Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson’s new Brexit deal ditches the backstop, allows us to strike trade deals and ends supremacy of EU law… Boris Johnson’s new Brexit deal ditches the Northern Irish backstop, allows us to strike our own trade deals and ends EU law. The PM believes his “great” agreement allows Britain to “take back control” – compared to Theresa May’s previous plan. The backstop has been the main stumbling block to negotiations with the bloc with Mr Johnson refusing to do any deal that included it. But it has now been replaced by a four-point plan relating to: customs, regulations, VAT and the consent of the Northern Ireland Assembly – known as Stormont. According to the new proposals Northern Ireland will leave the customs union with the rest of the UK. This is important because it means the province will reap the benefits from trade deals brokered by No10 after Brexit. – The Sun …as the PM urges MPs to ‘come together and get this thing done’… Boris Johnson is “very confident” that MPs across the House of Commons will “want to vote” for his deal once they study what he has agreed with his European counterparts. Addressing reporters in Brussels, the Prime Minister urged parliamentarians from all parties to “look at this deal”, after being accused by DUP deputy Nigel Dodds of losing his party’s support by being “too eager” to hammer out an unsatisfactory deal. “I am very confident that when my colleagues in Parliament study this agreement that they will want to vote for it on Saturday and in succeeding days,” Mr Johnson said. “This is our chance in the UK as democrats to get Brexit done, and come out on October 31.” This comes as MPs approved a rare parliamentary sitting this Saturday in order to consider Mr Johnson’s deal. – Telegraph (£) Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal on ‘knife edge’ with frantic 36-hours to woo over wavering MPs – The Sun …after the deal is unanimously approved by EU leaders at the Brussels summit EU leaders have unanimously approved the new Brexit deal struck by Boris Johnson after discussing it at a summit in Brussels. European Commission and UK negotiators struck the accord, which replaces the EU’s “backstop” with new arrangements for the Irish border, earlier in the day. “The European Council endorses the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community,” the European Council conclusions read. “On this basis, the European Council invites the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council to take the necessary steps to ensure that the agreement can enter into force on 1st November 2019, so as to provide for an orderly withdrawal.” – Independent Nigel Farage says he would rather delay Brexit than accept the deal… Nigel Farage yesterday attacked Boris Johnson’s deal and said that he would rather delay leaving the European Union than accept the Prime Minister’s new treaty. The Brexit Party leader also came under fire after attacking Jean-Claude Juncker for saying the EU should not agree to delay the UK’s withdrawal from the bloc beyond October 31. Mr Johnson’s deal offers a much harder Brexit than Theresa May’s deal, but it falls far short of the red lines set by hardline Brexiteers like Mr Farage who believe we should pursue a ‘clean break’ exit from the EU. MPs are set to vote on the 11th hour agreement in a historic session in the House of Commons on Saturday. – Telegraph (£) …and the DUP say no amount of money could persuade them to back it… The DUP has said it will vote down Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal this Saturday and warned that no amount of money can win them over, despite attempts by Downing Street to offer a new financial package for Northern Ireland. Shortly after Mr Johnson hailed “a great new deal that takes back control,” a spokesman for the DUP said the plan would undermine the integrity of the United Kingdom and damage Northern Ireland’s economy. The DUP added that the deal would create a trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK which could lead to higher prices and less choice for consumers in the region. – Telegraph (£) …although rival unionists accuse the DUP of a catastrophic Brexit miscalculation The Democratic Unionist party is reeling from accusations it was duped and betrayed by Downing Street over a Brexit deal that weakens Northern Ireland’s position in the UK. Rival unionists on Thursday said the DUP had committed a catastrophic miscalculation in trusting Boris Johnson, potentially putting Northern Ireland on a path towards a united Ireland. The DUP also risked isolation at Westminster where some Conservative Brexiters, who previously pledged solidarity with the DUP, signalled they would ignore the party’s opposition and vote for the deal in a Commons vote on Saturday. It was a vertiginous fall to earth for a regional party that until recently boasted of unprecedented influence, its clout extending from Belfast to London and Brussels. – Guardian ‘It’s painful to choose’: ERG locked in internal talks over Brexit deal The 28 Eurosceptic Tory hardliners have not said “no” to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, giving No 10 hope that they will swing behind the prime minister. The group, known as “the Spartans”, had indicated they would take a lead from the Democratic Unionist party, which categorically said it would vote against Johnson’s deal. But several of the Tory hardliners – from Peter Bone to Andrew Bridgen – suggested they were likely to vote for the agreement. It was not unanimous, however, as the European Research Group’s steering committee, made up of senior MPs and former ministers, met on Thursday for a “deep discussion” about the new agreement, which they went through line by line. – Guardian Jean-Claude Juncker warns MPs: No more extensions if Brexit deal fails… Jean-Claude Juncker has warned Britain that there will be no extension to Brexit if the House of Commons rejects a deal struck by Boris Johnson to leave the EU. In an attempt to persuade MPs to back the agreement that was announced today, the European Commission president said: “There will be no prolongation. We have concluded a deal and so there is not an argument for further delay — it has to be done now. This deal means there is no need for any kind of prolongation.” Asked whether he thought that the Commons would back the withdrawal treaty in a special sitting on Saturday, he added: “I am convinced it will. If it doesn’t there will be no prolongation.” – The Times (£) …while Donald Tusk tells the UK the EU’s door will always be open for returning Donald Tusk has told the UK: “I hope you decide to return to the EU one day.” European Council president Mr Tusk, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, Irish premier Leo Varadkar and EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier were speaking at a Brussels press conference to mark the successful conclusion of Brexit talks with the UK government. But Mr Tusk, an outspoken critic of Brexit, could not resist floating the idea of Britain returning if MPs decide to back Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s agreement on Saturday. At the end of his speech on Thursday, Mr Tusk said: “Now we are waiting for the votes in both parliaments.” – Evening Standard Remainer MPs in disarray as confusion reigns over plans to force vote on a second referendum The “Remain alliance” appeared in disarray on Thursday night as MPs failed to agree on a plan of action to thwart Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. After an initial plan to try to force a vote on a second referendum faltered in the afternoon, a new plan was being formulated in an attempt to force Mr Johnson to ask Brussels for a Brexit delay even if his deal gets through Parliament. The group of Labour MPs, Lib Dems and People’s Vote backers have decided against tabling a second referendum amendment on the deal. Instead the group of MPs, led by Hilary Benn, plan to table an amendment on Saturday that would strengthen the powers of the Benn Act. At present the Act requires Mr Johnson to ask for an extension if he cannot get MPs to vote for his deal. Guto Bebb, one of the 21 Tory rebels who has committed to a second referendum, said: “The Prime Minister deserves an opportunity to put this deal to the House unencumbered. We don’t think a Confirmatory Vote on Saturday helps.” – Telegraph (£) Boris Johnson could pass the deal, says David Cameron “The thing about the greased piglet is that he manages to slip through other people’s hands where mere mortals fail.” That was the optimistic assessment of Boris Johnson’s chances of getting his Brexit deal through parliament by former prime minister David Cameron on Thursday. Cameron said he would back the deal, were he still an MP, though he would have preferred one that guaranteed a closer relationship with the EU and that would keep the UK within the customs union. During a talk to promote his book, For The Record, in North Yorkshire on Thursday evening that was repeatedly interrupted by protesters, he called on the current crop of parliamentarians to get behind the deal. – Guardian Rory Stewart admits he ‘got it wrong’ to say Johnson could not get a new deal by Halloween Former Conservative Cabinet minister Rory Stewart has admitted that he got it wrong when he said that Boris Johnson could not agree an exit deal to take the UK out of the European Union by the end of October. Mr Stewart, who has quit the party and is standing as an independent candidate in the upcoming London Mayoral elections, said: “I got it wrong.” Mr Stewart had said in June during the Conservative leadership campaign that Mr Johnson did not have “the slightest hope” of getting a new deal agreed by the end of October. He told Emma Barnett on BBC Radio Five: “Let’s take a candidate like Boris. He is saying that he is going to go to Europe and he is going to negotiate a new deal before Oct 31 and if he doesn’t get a new deal by Oct 31 he is going no-deal. – Telegraph (£) New IMF boss ‘jumped for joy’ over Brexit breakthrough The head of the International Monetary Fund confessed she jumped for joy after hearing news of a Brexit breakthrough that she said would spare the UK significant economic damage. Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s new managing director, said there would still be some impact from leaving the EU with an agreement but said much of that had already been felt in the period since the 2016 referendum. Speaking at a press conference at the IMF’s annual meeting in Washington, Georgieva urged MPs to back the deal in Saturday’s vote. “As my old boss Jean-Claude Juncker has said: ‘Where there’s a will there’s a deal.’ I hope that will holds in all quarters.” – Guardian Iain Duncan Smith: Boris Johnson needs to use all his cunning and remaining leverage now Watching Boris Johnson work the room at the European Council was a sight to behold. As the Prime Minister came in, groups of national leaders surged around him, grabbing his hand. In return, his face beaming, he threw his arm around them in that trademark “Bozzer’s best mate” way, basking, as he always has, in the adulation and bonhomie. Emmanuel Macron clutched him in an upper hand grip while Frau Merkel giggled like a 16-year-old on a first date. Two steps away, Donald Tusk leapt to his feet and grasped Boris. So great was the grip that I thought for a moment he wouldn’t let go. At home the Prime Minister had just lost another vote in the House of Commons, but here, in the inner sanctum of the EU, he had moved overnight from villain to hero. – Iain Duncan Smith MP for the Telegraph (£) Robert Courts: This deal may represent our last chance to be an independent, sovereign nation again When Boris took office just under three months ago, his key pledge – to negotiate a new Brexit deal, ‘bin the backstop’, and take the UK out of the EU on 31 st October – was met with scorn in Brussels and much of Westminster. The EU was adamant that the Withdrawal Agreement could not be re-opened and that a deal without the backstop was impossible. Yet here we are: a new Brexit deal has just been signed off in Brussels, with no backstop, and an exit from the EU in two weeks’ time is now within touching distance. This alone is an enormous achievement, especially when one considers the obstacles Boris’ opponents have put in his way at every turn. But what of the deal itself? Is it an improvement on the May deal, much maligned by myself and fellow Eurosceptics? The answer is in an emphatic yes. – Rober Courts MP for the Telegraph (£) Robert Peston: How Boris Johnson may win his Brexit vote The Saturday vote on Boris Johnson’s deal will be closer than people think. Around 18 or 19 of the Tory rebel exiles will vote for it, subject to a Letwin-ish amendment that the Benn Act applies until the whole of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill is law. Boris Johnson will see that amendment as holding the feet to the flame of the Brexit Spartans. He won’t hate it, whatever his public position. Because the ERG Spartans will fear if they vote against the deal and the WAB, that Brexit delay and no Brexit will follow. Now, the DUP’s opposition to Johnson’s deal is a challenge for Johnson. But as I said earlier on ITV News there is genuinely a chance Johnson’s deal passes – and I never ever said that about any of Theresa May’s Meaningful Votes. – Robert Peston for ITV News Madeline Grant: How the Remainers got Boris and Brexit spectacularly wrong The last few years have underlined the futility of making confident pronouncements about politics. But – whisper it quietly! – today was a victory for Brexit and common sense. First came the routing of Extinction Rebellion. After activists targeted the tube network in Canning Town – already a bold choice for a bourgeois protest – East End commuters finally fought back. So ferocious was the popular backlash to XR’s overreach that even erstwhile supporters like London Mayor Sadiq Khan were forced to perform ignominious ‘reverse ferrets’ and criticise the group, having applauded their extreme methods for months. Then, moments after the Battle of Canning Town, came glad tidings for Brexiteers in the shape of an agreement between EU and UK negotiators. The PM has achieved what many Remainers claimed was impossible weeks ago; a viable Brexit deal uniting the disparate wings of his party. – Madeline Grant for the Telegraph (£) Iain Dale: Now it’s crunch time – will MPs who say they fear No Deal vote for the obvious solution? Well what a day that was. I normally write this column on a Thursday morning, and when I started to type this yesterday I had woken up to the fact that the DUP were refusing to go along with Boris Johnson’s compromise plan with the EU over the Irish border. A few hours later there was white smoke, albeit not from the DUP. Hmmm. Perhaps mention of white smoke and the DUP might cause my old acquaintance Ian Paisley to spin in his grave. Apologies for that. No, the white smoke came from the Berlaymont building in Brussels. To be honest, I think we were all taken a bit by surprise. But there it was, the deal that no one thought Boris could either get, or frankly ever intended to get. We all have short memories, but I remember during the leadership contest when he would constantly say he intended to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement and abolish the Backstop. – Iain Dale for ConservativeHome Allister Heath: All Eurosceptics should back this deal – this is as good as it gets Politics still matters, as does leadership, vision and statecraft. By sheer will-power, Boris Johnson and his advisers have delivered a radically better deal for Britain, forcing the EU’s technocratic juggernaut into a screeching u-turn. It can’t be done, we were told, ad nauseam, and yet Johnson delivered, proving that he is, in fact, a statesman. His deal passes the smell test: it is a real Brexit, unlike Theresa May’s shameful ersatz. It will allow us to leave the EU, really and genuinely, and govern ourselves like every other independent nation in the world. It doesn’t seek to tie us down, or to keep us entangled permanently into the EU’s legal, political and commercial orbit. It provides for a real rupture for Great Britain, and a hybrid yet democratic deal for the special case that is Northern Ireland, in a way which is far better than a backstop. – Allister Heath for the Telegraph (£) Julian Jessop: Will a vote for the Johnson deal boost the British economy? The UK government and the EU have finally agreed a new Brexit deal. Of course, Prime Minister May had already got us to this stage and there are still plenty of hurdles to clear. Everything may look different again after Parliament votes on Saturday. But let’s assume that a negotiated withdrawal along these lines is indeed imminent. What would Boris Johnson’s deal mean for the economy? In the short term, the proposed transition period – perhaps of two years – means that not a lot will actually change on the ground. Indeed, in economic terms at least this would be ‘Brexit in name only’ for some time yet, and the final destination would remain unknown. However, there should still be some positive impact straightaway. – Julian Jessop for CapX John Redwood: Deal or no deal? The Withdrawal Agreement is unchanged, so I have no need to update my comments on it which set out the problems with it, especially concerning the powers of the ECJ and the money. The Political Declaration is improved. It now makes it clearer that any joint military actions requires the consent of the UK government. More emphasis is given to basing a future trade relationship around a Free Trade Agreement. The Declaration whilst confirming we become an independent coastal state for fishing purposes puts our fish back into play with the prospect of a new fishing quota and access based agreement with the EU. – John Redwood’s Diary Brexit in Brief I voted Remain, but now I just want MPs to end this awful limbo – Jemima Lewis for the Telegraph (£) Mark Field to stand down at next election due to ‘fractious and febrile’ political atmosphere – Telegraph (£)