Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Merkel says Europe ‘can no longer rely on allies’ after Trump and Brexit Europe can no longer “completely depend” on the US and UK following the election of President Trump and Brexit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says. Mrs Merkel said she wanted friendly relations with both countries as well as Russia but Europe now had to “fight for its own destiny”. It follows the G7’s failure to commit to the 2015 Paris climate deal, talks Mrs Merkel said were “very difficult”. President Trump has said he will make a decision in the coming week. “The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I’ve experienced that in the last few days,” Mrs Merkel told a crowd at an election rally in Munich, southern Germany. – BBC What at first listen may sound like a major departure from Germany’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance is, in fact, consistent with Merkel’s rhetoric ever since Donald Trump was elected U.S. president. It’s also in keeping with her agenda to push European integration forward, a goal she believes the election of Emmanuel Macron as French president has put within reach. And it may signal that Merkel, for the first time in her dozen years in power and approaching her fourth election in September, sees Europe as a vote winner as it was for Macron. – Politico Rapturous applause greeted her fiery calls for Europeans to fight for their own destiny. No wonder she’s sounding confident. France has a new president who shares her pro free-trade, Europhile values, so there is a positive feeling in Europe that the EU’s Franco-German motor is back in business… She might not have welcomed Brexit or Trump. But it seems that Mrs Merkel has decided that standing up for the EU will only strengthen her chances of winning another term in September. – Damien McGuinness for the BBC Europe can no longer rely on Britain and US, Merkel warns – Times (£) ‘Britain is no longer a reliable partner following Brexit’ – Daily Mail Angela Merkel: Europe must take ‘our fate’ into own hands – Politico The German Chancellor said Europe must ‘take its fate into its own hands’ – Sun Merkel says EU cannot completely rely on US and Britain any more – Guardian Angela Merkel says Europe ‘must take fate into its own hands’ – Sky News Merkel says Europeans must take fate into their own hands – City A.M. May sets out Brexit vision to banish campaign wobble Theresa May is to offer voters a vision of how Britain will prosper outside the EU as she seeks to put the Tory election campaign back on track amid claims of infighting. The prime minister will return to the themes of her Lancaster House address — that Brexit will free the UK to build a fairer, richer society — in a keynote campaign speech tomorrow. The more positive message is intended to halt the drop in the Tory poll lead since the party promised to cut pensioner benefits and force thousands more to pay for social care in its manifesto. The Manchester attack a week ago came just after Mrs May caved into pressure from panicking Tory candidates to cap care costs, having first ruled out that option. Sir Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, dismissed as “tittle tattle” a report in The Sunday Times of tensions between Mrs May’s closest aides over the issue. Others, however, insist Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill did disagree over the policy and said the row had seriously unsettled the Tory campaign. “Staff have no idea who is in charge and get different orders from different people,” a well placed figure said. – Times (£) Nick Clegg claims Brexit would bar UK access to terrorist database Britain will lose access to a key security database under Theresa May’s Brexit plans, Nick Clegg will claim today. The former Liberal Democrat leader said that police and the security services would be locked out of an EU intelligence database with information on more than 800,000 suspects, including alerts on suspected Isis fighters. Mr Clegg claimed that the British authorities would not be given access to the Schengen Information System (SIS II) database, which the UK used to make the equivalent of 16 checks a second last year, if it leaves the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Mrs May has made leaving the ECJ one of her Brexit “red lines” but the Lib Dems said that access to SIS II was limited to those under the ECJ’s jurisdiction because of the sensitive nature of the data on it. – Times (£) Leaving the EU may mean losing access to the whereabouts of terrorists, Nick Clegg warns – Independent Lib Dems warn over crime database access – BBC Immigration levels could soar if Corbyn wins the election, warns MIgration Watch UK Migration Watch said Labour’s manifesto made clear their leader had “little desire to reduce present levels of immigration”. Chairman Lord Green of Deddington slammed the party for failing to commit to slashing immigration even proposing measures “likely to increase” the number of people coming here. He said despite Labour accepting the end of freedom of movement of people post Brexit, scrapping the minimum income threshold for spouses and partners would add to numbers and was open to abuse.The campaign group, which calls for tighter immigration controls, also blasted the Tories – for pledging to cut net migration to tens of thousands – but with no deadline for it. – Sun UK business investment resilient despite Brexit After the UK voted to leave the EU last June, economists expected business investment would be one of the first parts of the economy to suffer. But the effect has been more muted than expected: the ONS recorded that total investment spending rose 0.5 per cent in 2016, following growth of 3.4 per cent the previous year. And in the first three months of this year, business investment — in real assets used in production rather than financial assets — grew 0.8 per cent, after contracting at the end of 2016. – FT (£) UK tech visas quadruple after applications soar Tech City UK, the government organisation that processes applications for the dedicated “Tier 1 Exceptional Talent” visa, said successful applications had more than quadrupled in the last 12 months, with 260 endorsed in the last fiscal year.It follows fears in the British tech community that access to skilled computer coders would be hit by restrictions to freedom of movement when the UK leaves the EU. David Cameron introduced the tech visa scheme in 2014 in a bid to make London the technology capital of Europe and rival Silicon Valley as a destination for start-ups, and amid fears of a shortage of skilled coders in the UK. The “Tech Nation” visa scheme allows Tech City UK to endorse applications from non-EU workers, and lets successful applicants stay in the country for five years, after which they can apply to settle. – Telegraph Tim Farron insists Lib Dems’ pro-European strategy will be proved right Tim Farron has insisted he does not regret putting Brexit at the heart of his election strategy because it was “the right thing to do”, despite signs the Liberal Democrats are being squeezed in the polls. Farron said that history would vindicate the party’s pro-European message and said his conviction on the issue would be proved right in the long term, even if Brexit was slipping from people’s minds ahead of the 8 June poll. “I think it will win seats by the way, and we have seen progress, but my motivation is to a degree whether I can look my kids in the eye and say I did everything I could,” he said. “I don’t want to sound overconfident, but we will be proved right within two years. Hopefully, by 9 June. But if we are proved right, at the latest by 2019, then things can change, can’t they?” – Guardian European Parliament’s proposed ‘cocktail’ club causes a stir The European Parliament plans to create a €1.9-million “House of Citizens” but critics are dismissing it as a “cocktail” venue for MEPs to meet constituents, NGOs and lobbyists. According to a document prepared by the Parliament’s Secretary-General Klaus Welle and seen by POLITICO, the project will involve converting a 19th-century private mansion into a six-room “discussion venue for European citizens and events,” where MEPs can meet with members of civil society. It was discussed by MEPs at a closed meeting in March, as part of the Parliament’s plans to expand its facilities in Brussels. – Politico Roger Bootle: What would it mean for consumers and tariffs if we do not strike a deal? Once the election is over, the British Government will turn its attention to negotiating a trade deal with the European Union. Yet, as I have stressed before, we should not take a deal for granted. Many European politicians and officials believe that the UK has made a catastrophic error in voting for Brexit and that we face a bleak future – unless we conclude a favourable deal with the EU. They really do believe that prosperity flows from their fountain pens as they make laws and regulations, and sign treaties. Accordingly, in my view, they are unlikely to offer the UK anything substantive. So, from a negotiating standpoint, there is much to be said for the UK walking away. If we did this, not only might we force a rethink by them about the fundamental economics, but we would sow dissention among the other 27 members of the EU. – Roger Bootle for the Telegraph (£) Tim Wallace: Conservatives lurch to the left risks damaging UK’s chance of free trade deals Theresa May’s lurch to the left could damage Britain’s prospect of winning more trade deals after Brexit because it risks showing the Prime Minister is keen to intervene in the economy – rather than promoting the free market policies which match trade agreements. Trade experts caution that policies such as the energy price cap, the industrial strategy and a renewed target to slash immigration could tell the rest of the world that Britain is not truly open for business. “The challenge is going to be that some of the policy direction we’re hearing from the outgoing government and in the Conservative party manifesto around industrial policy is at odds with that open trading agenda,” warned Victoria Hewson, a lawyer at the Legatum Institute Special Trade Commission. Tim Wallace for the Telegraph Brexit in brief How to make a success of Brexit – Patrick Minford for The Conservative Osborne accused of hypocrisy over migration pledge – Times (£) Eurogroup confronts own deficit: governance – Politico Majority of voters want Theresa May to spell out Brexit plans before election – Independent What Jeremy Paxman could ask Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn – Independent