Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson says the odds of striking a Brexit deal are ‘touch and go’… Boris Johnson has said the chances of a Brexit deal are “touch and go” – having previously said the odds of a no-deal Brexit were “a million to one”. In a BBC interview at the G7 summit in France, he said it “all depends on our EU friends and partners”. When pressed on the chances, he said: “I think it’s going to be touch and go. But the important thing is to get ready to come out without a deal.” Donald Tusk told the PM the EU is open to alternatives to the backstop. BBC Europe editor Katya Adler said the European Council president and Mr Johnson held talks on Sunday, which were in a “genuinely positive atmosphere”. But she said Mr Tusk repeated the EU’s position that any alternatives to the Irish backstop would have to be “realistic” and “immediately operational”. An EU official added the meeting had “mainly restated known positions” and Brussels had been hoping for “new elements to unblock the situation”. – BBC News > WATCH: PM Boris Johnson’s BBC interview at the G7 Summit …and that the UK ‘can easily cope’ with No Deal… Boris Johnson has challenged critics of his “do or die” Brexit strategy by declaring Britain “can easily cope” with a no-deal scenario. Admitting that the chances of striking a deal with Brussels before the October 31 deadline were now “touch and go” he dismissed suggestions that leaving without an agreement would lead to food shortages. The Prime Minister said that whether an agreement was reached with the EU depended “entirely” on European leaders, whom he is pressing to drop the insurance plan for the Irish border they had agreed with Theresa May. He told Sky News that if no deal was reached, the £39 billion divorce settlement agreed with the EU would no longer be “legally pledged”, freeing up “substantial” funds to spent in the UK. But a senior EU diplomat insisted that the “ball is really squarely and firmly in the UK court”, with the onus on the UK to offer alternatives to the so-called “backstop”. Mr Johnson’s intervention came on the second day of his first summit of world leaders, in south-west France, as he also revealed that Donald Trump wants to strike a post-Brexit trade deal “within a year”. – Telegraph (£) …while reportedly seeking legal advice on a possible five-week prorogation of Parliament… Boris Johnson has asked the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, whether parliament can be shut down for five weeks from 9 September in what appears to be a concerted plan to stop MPs forcing a further extension to Brexit, according to leaked government correspondence. An email from senior government advisers to an adviser in No 10 – written within the last 10 days and seen by the Observer – makes clear that the prime minister has recently requested guidance on the legality of such a move, known as prorogation. The initial legal guidance given in the email is that shutting parliament may well be possible, unless action being taken in the courts to block such a move by anti-Brexit campaigners succeeds in the meantime. – Observer Nigel Farage says the Tories and Brexit Party would be ‘unstoppable’ if they worked together as he warns Boris Johnson not to ‘sell out’ Leave voters… Nigel Farage has claimed the Tories and Brexit Party would be ‘unstoppable’ if they worked together at a general election as he suggested such an alliance is unlikely because of fears Boris Johnson is about to ‘sell out’ Leave voters. The leader of the Brexit Party said this morning that he believed an electoral pact between the two would secure Mr Johnson a ‘very big majority’ at a snap poll. But he said he would only agree to work with the Prime Minister if the Conservative Party committed to delivering a clean break from the EU. Mr Farage, who previously said a pact with the Tories was a ‘possibility’, suggested that unless the Tories switched to backing a No Deal Brexit as the only acceptable EU divorce option, his party ‘will fight you in every seat’. – Daily Mail …but says the Brexit Party will fight him in every seat if he doesn’t pursue a no-deal Brexit Mr Farage was speaking at an event in London which saw hundreds of prospective parliamentary candidates for The Brexit Party gather. He revealed it had vetted 635 people for any upcoming election – 15 short of ensuring the party can fight every seat – and he believed there was a “better than 50% chance” the country would go to the polls in the autumn. He warned Mr Johnson not to try to revive the withdrawal agreement – already rejected by MPs in the Commons three times – in any form. “I want to make this pledge from The Brexit Party,” he said. “The withdrawal agreement is not Brexit. It is a betrayal of what 17.4 million people voted for. If you insist on the withdrawal agreement, Mr Johnson, we will fight you in every seat up and down the length and breadth of the United Kingdom.” However, Mr Farage said he would be willing to work with the Tories if they backed a “clean break” from the EU and supported a no-deal Brexit. – BBC News > WATCH: Nigel Farage’s speech at today’s Brexit Party Parliamentary Candidates launch UK officially declines to name new EU Commissioner The UK government confirmed on Friday (23 August) that it would not nominate a European Commissioner candidate, branding the issue “a distraction” as Britain prepares to leave the EU on 31 October. Sir Tim Barrow, head of the UK’s delegation to the EU, said in a letter to the Commission and Council that his government will not put forward a candidate’s name by today’s informal 26 August deadline. In his Friday letter, Sir Tim cites Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s 25 July pledge not to pick someone to serve in Ursula von der Leyen’s incoming administration, which is set to take office on 1 November… A lack of name from the UK threatened to pose a legal dilemma, given that EU law says each member state should be represented in the Commission, but that risk has been eliminated by the government letter… Official confirmation that no candidate will be put forward is another sign that the current government is doubling down on embracing the prospect of leaving the EU with no agreement in place. – Euractiv The UK will not nominate a new Commissioner to the EU – gov.uk Boris Johnson threatens to withhold most of the £39 billion Brexit divorce bill in a no-deal scenario… Boris Johnson has threatened to withhold some of the UK’s £39 billion financial settlement with the EU, saying that in the case of a no-deal Brexit the cash is “no longer strictly speaking owed”. Mr Johnson said that “very substantial sums” could be freed up for spending on UK priorities. Speaking ahead of talks with European Council president Donald Tusk at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, Mr Johnson said he had detected a “change in mood” in the EU and was hopeful of starting fresh Brexit talks… The prime minister’s comments come amid reports that Downing Street lawyers have calculated that as little as £7 billion of the cash may be payable if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal. The £39 billion settlement forms part of the agreement sealed by Theresa May last November and rejected three times by Parliament. – Independent Boris Johnson threatens EU over Brexit divorce bill and raises general election stakes – Sunday Times (£) …prompting Guy Verhofstadt to claim that no £39 billion means no trade deal Guy Verhofstadt has issued a stern warning to Boris Johnson, saying the EU will not negotiate a Brexit deal until the UK agrees to pay in full the £39 billion divorce bill. The Belgian MEP threatened to thwart any chance of the EU leaders being brought back to the table just hours after Mr Johnson said “strictly speaking” the UK doesn’t owe Brussels money. The prime minister said EU officials “understand” the UK is not willing to hand over £39 billion if it crashes out of the soon-to-be 27 member bloc on October 31. But Mr Verhofstadt, who is Brexit coordinator for the European parliament, hit back, saying: “If the UK doesn’t pay what is due, the EU will not negotiate a trade deal. – Express Boris Johnson hits back at Donald Tusk in no-deal blame game at the G7 Boris Johnson kicked off his first G7 summit by igniting a war of words with Donald Tusk as the two men argued over who will be to blame if the UK leaves the EU without an agreement. Mr Tusk, the president of the European Council, said when he arrived in Biarritz today for the three day gathering of the leaders of the wealthiest nations in the world that he would not ‘co-operate on No Deal’. He also suggested Mr Johnson should do everything he can to prevent going down in history as ‘Mr No Deal’. But the PM hit back hard, telling reporters on the flight to the French coastal town before his arrival this afternoon that it was Mr Tusk who risked being given that title. Mr Johnson said: ‘As I’ve made it absolutely clear, I don’t want a No Deal Brexit but I say to our friends in the EU: if they don’t want a No Deal Brexit then we’ve got to get rid of the backstop from the treaty. ‘If Donald Tusk doesn’t want to go down as “Mr No Deal Brexit” then I hope that point should be born in mind by him too.’ – MailOnline No 10’s sherpa sent to Brussels in search of an Irish backstop solution The prime minister will send his chief negotiator to Brussels to discuss a Brexit deal after declaring that the EU “wants it over”. David Frost, No 10’s Brexit “sherpa”, will meet European officials tomorrow in an effort to find an alternative to the Irish backstop and avoid a no-deal Brexit. Mr Frost held a first round of meetings at the start of this month and his second trip follows a series of bilateral talks between Boris Johnson and EU leaders, including Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and President Macron of France. The EU has responded with cautious optimism that Mr Johnson is serious about looking for a deal, especially after his meeting with Mrs Merkel in Berlin last week. “He has come across as serious, well briefed and, against our first impressions, he wants a deal. He has personally moved the dial,” a senior European diplomat said. “We are willing to look at British proposals but they must be workable.” – The Times (£) Boris Johnson to send ‘Brexit sherpa’ to Brussels to get EU deal done – Telegraph (£) …as the EU brainstorms tweaks to the Irish backstop to avoid a no-deal Brexit… EU diplomats are brainstorming a new Brexit deal compromise of a stripped down Irish backstop in a bid to avoid No Deal. Representatives from the 27 member states in Brussels are discussing possible tweaks to the controversial border fix after PM Boris Johnson insisted it must be scrapped, The Sun can reveal. A plan under consideration would see the scope of the backstop whittled down and largely confined to covering livestock, plus animal and plant products. The private discussions amongst diplomats in Brussels at still at an early stage, but still contrasts with the EU’s public line that the Withdrawal Agreement cannot be reopened. – The Sun Experts propose alternative to Brexit backstop – Politico …after Boris Johnson demands a fresh Irish border plan as he orders ministers to ‘turbocharge’ search for solution… Boris Johnson returned to London Thursday evening and ordered ministers to draw up a new Irish border policy to ensure the UK leaves the European Union with a deal in 10 weeks’ time. The Prime Minister appeared to punch the air in triumph as he entered Downing Street after a Paris meeting with Emmanuel Macron, in which the French president said the Withdrawal Agreement could be amended. Stephen Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, and his officials will now be ordered to “turbocharge” work on how to find alternative arrangements to the Northern Ireland backstop. Their work is expected to focus on examining proposals in a 270-page report drawn up by Greg Hands, the former Tory minister, and Nicky Morgan, now the Culture Secretary. – Telegraph (£) …while the DUP insist alternative arrangements to the backstop can ensure no hard border… The DUP has said alternatives can be found to the backstop and the controversial measure isn’t the only way to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. MEP Diane Dodds last night insisted that the pre-screening of goods, trusted trader schemes, and technology meant the backstop wasn’t needed. Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist MLA Steve Aiken called for an end to the stand-off over the backstop and warned that if the row continued to gather pace a hard border was more likely. Mrs Dodds said: “There is still time for a deal. We are continuing to work with the Government to reach a sensible deal as we exit the EU. It is time for the Irish Government to recognise the impact of no-deal on its access to the GB market and encourage the EU negotiators to take a more progressive and constructive approach in negotiations.” She called on the Ulster Farmers’ Union to use its position on the all-Ireland Brexit forum to press Dublin to “take a more reasonable approach”. – Belfast Telegraph …although Brexiteer Tories warn that stripping out the backstop is not enough to win their support for a deal Boris Johnson has been warned by senior Brexiteers including David Davis that they might not support his exit deal if he only succeeds in stripping out the Northern Ireland backstop. David Davis, the former Exiting the European Union secretary, told The Telegraph’s Chopper’s Brexit Podcast that Mr Johnson would also have agree not to pay the full £39billion Brexit bill and set a time limit on the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Mr Johnson has identified the removal of the backstop – which will keep the UK in a customs union and the single market after Brexit until a solution is found to prevent a hard border – as a key part of his plans to take the UK out of the EU by Oct 31. – Telegraph (£) Boris Johnson unveils plan to hand peerages to Brexiteers in hopes of restoring ‘balance’ in Remain-packed House of Lords Boris Johnson is preparing to hand a flurry of peerages to Brexiteers to “restore the balance” in the Remain-packed House of Lords. Senior sources yesterday claimed that Leave-voting luminaries and “unsung heroes who had been looked over in the past” would be given the honour. An initial list of six names has already been drawn up. And senior sources told The Sun that more would follow – though AFTER Britain has left the EU on October 31 – when Mr Johnson expects bitter battles over his plans for the nation. It comes amid growing speculation that two of Theresa May’s closest aides, Robbie Gibb and Gavin Barwell, will both be enobled in her imminent resignation honours list. – The Sun Labour will use ‘every means’ to make No. 10 publish no-deal Brexit plans… Ministers may be forced to publish up-to-date reports on the expected aftershocks of a no-deal Brexit when parliament returns in September, after last week’s bombshell revelations about gaps in the government’s contingency planning. A document, compiled by the government this month and leaked to The Sunday Times, revealed that the UK faces shortages of food, fuel and medicines, a three-month meltdown at its ports and a hard border in Ireland if it crashes out of the EU on October 31. In response, Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, has revealed that the Labour Party would “not hesitate to use all parliamentary devices available” to compel ministers to publish all the Operation Yellowhammer documents if the government does not do so voluntarily. In a letter to Michael Gove, Starmer said that this would include a humble address to the Queen — a tactic that was used by his party to force Theresa May to publish the full legal advice on her Brexit deal. – Sunday Times (£) …but plot delay to tabling a motion of confidence… Labour is planning to delay a confidence vote in the Government until mid-September, in an apparent admission that support among Tory rebels has collapsed. Whilst Jeremy Corbyn had been expected to table a motion immediately after the summer recess, Labour insiders have signalled a shift in strategy to let Remainer MPs first try to seize control of Parliamentary business. Allies of the Labour leader fear that losing a vote immediately after MPs return from their holidays could be seen as a “show of weakness” and would leave him “exposed”. On Saturday night party insiders told The Sunday Telegraph that serious consideration is being given to delaying the motion until after September 9, the day when Downing Street expects Europhile MPs will try to seize control. Tory rebels including Dominic Grieve and Philip Hammond are expected to try and amend a motion on power-sharing in Northern Ireland to begin forcing through backbench legislation to block no-deal. – Sunday Telegraph (£) …as Opposition parties remain in disarray over plans to block a no-deal Brexit… MPs’ plans to block a no-deal Brexit are in disarray, amid splits over whether to table a vote of no confidence in the government. Jeremy Corbyn has convened a meeting with opposition leaders on Tuesday, having proposed that a no confidence vote be held and then, if successful, he be installed as leader of a temporary caretaker government. However, one of his allies on Sunday accused the Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson of “petulance” over her refusal to back Mr Corbyn’s plan and said she risked dragging the Queen into a constitutional crisis. Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, has also expressed scepticism about the plan, saying the focus should be on passing legislation to block no deal. There is growing concern that a no confidence vote would be won by the government or that Number 10 would use a defeat to hold an election ahead of Brexit. Downing Street has reportedly war-gamed an election in mid-October, as EU leaders meet to discuss whether to give Britain a new agreement to prevent a no deal departure on October 31. If Boris Johnson won the election, it would give him a mandate to negotiate a new Brexit deal. – Telegraph (£) Swinson urges Corbyn to give up hopes of leading unity government if Johnson is ousted – Independent …and pro-EU Tory rebels delay their bid to force Boris Johnson to abandon a no-deal Brexit Pro-EU Tory rebels are to delay their bid to force Boris Johnson to abandon a No Deal Brexit by a month. A split has emerged between Conservatives and MPs from opposition parties in what they dub “the Rebel Alliance” on when to act. With the clock ticking down to the October 31 deadline, Labour and Lib Dems want to strike as soon as Parliament returns from its long summer break in 10 days time. But its Tory members, including an array of ex-Cabinet ministers, don’t believe “the conditions” are right yet. Downing Street is now “confident” that the new PM has done enough to see off the immediate threat of a no confidence vote or a new law to force him to extend Article 50 talks again, The Sun has learned. – The Sun Archbishop of Canterbury sparks backlash over plan to ‘chair talks against no-deal Brexit’ The Archbishop of Canterbury faces a political backlash after reportedly agreeing to chair public meetings aimed at stopping a no-deal Brexit. Justin Welby is reportedly in talks to chair events known as “citizens’ assemblies” at Coventry Cathedral next month. It comes as a group of MPs opposed to leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement prepare to sign a declaration pledging to ensure the public’s voice “continues to be heard throughout this crucial period”. he Most Reverend Welby’s reported intervention has been criticised by leading Tory Brexiteers in The Times. Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith told the newspaper: “I generally don’t criticise the archbishop. But he shouldn’t allow himself to be tempted into what is essentially a very political issue right now.” – Sky News Gordon Brown brands Corbyn’s caretaker government plan as self-indulgent madness… Gordon Brown has dismissed Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to install himself at the head of a national unity government to stop a no-deal Brexit as self-indulgent “madness.” The former Prime Minister said Mr Corbyn’s proposal to rebel Tories and opposition leaders that Labour form a caretaker government belonged to the “silly season.” Mr Brown said Mr Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon and Jo Swinson should”stop wasting time filling Government positions that are not vacant”and compared them to Nero fiddling “while Rome burned.” Instead he argued they should be focusing their efforts on persuading EU leaders to drop the October 31 Brexit deadline, saying his “instinct” was they would be happy to do so. Writing in the Sunday Mail tabloid, Mr Brown said Boris Johnson threatening a no-deal Brexit was a “self-defeating tactic”, comparing it to “putting a gun to your own head – and saying you’ll shoot yourself if you don’t get your own way.” – Telegraph (£) …while it is suggested Corbyn could support a pre-Brexit election to stop No Deal Jeremy Corbyn would support Boris Johnson in calling a general election, even if the polling day fell just days before the 31 October Brexit deadline, the Guardian understands. The Labour leader’s team are convinced a no-deal Brexit could be thwarted by securing an extension from Britain’s EU partners, even after the European council meets on 17 October. Johnson is widely believed to be plotting a snap poll if MPs try to thwart his Brexit plans – by passing legislation forcing him to ask for an extension to article 50, for example. However, under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, the prime minister would need a two-thirds majority to call a general election before the next one is due in 2022. Theresa May passed that hurdle easily in 2017, with Labour keen to take her on at the polls. But Nick Boles, a former Conservative MP who has been involved in cross-party efforts to find a Brexit compromise, has urged Corbyn to rule out supporting a general election before an extension to article 50 has been secured. – Guardian Donald Trump hails ‘fantastic’ Boris Johnson as the ‘right man’ to deliver Brexit… Donald Trump has hailed “fantastic” trade talks with Boris Johnson over breakfast at the G7 this morning – and claimed the US want to get a deal done in just a year. As the pair held discussions today on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France, the President promised a “huge deal” would happen “quickly” after the UK throws off the “anchor” of Brussels, and praised the new PM as the “right man” to deliver Brexit. And speaking to the media after discussions with the US President, he claimed that “full of beans” Mr Trump was ambitious that a deal could be reached in just a year. But Boris played it down, saying he wanted to take time to make sure a wide-reaching agreement was signed. He said this lunchtime: “I think the Americans are very ambitious to do a deal as fast as possible. What we are saying to them is, yes we want to go fast, and we share their optimism and their enthusiasm, but we want it to be a big and comprehensive free trade deal. We have got to do beyond trade in goods and agriculture – those are quite limited. They want to do it within a year, I’d love to do it within a year, but that’s a very fast timetable.” – The Sun …as the pair prepare to agree a free trade deal within a year… Donald Trump wants to strike a post-Brexit trade deal with Britain “within a year”, Boris Johnson has said. The Prime Minister suggested that the US president wants to reach an agreement “as fast as possible”, as Mr Trump claimed EU membership had been an “anchor” around the ankles of Britain. Speaking as he and the Prime Minister met for their first face-to-face talks since Mr Johnson entered Downing Street, the US President also suggested that, under Theresa May, progress on talks over a post-Brexit deal had been “stymied”. Asked about his discussions with Mr Trump about the proposed deal, on Sunday morning, the Prime Minister told ITV News: “They want to do it within a year. I’d love to do it within a year, but that’s a very fast timetable.” – Telegraph (£) …although Johnson says the timetable is ‘tight’… Boris Johnson has played down the prospects of striking a trade agreement with Donald Trump within 12 months, saying that timetable was “tight” and would require flexibility from the US. Trump talked up the prospects for a US-UK trade agreement when the two men met face to face in Biarritz on Sunday, for the first time since Johnson became prime minister. The US president said they would sign a “very big trade deal, bigger than we’ve ever had,” once the UK is freed from the “anchor” of the EU around its “ankle”. Johnson later said the US would like to do a deal within a year, but while he would “love” to achieve that, “to do it all within a year is going to be tight”. Johnson confirmed he had reiterated his opposition to the NHS being opened up to US firms as part of any trade deal – and to the UK lowering animal welfare standards to US levels to get a deal. “Not only have I made clear of that, the president has made that very, very clear. There is complete unanimity on that point,” he said. He suggested there would be “tough talks ahead”. – Guardian …and warns Trump that the US must compromise to secure it… The US must lift restrictions on UK businesses if it wants a trade deal with the UK, Boris Johnson has said. Travelling to the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, the PM said there were “very considerable barriers in the US to British businesses”. Mr Johnson said he had already spoken to President Donald Trump about his concerns, adding he would do so again when they meet on Sunday morning. The prime minister will also hold talks with EU Council President Donald Tusk. “There are massive opportunities for UK companies to open up, to prise open the American market,” Mr Johnson said. “We intend to seize those opportunities but they are going to require our American friends to compromise and to open up their approach, because currently there are too many restrictions.” – BBC News …and tells him it’s time to help British firms… Boris Johnson has told Donald Trump to tear up red tape stopping companies selling goods to the US as he railed against “bureaucratic obstacles” standing in the way of British firms. The Prime Minister personally laid out terms for a trade deal with America for the first time, listing goods from Melton Mowbray pork pies to shower trays that cannot be sold in the US due to “very considerable barriers”. The pair spoke in a tense telephone call on Friday night in which Mr Johnson insisted that any agreement must be “in the interests of British business”. It came ahead of face-to-face talks between the Prime Minister and the president this morning at the G7 summit in France, the first since Mr Johnson entered Downing Street in July. On Saturday night, as he pledged to use the summit to champion tariff-free trade across the world, Mr Johnson warned that the president risked “incurring the blame” for a global economic downturn by escalating a trade war with China. He also clashed with Emmanuel Macron over the French president’s threat to veto an EU trade agreement with South America unless Brazil did more to fight the wildfires in the Amazon. Speaking as he arrived in Biarritz ahead of talks with Mr Trump and other world leaders, Mr Johnson said: “I would be reluctant to do anything at this very difficult time for global free trade to cancel another trade deal.” – Sunday Telegraph (£) …and that the NHS is off the table Boris Johnson is to lay out his red lines for a post-Brexit trade agreement with the US when he meets Donald Trump for the first time as Prime Minister this weekend, insisting that it must be the “right deal” for Britain. Mr Johnson is expected to say that the NHS will be off the table in negotiations and that the UK will maintain its current standards on animal welfare and food hygiene following claims he was set to allow the import of chlorinated chicken. The Prime Minister also resolved to press ahead with a tax affecting US tech giants despite Mr Trump’s administration warning Britain that the move could jeopardise a free trade deal. The two leaders are due to meet on Sunday morning at the Group 7 meeting of world leaders in Biarritz, on the south west French coast, having held regular telephone conversations since Mr Johnson entered Downing Street last month. – Sunday Telegraph (£) British companies want the UK to ‘end the current uncertainty’ and ‘crack on’ with leaving the EU, Andrea Leadsom says British companies want the UK to “end the current uncertainty” and “crack on” with leaving the EU, the new Business Secretary has declared. Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Andrea Leadsom says that firms she has met across the country are “overwhelmingly positive” about Britain’s post-Brexit future. Distancing herself from the pro-EU outlook of her predecessor, Greg Clark, Mrs Leadsom describes herself as a “truly Brexit-backing Business Secretary” and says the country’s “best years for business” lie ahead. Mrs Leadsom’s intervention is likely to rankle with business lobby groups such as the Confederation of British Industry which campaigned against leaving the EU and whose director general, Caroline Fairbairn, has likened Mr Johnson’s pledge to leave “deal or no deal”, to threatening to “shoot my foot off”. It comes as this newspaper can reveal that the tax man is writing to all UK companies, as part of Boris Johnson’s plans to prepare the country for a no-deal Brexit. Whitehall sources said that HM Revenue and Customs will contact “every known trader” telling them how to plan for the country’s expected departure from the EU on October 31. The letters will coincide with the country’s biggest ever public information campaign to help ready the UK for leaving the bloc with or without a withdrawal agreement with Brussels. Officials said the Cabinet Office was now in the “final stages” of signing of on the £138 billion campaign, which will include television and and radio advertisements, billboards, social media advertising and a dedicated government website. – Sunday Telegraph (£) David Davis reveals EU leaders still believe Brexit won’t happen Brussels still does not believe Brexit will happen, former Brexit Secretary David Davis has revealed in a dramatic interview. The Brexiteer claimed during a conversation with an EU diplomat he worked alongside before quitting his role in protest of former Prime Minister Theresa May’s Chequers deal, the Brussels figurehead said the EU does not think Britain will leave the bloc – ever. Mr Davis said: “I had a conversation this morning with one of the ministers that had worked with me, one of the European ministers and he just asked me how it was going and he said a number of leaders in Europe still hope it won’t happen.” The shocking admission comes despite the October 31 Brexit deadline being less just 68 days away. Mr Davis went on to say that the EU is actually relying on Remainers in British Parliament to block Brexit. Referring to the EU, he told Christopher Hope’s Chopper’s Brexit Podcast: “So what they’re hanging on is what happens in September, and in Parliament.” – Sunday Express Net migration from EU slashed by two-thirds as it falls to five year low Net migration to the UK from the EU has fallen by more than two-thirds since 2015 to register its lowest level for six years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). ONS estimates show EU net migration is down to 59,000 in the year to March, a third of its peak level of 219,000 in the year to March 2015 and similar to the lows of 2013. This is largely because of a drop in people coming to the UK to work with the biggest fall among those from the EU8 countries including Poland, Lithuania and the Czech republic. The net number of EU migrants reduced by 7,000, with just 36,000 arriving to 43,000 who left. Economists say the exchange rate and strengthening economies in countries like Poland has retained workers and encouraged many to return to their home nations. – Telegraph (£) Andrea Leadsom: We will do everything in our power to help businesses seize the vast opportunities of Brexit October 31 will be a historic day for the United Kingdom – the day we finally act on the will of the people and leave the European Union. As a truly Brexit-backing Business Secretary, my number one priority for the 67 days ahead is to ensure that businesses are well prepared. My message to them is clear: prepare for Brexit, and the superb opportunities that lie ahead will be yours. One of my first engagements as Secretary of State was to meet with businesses from across the country to talk about the potential for UK growth, jobs and opportunity. I met large manufacturing firms that trade across borders, retailers operating in different markets and innovative small businesses that export their great, British products around the world. They were overwhelmingly positive about our future. In Aberdeen I met with a wide range of businesses with varying hopes for Brexit. – Andrea Leadsom MP for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Liz Truss: My deal with South Korea is great news for Global Britain Today I signed my first trade continuity deal as Trade Secretary with Korea. This is an exciting moment for both of our countries and demonstrates this Government’s commitment to maintaining existing trade agreements with our allies. More than that, it is a first step towards enhancing those relationships and sets down a marker of intent that the UK will be open for business when we leave the European Union on October 31. Once we leave the rules and regulations of the European Union, we will be able to establish our own independent trade policy for the first time in forty years. This provides us with the opportunity to realise new gold standard trade deals with our existing allies and like-minded countries such as Korea; nations who embrace freedom, value democracy and respect the rule of law. – Liz Truss MP for the Telegraph (£) Jeremy Corbyn: I will do everything I can to stop a no-deal bankers’ Brexit Our country is heading into a crisis this autumn, with Boris Johnson’s Tories driving us towards a no-deal cliff edge. No deal would destroy people’s jobs, push up food prices in the shops and open our NHS to takeover by US private corporations. We will do everything necessary to stop a disastrous no deal for which this government has no mandate. That’s why on Tuesday I am hosting a meeting of opposition parties to discuss how we can stop Johnson’s reckless rush for a no-deal Brexit. The stakes couldn’t be higher. There were reports over the long weekend that the Tories are going out with their begging bowl to billionaire hedge funders to raise cash for an autumn general election. Let no one be in any doubt what these super-rich donors will be paying for: the chaos and uncertainty caused by a no-deal Brexit is a potential goldmine for speculators betting against the pound. – Jeremy Corbyn MP for the Independent Iain Duncan Smith: Fixing Mrs May’s deal won’t be easy, but Boris deserves a chance to try How are the mighty fallen. Two weeks ago, ardent Remainer MPs began their attack on Boris Johnson with threats of stopping a no-deal Brexit in any way they could. A group of Conservative MPs even appallingly agreed to enter talks with Jeremy Corbyn about an alternative stop-gap administration. Then, right on cue, there came the leak by a supposed disgruntled ex-minister of a report codenamed “Yellowhammer” on the consequences of a no-deal Brexit. Full of doom and gloom, it inevitably told us that we are all, as Private Frazer from Dad’s Army would have said, “Doomed I tell ye, Doomed!” Perhaps the high point of this absurdity came with the former chancellor Philip Hammond claiming that he knew the British people didn’t vote to leave with no deal. He alone it appears, knows what motivated people to vote for Brexit. Really? – Iain Duncan Smith MP for the Telegraph (£) Daniel Hannan: Boris is serious about a deal, but the Brussels Eurocrats still want to punish the British ‘deserters’ Even the civil servants seem suddenly to be standing straighter. After three years of immobilism, dreariness and funk, the Government is again exuding purpose. I spent a couple of days this week with some of the officials preparing for Brexit – all of them, as far as I could tell, Remain voters, all of them ready to find fault with the new PM. Instead, to their palpable surprise, they found themselves energised by the waves of determination and leadership pulsing out from Downing Street. EU leaders, too, can feel the difference. They were all keyed up to loathe Boris Johnson, the man they blamed for swinging the 2016 referendum. But look at the body language on display at the PM’s meetings in France and Germany. Where Theresa May was wooden, passive, unable to deviate from a script, Boris is funny, charming, in control of the situation. Heads of government are human, too. They are as likely as anyone else to respond to warmth. Will warmth be enough to secure a deal? It is possible, but unlikely. On paper, the EU has every reason to look for a compromise. – Daniel Hanna MEP for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Janet Daley: The EU has stepped back from the brink because it knows it cannot risk a no-deal Brexit Is it all about semantics now? In Paris, at that meeting in which nothing very encouraging was supposed to happen, Emmanuel Macron stated with splendid philosophical subtlety that there could, after all, be amendments to the Withdrawal Agreement – but that this process could not result in a “new” Agreement. So how many amendments would it take to qualify said document as a New Agreement? Or to put it another way, how much can the Old Agreement be amended without risking it being transformed, unacceptably, into a New Agreement? Students of philosophy may be familiar with this metaphysical dilemma: how many bricks can you replace in a house before it becomes a different house? Perhaps inevitably, this is where we are. Because the leaders of the EU have bound themselves irrevocably to the principle that this Withdrawal Agreement is the only possible one – ever – even though it has been rejected by the UK Parliament three times. But at the same time, they cannot risk the UK taking the only possible alternative path and leaving with no deal at all. So everybody has to retreat from the brink, while somehow managing to save face. – Janet Daley for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Jon Moynihan: In 2016 we voted for a trade deal beneficial to both sides In the Tory leadership hustings, Boris was unrelenting in his view that May’s deal was dead. That worked, but enraged Parliament. In his EU charm offensive, he has managed to appear accommodating, but any implied willingness to go with “May’s deal less the backstop” would likely be electorally fatal. Even if Nigel Farage disbanded the Brexit Party, enough Brexiteers would withhold their vote from the Tories to destroy them. May’s deal contained an outrage on almost every page. No unilateral ability to exit. The £39 billion. The ECJ in charge. The EU interpreting the deal’s wording as it chose. The UK required to accept any law passed by the EU. Multiple further surrenders, such as on fishing and defence. The Spartans in the ERG’s hackles raise if Boris implies that getting rid of the backstop might suffice. They subside when he states we must be out of the Customs Union and Single Market “when we leave” (October 31) – meaning the Withdrawal Agreement has to be ripped up. – Jon Moynihan for the Telegraph (£) Fraser Nelson: The EU cannot afford a no-deal Brexit. Luckily, it has a parachute handy It’s easy to sympathise with Emmanuel Macron. Britain is leaving the EU club but wants to keep the benefits of membership (free trade) without agreeing to the obligations (the diktats). If we get away with it, where would that leave Europe? He once admitted that even France would “probably” have voted to leave the EU if given the chance: Marine Le Pen, his great antagonist, has talked about giving them that choice. Understandably, M Macron needs to put people off this idea. So he must show that the EU does not bend when threatened and that countries who break away face isolation and political ruin. – Fraser Nelson for the Telegraph (£) The Sun: EU leaders know how bad a No Deal is for them, it would be mad for the EU not to work to mitigate the risk Make no mistake, European leaders are well aware a No Deal Brexit would be bad news for the Continent’s economy. Yet there is still a chance they could insist on the backstop as it currently stands — thus making a clean break almost inevitable. The truth is that politics usually trumps pragmatism when it comes to the European project. But, with some flexibility and compromise, it is entirely possible that a No Deal Brexit on October 31 might not be as painful as the Project Fear merchants would have you believe. Quietly, the EU and Britain have worked on plenty of so-called mini-deals, small arrangements which will mean the apocalyptic scenarios of planes backed up at airports or students being deported simply won’t come true. There’s plenty of scope to do more. The risk, of course, is that Tory rebels nuke the whole thing. Philip Hammond may even go to Brussels to tell Eurocrats that he can stop No Deal, as long as they make sure it’s as chaotic as possible. He never fails to disappoint. Leaving without a deal remains the most likely outcome. As our Government turbocharges preparations, it would be mad for the EU not to work with us to mitigate the worst risks. – The Sun says Charles Moore: Boris has brought a miraculous change to the political weather, as the Remainer world order falls apart While everyone else was looking at Donald Trump and Boris Johnson as they complimented each other across the table at the G7 meeting in Biarritz yesterday, my focus was two places to Mr Johnson’s right. I was studying the face of Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador to the French Republic, Lord Llewellyn of Steep. As plain Ed Llewellyn, Lord Ll was David Cameron’s chief of staff, and also his closest aide on all EU matters. Most particularly, he advised Mr Cameron on how to win enough concessions from the EU to secure a Remain vote in 2016. The concessions offered by Mrs Merkel took no tricks. The referendum was lost. Mr Cameron resigned, ennobling and promoting Mr Llewellyn as he left. And yesterday our ambassador was sitting with our new Prime Minister, smiling tightly as he watched the whole diplomatic world that he had fought to defend falling apart. When Lord Ll was in 10 Downing Street, the then President of the United States said that Britain would have to “go to the back of the queue” for a trade deal if it left the EU. – Charles Moore for the Telegraph (£) Telegraph: A Brexit deal with the EU is possible, if Brussels is willing to put pragmatism ahead of ideology Boris Johnson has said that the odds of striking a Brexit agreement with the EU are “touch and go” and that “the important thing is to get ready to come out without a deal”. Remainers may howl with outrage, but this is a simple statement of fact. The Prime Minister has been explicit that he wants an exit agreement, so long as the EU is willing to compromise. But the only way to ensure that Brussels does budge is to show that the UK is prepared to walk away without a deal. Indeed, all of this should have been obvious in January, when Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by Theresa May. After that, there were only three options left for the UK: stay in the EU, walk away without a deal or properly renegotiate. Instead, Mrs May chose mere tweaks to the Agreement. Watching from Brussels, it must have looked like capitulation was imminent. But the election of Mr Johnson has changed the situation completely. – Telegraph (£) editorial The Sun: Remainers ripped up parliamentary history in their attempts to block Brexit — they have no right to complain now the tables have turned Aided and abetted by the odious toad John Bercow in the Speaker’s Chair, they’ve run roughshod over convention, creating dangerous precedents along the way. Never before have governments been forced to publish confidential legal advice; but after Labour and their fellow travellers on the Tory backbenches dragged the Queen into our Brexit battle with a Humble Address, that might be the case from here on. Labour plan to use the tactic again — while decrying the idea of Boris delivering on legislation that has already passed Parliament to leave the EU. But when Keir Starmer warns he’ll use every means to disrupt Brexit, he and his party are hardly in any place to complain when the tables are turned. Two can play at that Parliamentary game, Sir Keir. So if Boris does call a snap election via a confidence vote or prorogues Parliament, they’ve only themselves to blame. – The Sun says Brexit in Brief Jeremy Corbyn wants a Brexit deal, any Brexit deal, except one proposed by the Tories – Stephen Bush for the Sunday Times (£) The Europeans always knew we Brits were too swashbuckling for Brussels – Julie Burchill for the Telegraph (£) No-deal Brexit would be a self-inflicted wound but there’s still time to stop it – Gordon Brown for the Sunday Mirror Boris Johnson cannot risk being side-tracked and humiliated like Baldrick by the bullying Blackadders of Brussels – Trevor Kavanagh for The Sun No-deal Brexit could swell IRA ranks and see police attacks surge, Northern Ireland’s top cop claims – The Sun Sir Keir Starmer says Remainer parties should focus on finding legislation with ‘legal bite’ – Telegraph (£) British travellers could get their own passport queues after Brexit – The Sun Chancellor Sajid Javid reminds Treasury officials about Brexit with office countdown calendar – The Sun