Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson confident he is closing in on a Brexit deal as he heads to key meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker… Boris Johnson has said he “passionately” believes he can clinch a new Brexit deal with Brussels as he gave the clearest indication yet that an agreement is close. As he heads to Luxembourg for his first face to face meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Monday, the Prime Minister says he is working “flat out” to avoid a no deal exit. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson says he wants to “get this thing done” so that Britain can emerge from Brexit “on a brighter, more cheerful, more confident and global path”. Mr Johnson has become markedly more optimistic of reaching an agreement since Parliament was suspended last week, and on Sunday said he was “very confident” of agreeing a deal, with “real signs of movement” over the Northern Irish backstop and “a huge amount of progress” in talks with Brussels. – Telegraph (£) Buoyant Boris Johnson working ‘flat out’ to clinch Brexit deal and says he’s determined to ‘get this thing done’ as he heads for showdown with Juncker – The Sun …at which Johnson will tell the Commission President that the UK will reject any offer of a further Brexit delay The UK is not prepared to postpone Brexit beyond the current 31 October deadline, Boris Johnson is to tell European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at talks on Monday. The lunchtime meeting in Luxembourg will be the first time the pair have met since the PM took office in July. A Downing Street source says Mr Johnson will stress he wants to secure a deal by 18 October, after a key EU summit. But if not possible he will “reject any delay offered” and leave with no deal. The source said Mr Johnson “would make clear that he would not countenance any more delays”. They added: “Any further extension would be a huge mistake. It is not just a question of the extra dither and delay – it is also the additional long months of rancour and division, and all at huge expense.” – BBC News Brexit Secretary says ‘landing zone for a deal is in sight’ but warns of ‘significant’ work to do… Stephen Barclay has said a landing zone for a future deal is in sight but cautioned there was still significant work to do. The Brexit Secretary said “extensive talks” had taken place at both a technical and political level and that “a huge amount has been happening behind the scenes”. Speaking ahead of Boris Johnson’s first meeting with Jean-Claude Junker in Luxembourg tomorrow, Mr Barclay said: “We can see a landing zone in terms of a future deal but there is significant work still to do. So the talks tomorrow will be an important step forward as part of that.” The Prime Minister said recently that he was “cautiously optimistic” about Monday’s meeting regarding the withdrawal agreement and that the “rough shape” of an agreement was emerging. Mr Barclay, who will also meet with Michel Barnier, the European Union’s chief negotiator, tomorrow, told Sophy Ridge on Sunday that “technical discussions” led by David Frost, Mr Johnson’s EU adviser, had taken place and that the UK had been “very clear we want a best in class free trade agreement”. Mr Barclay added that tomorrow’s talks would be an “important step forward” as part of discussions on the landing zone. When pressed on the intricacies of the zone Mr Barclay reiterated that the backstop would need to go from the Withdrawal Agreement as he said “EU leaders themselves have said they are open to being creative and flexible in terms of future arrangement”. – Telegraph (£) > WATCH: Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay’s Interview on Sophy Ridge on Sunday …while hinting that Britain could remain tied to the EU until 2022 Britain could remain yoked to the EU until the end of 2022, the Brexit Secretary has admitted, in the latest sign that Boris Johnson could be ready to accept compromises to get a deal with Brussels. The Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by Theresa May allows for a transition period until the end of 2020 if the UK leaves with a deal, but Mr Barclay said it could be extended by “one or two years”. Such a move would prove unpopular with hardline Brexiteers, but Mr Johnson has already resigned himself to getting “spears in the back” from so-called Spartans within his party and a deal represents his best chance of fulfilling his promise to get Britain out of the EU on Oct 31. Moderate Brexiteers said on Sunday they would be willing to accept a longer transition as long as Brexit was not delayed beyond the current deadline. – Telegraph (£) The ‘entire machinery of government’ is focused on securing a deal, says Priti Patel The “entire machinery of government” is focused on getting a Brexit deal with the EU, says Priti Patel. The home secretary said Boris Johnson was “fully committed” to negotiating an agreement by the 31 October deadline. But when pressed by the BBC’s Andrew Marr to reveal details, she said it wasn’t “a public negotiation”. Earlier, Mr Johnson said the UK would break out of its “manacles” like cartoon character The Incredible Hulk, in order to leave the EU. He told the Mail on Sunday: “Hulk always escaped, no matter how tightly bound in he seemed to be – and that is the case for this country. We will come out on 31 October and we will get it done.” Ms Patel told Andrew Marr: “The prime minister is fully committed to getting a deal. I hope the country has heard [Mr Johnson’s] sheer commitment and determination to ensure that we leave on 31 October, and also that the entire machinery of government now is focused on getting that deal and is planning and preparing to leave with a deal.” She added: “My instinct is we have to leave, and we have to leave with a deal on 31 October.” – BBC News > WATCH: Home Secretary Priti Patel says the “anti-democratic backstop” must go It is claimed Boris Johnson ‘has a secret plan’ to keep Brexit on track which only three others know about… Downing Street has a secret plan to keep Brexit on track – but it has only been seen by Boris Johnson and three key advisers, it was claimed last night. Officials believe they have found a loophole in the law passed by rebel MPs to block No Deal. But the information is so sensitive that even members of Mr Johnson’s inner circle have not been briefed on it. The identities of the three key advisers are unknown, but it is thought they could include Mr Johnson’s right-hand man Dominic Cummings, Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay and the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox. Opposition parties joined with rebel Tories a fortnight ago to push through legislation binding the Prime Minister’s hands on Brexit. The bill states that if a Brexit deal has not been passed by the Commons by October 19 then Mr Johnson must write a letter to Brussels asking for an extension, which he has repeatedly insisted he will not do. Anti-Brexit barrister Jolyon Maugham, who has been involved in a number of legal actions relating to the country’s departure from the EU, last night appeared to give credence to the idea that the law on No Deal might not work. He wrote that if MPs voted for a deal the first time round, the anti-No Deal legislation would no longer force Mr Johnson to beg Brussels for an extension. – Daily Mail …while the Government Chief Whip reportedly thinks he has whittled down the number of anti-deal rebel Tory MPs to eight or ten Boris Johnson thinks he can whittle down the number of Brexiteer Tory rebels to just eight, boosting his chances of winning a Commons vote. The PM has to put any new compromise deal he can bring back from Brussels to Parliament before it becomes law. It also emerged tonight that Europe’s leaders may insist Mr Johnson puts the template of a new agreement to MPs before the crunch EU summit on October 17 to prove he can command support. A total of 28 Brexiteer Tory MPs refused to back Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement for a third time on March 29. But Chief Whip Mark Spencer has told the PM that if he can win “meaningful changes” to the Irish backstop, he can squeeze the refuseniks down to “between eight and ten”. No10 has now made it clear that any Tory MP who votes against a new deal will face the same fate as the 21 Remainer Tories who were expelled for voting to delay Brexit. A source from the Tory whip’s office said: “Mark is confident he can keep the rebellion in single figures. They don’t have anywhere else to go. Boris is Brexit’s only hope.” – The Sun There is still time to find a solution to the Irish border issue, insists DUP’s Sir Jeffrey Donaldson… Politicians have been urged to “draw on the lessons of the Northern Ireland peace process” by a DUP MP as they struggle to resolve the Irish border issue before Brexit on October 31. “There is still time for a solution to be found – if there truly is the will,” according to Lagan Valley MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson. Writing in the Sunday Independent, the DUP chief whip insisted that the backstop proposals were in clear conflict with the Belfast Agreement, because they did not have unionist support. “The lesson of the peace process is that progress can only be made when both unionists and nationalists can give support to an agreement. There is a significant irony in the backstop being held up as protection for the Belfast Agreement when it stands outside both the letter and spirit of that agreement,” he wrote. “The principle of consent and parity of esteem should be seen by all as central to that agreement.” Introducing barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK was unacceptable, he continued. “It would represent a clear change to the relationship between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, thus breaching the principle of consent,” he said. – Belfast Telegraph …as ministers talk up an Irish border compromise as key to a deal… Two of Boris Johnson’s senior cabinet ministers have talked up the possibility of securing a Brexit deal through some divergence on the rules in Northern Ireland, as the government’s rhetoric showed fresh signs of shifting ahead of crucial talks next week. With Johnson due to meet Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, on Monday, Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, and the home secretary, Priti Patel, accepted the Irish border was likely to be key to any potential agreement. In a later interview, Barclay also suggested one potential way to smooth an agreement would be to extend the transition period following departure, currently due to end in December 2020, for another one or two years. Following weeks of government discussion about preparedness for a no-deal departure, both ministers said the overwhelming focus was on leaving with an agreement. – Guardian …although EU officials reject Johnson’s claim of ‘huge progress’ in the Brexit talks EU officials have rejected Boris Johnson’s claim that “a huge amount of progress” is being made in Brexit talks, as Jean-Claude Juncker warned that time is running out. Juncker, who will stand down as European commission president on 31 October, is expected to ask Johnson to spell out his ideas for replacing the Irish backstop when the pair meet over lunch in Luxembourg on Monday. Johnson told the Mail on Sunday there were “real signs of movement” in Berlin, Paris and Dublin on getting rid of the backstop, the persistent stumbling block to a Brexit agreement. “A huge amount of progress is being made,” he said. But EU officials involved in talks with Johnson’s envoy, David Frost, have dismissed his upbeat account. “No, in fact people are a bit dismayed,” said one EU source, describing the mood after the latest talks. “I am not even going to call them negotiations – the last session on Friday did start touching on content – that’s actually quite a step forward … but we still should have been there a long time ago and [an end result] is still quite far away.” – Guardian Jean-Claude Juncker pours cold water over Johnson’s hopes of Brexit deal – The Times (£) Hulk-like Boris Johnson will challenge wary Jean-Claude Juncker into bashing out Brexit deal – The Sun Boris Johnson allies jump to his defence as David Cameron claims the PM chose Leave ‘as a career move’ Boris Johnson asked whether Michael Gove was “a bit cracked” after his Vote Leave ally sabotaged his Tory leadership campaign in 2016, David Cameron has revealed. Mr Cameron, who accuses Mr Gove of being “disloyal” to both him and Mr Johnson in his Downing Street memoir, discloses for the first time how Mr Johnson reacted to the betrayal. The former prime minister said Mr Johnson texted him after Mr Gove’s betrayal three years ago, asking: “Blimey, is he [Michael] a bit cracked?” Mr Cameron said Mr Johnson signed off the message by writing: “You had eleven hard years of party leadership and six superbly as PM, more than I will ever do. Boris.” It will test the relationship between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who he has put in charge of the country’s preparations for a no deal Brexit. It came as allies of Mr Johnson went into battle against Mr Cameron after he claimed the Prime Minister “did not believe in” Brexit. Stephen Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, suggested Mr Cameron had made the accusations because he had “a book to sell” and insisted Mr Johnson was a passionate Brexiteer. – Telegraph (£) Sadiq Khan calls for Article 50 to be revoked and Labour to back Remain in second Brexit referendum… Sadiq Khan has called for Article 50 to be revoked and reissued at a later date. The Mayor of London said he believed former Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 too early for political gain. He argued that the country needed to make adequate negotiations and preparations ahead of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Following this, the British public should be allowed a “final say” on whether they accept the terms of the exit. Appearing on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, he said: “The mistake made by Theresa May, because of her personal interest and political interest, was serving Article 50 before understanding the terms we were going to negotiate with the European Union, what we want from the European Union. Nobody sensible would serve notice to quit on their accommodation before they’ve found new digs. Nobody would quit a job before they’d found a new job.” However, despite the possibility of further negotiations with the EU, the London Mayor said he believes the best deal the country has is its current one. “Whether it’s a no-deal Brexit, whether it’s the deal negotiated by Theresa May, whether it’s an improvement a Labour government may achieve, that’s far less preferable than the option of staying in the EU. We’re a Remain party. We should give the British public a final say. Now that we know the terms of exiting from the EU, that should be one of the options on the ballot paper, with the other option of staying in the EU.” – iNews > WATCH: London Mayor Sadiq Khan discusses Brexit on The Andrew Marr Show …while the Lib Dems pledge to cancel Brexit if they win general election… The Liberal Democrats have pledged to cancel Brexit if they come to power at the next general election. Members voted for the new policy at their party conference in Bournemouth by an overwhelming majority. Previously, the party has backed another referendum or “People’s Vote”, saying they would campaign to Remain. After the vote, their leader Jo Swinson, said: “We will do all we can to fight for our place in Europe, and to stop Brexit altogether.” The commitment only comes into force if the party wins the election as a majority government. Ms Swinson also confirmed that before an election is called, the Lib Dems would continue to work with other opposition parties to campaign for a further referendum, and to prevent a “dangerous” no-deal Brexit. – BBC News …and new(ish) Lib Dem MP Chuka Umunna says the party should back rejoining the EU if Brexit happens… Liberal Democrats should support the UK rejoining the European Union if Brexit takes place, the party’s foreign affairs spokesman Chuka Umunna has said. His remarks came after the unequivocally pro-EU party officially endorsed a new policy of revoking Article 50 without a referendum if leader Jo Swinson wins power at the next general election. But if Boris Johnson does succeed in severing Britain’s ties with the EU, Mr Umunna made it clear on the fringes of the Lib Dems’ annual conference in Bournemouth he would campaign for the UK to rejoin the bloc at a future date. He also failed to rule out his support for joining the Euro and any “European army” that could be established by the the EU 27 as a condition for the UK reestablishing its membership. Asked by The Independent’s editor, Christian Broughton, whether he would back Britain rejoining the bloc if Brexit happens, he replied: “Yes. But I don’t accept that we’re going to leave the European Union.” – Independent …while more Tory MPs are reportedly preparing to defect to the Lib Dems A number of Conservative rebels stripped of the whip by Boris Johnson are in discussions with Liberal Democrats about defecting. One of the group, Sam Gyimah, who stood to be Tory leader over the summer, joined the Lib Dems on Saturday night. But Sarah Wollaston, another Tory turned Lib Dem MP, said that several more of the 21 Tory rebels had contacted her privately to discuss crossing the floor to her party. Two former chancellors as well as Winston Churchill’s grandson were stripped of the whip in parliament though they remain members of the party. Ms Wollaston said in an interview with The Times: “I know there are several, who I’ve had conversations with, who are seriously considering it, and I hope that they will [join]”. Ms Wollaston described becoming a Lib Dems as like hitting a “wall of love”. She said there was “really nothing” on which she disagreed with the Lib Dems, though there were “nuances”. – The Times (£) Students accuse teachers of peddling ‘anti-Brexit propaganda’ at school Teachers at a secondary school have been accused of pushing their own anti-Brexit beliefs in assemblies and classrooms. Sixth form students at St Joseph’s Catholic High School say teachers have told them backing a second EU referendum ‘would be in their interest’. They say a senior teacher mocked Donald Trump and Boris Johnson in an assembly last week, telling students: ‘We’re not going to remember these two’. Some students worry staff could ‘mould the minds’ of younger pupils who are still forming their own political beliefs and fear it could be happening in schools across the country. One student, who wished to remain anonymous, said teachers have made comments here and there for some time. But the 17-year-old said last Wednesday’s assembly on the topic of leadership was a particular sticking point. He told Metro: ‘He was talking about how Brexit was bad for us and how Brexit was going to affect us really badly then he got up a picture of Boris Johnson, mocking him. After showing a pictures of Johnson and Trump, the student says the staff member then showed a picture of climate change activist Greta Thunberg and said: ‘We’re going to remember her, we’re not going to remember these two’. Recalling how he discussed Trump, Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, another year 13 student said the same teacher ‘essentially implied they were idiots’ with the way he was talking about them. One of the boys said another senior teacher actively encouraged students to back a second referendum at an ‘enrichment session’ late last year. He said: ‘He just tells us about how Brexit isn’t good for us and how it’s going to ruin our future.’ – Metro Boris Johnson: I passionately believe that I can strike an EU deal within weeks Let us be in no doubt as to what has really happened in Parliament in the last couple of weeks. Let there be no ambiguity about the underlying motive. A large number of MPs – though by no means all – are simply trying to crush Brexit. In spite of all that they promised – and voted for – they just want to stop this country from ever leaving the European Union. This isn’t about trying to block a so-called “no deal” Brexit. Any such claim is utterly disingenuous. It’s about trying to stop Brexit from happening at all – and the opposition parties have emerged in their true anti-democratic colours. They are united in wanting to cancel the referendum result – Labour, SNP, Lib Dems – and overturn the will of the people. They are so desperate to get round the electorate that they will not even agree to an election. They have turned it down twice. Why? I am afraid there is only ever one explanation for such hesitation. They fear they would lose. So instead they have engineered this country’s biggest ever exercise in pointless parliamentary procrastination. They hope that Brexit can be somehow delayed beyond Oct 31, and that the calls for a second referendum will (so they deceive themselves) become overwhelming, and Brexit would be at least temporarily abandoned. I believe they are making a huge mistake. It is not just a question of the extra dither and delay – more long months of rancour and division, and all at huge expense in payments to Brussels. It is worse than that. This is about democracy. The people of this country were asked to vote on whether they wanted to stay in the EU, or leave. It was right and proper that they should be asked. After more than 40 years of membership, the EU has avowedly morphed into something very different from the proposition of the mid-Seventies. – Boris Johnson MP for the Telegraph (£) Brandon Lewis: Our borders are ready — for traders, tourists and trapping terrorists Our border is our gateway to the world. Whether its businesspeople coming to strike a deal or holidaymakers coming to see the sights, the UK border provides a secure and swift way for visitors to enter our country. As we get ready for Brexit on October 31, we are doing everything we can to ensure that the UK border remains one of the safest and most efficient in the world. I recently visited Heathrow airport to see how our Border Force and counter-terrorism police are preparing for Brexit. Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe, with more than 80 million passengers passing through it every year. It is crucial that security is watertight and it is Border Force’s responsibility to ensure this, at Heathrow and across the UK. The chancellor recently announced a £344 million boost to ensure border and customs operations are fully ready for a no-deal scenario. We’re putting that to good use, recruiting up to 1,000 new Border Force staff to maintain security as well as ensure that passengers and freight continue flowing smoothly across the border. We’ve also already delivered training to more than 5,500 Border Force officers and staff. This includes the recent training of over 150 Border Force ‘superusers’ to disseminate guidance throughout the rest of the workforce and accelerate the necessary preparations before 31 October. This will help to ensure that, whether they’re staffing passport control or examining lorries coming into Dover, all our Border Force officers are equipped to keep our country safe. This is just one example of the hard work and dedication of those working at the border to keep us safe. And I can guarantee that, deal or no deal, on 31 October our border will be ready for Brexit. – Brandon Lewis MP for The Times (£) Jeffrey Donaldson: ‘There is still time for a solution to be found, if there truly is the will’ One of the myths which some have attempted to propagate around Brexit is that the Democratic Unionist Party’s support for leaving the European Union was based on a desire to see a so-called ‘hard border’ between Northern Ireland and our neighbours in the Republic. That is simply untrue. I can say that as a campaign director for the DUP during the EU referendum, but also because of everything we have said and done since that time. When Arlene Foster addressed the Killarney Economic Conference just over 18 months ago, she made clear that the principles guiding the DUP’s stance on Brexit were a desire to see the referendum result respected, but cognisant of the unique set of circumstances that we in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have. The backstop is presented as a protection for the peace process, but it exists without unionist support. Recently a number of parties in Northern Ireland sent a joint letter to Donald Tusk in support of the backstop. It was devoid of any unionist signatory. The lesson of the peace process is that progress can only be made when both unionists and nationalists can give support to an agreement. There is a significant irony in the backstop being held up as protection for the Belfast Agreement when it stands outside both the letter and spirit of that agreement. The principle of consent and parity of esteem should be seen by all as central to that agreement. Yet despite unionism being virtually unanimous in its rejection of the backstop, this is not considered to be outside those core principles. To be clear, I do not want to see a return to the ‘borders of the past’ between Northern Ireland and the Republic. There are good economic reasons to avoid such a return, but I also recognise the symbolism it would have for a large number of people in Northern Ireland. The avoidance of such a border, however, cannot come at the price of erecting a new barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom in some kind of Northern Ireland-only backstop. – Sir Jeffrey Donaldson for the Irish Independent Charles Moore: David Cameron’s protest against Brexit ‘lies’ is deceitful The extracts and interview with David Cameron which precede his memoirs remind us that he is a sensible man. He can admit his mistakes, see the other person’s point of view, and usually avoid being consumed by bitterness (though he is certainly not fond of Michael Gove). History will not judge him a decent prime minister, though not a great one. Yet even the moderate Mr Cameron takes up the cry that, in the referendum campaign, “Leave was lying”. “Lie” is – or ought to be – a big word. It does not mean being careless with facts. Nor does it mean saying untruthful things, such as “The food is delicious”, out of politeness. It does not even mean fibbing to excuse yourself e.g. “I’m sorry was late: I was held up in traffic.” A lie is a deliberate untruth told with bad intent, something which makes the person who utters it dishonourable. That is why the word is classified in the House of Commons as “unparliamentary language”. In absolutely all election and referendum campaigns, both sides say things which are not strictly true. They do this chiefly by suppressing the virtues of the other side’s case or the disadvantages of their own. In 1979, for example, Mrs Thatcher campaigned to cut income tax. She carefully avoided saying – though it was the natural concomitant of the policy – that she would have to put up VAT. She was not lying, but neither was she telling the whole truth. Mr Cameron fastens in particular on Leave’s campaign warnings about Turkey joining the EU. This was “ditching [the truth] altogether,” he says. Actually, it wasn’t. It was an exaggeration of the true fact that both the EU and (which he does not directly admit) Britain itself had a policy of eventually admitting Turkey. In politics, to say that the other side are liars is always the pot calling the kettle black. Better – indeed, more truthful – to leave the word out altogether. – Charles Moore for the Telegraph (£) The Sun: David Cameron’s book is nothing more than blame and anti-Brexit clichés — the man’s in denial For three years he’s had nothing to do but think inside the £25,000 hut he bought when he walked out of No10 – but David Cameron hasn’t even tried to understand why people voted for Brexit. His new book For The Record reads like Mills & Boon for Remainers, full of fantasies to drive fellow Europhiles wild. It’s one anti-Brexit cliche after another. Talk of a second referendum to correct the first, which he once described as irreversible. The absurd, score-settling description of Michael Gove, one of the most talented men in his Government, as a “foam-flecked Faragist”. Every Leave-backing politician is portrayed as a liar. Cameron, who told us our decision was final and campaigned behind the blatant lies of Project Fear, for some reason is not. Boris Johnson backed Brexit to “help his political career”. Dominic Cummings was part of a “cauldron of toxicity”. Whatever Cameron’s been doing in that shed, it isn’t self-reflection. Had he gone to the Brexit heartlands and spoken to Leavers, he’d have gained some genuine insight. His book could have been called Changing The Record. Instead it’s just more of the same. The former PM had a golden opportunity to properly consider why he lost and trashed his career. He does at least admit he failed to convince Britain. Why, then, blame everyone else? – The Sun says Trevor Kavanagh: Boris Johnson will come to the rescue as The Incrediblue Hulk and drag Britain out of the EU once and for all David Cameron spends 700 pages of his Downing Street memoirs searching for someone to blame for his decision to hold and then lose the 2016 Referendum. He castigates Boris Johnson and ex-pal Michael Gove as liars and, inevitably, blames the media for peddling their propaganda. Yet the real explanation for this chaos lies in a single sentence in his memoirs: “The latent Leaver gene in the Tory party was more dominant than I had foreseen.” What?! Did David Cameron, the young adviser who stood alongside Chancellor Norman Lamont on the day the UK crashed out of the Euro in 1992, really not understand Tory anger over Europe? Was he paying attention when Margaret Thatcher was ousted — to the fury of her party — over her, “No, No, No”, to ever-expanding EU power? Did he miss the Cabinet “bastards” who nearly brought down Prime Minister John Major over Maastricht in 1995? And what about the EU’s own polls at the time showing deep and bitter resentment — not just here but across Europe — to Brussels stomping on Greece. If Mr Cameron was indeed so naive, he deserves his place alongside Theresa May as one of Britain’s worst ever Prime Ministers. – Trevor Kavanagh for The Sun Leo McKinstry: David Cameron’s Project Fear was the real lie in the Brexit vote In his long-anticipated memoirs, serialised over the weekend, David Cameron reveals that the Brexit vote in 2016 came as a hammer blow to his inner circle.Indeed, so great was the shock that his wife Samantha had to pour herself. But that mixture of bewilderment, anger and despair just illustrates how out-of-touch Cameron was from the majority of the British public. The vote was a surprise to him because, like most of the political class, he inhabited a bubble where acceptance of EU rule went unchallenged. With a tone of anguish, he repeatedly writes in his book that “he failed” over the referendum, but by far his greatest failure was his blinkered inability to understand the feelings of the electorate, who were fed up with Brussels bullying and the erosion of our independence. Boris, writes Cameron, “left the truth at home.” Cameron is just as vicious about other prominent Leavers, including Priti Patel, the current Home Secretary, above, who supposedly engaged in warfare against her own Government. But he reserves his greatest hostility for his former close friend Michael Gove, who is venomously condemned for his “disloyalty” and his dishonesty. In fact, Cameron seems to think that the entire Leave campaign was built on lies. Yet this is both fatuous and hypocritical. For a start, that charge reflects the fashionable, snobbish Remainer belief that Leave voters were just a mass of brainwashed sheep, incapable of thinking for themselves and easily influenced by bogus propaganda, but the real deceit came from Cameron and the pro-EU brigade. They peddled the apocalyptic warnings of Project Fear, whose emptiness has been exposed by the continuing resilience of the economy since 2016. – Leo McKinstry for the Express David Trimble: We can do better than the backstop. Why the Withdrawal Agreement breaches the terms of the Belfast Agreement Michel Barnier has written that the backstop “is not about changing the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. That is none of the EU’s business…” Yet that is precisely what the backstop does do. He goes on to claim that “the backstop fully respects the carefully negotiated balance found in that Belfast/Good Friday Agreement between competing political views and different identities in Northern Ireland”: he is wrong – he is riding rough shod over our Agreement. That is why Unionists oppose it and why the Government, having listened and learned, now insists that the backstop must go. It is true that the current backstop avoids a hard border on the island of Ireland, but it does so at the expense of the ‘”carefully negotiated balance” found in the Agreement. The European Commission recently confirmed its view that ‘the backstop provided for by the Withdrawal Agreement is the only solution identified that safeguards the Good Friday Agreement, ensures compliance with international law obligations and preserves the integrity of the internal market’. They are wrong. The backstop is not a legally operational solution, as it is not in keeping with the spirit and letter of the Agreement. I set out the detailed arguments as to why this is the case in an article for Policy Exchange in July this year. In summary, the backstop undermines the core principles of the Agreement – consent and agreement between equals that runs across all three of its strands – and it changes the status of Northern Ireland contrary to the Agreement. In doing so, it risks the constitutional stability that Northern Ireland has enjoyed for over 20 years and undermines the principles that determine how it is governed. Devolved powers are reduced and a democratic deficit created. – Lord Trimble for ConservativeHome Brexit in Brief David Cameron stood still as the world changed – Robert Colvile for The Times (£) The three Brexit policy options from which the Prime Minister must now choose – David Gauke MP for ConservativeHome Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo tells Johnson that Hulk is a disaster when he goes it alone – The Times (£)