Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team There is no better outcome than my deal, says Boris Johnson ahead of Saturday Commons sitting… Boris Johnson has urged MPs to “come together” to back the Brexit deal he has secured with the EU, insisting there is “no better outcome”. The prime minister told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg he wanted the country to “move on” from Brexit, which he described as “divisive”. And he said he was hopeful the deal would pass the Commons on Saturday. The government’s former allies in the DUP and every opposition party plans to vote against it. The new deal, agreed by Mr Johnson and the EU on Thursday, is similar to the one agreed by Theresa May last year – but it removes the controversial backstop clause, which critics say could have kept the UK tied indefinitely to EU customs rules. Northern Ireland would remain in the UK’s customs union under the new agreement, but there would also be customs checks on some goods passing through en route to Ireland and the EU single market. Mr Johnson and his team are trying to persuade enough Labour rebels, former Conservatives and Brexiteer Tory rebels to get it across the line in Parliament. Mr Johnson has repeatedly said Brexit will happen by the end of the month with or without a deal. – BBC News Johnson stakes all on ‘Super Saturday’ vote – Reuters Johnson promises parliament role in post-Brexit talks with EU – Reuters Johnson still facing an almighty gamble – Laura Kuenssberg for BBC News > Jonathan Isaby and Matthew Elliott on BrexitCentral today: MPs must stop the dither and delay and back Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal today …but Sir Oliver Letwin is spearheading an attempt to prevent a vote on the deal today and force a Brexit delay… Downing Street angrily accused a group of former Conservative MPs last night of joining attempts to undermine Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal… His attempt to make today’s vote, the first Saturday sitting in 37 years, a binary choice between his deal and leaving without one risked being derailed by an amendment tabled by Sir Oliver Letwin, a former cabinet minister. It states that approval for the deal is “withheld” until legislation needed to implement it has been approved in the Commons. The amendment would make today’s vote symbolic, with the critical decision delayed until the end of the month. If the amendment is voted through, Mr Johnson would have no choice but to write to Brussels requesting an extension to Article 50 under the terms of the Benn act, despite his repeated insistence that he would refuse to do so. – The Times (£) …though he claims his amendment is merely designed ‘to block an accidental No Deal’ Oliver Letwin said on Friday he wanted to make sure Britain did not leave the European Union without a Brexit deal by mistake, explaining a proposal that could prevent a vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal on Saturday. Letwin has proposed that the approval of the deal is deferred until separate legislation to implement the terms of the deal has passed through parliament. “My aim is to ensure that Boris’s deal succeeds, but that we have an insurance policy which prevents the UK from crashing out on 31 October by mistake if something goes wrong during the passage of the implementing legislation,” Letwin said in an explanatory note sent to reporters. – Reuters How MPs will try to derail PM’s Brexit plan – Sky News What to expect from Parliament’s Saturday sitting – BBC News Boris Johnson tries to woo Labour MPs with pledge on workers and environment… Boris Johnson has launched a last-ditch bid to persuade Labour MPs to back his Brexit deal by pledging to bolster workers’ rights and environmental standards after the UK quits the EU. Downing Street said it was determined to ensure that the “hard won” protections are not weakened by Brexit… Jeremy Corbyn has announced that his MPs will be on a three-line whip to oppose the deal, with Momentum boss Jon Lansman warning that any who defy the leader will deselected as candidates at the next election. But in a dramatic attempt to woo as many as possible, Number 10 have announced a series of measures aimed at reassuring Labour MPs that workers’ rights and environmental standards will not be diluted after Brexit. Under the proposals, ministers will be forced to come to Parliament whenever the EU changes its rules on workers’ rights and explain how the Government plans to respond, with MPs being given a vote on it. The Government said it will also introduce a “world leading” Environmental Bill to enhance current standards. – PoliticsHome …with Labour’s John Mann expecting more than nine of his colleagues to back Johnson’s deal… Opposition Labour MP John Mann will vote for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal and expects over nine of his fellow Labour MPs to follow suit, he said on Friday. Johnson faces a Brexit showdown with parliament on Saturday after clinching a last-minute divorce deal with the European Union that his Northern Irish allies and opposition parties, including Labour, oppose. “I will be voting in favour of it, it’s a deal that’s been agreed with the European Union, it’s a two side deal and that satisfies me,” Mann told Irish national broadcaster RTE. Asked how many Labour lawmakers would also support Johnson’s deal, he said: “More than 9…I don’t know how many because there is different pressures at play but it will be in double figures.” – Reuters Labour MP Melanie Onn urges colleagues to back Boris Johnson’s deal – PoliticsHome …as leading party figures say Labour MPs who back Johnson’s Brexit deal should be sacked Labour MPs who back Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal should be replaced before the next general election, two members of the party’s ruling body have said. The prime minister will tomorrow present his “great new” deal to MPs ahead of what is likely to be a knife-edge House of Commons vote on the agreement he has struck with the EU. With the DUP opposing his deal, Mr Johnson is likely to have to rely on some Labour MPs to support his deal if he is to secure approval. However, senior Labour figures are warning that any of the party’s MPs who back the deal should not be allowed to stand as Labour candidates at the next election. Jon Lansman, the chair of the influential Momentum group and a member of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), posted on Twitter: “Johnson’s deal will be a wrecking ball through the lives & well-being of ordinary people across Britain. – Sky News What does the deal say about workers’ rights? – BBC News Macron and Varadkar put pressure on MPs to back Johnson’s deal with warnings about avoiding another extension European leaders are pressing British MPs to vote for Boris Johnson’s EU withdrawal deal by warning they want to avoid another Brexit extension — but they have pointedly declined to rule out a further delay. The reluctance to explicitly reject an extension suggests one would be granted, reflecting how highly the bloc prioritises avoiding blame for a damaging no-deal Brexit, diplomats said… French president Emmanuel Macron told reporters on Friday that he thought Britain’s October 31 date to exit the EU “should stand”. “I don’t think a new extension should be granted,” he said. “Now we should finish these negotiations, move on to negotiations about the future relationship and be able to finish with this.” Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s prime minister, warned that no British MP “should make the assumption that there would be unanimity for an extension”. – FT (£) David Cameron gives backing to Boris Johnson’s deal… David Cameron has revealed he would back Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal if he was still an MP. The former Prime Minster also said he thought the agreement, which has been approved by EU leaders, will get through Parliament. Mr Cameron claimed that Mr Johnson’s blueprint comes close to what was promised by the Tory party in its 2017 election manifesto. Speaking at a literature festival to promote his book For The Record, he said the Prime Minister’s agreement is better than no deal. “The country voted to leave the European Union, the best way to leave is with a deal, I think a no-deal Brexit would be bad for the economy and bad for the union,” Mr Cameron said. – Evening Standard …as does Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England… The governor of the Bank of England has told the BBC that the new Brexit deal struck by the government is “welcome” and a “net economic positive”. Mark Carney said the deal “takes away the tail risk of a disorderly Brexit”. However the governor warned that the deal might not boost the economy to the same extent as the deal put forward by Boris Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May. Mr Johnson’s deal is due to be voted on by MPs on Saturday. Mr Carney said that the “different” future relationship negotiated this week meant it “remains to be seen” if overall the deal would be as positive for the economy as the deal put forward by Mr Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May. – BBC News …but Boris Johnson’s new Brexit deal fails to impress in Essex The prospect of finally leaving the EU is in view and for the people of Thurrock, where 72 per cent of voters opted to leave, those words should be music to the ears. But as pictures of a gleeful Boris Johnson appeared on the television, there were few who shared his jubilation. Alan Jacobs, 77, a former Labour supporter, started voting for Ukip in 2005. He said that the latest deal “isn’t the clean sweep we wanted” and would still leave Britain with “mass immigration and foreigners using our benefits system”. “We’ve been left with this hotchpotch which is pretty much May’s deal with a bit of spin. I’m too old to worry now and frankly I don’t care any more — I just want to be out before I die.” – The Times (£) Treasury Committee demands new Brexit analysis before key vote The British parliament’s Treasury Committee demanded that the finance ministry produce fresh economic forecasts of the cost of leaving the European Union under Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new deal before politicians have to vote on Saturday. “It is unacceptable that the Committee has not received this information from HM Treasury. It appears to be an attempt to avoid scrutiny,” the committee’s acting chair, Catherine McKinnell, wrote in a letter to finance minister Sajid Javid. Javid told reporters in Washington on Thursday that he did not intend to update finance ministry forecasts on the cost of Brexit that were last produced in November 2018. – Reuters Court of Session dismisses spurious bid to stop ‘illegal’ Brexit deal Scotland’s highest civil court has dismissed a legal bid to stop the UK government from passing its proposed EU withdrawal agreement. Anti-Brexit campaigners had argued the deal contravened legislation preventing Northern Ireland from forming part of a separate customs territory. However, Lord Pentland ruled the application was “misconceived and unjustified”. Campaigner Jo Maugham QC said the case was now unlikely to proceed further. In his written opinion, the judge described the petition “of very doubtful competency” and concluded the petitioner had at best a “weak” case. – BBC News Brussels journalists applaud Jean-Claude Juncker The inner workings of the European Union can often seem like a chummy club to outside observers – a place where EU bureaucrats, well-enumerated MEPs and Brussels-based journalists work together and fraternise behind closed doors.That clubby atmosphere certainly seemed to be on display today at Jean-Claude Juncker’s final European Council press conference in Brussels, before he stands down as President of the European Commission. During the press conference, as Juncker gave a short speech to the assembled journalists in French, and spoke of his pride defending Europe, the Commission official began to choke up with emotion.- Steerpike for The Spectator Anti-Brexit campaigners plough giant message into an English field Anti-Brexit campaigners have ploughed a protest message in giant letters reading “Britain now wants to remain” into a field in rural southern England, as Britain’s exit from the European Union hangs on a knife edge. Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrambled on Friday to persuade doubters to rally behind his last-minute European Union divorce deal in an extraordinary vote in parliament due on Saturday. Crowdfunded campaign group Led By Donkeys released helicopter footage showing a tractor putting the finishing touches on 40-metre (130-foot) high letters ploughed into a field belonging to an anti-Brexit farmer in the county of Wiltshire in southwest England. – Reuters Martin Howe: Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal is a tolerable price to regain our freedom, but MPs could turn it into a disaster Boris Johnson’s deal unveiled yesterday is miles better than Theresa May’s ghastly capitulation but unfortunately the actual WA text itself, as negotiated and serially capitulated by Theresa May, will be untouched. The most important and damaging feature which remains is the long term subjection of the UK to rulings by the ECJ. At present, the ECJ is a multinational court in which we jointly participate. After we exit the EU, it will become an entirely foreign court. It will be an organ of the opposite treaty party with whom we may be in dispute, owing no loyalty at all to the UK. It is virtually unheard of in international relations for any sovereign independent state to submit the interpretation of its treaty obligations to the courts of the opposite treaty party. – Martin Howe QC for the Telegraph (£) Suella Braverman: It is now time for my fellow MPs to get Brexit done and redeem our Parliament This is not just about delivering Brexit. Tomorrow’s vote goes to the heart of our integrity as parliamentarians. To reject this deal is to reject democracy. To reject this deal will be a vote to again rob the British people of what they are legitimately owed; to renege on yet another promise; to once more fail the people who put us in Parliament. We cannot go on like this. It is now for MPs to vote for this deal, get Brexit done and redeem our Parliament. – Suella Braverman MP for the Telegraph (£) Priti Patel: Imagine what we can achieve in the next few years if we get Brexit done The Prime Minister has achieved what almost every commentator in the land and on the continent said was impossible. The Withdrawal Agreement was reopened. The Northern Ireland Protocol has been amended. The backstop is gone. All this achieved in the 85 days since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister. Just imagine what we could achieve in the next few years if we get Brexit done. This is a deal that delivers on the referendum result. It means we take back control of our laws, trade, borders and money. We can use these freedoms to make our country even greater… The three and a half years since the referendum have not been easy. The public are sick and tired of the procedural trickery, squabbling and disingenuity from a Parliament which voted overwhelmingly to trigger the Article 50 process but has also sought to delay and block Brexit. The public want Brexit done and so do I. – Priti Patel MP for the Telegraph (£) Patrick O’Flynn: It’s time for every Brexiteer to back Boris Johnson’s deal There is no doubt what is the best thing for Brexit now – and that is for every Brexiteer in the land to get behind Boris Johnson as he tries to push his new deal through Parliament and take us out on 31 October. It is truly remarkable that he has secured an agreement at all given that he was nobbled by the Benn “Surrender” Act, had other traditional prime ministerial prerogatives stripped away from him by a ruthless Remain establishment and faced the most intense and hostile media onslaught I can remember any leading figure suffering in my 25 or so years on the political scene. It is even more remarkable that the agreement he has reached honours in almost every respect the spirit and arguments of the 2016 Leave campaign. – Patrick O’Flynn for The Spectator 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. It suggests the future agreement is based on an EU Association Agreement, designed to get countries to converge with the EU prior to joining. This is not a good model. The ECJ remains supreme over issues of EU law in any dispute. The reworked Northern Ireland protocol raises the issue of how could Northern Ireland extricate from following EU rules and customs practices? This is an important question, as this draft Withdrawal Treaty does not have an Article 50 allowing unilateral exit . – John Redwood’s Diary Barnabas Reynolds: Back Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal to reclaim UK sovereignty The deal eliminates the dreadful capitulation of the previous regime and would now achieve a tolerable, managed, Brexit. Parliament should vote it through and reassert the UK’s right to govern itself. Under the deal, there will be a short transition period at the request of UK business, to cushion the UK’s departure. During that time the UK will comply with the EU’s trade and other rules – but, crucially, would do so under a new international law agreement as a sovereign country. Once approved by Parliament the UK will be free to enter into free trade agreements, make legislative changes effective from the end of 2000 and chart an optimistic future. – Barnabas Reynolds for the Telegraph (£) Aaron Brown: Why Boris Johnson’s deal could completely wipe out the British fishing industry Nothing in this deal has changed when it comes to fishing. The UK will still obey all EU law – including the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) – for a Transition Period. We will have no say, veto or recourse – membership minus. We will be bound under the terms of ‘good faith’ to enforce whatever laws Brussels decrees. In the PM’s words we will be a “vassal state”. The Transition will run until the start of 2021. The provisions to extend it thereafter until 2023 remain. During which time the UK is still obliged under Article 184 to ratify the Future Relationship terms set out in the Political Declaration. These are unrevised and still drive the UK towards CFP associate membership. The EU will be free to impose any detrimental legislation on any British Industry and what’s left of Britain’s fishing industry won’t survive the Transition period. – Aaron Brown for the Telegraph (£) Brexit in Brief Why Conservative MPs should give Johnson the benefit of the doubt and support him – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome Amidst the elation, Tories must consider the damage this deal does to the Union – David Scullion for the Telegraph (£) The DUP is caught on the horns of a Brexit dilemma – Robert Peston for The Spectator Come on Arlene – The Spectator editorial Brexit shows good old fashioned negotiation is still in style – Simon Targett for Reaction Boris’s new deal: what’s in it and how is it different to Theresa May’s version? – Simon Usherwood for Reaction Can Boris do it? – Cindy Yu for The Spectator The differences between the May and Johnson deals explained – Stephen Booth for ConservativeHome The threat to Britain isn’t Brexit – it’s Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party – Sir Mick Davis for the Telegraph (£) Why an EU trade deal may not deliver for post-Brexit Britain – Jakob Hanke for Politico Can MPs be sure EU leaders will save them from a no-deal Brexit if they reject Boris Johnson’s deal? – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Having a pro-Leave PM has changed the outlook of Brexit from fear to hope – Charles Moore for the Telegraph (£) Boris’s deal – triumph or travesty? – Will Jones for ConservativeWoman Who dares wins. He did not dare – Kathy Gyngell for ConservativeWoman 90 per cent of Tory members want MPs to vote for the new Brexit deal – ConservativeHome Fabian Picardo re-elected chief minister of Gibraltar – Politico European papers react to new Brexit deal – Politico