Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team UK business dismisses calls for a second EU referendum… Despite business leaders being some of the most outspoken critics of Brexit, business leaders are worried about recent efforts to reverse the process. Chief executive officer of TheCityUK, Miles Celic, said: “Business likes certainty and I can’t see how discussion of a second referendum helps create that certainty when the negotiations are not even concluded.” … Speaking to Bloomberg, Allie Renison from Europe and trade policy at the Institute of Directors, said: “Calls for a second referendum, and indeed rehashing the debates we had in the run-up to the Brexit vote, now almost two years ago, will do little to move us forward. Our focus must be on building a global Britain.” The news comes as Star Trek star Patrick Stewart launched “People’s Vote” this week. But the group has drawn a lot of criticism for being a London-centric, celebrity-focused attempt to overturn the original vote. – Express According to a Deloitte survey of chief financial officers, corporate uncertainty has fallen to a two-year low and concerns about the effects of leaving the EU on hiring and spending has receded. “Businesses are uninterested in politics. They want commercial predictability,” said Paul Hardy, Brexit director at law firm DLA Piper. “Those who have spent a lot of money on it are ready to deal with it.” … The EU has made clear it would like the U.K. to change its mind, and would welcome the country back. But all this would prolong the uncertainty for companies trying to plan. – Bloomberg Inside the secret plot to reverse Brexit – Tim Ross and Kitty Donaldson for Bloomberg > Austin Mitchell on BrexitCentral today: Why a new anti-Brexit third party would be a non-starter > LISTEN Hugh Bennett: Fundamental test of whether the EU is democratic is whether a nation is allowed to leave …as the BBC drops anti-Brexit campaign documentary over impartiality concerns The BBC has scrapped a planned documentary about the campaign to block Brexit amid concerns that it could be seen to breach impartiality guidelines. The programme was to have focused on Remain leaders, including Lord Adonis, the Labour peer, and Anna Soubry, the Conservative MP, who are trying to prevent a hard Brexit. The BBC’s current affairs department funded project. Filming had begun but last week contributors were told that Patrick Holland, the BBC Two controller, had decided not to commission it… Lord Adonis has criticised the BBC on social media recently, claiming that it ignored anti-Brexit demonstrations. He said the cancellation was outrageous and the BBC was “running scared of the government and Brexiteers”. – The Times (£) Peers prepare to attack ‘dreadnought’ EU Brexit Bill… Ministers are braced for a series of defeats on the central Brexit legislation in the House of Lords this week. The withdrawal bill begins six days of votes there tomorrow. Peers are expected to open the parliamentary wrangling by defying the government on the customs union, one of the main prongs of Theresa May’s strategy… Opposition peers are also optimistic about forcing through an amendment that would give parliament the decision on what to do next if it rejects Mrs May’s Brexit deal. The government has insisted that in that scenario the UK would still leave the EU but without a deal, which could mean that MPs attempting to soften the government’s stance end up hardening it. Peers are also planning to insert a clause enabling the government to delay the Brexit date beyond the end of March next year. – The Times (£) Theresa May set for a series of damaging defeats on the flagship Brexit bill in the House of Lords with peers set to back keeping UK in the EU customs union – The Sun Lords likely to vote in favour of UK staying in customs union – FT (£) MP Dominic Grieve says Tory rebels could force Britain to stay in an EU customs union if peers reject Government’s Brexit plans – The Sun > Jonathan Isaby on BrexitCentral: What to expect from the Report Stage of the EU Withdrawal Bill in the House of Lords …with Brexit legislation caught in a ‘parliamentary logjam’ A parliamentary logjam will mean the government is likely to struggle to pass vital legislation paving the way for leaving the EU before the parliamentary vote on the final Brexit deal. Almost half of all the legislation that is needed has yet to be even introduced by ministers. MPs returned to parliament on Monday after the Easter recess – the 123rd day that parliament has sat since the general election – but the government is still to pass a single piece of Brexit legislation. Parliament will only sit for another 80 days before MPs are expected to vote on the final Brexit deal struck between Theresa May and the European Union, scheduled for October… MPs have not voted on Brexit in more than two months, while crucial votes on the customs bill and trade bill have been delayed for more than two months – and are now not expected until after the local elections next month. – Guardian More children allocated first choice school due to Brexit, London councils say The Pan London Admissions Board, which co-ordinates school admissions in the city, London boroughs received 96,681 applications for primary school places this year which is 2.3 per cent fewer than last year. “Schools had been aware that lower birth rates in 2014 would lead to a smaller number of children starting primary school in London this year,” a spokesman for the Board said. “We believe that high property prices in some areas and the initial effects of the EU membership referendum have also contributed to this easing of pressure at primary level.” Following the Brexit vote, European families have been leaving the capital which has eased the pressure on primary schools, the Board’s spokesman explained. – Telegraph Government lawyers to challenge Sturgeon’s Brexit Bill UK Government lawyers are expected to lodge an unprecedented legal challenge at the UK Supreme Court in the next 48 hours to stop the Scottish and Welsh Governments’ own Brexit bills from becoming law… The Prime Minister’s law officers have until Wednesday to launch a legal challenge or face the Continuity bills getting Royal Assent and becoming law. It is thought Jeremy Wright, the Attorney General, and Lord Keen of Elie, the Advocate General, Whitehall’s senior Scottish lawyer, will make the court application as early as today. A ministerial statement is expected to follow at Westminster. – Herald Ireland warns of perils of failing to agree Brexit ‘backstop’ solution on border Ireland has warned there will be no Brexit withdrawal treaty and no transition agreement unless Britain comes up with acceptable wording as a “backstop” solution to the Irish border question in the event of no deal. The Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, told reporters in Luxembourg that difficulties would arise as early as June if the wording was not agreed… Many believe the latest talks have kicked the can down the road, and Coveney has warned that time is running out if Britain is to agree its final Brexit deal by October. – Guardian Irish warn June Brexit progress needed to seal October accord – Bloomberg UK recognition startup may help Brexit’s Irish border problem – Bloomberg > Hugh Bennett on BrexitCentral: The EU reveals its true nature with its duplicitous manoeuvres on Northern Ireland Royal Navy ships saved from scrapheap in order to protect UK coast Plans to decommission three vessels worth an eye-watering £12.7million were scrapped at the 11th hour so that the awe-inspiring fleet can police the UK’s coast after March 29 next year. The ships would boost the maritime defence and increase the number of warships patrolling Britain’s waters should they be needed in the wake of the historic EU referendum result… The news comes after fishermen vowed to take back control of Britain’s waters following Brexit. Pro-Brexit group Fishing for Leave slammed an EU law that gave the UK limited access to its own waters during the Brexit transitional period, which the group are fighting tooth-and-nail for. – Express Channel Tunnel operator’s chief is optimistic on Brexit The chief executive of the Channel Tunnel operator has spoken of his optimism over the Brexit negotiations, which could potentially have hit the company hard… Mr Gounon said he would increase his previous estimate for the company’s annual earnings after 2022 by 5 per cent because of the agreement on a Brexit transition period last month that would avoid a cliff edge scenario when Britain leaves the EU… Mr Gounon had previously said Brexit could herald the return of duty-free shopping for British visitors to France and vice versa. Before its abolition in 1999, the “booze cruise” trade generated a 10th of his revenue. Although he recognised that Brexit was a risk to the company, he thought technology could solve most of the problems he might face with the only question being how much it would cost — the harder the Brexit, the higher that cost. – FT (£) Farage and Emmanuel Macron to have lunch after the French President addresses MEPs today Nigel Farage, the self-styled bad boy of Brexit, will sit down for a sumptuous lunch on Tuesday with Emmanuel Macron, the president of France and the poster child for European Union integration. “I plan on ruining his lunch,” the former UKIP leader exclusively told The Telegraph before the banquet in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The gala affair will be held on the seventh floor of the imposing parliament after Mr Macron addresses MEPs in Strasbourg during a debate on the future of Europe… He is expected to call for closer EU integration after Brexit, with money pooled in a fund to help struggling eurozone countries. Mr Macron also supports the idea of pan-EU MEPs, who would be directly elected from across the bloc but not be loyal to any nation state. – Telegraph (£) ‘I plan on ruining his lunch’: Nigel Farage issues scathing threat to Emmanuel Macron – Express Week ahead in the European Parliament – BBC News Emmanuel Macron’s lost European innocence – Pierre Briançon for Politico Asa Bennett: The people have already voted on Brexit. When will Remainers accept that? It has been known since the days of Yes, Prime Minister that voters can respond differently to an idea depending on how pollsters express it. They feel warmer about having a “final say” (with 44 per cent supporting) instead of a “public vote” (39 per cent) on whether to leave under the terms negotiated by Theresa May, or to stay in the European Union… That is all the clearer from ComRes, which found after explicitly touting a “second referendum” that little more than a third (35 per cent) of voters would go for it, while nearly twice as many (65 per cent) wanted to “move on” with delivering the Leave vote. That is why Remainers are doing all they can to avoid their desired second referendum on Brexit what it actually is. Some like to call it a “final say”. Sir Vince Cable dubs it as “a first referendum on the facts”. Now they are desperate to present it as “a people’s vote”. Their polling must have told them that is the least repellent way of putting it… The Remainers’ assumption that Brexit could finally be stopped by a “people’s vote” is telling. It suggests that the problem they have with the 2016 referendum is that the wrong “people” won. – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Democracy is an alien concept to ‘Remainer’ Sir Patrick Stewart – Express editorial Brexit looks bad on all fronts. That’s why we’re pushing for a people’s vote – Hugo Dixon for the Guardian The zealots will sleepwalk us into Brexit if we let them – Rafael Behr for the Guardian > LISTEN Hugh Bennett: We were lied to by the Remain campaign and charged £9m of taxpayers’ money for the privilege Henry Newman: Might Macron be the leader to deliver the Brexit deal that Davis is battling for? While most leaders seem more interested in the legal complexities and the technical details of Brexit, Macron seems instinctively to understand that Brexit – or the question of Britain’s place in Europe – is first and foremost about politics and diplomacy. Interestingly the French are starting to look outside of the framework of the EU as they formulate a new European military crisis force. It’s true of course that France sees opportunities from Brexit, not least for Paris as a financial or digital hub. And many French officials are hard-line about ‘protecting’ the Single Market. But it’s also true that Macron recognises the strategic importance of the UK. – Henry Newman for ConservativeHome Liam Fox and Penny Mordaunt: Trade is the answer to eradicating poverty in the Commonwealth In one generation, we have seen a billion people lifted out of poverty. That is almost one in eight of the world’s population, whose lives have been transformed by growing trade and industry, which has created jobs so people can stand on their own two feet… Around three-quarters of Commonwealth states are middle or lower income countries and they stand to benefit from a greater focus on trade and growth… Our unique opportunity, to pursue greater mutual prosperity and trade that is fair and open to all, means the Commonwealth is more relevant today than ever before. And this is firmly in our interests too as champions of free trade, with opportunities to forge new, and deepen existing trading relationships, which will bring benefit to both businesses and consumers in the UK. – Dr Liam Fox MP and Penny Mordaunt MP for the Telegraph (£) UK makes £212m Commonwealth education aid pledge – BBC News Windrush generation: May to meet Caribbean leaders after apology – BBC News Prince Charles has Theresa May’s backing to lead the Commonwealth – The Times (£) Molly Kiniry: This is Britain’s moment for an ambitious Commonwealth trade deal The Commonwealth has not historically been a trading organisation, and at present its members are bound only by the bilateral agreements they have independently signed with one another. But Brexit presents the opportunity to rethink its strategic value as an organisation which covers five continents and billions of people… Some of the highest-standard FTAs in the world (such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership) began largely as strategic exercises – “because we can” is considered totally valid logic for trade policy. Pushing the bounds of these agreements further is worthwhile, even if the initial economic impact is low. That a Commonwealth FTA would be largely symbolic at the moment matters very little – especially when one considers the rate of growth expected for the developing members of the bloc, like India and Nigeria, in the coming decades. Cementing that trading relationship now, with the intention of deepening it later, just makes good sense. – Molly Kiniry for City A.M. The card that could help the UK boost ties with the Commonwealth – Andrew MacLeod for CapX Brexit in brief Brexit redraws EU alliances as smaller countries fear French and German dominance – Paul Taylor for Politico Sweden’s violent reality is undoing a peaceful self-image – Paulina Neuding for Politico Pound touches strongest level since Brexit ahead of trade talks – FT (£) Move to reform MEPs’ expenses ‘wholly inadequate,’ say critics – Politico Peers call for stricter rules on opinion polls during elections – The Times (£)