Boris Johnson: We won’t pay Brexit divorce bill before ‘substantive’ negotiations Britain will not pay a Brexit divorce bill before “substantive” negotiations with the European Union begin, Boris Johnson has said. The Foreign Secretary appeared to put himself at loggerheads with the EU, given Brussels’ insistence that the UK must “settle the accounts” and at least agree an exit bill of around £50 billion before talks on a new trading relationship can begin. Mr Johnson was not clear whether he opposed agreeing a divorce settlement or paying it before trade negotiations, but struck a defiant tone, telling Radio 4’s Today programme: “If you’re saying that they want the money before they get any substantive talks then that is obviously not going to happen.” – Daily Express Merkel: No talks on EU-UK relations before all divorce issues settled The U.K. “cannot and will not have the same rights” as an EU member after it leaves the bloc, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told German parliament Thursday. Setting out her list of priorities in the upcoming Brexit negotiations, Merkel ruled out talks on a future relationship until all Brexit-related issues are settled. The negotiations would “demand a lot” from the U.K. and the EU, she added. Merkel said that the U.K. should have “no illusions” about its standing after it leaves the bloc, but promised to be “fair and constructive” during the negotiations. The chancellor expected the negotiations to get started properly only after the June 8 U.K. election. Merkel and EU27 leaders are expected to meet in Brussels on Saturday to discuss the negotiating process. – Politico Have no illusions that Brexit will be cheap, Merkel threatens Britain – The Times (£) Merkel’s Brexit stance shows need for Tory poll win – May – BBC Theresa May accuses remaining 27 EU members of ‘lining up to oppose’ Britain over Brexit – Independent EU trade commissioner says bloc will do post-Brexit free trade deal with UK ‘for sure’ The European Union will strike a free trade deal with the United Kingdom after Brexit “for sure”, the bloc’s trade commissioner has said in a major boost for Theresa May. Mrs May has previously said she would be willing to walk away from Brexit negotiations without securing a deal if Brussels sought to punish the UK by imposing unfair trade tariffs. But Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU Commissioner for Trade, has now said the bloc will reach a free trade agreement with the UK after its divorce from Brussels.The statement represents a major victory for Mrs May who has said that the offer of an unfavourable trade deal with the EU would prompt her to quit talks. She has insisted that “no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal”. – The Daily Telegraph May facing grassroots rebellion as Tories draw up ‘remoaner shortlist’ for constituencies Theresa May is facing a grassroots rebellion in vacant safe constituencies after the party leadership has stopped them selecting prominent Brexit supporters. The Daily Express has learnt that members of the Hornchurch and Upminster association have threatened to quit over what was branded as “a Remoaner shortlist” of three offered for a seat which voted more than 60 per cent Leave. With Tory MP Dame Angela Watkinson retiring from the safe Tory seat in Essex, the constituency party had wanted Brexit veteran David Campbell Bannerman, who played a crucial role in the Leave campaign. But instead they were offered a government special advisor Simon Jones, London Assembly member Shaun Bailey and a Tower Hamlets councillor Julia Dockerill who won the selection on Wednesday night. – Daily Express UK drawing up post-Brexit sanctions plan The UK is urgently drawing up new laws that will enable it to continue imposing sanctions on foreign countries after Brexit, the BBC has learned. Ministers began consulting on the plans last week after officials realised most of the powers to apply sanctions will disappear when the UK leaves the EU. The government hopes the move will allow it to continue to adopt sanctions alongside other members of the bloc. EU law is mostly used now for a travel ban, asset freeze or trade embargo. This UK’s move matters because some countries – including Germany – fear that Brexit will change the balance of debate within the EU and encourage nations such as Italy and Spain to argue that sanctions on Russia should be relaxed. – BBC David Davis plays down warnings that the world’s biggest drugs firms could abandon Britain The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) is demanding an extra £20 billion a year for the NHS in order to prevent an exodus of firms. It has laid out election campaign requests suggesting health spending increases from 9.9% to 11% of GDP, with new president Lisa Anson also warning a funding squeeze could put the future of the £30 billion life sciences sector in jeopardy. But Cabinet minister Mr Davis said the ABPI was attempting to “pressure” Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt over his spending plans. He said decisions would be taken “in the national interest” rather than to help a specific industry. – News and Star Brussels wants Britain to pay for botched rental deal Brussels will demand a £290 million bill from Britain over a botched Canary Wharf rental contract for an EU medicine agency. British taxpayers will be asked to pay the costs of EU bodies such as the European Medicines Agency that have to relocate to the Continent after Britain leaves in 2019. The bill will include 20 years of rent payments for the agency even after it has left Britain because EU officials who signed the London rental contract failed to have a break clause inserted in the agreement. – The Times (£) Austria demands smaller post-Brexit EU and will refuse to pump in more cash Austria insisted yesterday that it will not pay a penny more into the Brussels budget after Brexit and demanded that eurocrats reverse yearly spending increases and create a “slimmer” EU. Foreign minister Sebastian Kurz said ensuring that the bloc downsizes after Britain leaves is one of Vienna’s top priorities, putting it squarely at odds with the Brussels machine. He also revealed that EU ministers have discussed a final figure for the exit bill which will be presented to Britain, but refused to divulge the amount saying he did not want to “add fuel to the fire”. Mr Kurz made the remarks as he arrived for a special meeting of European heavyweights to discuss the bloc’s agreed negotiating position for the upcoming divorce talks. His remarks about the future EU budget echo similar previous demands from Vienna, and point to an almighty power struggle brewing on the continent over the future of the bloc. – Daily Express EU members stress they are united heading into Brexit talks The 27 European Union nations are heading into two years of divorce negotiations with Britain as a solid bloc, saying Thursday there is a large consensus on the tough guidelines for their Brexit negotiators which are to be approved at a weekend summit. Often divided on key issues from refugees to the financial crisis, the EU nations said no major questions were left for the leaders during Saturday’s summit as the negotiations with Britain draw closer. The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said that “we are united” as he left the meeting of EU foreign and Europe ministers in Luxembourg. – Daily Mail Act now to end EU influence on human rights, May urged A senior Conservative has warned the prime minister that unless she pulls out of the European Court of Human Rights she will still face problems on issues such as deporting terrorists. Lord Faulks, who was justice minister until last year, says that the election provides Theresa May with what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go for the “full fat” option and end Strasbourg’s oversight of human rights in the UK. Writing in The Times today, he says that withdrawal had been Mrs May’s original policy and it was in the Conservative Party manifesto in 2015.The aim had been to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights, he says. However the proposals did not see the light of day because of the EU referendum. Lord Faulks, who was joint author of the government’s original plans for a bill of rights, says that if the prime minister does not seize the opportunity to bring human rights back to UK courts and parliament, she will face challenges in the future. – The TImes (£) May must seize chance to repeal Human Rights Act – Edward Faulks for The Times (£) Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel joins Liberal Democrats in a bid to block Brexit Ms Johnson reportedly hoped to stand as a party candidate in the June 8 election but could not do so because of a rule requiring candidates to have been members for at least a year. Her move reflects deep differences within the Johnson family over the UK leaving the European Union. The current Foreign Secretary was perhaps the most prominent campaigner for EU withdrawal in the 2016 referendum, while his father Stanley – a former MEP – sister Rachel and MP brother Jo all backed Remain. – Evening Standard Don’t allow UK to leave, demands former Irish Taoiseach John Bruton John Bruton has urged Ireland to do everything it can to make sure there is no Brexit.Theresa May’s plan for leaving the EU would do incalculable damage to Ireland “politically, emotionally and economically”, according to the former taoiseach and EU ambassador to the US.“We cannot simply wait for this to happen,” he said yesterday.“While seeking to mitigate the effects of Mrs May’s chosen hard Brexit, we must also do everything we can to ensure that, at the end of the day, there is no Brexit.” Mr Bruton accused Boris Johnson, the British foreign secretary, of having “criminally misled” the UK over the consequences of leaving the EU, before tempering his remarks. – The Times (£) Macron vows to renegotiate Calais treaty with Britain Emmanuel Macron pledged to renegotiate the Franco-British treaty that retains migrants in Calais if he becomes head of state. In a television interview last night the independent centrist said he would open discussions on the 2005 Touquet treaty that effectively places the British border in the northern French port. Under the treaty immigration officers from Britain and France can carry out controls in each other’s country. Officials in Calais say the agreement is responsible for the build-up in the town of migrants wanting to reach Britain. – The Times (£) European Union may create new class of ‘supranational’ MEPs after Brexit Europe should create a new class of supranational MEPs after Brexit in order to demonstrate that the European project is “alive and kicking”, a high-level EU ministers meeting was told on Thursday. Under the new plan, the 73 British seats in the European Parliament that will fall vacant after Brexit will be transformed into new seats representing a “a single European constituency”, according to a document submitted to EU’s General Affairs Council in Strasbourg. The proposal over how to re-allocate the seats, which was tabled by the Italian foreign minister and has been seen by The Daily Telegraph, would enable all the “the European political families to contend them on a trans-national basis”. – The Daily Telegraph Brexit must protect science or risk £800m research cash, ministers told Britain’s biggest research foundation says that politicians must deliver a Brexit that gives them the “confidence” to continue investing nearly £800 million a year in science. The Wellcome Trust has written to party leaders setting out the conditions necessary to “sustain” scientific excellence. In particular it tells ministers not to impose immigration restrictions on scientists, saying that any attempt to “pick winners” or prioritise the brightest will undermine the UK’s standing. It also says that Britain must continue to channel money into cross-border EU research projects.- The TImes (£) Expats, exports, security: What’s worrying the rest of the EU about Brexit? Chancellor Angela Merkel is keen to emphasise that Brexit negotiations are between Britain and the EU but Germany’s position will assume a significance above and beyond most – perhaps all – of the other member states…France is in the middle of presidential elections, and will have a new head of state in early May.The two candidates have very different views of the European Union – and of Brexit. If Marine Le Pen of the Front National is elected, all bets are off… Poles make up the largest non-British nationality living in the UK, so the first priority for the Polish government is to secure the rights of those 850,000 Polish citizens… So often the rock of contention, Gibraltar looms large over the impending Brexit negotiations. Spain lobbied hard to ensure that the British overseas territory was specifically mentioned in the European Council’s draft guidance document… Expats, exports, security – these will be Italy’s three immediate Brexit negotiation priorities. – BBC Correspondents Daily Express: Mrs May must woo Labour voters to help Brexit deal The EU referendum was won in part because of the enormous number of Labour supporters who defied their party’s wishes and voted Leave. Now Theresa May is hoping that they will abandon Jeremy Corbyn and instead lend her their vote. A strong mandate, bolstered by voters switching from Labour to the Tories, will certainly make her life easier when the Brexit negotiations begin in earnest. If Mrs May can show the other European leaders that she has the overwhelming backing of the British people, then they will have no choice but to take her demands seriously. At present some EU representatives still hope to keep us in the EU. They think if they bully Mrs May and offer a terrible deal, then with the help of Remoaners in this country the referendum could be reversed. – Daily Express Editorial > Fawzi Ibrahim on BrexitCentral Today: Labour can turn the election around if Corbyn embraces Brexit Andrew Smith: Advocates of ‘soft Brexit’ should just admit they don’t want Brexit at all The Prime Minister’s decision to call a snap general election has led to speculation about what impact a renewed mandate might have on the Brexit negotiations. While the Liberal Democrats and the SNP claim that the motivation of the early election is to give the Prime Minister the mandate to deliver a ‘hard’ Brexit, many pro-EU voices – and seemingly EU officials – believe that a new mandate will allow May to ignore the views of Conservative Brexiteers and deliver a more nuanced deal with Brussels. The reality is that the election is unlikely to shift the Government’s approach to Brexit. Many thought that the constant repetition of ‘Brexit means Brexit’ in the early stages of May’s leadership masked a lack of a clear strategy on how to implement the referendum result, but in fact the phrase neatly summed up the inevitability of the steps that the Government has subsequently taken. – Andrew Smith for ConservativeHome Asa Bennett: David Cameron, that EU renegotiation sage, has little to offer Theresa May in her Brexit talks Within days of declaring “Brits don’t quit”, David Cameron did exactly that as Prime Minister. He followed it up weeks later by quitting as an MP in order to avoid being – as he put it – a “distraction” to his successor.His promise to leave Theresa May in peace lasted a bit longer than his aversion to quitting. But now he has taken a moment’s rest from the speech-making circuit to weigh in with some thoughts on how she should start her Brexit negotiations off: by agreeing to pay Brussels the money it wants. “It’s a bit like a divorce, you have to deal with the money and then access to the children afterwards,” the former Prime Minister opined, adding that Britain should “accept some liabilities”. His remarks will delight European leaders like Angela Merkel, who insisted in the Bundestag on Thursday morning that negotiators could not talk about Britain’s future trading relationship with the European Union until it had agreed to pay an exit bill. Asa Bennett for The Daily Telegraph Andrew Tettenborn: Brexit liberates us from this human rights nonsense Rather like a callow 18-year-old earnestly telling us over coffee and a spliff what we need to do in order to set the world to rights, this well-meaning organisation just loves running round at the cost of EU taxpayers telling governments how they could be nice at their own taxpayers’ expense (last month, for example, it told us that we really needed not only to welcome refugees but be particularly sensitive to the need to avoid offence in case some of them were LGBTI). An opinion from it a couple of weeks ago, commissioned by the EU Council of Ministers and called “Improving access to remedy in the area of business and human rights at the EU level”, shows in some detail what we, the European public, are getting in exchange for our money. Like Harriet Harman (see here), the agency comes across as an outfit that is a bit ambivalent about business, but sure loves human rights. – Andrew Tettenborn for ConservativeWoman Leo Mckinstry: Theresa May was once the fiercest critic of the Human Rights Act. What changed? Theresa May’s abandonment of traditional Conservatism is gathering pace. As the campaign continues, the catalogue of reversals lengthens. In recent days, the Tories have signalled their commitment to maintain the foreign aid budget at 0.7 per cent of national income, while they have also hinted at the willingness to consider tax hikes.Now comes the biggest retreat so far. As this paper reports today, Theresa May’s Government plans to keep the United Kingdom in the widely unpopular European Human Rights regime, despite previous pledges to create a British Bill of Rights. This climbdown is an extraordinary move that will dismay not only many of May’s own supporters but also potential switchers from Ukip. For the Human Rights Act, introduced with a flourish by Tony Blair in 1998, has rightly become a symbol of foreign interference, the loss of judicial sovereignty, and politically correct activism by the courts. It has been a bonanza for progressive lawyers and a charter for criminals. – Leo Mckinstry for The Daily Telegraph Juliet Samuel: Brexit might have its challenges, but trade policy is one of its opportunities Brexit has made the UK talk about trade again. After 40 years of outsourcing trade policy to the European Union, we are suddenly asking ourselves anew what principles should govern our economic relations with the world. And so far, the answer hasn’t gone much further than the overused phrase that Britain ought to be “a leader in free trade”.This sounds like an empty platitude, but it needn’t be. With the world’s economic giants sabre-rattling about trade, there’s a growing need for assertive leadership on trade policy. And because the outcome of any dispute intimately affects the UK, it’s a matter of national interest that we claim a leading role in the debate. – Juliet Samuel for The Daily Telegraph Michael Auslin: Britain and Japan have a unique chance to reshape the world – they should seize it When Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, sits down with Theresa May on Friday, he has the opportunity to form the most significant Anglo-Japanese partnership since the alliance of the early 20th century. Mr Abe not only sees great affinity between his island nation and the United Kingdom, in particular as democratic standard bearers in their respective regions, but he knows that he and Mrs May are perhaps the two closest allies of President Trump. If the two premiers are bold, they may even be able to forge a trilateral tie with Washington that reshapes global trade and politics. – Michael Auslin for The Daily Telegraph Brexit comment in brief Don’t let Brexit stop UK aerospace taking off – Tom Williams for the Evening Standard May is right to be cautious of big promises on the Human Rights Act – Henry Hill for ConservativeHome Foreign investors back Brexit Britain – Szu Ping Chan for The Daily Telegraph Be bold Labour: promise to abandon this ruinous Brexit – Jonathan Steele for The Guardian Brexit news in brief European leaders plot to Unite Ireland with a referendum and welcome the country into the EU – Daily Mail Heathrow arrivals sees leap in numbers thanks to Brexit take-off – Evening Standard Irish tourism boom falters as British stay away after Brexit – Daily Mail Tories marshal their forces in pro-Brexit Labour heartlands – The Times (£) ‘I don’t want to be interrogated’ Awkward moment Brexit negotiator dodges questions – Daily Express Peter Mandelson: ‘Look before you leap’ has to be best approach to Brexit – Evening Standard Nick Clegg’s wife attacks David Cameron over Brexit – Daily Mail Ukip MEPs stand to lose £55,000 a year from switch to Westminster – Financial Times Theresa shares joke as glum Juncker and Barnier leave Brexit talks – Daily Express Pret A Manger seeks more British baristas to balance Brexit risk – Daily Mail Spain offers to host EU medicines agency after Brexit – Daily Mail Boris Johnson stands by £350m extra NHS funding after Brexit campaign claim – Independent Deutsche Bank executive says some 4,000 UK jobs could move – Daily Mail