Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Jeremy Corbyn will whip Labour MPs to oppose the Government’s Brexit deal on Friday… Jeremy Corbyn will whip his diminished parliamentary party to vote against Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal on Friday, in the outgoing Labour leader’s final strategic call. Mr Corbyn’s move will give the prime minister a renewed opportunity to establish clear dividing lines between the Conservatives and Labour on Brexit. The vote, on Friday, will be the first show of parliamentary strength from the prime minister since his commanding victory in the general election last week gave him a majority in the Commons of 80. Mr Corbyn and his allies believe the Brexit divide was the reason that Labour slumped to its worst defeat in almost 90 years. In a fraught appearance before the parliamentary Labour Party last night Mr Corbyn told them that under his leadership they would continue to oppose Mr Johnson’s deal. “On Friday, we have the debate on the withdrawal agreement bill,” Mr Corbyn said. “We will vote against it because by putting an impossible timetable for a good deal with the EU, Boris Johnson has already shown that his priority is a toxic deal with Donald Trump that will sell out our NHS and risk the safety of our food. And the [withdrawal agreement bill] significantly risks undermining the Good Friday agreement.” Mr Corbyn said that Labour “must now listen to those lifelong Labour voters who we’ve lost”, and that “Brexit was a major, although not the only, reason for their loss of trust in us”. But he said he believed that Mr Johnson’s claim that his deal would get Brexit done would “soon be exposed for the falsehood it is”. – The Times (£) …as Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer considers Labour leadership bid… While the leadership race has not yet formally been launched, the shadow Brexit secretary confirmed to the Guardian that, as widely expected in Westminster, he was “seriously considering” running to succeed Jeremy Corbyn…. Starmer was given few opportunities to speak for his party during the election campaign as Labour strategists sought to dodge the fraught question of Brexit. But he believes he could have made a better job than Corbyn of criticising the central claim of the Tories’ campaign. “I don’t think we tackled the ‘get Brexit done’ slogan strongly enough,” he said. “We should have taken it down. Frankly I’d have liked to opportunity to have done it”… Starmer, whose remain stance was partly blamed by some allies of Corbyn, including Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, for losing Labour the election, conceded that the argument for a referendum had been “swept away” by the election result. But he said his party must not give up the fight against the Conservatives. “The Brexit debate changes,” he said. “We will leave in January and the argument will have to be about the type of deal that we have with Europe: and we will argue, as we argued before, for a deal that protects our economy, protects our jobs, and working standards, the environment and consumers. That is really important.” – Guardian …while Tony Blair will insist today that Labour’s Brexit stance was not the main reason for its defeat Tony Blair is warning that Labour will be “replaced” as a serious political force if it tries to “whitewash” the scale of its election defeat. The ex-prime minister will unveil research suggesting Labour’s problems go “far deeper” than the unpopularity of Jeremy Corbyn and its Brexit stance… Mr Blair, who won three general elections in a row between 1997 and 2005, will use a speech in London to warn of an existential threat to Labour. He will say that while many Labour voters abandoned the party because of concerns over its Brexit policy – one of the reasons cited by Mr Corbyn and others at the top of the party – the issue was not the “main explanation” for the party’s retreat in so many traditional heartlands. He will point to research carried out by Deltapoll, for the Tony Blair Institute, which spoke to Labour voters in three marginal seats – Bishop Auckland, Walsall and Bassetlaw – in the final week before the election – BBC News Lower British courts to get power to overrule EU law Boris Johnson has split the cabinet with a plan to give British judges new powers to overturn rulings by the European Court of Justice, The Times has learnt. Theresa May’s government agreed to transfer all existing European Union case law into British law after Brexit, a decision opposed by Eurosceptics in the Conservative Party. The commitment meant that only the Supreme Court in England and the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland would be allowed to “depart” from EU case law. A new clause in Mr Johnson’s withdrawal agreement bill will let lower courts overturn ECJ rulings. MPs will vote on the bill on Friday. Mr Johnson has argued that Britain should “take back control of our laws” and the change will be celebrated by his party as restoring the sovereignty of the justice system. It will mean that British courts can rule on existing EU case law dealing with issues such as holiday entitlement, sick leave, maximum working hours, VAT and flight compensation. – The Times (£) Michael Gove fails to rule out a no-deal Brexit… Michael Gove has declined to rule out the possibility of a no-deal Brexit as he was challenged over the government’s decision to make it illegal to request an extension to EU alignment beyond 2020. In its first major announcement since securing a majority in the general election, the government said it would enshrine in law a ban on extending the transition period on a Brexit deal with the EU. This is being seen as an attempt to push the European Union to give Boris Johnson a comprehensive free trade deal in less than 11 months by presenting the bloc with a new cliff-edge. The extension ban will be written into the withdrawal agreement bill, which is due to have its second reading in the Commons on Friday. However, questions have been raised over what happens if an agreement is not struck with the EU by the end of 2020. Appearing on BBC Breakfast, Gove, who has been in charge of no-deal planning, was asked four times if the new arrangement meant there was still a possibility of a no-deal hard Brexit, which MPs tried repeatedly in the Commons to prevent happening through legislation enacted by the Labour MP Hilary Benn. He said: “No, the Brexit we are committed to delivering is the one in our manifesto. We need to make sure we honour that. That is a commitment we have to keep.” – Guardian > WATCH: Cabinet Minister Michael Gove discusses Brexit and future trade deals with Adam Boulton …as Boris Johnson hails the ‘People’s Parliament’ that will ‘get Brexit done’ Boris Johnson has declared that the new “people’s parliament” will “get Brexit done”, as MPs returned to the Commons for the first time since the general election. The prime minister addressed the House in the wake of his landslide victory, which saw the Conservatives win a commanding Commons majority of 80. Rising to sustained cheers from the government benches, Mr Johnson said the new parliament was a “vast improvement on its predecessor”. He said this was because of its diversity and because it was “not going to waste the time of the nation” over Brexit. The government will begin putting its Withdrawal Agreement Bill through the Commons on Friday. Referencing this the PM said: “I wonder if you can guess what it is that this parliament is going to do when we put the withdrawal agreement back. We’re going to get Brexit done.” – Sky News EU brushes off Johnson’s December 2020 deadline for post-Brexit trade deal… The European Union today shrugged off a plan by Boris Johnson to make it illegal for parliament to extend the Brexit transition period. Senior EU sources dismissed it as sabre-rattling and said the move was “expected” as part of the prime minister’s political positioning before talks in February. They said setting an 11-month legal deadline to agree a free trade deal would put more constraints on Britain than the rest of Europe. On Friday the government will table a new clause in the withdrawal agreement bill that would outlaw an extension of the transitional period beyond the end of next year. The emboldened prime minister will also drop concessions that he made to Remainers in the last parliament on areas including workers’ rights. Michel Barnier, who will lead the talks for the EU next year, has warned that striking a “comprehensive” free-trade deal between February and December 31, 2020 is “very unrealistic”. Sabine Weyand, the EU’s chief trade negotiator, said that the real questions would be the substance of a future trade deal rather than the timetable. – The Times (£) …but draws up plans for quick-fire trade deal after Johnson moves to legally rule out extending the transition… Boris Johnson’s move to legally rule out extending the transition hit home in Brussels as EU chiefs drew up plans for a quick-fire trade deal. EU negotiators will respond to the PM’s ultimatum with phased talks that will see a tariff and quota free agreement on goods in place by the end of 2020. Both sides would then apply interim measures for other areas – like services and security – while the future relationship is fleshed out in stage two. The PM will meet Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen next month to kickstart negotiations – but she’s sceptical the time frame is realistic. She congratulated the PM’s election triumph in a phone call and the pair agreed to work together with “great energy to agree a future partnership by December 2020,” a Downing Street source said. Trade boss Sabine Weyand said the bloc was taking the PM’s pledge “seriously” and would focus on areas where no deal “would lead to a cliff-edge”. – The Sun …while the Irish Foreign Minister suggests Johnson’s ‘strange’ Brexit extension block will limit the UK’s options Ireland has branded Boris Johnson’s decision to block an extension of the Brexit transition period “strange” and said the move will limit the UK’s options in the future. The prime minister has said he will legislate to make it unlawful for the government to delay the end of the transition past the end of 2020 – limiting the time available to sign a trade agreement. Speaking on Tuesday, Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said the move amounted to the “UK deciding to tie itself in terms of options”, while senior EU officials said the scope of talks would have to be limited to adapt. “Nobody is forcing the UK to apply for an extended transition period but they have the option to do it if they want to up until the middle of next summer, and what Boris Johnson is doing is essentially ruling out an option that was put into the withdrawal agreement for Britain,” Mr Coveney said. – Independent Nigel Farage stopped Tories taking 20 more seats, say pollsters Nigel Farage cost Boris Johnson a majority in excess of 100, initial analysis suggests. Internal Conservative estimates show that the party would have taken about 20 seats where Labour held on if the Brexit Party had not been standing. Other pollsters have backed these figures, concluding that more of Labour’s “Red Wall” would have gone blue but for Mr Farage’s decision to contest seats held by the opposition. Mr Farage’s decision to pull out of Tory-held seats and effectively endorse Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal was one of the decisive moments of the campaign, allowing the Tories to unite the Leave vote while Remainers were split between Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, Greens and Plaid Cymru. However, his 80-seat majority would have exceeded Margaret Thatcher’s of 102 in 1987 if the Brexit Party had not stood at all, figures suggest. Paul Hilder, chief executive of the polling firm Datapraxis, said: “According to our analysis, there are at least 20 Labour-held seats where the Brexit Party likely cost the Tories victory. One of the things that happened through the campaign was that some of the Labour to Brexit Party switchers came back to Labour, a few went tactically to the Tories and some ended up staying home.” – The Times (£) > Christopher Howarth on BrexitCentral today: The Brexit Party actually saved the Labour Party from annihilation last week in places like Sunderland Tory MP Andrew Bridgen calls on Boris Johnson to give Nigel Farage and Ken Clarke knighthoods so the country can ‘move on from Brexit’ Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has penned a letter to Boris Johnson urging him to bestow knighthoods on Nigel Farage and Ken Clarke. The MP for North West Leicestershire, 55, wrote to the Prime Minister saying that the country needs to ‘go through a healing process’. To achieve this, Mr Bridgen called on the PM to honour both sides of the referendum debate, so the country can ‘move on from Brexit’. Mr Farage is perhaps the most recognisable and ardent Eurosceptic in British politics, while former Conservative MP Mr Clarke is a passionate Remainer, rebelling against Boris Johnson before the recent election. In his letter, Mr Bridgen also asked for Arron Banks, one of UKIP’s largest donor’s, to be allowed back into the Tory party. – MailOnline Jobs surge as companies ignore politics to keep on hiring The jobs market hit new highs in October as bosses ignored the looming Brexit deadline and election uncertainty to take on new full-time workers, driving unemployment among women down to new record lows. Economists had feared mounting political uncertainty would derail Britain’s “jobs miracle”, but after a few weak months hiring picked up again. Employment rose by 24,000 in the three months to October and by 309,000 compared to the same period in 2018, according to the Office for National Statistics. It takes the employment rate to a record high at 76.2pc of the working-age population. In the past year employment has risen fastest for scientific, professional and technical jobs, as well as for health and social care workers. At the same time unemployment fell again by 13,000 on the quarter and by 93,000 on the year. It leaves the unemployment rate steady at 3.8pc, its joint-lowest level since the mid-1970s. – Telegraph (£) Boris Johnson bans ministers from attending elite Davos summit next month saying they should be busy ‘delivering’ rather than sipping ‘champagne with billionaires’ Boris Johnson has banned ministers from attending the Davos summit next month – insisting they should be busy ‘delivering’ rather than sipping ‘champagne with billionaires’. The PM has issued the edict as he hammers home his message to working-class voters who ‘lent’ the Tories their support in the bombshell election. Previously premiers and senior ministers have been keen to go to the World Economic Forum event, where the global elite gather to network. But the opulent surroundings of the Swiss ski resort, where business leaders and politicians have lavish dinners, would have grated with the new-look Conservatives. A Government source said ministers would be too busy getting on with implementing the manifesto. – MailOnline Nigel Farage: Outlawing more Brexit delay is bold, but Boris must beware the EU’s trade talks trap Following my decision to stand down 317 Brexit Party candidates during the general election campaign, the question I am asked most often by ardent Leavers is: do I really trust Boris Johnson to achieve Brexit? Given the failure of the Conservatives to secure Britain’s exit from the EU over the last 30 months, this is a fair question. I have been opposed to Johnson’s “deal” from the start. As soon as it surfaced, in October, I went through it in detail in the early hours of the morning in Brussels. It was easy to see that what he had agreed was a new EU treaty with an attached political declaration that was not so very different from Theresa May’s botched compromise. My sense was that it would have disastrous consequences for the Union. The reason that I backed down in those 317 seats was that Johnson promised subsequently that the UK really would leave the bloc by the end of 2020 and would also aim to negotiate a super Canada-plus free trade agreement without political and regulatory alignment. Be in no doubt that without these pledges, the Brexit Party would have stood against the Conservatives in those 317 constituencies. Since Johnson’s victory on Thursday it has been widely speculated that the ERG and, indeed, the Brexit Party would likely be let down by the prime minister. It was assumed that with an 80-seat majority both entities had effectively been neutered.In political terms, I am pleased to say, this view has already been proved wrong. The bold announcement on Monday night that the withdrawal bill will be brought before the House of Commons with an amendment making it illegal for parliament to extend the transition period beyond December 2020 is fantastic. Better still is that a WTO withdrawal is back on the table if the terms of the trade agreement cannot be sorted out. Johnson seems to be sincere that our break from the European Union should be a clean one. These amendments to the withdrawal bill are without doubt the best news that Brexiteers have heard from the government since 23 June 2016. The most pressing question that remains is what will all of this mean in legal terms in our negotiations with Brussels? – Nigel Farage MEP for the Telegraph (£) Lee Rotherham: There will be no ratting on the simple core fact that we are getting out of the EU General elections bring out the worst in politicians. It’s not just the Comical Ali-style bar charts, proclaiming some ancient parish council by-election portends a Liberal Democrat surge. Nor the fanciful accounting. My number crunching on Labour’s £83 billion budget binge suggested that’s what it would cost to fill Trafalgar Square with twenty Nelson’s Columns dedicated to a pantheon of Marxists – but all made of silver bullion. It’s not the jostling for attention either, even amongst broadcasters. Like Channel 4 replacing the Prime Minister with something that fell out of a gin and tonic in Brobdingnag. (I exclude the Labour leadership from criticism in this instance; after all, Corbynites have a historic aversion of being in the same room as an ice pick.) No, it’s the foggy manifesto consequences, and the unmetalled policy roads. By good fortune I was out of circulation when the text of the renegotiated Boris Deal came out. I was consequently spared a spaghetti-throwing competition between Eurosceptic friends. Who is right – those who claim it is a triumph? Or those who say it’s a Skoda? At stake are the aspirations of millions of swing voters who declared at the ballot box they want to see Brexit done. The Conservative majority guarantees that the Deal is now definitely going to happen. So what are we in for? On review, at risk of triggering Justin Welby, I would suggest it’s a curate’s egg. – Lee Rotherham for the Telegraph (£) Ann Widdecombe: Boris must be bold to deliver on Brexit Boris Johnson can say thank you to Nigel Farage for the size of his majority. By standing down in all the Tory seats we eliminated the risk in their marginals and kept the Lib Dems at bay. In seat after seat in the North and Midlands, the Brexit Party drew off Labour votes and the Conservatives crossed the line with fewer votes than we had taken. Yet if only the Tories had agreed to a pact at the start, their majority might have been bigger still, as we would have then stood down in marginal seats which they might have won. Of course Boris won’t actually say thank you because he and Dominic Cummings have far too great a sense of self-entitlement but other, more grateful, Conservatives are saying it sotto voce. It is now crucial Boris uses that huge majority to deliver a real Brexit. – Ann Widdecombe MEP for the Express Asa Bennett: Boris Johnson’s 2020 deadline shows he is laying down the law on Brexit Boris Johnson’s move to recognise the legal status quo – that the United Kingdom is set to fully leave the European Union after 31 December 2020 – has certainly caused a stir. The same pundits who excitably argued that the Prime Minister would use his majority to defy his Brexiteer colleagues and pursue a softer Brexit, despite winning his mandate on a promise to pass that “oven-ready” deal, are now adamant that outlawing an extension to the transition is an unfathomable act of self-constraint. Despite the froth from some about the Prime Minister apparently not needing to make this move, anyone who paid attention during the election campaign will find this is only to be expected. The Tories ruled out an extension in their election manifesto, putting the promise in bold to make clear it was not just idle blather. Mr Johnson himself ruled out extending the transition any further, a line echoed faithfully by his colleagues. The Prime Minister told the British people that “we have to clear the blockage” in Parliament in what he hailed as a “Dyno-Rod election”, and is already cracking on with the job. The legislation implementing his Brexit bill will also clear out the remnants of the notorious Remainer-enforced bills passed under the last Parliament that bunged up the legislative pipework. The legislation known as the Benn Act by supporters, and the Surrender Bill by its detractors, will be gone – along with its predecessor, the Cooper-Letwin Act. A clause demanded by Labour MP Lisa Nandy giving the Commons the right to dictate the Government’s negotiating position in trade talks is also toast. – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Shanker Singham: The PM can negotiate a proper Brexit by the end of 2020 – so long as he avoids these 5 cardinal errors It is important that the new UK government, powered by a spectacular landslide at the polls, does not repeat the mistakes of its predecessor May administration as it embarks on phase two of the EU talks – the all-important Future Economic Partnership. Amid the media clamour about how the length of negotiations for an EU-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), we are in danger of falling into yet another trap. Luckily, the PM’s overwhelming Commons majority means he can still avoid it. There are five cardinal errors that should not be repeated. The majority of the twenty or so chapters which will form the eventual UK-EU FTA are non-controversial and can be agreed quite quickly, thus building momentum for the eventual deal. Can all this be done by Dec 2020? No-one can know that now, but we do know that a deadline will concentrate minds and make it more, not less likely. In trade negotiations, there are frequently too many variables to permit definitive answers, and you have to embark on the journey without always knowing exactly what the destination will be. In that respect, it is a lot like any entrepreneurial venture. – Shanker Singham for the Telegraph (£) Ross Clark: BBC’s anti-Brexit bias drips through their entire output — their licence fee days are numbered How very BBC that it should respond to charges of bias against the Conservatives by inviting Labour MP Andy McDonald on to the Today programme on Monday and egging him on to say the BBC was biased against Jeremy Corbyn. Look at us, the corporation is trying to say, we’re being attacked from both sides, so we must have got our balance just right. Sorry, but it won’t wash. The most grievous example of “bias” that McDonald could come up with was a BBC reporter who on election night referred to the “election victory that Boris Johnson so deserves” rather than, as she meant to say, the election victory he so desires. Against that, we had six weeks of battering Boris Johnson and his Government — and of course continuing to rubbish Brexit. I am sure the BBC was disappointed that Boris rejected the invitation to be interviewed by Andrew Neil. But that doesn’t excuse its hysterical reaction. Ironically, on the day Neil lambasted Johnson for refusing to appear on his show, the Prime Minister took part in an hour-long live BBC debate with Jeremy Corbyn. That is something no serving Prime Minister had agreed to do until Gordon Brown in 2010. Boris also took part in a Question Time special, being interviewed by a live audience, he was interviewed by Andrew Marr and spoke with numerous other broadcasters and publications. And of course, Boris had to run the country as well as campaign for the election. During the week the Andrew Neil interview would have taken place the Prime Minister was hosting a Nato summit. I’ve just been through the Twitter feed of the BBC’s “Reality Check” correspondent.The BBC has tried all it can to undermine Brexit. Week after week it leads news bulletins with claims by Remain-supporting think tanks that the economy would crash as a result of Brexit — while simultaneously downplaying real economic data showing healthy economic growth and very strong jobs figures. – Ross Clark for The Sun Dan Sabbagh: ‘There’s no chance now’: how the People’s Vote movement died As political collapses go, it was astonishingly swift. One weekend in October, hundreds of thousands of people had descended on central London to demand a second Brexit referendum. A week later, the cause, the biggest non-party movement in British politics, was effectively dead. The hammer blows came in quick succession: by the following Friday, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP had decided to offer Boris Johnson an early election. Then late on the Sunday night, in a spectacularly ill-timed boardroom coup, two emails told the two organisers of the People’s Vote campaign they were fired. The recipients of the emails were a stunned James McGrory, the director of the People’s Vote campaign, and its communications director, Tom Baldwin. They were victims of a long-running behind-the-scenes row over governance with the financial PR specialist Roland Rudd, brother of the former cabinet minister Amber. “If MPs had held their nerve, we could have left Johnson twisting in the wind and eventually secured a majority for a people’s vote. But [Lib Dem leader Jo] Swinson effectively destroyed the remain alliance,” Baldwin said. “Within hours, Roland moved to sack James and me, perhaps in the belief it would silence opposition to what the Lib Dems were doing.” Others involved say that suggestion is too neat and that the election decision was the decisive one. Hugo Dixon, the deputy chairman of People’s Vote and an ally of Rudd’s, said: “It was over once the Lib Dems decided to allow Johnson to fight on the terrain of his choice.” Last weekend, after the election, messages went up on connected WhatsApp groups, asking if people were willing to back a new organisation: Rejoin. “I can’t say there was any enthusiasm,” said one campaigner. “It’s over.” – Dan Sabbagh for the Guardian The Sun: Boris Johnson can now deliver ‘undeliverable’ Brexit — did Remainers call anything right? Remember how they sneered that Brexit was “undeliverable”? How a trade deal with the EU would take seven years? Did the Remainers call anything right? Brexit will now be delivered on January 31. We will be out of the EU. And Brussels now looks as keen as Boris Johnson to sign a rapid new free-trade relationship by this time next year. The PM aims to pass a law banning any extension beyond that. Funny, isn’t it, how the genuine threat of a No Deal exit focuses everyone’s mind? These negotiations will have a far more respectful tone than those of the last three years. It was always obvious Brussels would only talk in good faith if it was certain we were going to see our referendum result through. Which makes it all the more scandalous that europhile politicians, many unelected, colluded with the EU and assured them we would reverse Brexit at a second vote. They were grievously harming the national interest. Most got their just deserts last week. But they should all hang their heads and apologise for the delay, division and damage they have caused since June 2016. – The Sun says Stephen Glover: At last! We have a Prime Minister the EU must take seriously as we prepare for Brexit Every time Boris Johnson vowed to ‘get Brexit done’ during the election campaign, his words were met with the same sceptical chorus from Labour, the Lib Dems, BBC News and various ‘fact-checking’ outfits that have sprung up in recent times. The PM can’t really deliver Brexit, it was said, because several years of arduous trade negotiations with Brussels lie ahead. It was ludicrous to suppose these can be concluded by the end of 2020, as he has undertaken to do. After all, the free-trade agreement which the EU struck with Canada took seven years to negotiate. A widespread view – admittedly one entertained mostly by Remainers – has been that the UK would be lucky to have a deal even at the end of a further extension to December 2022. So Mr Johnson’s decision to enshrine in law a commitment to complete a new trading arrangement with the EU by the end of next year has infuriated his critics, discomfited Brussels and spooked the foreign exchange markets. For the first time in a long time, the Prime Minister of Great Britain is going to be taken seriously. – Stephen Glover for the Daily Mail Lord Ashcroft: Was it really ‘Brexit wot lost it’ for Labour? John McDonnell was first with the theory, as soon as the exit poll had stunned the nation. “Brexit dominated the election,” he said. “I think people are frustrated and want Brexit out of the way.” The theme was taken up over the hours and days that followed, culminating in the claim Labour “won the argument” and that Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership had nothing to do with the party’s worst result since 1935. Brexit alone was to blame. Well, if this is the result you get when you win the argument, we can only imagine what losing it would look like. But what about the idea that the result can be put entirely down to Brexit, rather than the broader questions of policy and leadership that usually go into people’s voting decisions? It would be absurd to deny that Brexit played a big part in the result. My election-day post-vote poll of 13,000 voters found the idea that a Conservative vote was most likely to lead to “the Brexit outcome I wanted” topped the list of broad explanations for Tory voters’ decisions – but only 37 per cent mentioned it as the single most important reason, and a third of them didn’t mention it in their top three. The view that the Conservatives “would do a better job of running the economy” was close behind, as was their view that Boris Johnson would make a better Prime Minister. But even though Brexit policy was a clear dividing line between the parties, this cannot be disentangled from Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership on the issue, or lack of it. Since the referendum, voters have found Labour’s policy muddled and unclear. – Lord Ashcroft for ConservativeHome Brexit in Brief Tough talk on Brexit transition period shows PM won’t soften – Henry Zeffman for The Times (£) After Boris Johnson’s historic victory, the path for a thriving, independent Britain is clear – Matthew Elliott for The Federalist Jeffrey Donaldson replaces Nigel Dodds as DUP’s Westminster leader – Belfast Telegraph