Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Corbyn and May grilled by BBC Question Time audience on Brexit Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and Tory leader Theresa May had a tough interrogation from Question Time audience members in an election special… On Brexit, Mr Corbyn defended his team’s ability to handle the negotiations, with plans for immediate legislation to protect the rights of EU nationals in the UK. He said a government led by him would work to “guarantee trade access to the European markets and protection for the conditions we have achieved through EU membership”… The Conservative leader faced questions about her previous support for staying in the EU. “I did say at the time I thought there were advantages to remaining in the European Union,” she said, but added that she had not said “the sky would fall in” if Britain left. But she said she now wanted to “deliver on the will of the people” but also to “make sure we make a success” of Brexit. – BBC News May’s lead is narrowing but she could still romp home – Ben Page for The Times (£) Red Box Theresa May reaches out to business as Brexit tensions escalate… Theresa May has vowed to consult business at every step of Brexit negotiations, including on devising a new migration strategy, as she tried to defuse tensions between corporate leaders and Downing Street. Mrs May, in an interview with the Financial Times, insisted that if she won the election, she would negotiate an “implementation phase” to allow companies to adapt to Brexit, adding: “Some people talk about two or three years” … “We stand at an historical moment of change for our country,” the prime minister said. “The decision people take next week is a decision not just for the next five years but beyond those next five years, in terms of the opportunities that will be available for us.” – FT (£) Theresa May interview with George Parker and Roula Khalaf – FT (£) …as Philip Hammond tells businesses that hiring foreign workers will not be ‘more onerous’ post-Brexit Philip Hammond has insisted it will not be “more onerous” for businesses to employ foreign workers after Brexit as he tried to calm fears of a potential skills shortage. The Chancellor said while workers from countries within the European Union will not be able to come to the UK as freely as they can currently “that doesn’t mean they won’t be coming”… The East London and West Essex Guardian reported that Mr Hammond told businesses during a campaign visit to the Ilford North constituency that Brexit will not prevent them from hiring the foreign talent they need. He said: “I cannot envisage the post-EU regime will be any more onerous than it is now. – Telegraph EU leaders “bemused” by ‘no deal’ negotiating stance Politicians and industrial leaders from across Europe hope Theresa May’s insistence that no Brexit deal is better than a bad deal is just election posturing and fear the worst if she really means it. Brexit was a shock to Germany, which regards the EU as part of its national DNA, but the political class has reluctantly accepted the referendum outcome. It is now finding it hard to understand whether Mrs May really means it when she says she could simply walk away without reaching a negotiated settlement because it believes this would bring economic chaos. – The Times (£) German study suggests that even worst-case Brexit will be bearable for EU – Politico How former Labour MP Gisela Stuart inadvertently laid the groundwork for Brexit A former Labour MP who was the party’s most prominent Leave supporter during the EU referendum campaign has revealed how she inadvertently laid the groundwork for Brexit. Gisela Stuart, who has decided to step down as MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, was sent to Brussels by Tony Blair at the turn of the century to hammer out a European Constitution which ultimately failed but eventually became the Lisbon Treaty. Mrs Stuart told The Telegraph that she demanded the constitution include an “exit clause” which would subsequently become Article 50 which sets out the way in which a member state can leave the EU. Mrs Stuart also revealed that it was her experience of trying to negotiate the constitution with the rest of Europe that turned her into a Eurosceptic, having broadly been in favour of the European project until then. Her Euroscepticism solidified over the years and she played a key role in the Brexit campaign last year alongside Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. – Telegraph Why I’m standing down from Parliament – Gisela Stuart interview with Rosa Prince for the Telegraph (£) Remain campaigners launch final push to oust Brexiteer MPs Open Britain, with 550,000 supporters the country’s biggest pro-European campaign group, will appeal to voters to back candidates keeping an “open mind” on Brexit in case public opinion changes. It is targeting thousands of voters through social media and grassroots campaigning in key seats… It declined to disclose its budget but it will run to thousands of pounds. Targeted ads in pro-Remain and marginally Leave areas, and other ads aimed at 18-26 year-olds, will reach one million people. National posts on social media channels have already been seen by 7.7 million people, a figure expected to rise to 10 million by next Thursday. Some 11 million people will have seen a graphic from the group by then. – Independent Brexit team asks Swiss deal-maker how to negotiate with the EU Britain has turned to a veteran Swiss diplomat who helped broker the Iran nuclear talks to advise officials preparing for Brexit negotiations. The Times understands that senior Whitehall figures approached Michael Ambühl, who spent three years leading his own country’s negotiations with the European Union, for help on how to approach the talks. While there is no formal relationship with the government, Professor Ambühl, 65, is understood to have spoken several times to officials in the Department for Exiting the EU. – The Times (£) Building activity soars despite Brexit fears Growth in the construction industry in May was at its highest for more than a year, despite concerns over Brexit. Activity in the residential sector rose at its fastest pace since December 2015, according to the latest Markit/CIPS Construction survey, with a rise in jobs and buying. The results – up to 56 from the sluggish figure of 53.1 posted in April. Ratings below 50 indicate shrinkage in the industry, while above indicates growth. – Building.co.uk EU taxpayers funding MEPs’ ghost offices – not used and not on the map Each member of the European Parliament gets 4,342 euros every month, mainly to fund an office in their own country. But offices for 249 MEPs do not exist or seem nowhere to be found. So far 133 out of the 748 current parliamentarians told what they pay in office rent, an investigation shows. Each MEP receives a so-called General Expenditure Allowance (GEA), costing the EU around €40 million annually. It is intended to provide for national offices, but following research by journalists at ‘The MEPs Project,’ it seems the funds are potentially being misused. A series of investigations across the 28 member states found at least 41 cases where MEPs pay rent to national political parties or even to their own personal accounts. – Investigative Reporting Denmark Daily Express: Ukip supporters have to examine their priorities We would urge readers (who assumed that a Conservative government with a large majority was a done deal) to remember that nothing is certain. Every vote counts and everyone who believes that a Labour government would be catastrophic for Britain must get out and vote next Thursday. It is also vital that those who voted Ukip in the past should think carefully. Ukip came into being to push for a referendum on the EU. That the Leave movement succeeded is a magnificent triumph. But now Ukip supporters must recognise that the aim is to ensure that Britain quits the EU with the best possible deal. That can only happen under a Conservative government. The ultimate goal – a return of sovereignty and control of our own borders – is more important than allegiance to a political party. – Daily Express editorial Karthik Ramanna: Britain was once a nation of shopkeepers – it must listen to them again to get Brexit right In September last year, I came to Britain from America having researched for over a decade the effects of too many “shopkeepers” running the show in Washington DC and elsewhere in the States… But to my great surprise, I have found that the problem in Britain today is quite the opposite. Rather than too many shopkeepers calling the shots, it appears that there aren’t enough at the rulemaking table – instead it’s mostly ideologues. Britain right now needs more – not less – business influence in politics… As Britain begins to shake off the yoke of decades of Eurocratic rule, here is an opportunity to (re)construct a government policy at least partly shaped by the core nation of shopkeepers. Doing Brexit right will require many grand ideas from the dreamers. But it will also require these ideas to be balanced against the common sense self-interest that allows business to thrive. – Professor Karthi Ramanna for the Telegraph (£) Dominic Raab: Theresa May is the only leader prepared for Brexit – Brussels would eat a Lib Dem-Labour coalition for breakfast If you take the Prime Minister’s plans and compare them with the EU Council’s formal negotiating guidelines, there is wide overlap – perhaps on two-thirds of issues – and particularly on the ambition for a strong win-win trade and security relationship. There’s no doubt that tough diplomacy lies ahead. There are thorny aspects where we still differ. And there have been silly (albeit predictable) jibes from the EU Commission making it into the press. Take that episode as a case in point. Theresa May firmly but calmly told Brussels that Britain would not be bullied, eliciting howls of panicky protest from Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and the Lib Dems’ Tim Farron. Then, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker admitted publicly the press briefing was a “serious mistake”. – Dominic Raab for the Independent Gerard Lyons: Let’s make Brexit work Leaving the EU will allow powers to be returned to Westminster. Because the UK has remained outside the euro area, it has maintained control of the main macro-economic levers of power. But now, in addition, the return of competencies from Brussels across a host of areas including regional policy and the ability to exercise full legislative powers in Westminster, will give the UK additional room for policy manoeuvre. This is potentially very exciting. But what matters is what Britain will do. We could, for instance, massively change competition policy and rescind the EU’s precautionary principle that restrains research. We could strengthen further workers’ rights, if we choose. It is this future empowering of Westminster that could mean this new Parliament and Government have the potential to be one of the most important in recent history. – Gerard Lyons for Politeia Brexit in brief Where UK’s parties stand on Brexit – BBC News This was supposed to be the Brexit election, but voters are refusing to follow Theresa May’s lead – Independent editorial Of course the Tories can’t promise how fast they’ll cut immigration – they have to sort Brexit out first – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) The BBC and its Brexit bias – Jayne Adye for Get Britain Out What does Ireland’s new prime minister mean for Brexit? – Patrick Maguire for the New Statesman ING is moving trading roles from Amsterdam to London despite Brexit – Business Insider