Theresa May and Donald Tusk ‘seek to lower Brexit tensions’ Theresa May has met European Council President Donald Tusk ahead of the start of Brexit talks and stressed the “positive” tone shown by both sides. After this week’s row about Gibraltar, an EU source said they would “seek to lower tensions that may arise”. Downing St said the PM “made clear” that “there would be no negotiation on the sovereignty of Gibraltar without the consent of its people”. Mrs May formally triggered two years of Brexit talks last week. A Downing Street spokesman said: “The PM reiterated the UK’s desire to ensure a deep and special partnership with the European Union following its exit and noted the constructive approach set out by the council in its draft guidelines published last week. “Both leaders agreed that the tone of discussions had been positive on both sides, and agreed that they would seek to remain in close touch as the negotiations progressed. – BBC News UK won’t negotiate away Gibraltar sovereignty, May tells Tusk – The Guardian The real significance of Theresa May’s meeting with Donald Tusk – James Forsyth for The Spectator UK ‘must be ready to vote against EU measures’ Ministers must continue to scrutinise – and be prepared to vote against – new EU measures while it remains a member of the EU, a committee of MPs has said. EU proposals should be considered by the UK both as an EU member state, and in terms of their Brexit implications, the European Scrutiny Committee said. Policies would affect the UK up to, and in some cases after, Brexit, it said. The government has said it “will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation” until Brexit. Prime Minister Theresa May formally began the Brexit process last week when she triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, meaning that, unless the UK and the 27 remaining EU member states agree to extend the deadline for talks, the UK will leave on 29 March 2019. – BBC News Remain camp makes hitlist of pro‑Brexit Tory MPs Pro-Brexit Conservative MPs who represent areas that voted to stay in the EU are to be targeted in an aggressive “Remain decapitation strategy”. A hitlist of Tories who defied their constituencies to support Brexit, including Theresa Villiers, the former cabinet minister, and Dominic Raab, a former justice minister, has been drawn up. Under plans being discussed between opposition parties, candidates for Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens would informally agree which party would “have a run” at Tory Brexiteers. “There are Leave MPs in heavily Remain areas who are sitting ducks and need taking to task by pro-Europeans,” a Remain campaigner said. “It will be done on a seat-by-seat basis depending on whether the Lib Dems or Labour have the best run at it. – The Times (£) Cabinet Eurosceptics back May’s softer approach to Brexit Theresa May has won the backing of key Eurosceptic cabinet colleagues for a softer approach to Brexit negotiations after a week in which she has edged closer to a compromise aimed at unlocking “a deep and special partnership deal”. Boris Johnson, foreign secretary, and Liam Fox, international trade secretary, have signalled their backing for Britain to make concessions to Brussels over a transitional arrangement that would bridge the gap between Brexit and a new trade deal. With signs of solid backing at home from Conservative MPs, the prime minister continued her diplomatic push during almost two hours of “good and friendly” talks with Donald Tusk, European Council president. Mrs May and Mr Tusk agreed to work together “to lower tensions that may arise” during 18 months of Brexit talks — with EU officials admitting that “issues like Gibraltar will inevitably become difficult”. – FT (£) …as Boris Johnson says UK could allow EU freedom of movement after Brexit Britain could allow free movement of people from the European Union during an implementation phase after Brexit to allow the economy to attract talented people, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Thursday. When asked by Reuters TV if Britain would accept full free movement of people during an implementation phase, Johnson said this was possible, and could be agreed before Britain left the EU in two years’ time. “Ideally I think it could be done, what with goodwill and imagination it could be done as fast as – I think it can be done in two years,” Johnson told reporters in Athens. “In the last 10 years I have been one of the few British politicians to speak up on the benefits of immigration,” he said. – Reuters Sir Michael Caine: Brexit ‘was about freedom’ Sir Michael Caine has said he is confident Britain’s exit from the EU “will be alright” and that British people have voted for “freedom”. The film star told Sky News: “I think it will be alright. “I voted for Brexit … what it is with me, I’d rather be a poor master than a rich servant.” “It wasn’t about the racism, immigrants or anything, it was about freedom.” The acting legend spoke about Brexit while promoting his new film, Going In Style. “Politics is always chaotic. “In politics you’re always going into areas you’ve never been before, so you’re going to get lost and then you’re going to find your way, and then it’ll be alright.” – Sky News > Sir Michael Caine on Brexit – “I’d rather be a poor master than a rich servant” – BrexitCentral’s YouTube Let’s minimise the damage of Brexit, Eurogroup chief says Britain and the remaining 27 members of the European Union should stay away from the cliff edge of Britain falling back on World Trade Organization terms at the end of Brexit negotiations, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said. “Let’s try to minimise the damage,” he said of Brexit, speaking at a banking conference in Berlin on Thursday. Dijsselbloem, who said he would discuss Greece with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble while in Berlin, said the more he thought about Brexit, the more worried he became. He singled out financial stability as one area of particular risk. Asked about “passporting” rights for Britain-based institutions to sell financial services in the EU single market after Brexit, Dijsselbloem replied: “I think, also talking to financial players from the City, that passporting won’t be the answer. There will be different regimes for different sub-sectors of the financial sector.” “Equivalence will be part of the solution,” he added of a system whereby Brussels grants access to non-EU firms that comply with rules similar to those in the bloc. – Reuters German Mittelstand wants ‘soft Brexit’ – BBC News With Brexit, location of derivatives clearing is key issue – EU’s Dombrovskis The European Commission will reflect carefully on the location of euro-denominated derivatives clearing, a business mostly done in London now and that will be outside the EU when Britain leaves the bloc, the EU executive’s vice president said on Thursday. Speaking to an audience of finance experts in Malta, Valdis Dombrovskis said a key issue that the Commission will have to analyse is how to deal with a market that is of great importance for EU’s financial stability but will be mostly outside the EU after Brexit. “This will surely be a matter of important reflection in the coming months and years,” Dombrovskis said, noting that the EU regulatory framework for derivatives clearing was working well and was there to stay. – Reuters If Brussels and London start a euro clearing war, New York would be the only beneficiary – Gaurav Sharma for IBTimes British investors bullish on Brexit portfolios as they cast net wider for returns British individual investors are bullish on the prospects for their portfolios over the next two years as the UK picks its way through the process of leaving the EU. Only nine per cent of Brits with more than £10,000 in liquid investable assets thought Brexit would negatively impact their investment plans over the next two years, according to a survey of more than 1,000 investors by Market Financial Solutions (MFS). – City A.M. Quinn Industrial Holdings ‘positive despite Brexit’ Major cross-Irish-border company Quinn Industrial Holdings has said it is positive about trade “despite Brexit”. The construction supply and packaging firm has posted increased pre-tax profits of 6.8 million euros (£5.8m) for 2016. The company, comprising of operations once run by Fermanagh businessman Sean Quinn, employs more than 770 people. Its headquarters is in Derrylin in Fermanagh, but has operations in the Republic of Ireland and England. – BBC News Ireland asks Merkel for post-Brexit help – PoliticsHome David Mundell: Brexit will ‘strengthen’ devolution settlement Scottish Secretary David Mundell has said Brexit will “strengthen” the devolution settlement in Scotland. He said no decisions under the control of the Scottish Parliament will be removed when powers are returned from Brussels. Mr Mundell’s comments were part of his Fullerton lecture at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore on Thursday during a visit to south-east Asia. He said: “It is a real source of pride to me that today, after successive pieces of legislation, the Scottish Parliament is one of the most powerful devolved parliaments anywhere in the world. – The Scotsman House prices to rise 4.4% despite Brexit negotiations: Cebr UK house prices will continue to rise in 2017, despite uncertainty surrounding Brexit negotiations, according to the Centre for Economics & Business Research. The Centre says a mix of factors is currently at play in the UK housing market, including the rise in stamp duty on second homes and the changes in buy-to-let mortgage tax relief, which have “taken steam out of the market”. Cebr predicts that the average house price will rise to £220,000 in 2017 though at a lower growth rate of 4.4%. – Financial Reporter Cadbury comes home as Dairy Milk production set to return to UK Cadbury is reportedly returning the production of all its Dairy Milk bars to the UK again after it moved some manufacturing to Poland. The company’s US owner Mondelez came under fire last year after it was accused of breaking a promise to keep making the chocolate bars in its Bournville factory. But following a £75 million investment in its historic West Midlands plant, Mondelez has promised to return all Dairy Milk chocolate production to the UK, the Daily Mail reported. The money will be spent on new machinery to increase production while reducing the size of its workforce. – Daily Telegraph Strong Brexit deal is ‘on the cards’ and of ‘great need’ to the EU, insists trade expert Shanker Singham, Director of Economic Policy and Prosperity Studies at the Legatum Institute, said a deal that “creates wealth” was of “great need” to the EU. Speaking to BrexitCentral, Mr Singham added the negotiations should not be thought of as a “boxing match” and both sides were set to benefit. He said: “A tremendous amount of work has gone up to this point, to get us to that level and an ambitious deep and special, as Theresa May says, agreement with the European Union is absolutely on the cards. – Daily Express > Podcast: Going Global: How to forge a truly Global Britain – BrexitCentral Gerard Lyons: Brexit can be a real opportunity, so let’s seize it in the right way For Brexit to be a success it needs to be judged alongside the Government’s domestic economic and social agenda to deliver benefits for the whole country. This points to a business-friendly strategy as outlined in the Article 50 letter; recognising the huge opportunity afforded the UK by returning “competencies” from Brussels; and not losing sight of the longer-term vision as Brexit is positive for the UK. The good news is the strategy being taken. – Gerard Lyons in the Evening Standard Sir Bill Cash: Keeping an eye on the EU The United Kingdom is preparing to leave the EU. Nonetheless, the rights and obligations of EU membership properly continue to apply until the day we leave. That includes involvement in negotiating new EU legislation and dealing with legislation already in the pipeline. The European scrutiny committee has scrutinised the substance and implications of this EU legislation as well as the way in which the government negotiates and votes in Brussels since 1972. This cross-party committee, composed of Leavers and Remainers, flags up issues of importance in our weekly reports and recommendations for debate, and our assessment of such matters is usually unanimous. Today we have published a new report on how we will carry out this task until the UK has formally left the EU. – Sir Bill Cash for The Times (£) Iain Duncan Smith: Free trade has stalled across the globe: Brexit Britain will reignite it The future opportunities for Britain as a truly global nation are significant. Outside of Europe, we are no longer tied to the trade policy of a bloc whose global share of trade is shrinking. It is shrinking because it is introspective, over-regulated, protectionist, and uncompetitive. It is anything but a free market. The UK’s natural bedfellows, the Anglosphere nations and the Commonwealth have not seen their combined trade share shrink, which is why with them the potential for free, open, and competitive markets make them our natural allies. The challenge is that world economy has largely stalled since 2006, and we lack a clear driving force to get it going again. It is clear to me that free trade could be this force, but no world trade round has been conducted for 22 years. – Iain Duncan Smith for the Daily Telegraph Harbir Singh: It’s the EU, not the UK, that’s at peril The best outcome for Britain depends on Churchillian resolve and courage. Moreover, Britain is certain to leverage its strengths to the hilt and ruthlessly exploit the weaknesses and fractures within the EU. It’s called statecraft and the British have been deeply, deviously skilled at it for centuries. The EU mandarins should be worried. If they make Brexit hard, the EU will not escape unscathed. Britain will almost certainly succeed in setting EU states against each other, disrupting the EU’s ability to be united in opposition to Britain. In an extreme scenario, it could very well trigger the departure of other states, and leave the EU in ruin. – Harbir Singh in the New Delhi Times Gina Miller: Theresa May is acting like a power-crazed monarch – and I’d go back to court to stop her In the lead up to the EU referendum vote last June, and in the months that have followed, it has been stimulating to witness so many people talking about politics, especially British parliamentary sovereignty. This sovereignty has evolved over centuries, but we have a government whose agenda appears to be turning the clock back to the time of Henry VIII. In 1539, that old despot persuaded a spineless Parliament to pass the Statute of Proclamations giving his decisions the same force as acts of the legislature. His fondness for divorces resulted in a shameless and disgraceful constitutional fettering of Parliament. In trying to lead the UK’s divorce from the EU, Theresa May appears to be channelling a monarch who was willing to do anything to get himself out of the tight spot he had put himself into. – Gina Miller for the New Statesman Jeremy Warner: Global Britain or isolationist island? Brexit has set us up for a monumental clash of ideas There have always been two types of globalisation – one driven by integrationist intent and the other by the holy grail of free trade. The first is best represented by the European Union, essentially a form of top-down suppression of national sovereignty in pursuit of the supposed nirvana of a world without borders. Unsurprisingly, it turns out that nobody much likes this kind of globalisation, with the exception, that is, of the international elites that preside over it. In this sense, the votes for Brexit and Trump have much in common. Both represent a rejection of an imagined utopia of economic integration, policed by global government. The idea is well intentioned, even admirable in some respects, but many Westerners have come to believe they are being made to pay far too high a price for its supposed benefits. – Jeremy Warner for the Daily Telegraph The Sun: The European Parliament will learn that Britain doesn’t like to be pushed around after their Brexit ‘red lines’ Nothing symbolises the greed and waste at the core of the EU like the lamentable European Parliament. This overpaid gaggle of third-rate politicians — strangers to voters in the countries they’re supposed to represent — is responsible for most of Brussels’ excessive spending and overreach. So it’s little surprise that MEPs, fearing for their precious political project, yesterday approved a series of Brexit “red lines” that would force the UK to pay billions on leaving while keeping us bound by the most intrusive EU regulations. Just as it did with David Cameron’s renegotiation — when Brussels offered diddly-squat and the UK responded by voting to leave — the EU will learn again that Britain doesn’t take kindly to being pushed around. – The Sun says Vicky Ford MEP: Britain needs to be positive, not belligerent, to get the Brexit it wants When negotiating in a tricky separation one needs to keep calm, but when Nigel Farage spoke in the European Parliament in Strasbourg this week it was as if a herd of bulls had been driven straight through the china shop. He is certainly not being a friend to the UK negotiators. The morning had been set aside for an exchange on Brexit negotiations and over 60 MEPs from all across Europe were scheduled to take part. Speaking time is strictly limited and many more of us would have liked to have given our view. The debate started off with serious issues. Colleagues raised questions on citizens rights for both UK and EU citizens, and on Northern Ireland and its land border with Ireland. They asked about future cooperation with Europol on security matters, and the scientific collaboration between great British universities and their counterparts across Europe. These are all important for both the UK and the EU. – Vicky Ford MEP for the Daily Telegraph James Frayne: Repeat after me: There is no serious opposition to Theresa May’s Brexit strategy The Prime Minister will not give a running commentary on her Brexit strategy or the status of ongoing talks. She will not move on this: she shows zero interest in feeding the media beast, nor in the sort of roundtables with policy-makers and businesses commonly used by David Cameron. So how can businesses anticipate what Brexit might look like and how can they exert their own influence? Ordinarily, businesses would think about the pressure points on the Prime Minister. They might ask where political, media, public and other organised opposition might come from and put themselves in Theresa May’s shoes. They would think about May’s best strategy and the areas that might cause her problems. And businesses might seek to influence opposition groups with a view to securing a better outcome. – James Frayne for City A.M. Brexit comment in brief Gibraltar once rejected a deal on its status. It will have to think again – Peter Hain for The Guardian Nicky Morgan in Brexit fake news shocker – Tim Worstall for the Adam Smith Institute Regulatory reform must be mirrored across the pond – Mark Boleat for the Daily Telegraph (£) Theresa May must commit to the ECHR – James Dobson for The Huffington Post Britain needs a free market in taxes – CapX Brexit news in brief What Brexit means for the City – Daily Telegraph Bournville’s sweet after £75m boost – The Times (£) Strong Brexit deal is ‘on the cards’ and of ‘great need’ to the EU, insists trade expert – Daily Express ‘We are with the UK’ Danish MEP vows to vote against bullish EU over Brexit – YouTube Do these post-Brexit passports win your stamp of approval? Burgundy red is scrapped as designers reimagine the traditional travel document – Daily Mail