they can find a parliamentary majority for that). The former chancellor Philip Hammond led the charge in describing the PM’s move as a denial of “democracy”. That might be true, if Westminster were the solitary repository of democratic legitimacy in the matter of Britain’s relationship with the EU. But it isn’t. To understand why, read the words of the cabinet minister who introduced the second reading of the referendum bill in June 2015 — the then foreign secretary, one Philip Hammond. He began by declaring that the EU had “changed almost beyond recognition” from what the British had endorsed in the 1975 referendum, and that therefore another popular mandate was required. – Lord Lawson for the Sunday Times (£) Rob Wilson: Brexiteers must bring down John Bercow before he launches his most ruthless plot yet We are finally here, the week that has been coming for the last three years. It could shape British politics, one way or another, for the next half a century depending which side comes out on top. The coming few days could split parties and topple a government. Sides are no longer defined by their political parties, only by whether they wish to Leave or Remain in the EU. If the Brexiteers come out on top we are likely to be out of the EU very soon; if the Remainers win there’s a good chance of Brexit never happening. The central figure in the drama has now become one John Simon Bercow MP, Speaker of The House of Commons. He is now where he has always wanted to be, at the centre of public life, in every newspaper and on every TV screen, high profile and with an influence a Common’s Speaker has probably never had before. Bercow will no doubt see his ability to insert himself into molding of the affairs of state, usually exclusively the purview of Governments, as a personal triumph. He has finally outwitted the people and party he ostensibly grew to despise, even hate, on his journey leftwards in politics. No one should underestimate the low cunning that his got him to the position of either Speaker or the huge influence he now wields. He has skillfully operated without principle over the last 10 years or so to reach his career summit – making friends, building alliances, and making highly inappropriate interventions as Speaker. He made sure he always had enough people willing to prop him up against the enemies he knew he had created. Those carefully made alliances even propped him up against compelling evidence that he had systematically bullied former staff – a sackable offence in most circumstances but not apparently if you have a Remain supporting Speaker on your team. – Rob Wilson for the Telegraph (£) Natascha Engel: Bercow loves high stakes… now he’s betting the House When Parliament returns this week, all eyes will be on the battle of wills and wits between the Prime Minister and the Commons Speaker. John Bercow may believe that what he is doing is defending the rights of Parliament and its duty to hold the executive to account. In fact, there is much more at stake as his latest interventions on Brexit show. The Speaker is doing nothing less than changing the historic relationship between Parliament as the legislature and the Government as the executive in a fundamental way. If he succeeds, it won’t be the Prime Minister proroguing Parliament that will be remembered as a ‘constitutional outrage’, to quote Mr Bercow’s own words last week. Despite being a former Conservative MP, Mr Bercow could never be accused of pro-Tory bias. Far from it. Moreover, when it comes to Brexit, he has never made a secret of his views or willingness to enter the political fray. But by trying to stop the Prime Minister’s potentially No Deal Brexit, Mr Speaker appears to be moving in the direction of a US-style Speaker. y tradition, Commons Speakers are politically impartial whereas the US Congress Speaker has an overtly political role. Some may say Mr Bercow embarked on this controversial road a long time ago. But the consequences of what may now unfold are much more serious. – Mail on Sunday Brexit in Brief Coup are you trying to kid, you numpties – Carole Malone for the Express This synthetic fury is no match for our decisive Prime Minister – Telegraph (£) editorial The Establishment’s legalistic rage over Brexit harks back to Britain’s pre-democratic era – Robert Tombs for the Sunday Telegraph (£) French President Emmanuel Macron is now bending as European fears about No Deal grow – The Sun says Stop this Brexit ‘coup’ hysteria, remainers – Boris Johnson is no dictator and Westminster’s not on fire – Rod Liddle for the Sunday Times (£) Pro-EU campaigners’ fury is purely about power politics, not high constitutional principle – John Penrose MP for ConservativeHome Tory rebels must back down, or risk a ruthless general election purge – Nick Timothy for the Telegraph (£) Brexit Britain has what it takes to be the world’s tastiest nation – William Sitwell for the Telegraph (£) Corbyn’s Labour Party is the real threat to democracy – Brian Monteith MEP for The Scotsman The rank dishonesty of Tory Remainers is finally laid bare — they aren’t trying to protect jobs, they’re trying to stop Brexit – The Sun says Wetherspoon boss predicts boom for British brewers – Express Brexiteer MP delivers brutal swipe at Ken Clarke as Remainer admits he would back Corbyn – Express Retired Brits living in Europe will get £200 annual Brexit boost to their pensions — even with No Deal – The Sun