Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Media stoke up divisions between Philip Hammond and David Davis over Brexit terms… Theresa May was forced to intervene on Tuesday after two of her most important Brexit Cabinet ministers appeared to fall out over the terms of Britain’s exit from the European Union. The row is deeply embarrassing for the Prime Minister, coming eight days after the formal start of Brexit talks with the European Commission. The dispute centred on whether Britain will leave both the single market or customs union, or remain in a lengthy transition period to allow companies to adapt. David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, told a conference in London that the UK will be out of the EU customs union and single market by March 2019. He said he expected the UK to have left the arrangements within the two-year timetable set out under the Article 50 process. – Telegraph (£) “I am confident that with the political will to put jobs and prosperity first we can achieve an early agreement on a transitional period,” Hammond said at an economic summit of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in Berlin. – Reuters Philip Hammond: Brexit petty politics must not hinder ‘economic logic’ – Guardian Philip Hammond calls for different Brexit saying UK has an ‘ardent wish’ to remain at heart of Europe – Independent Philip Hammond at odds with David Davis over Brexit transition – Guardian …as Hammond takes a swipe at Boris Johnson’s Brexit cake analogy “The question is not whether to have cake or eat it,” Hammond said, “or even who has the largest size of the cake. The question is whether we can be smart enough to work out how to continue working together to keep the cake growing for the benefit of all.” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who spoke immediately before Hammond, did not stay for his British counterpart’s comments, excusing himself for having to run to a government meeting. – Politico Philip Hammond mocks Boris Johnson during visit to Germany – Independent David Davis says Brexit ‘makes the moon landing look simple’… The minister in charge of the UK’s exit from the EU says elements of his job make landing on the moon look simple. Brexit Secretary David Davis made the remark to business leaders as he discussed the interim arrangements that will be in place after the UK leaves. He suggested the UK would no longer be in the EU’s customs union and single market during this period. And he said a “new international body” – not the European Court of Justice – would monitor new trade arrangements. – BBC …as he asks business to help shape Brexit The government will ask companies for their advice on the process of leaving the European Union under a new forum that brings business back in from the cold since Theresa May took over as prime minister last year. Speaking at The Times CEO Summit, David Davis, the Brexit secretary, promised to give Britain’s bosses a greater say in leaving the EU as he pledged to prioritise jobs and prosperity over migration. – The Times (£) David Davis has promised to give businesses a say on Brexit – City A.M. This was a day dominated by Brexit – The Times (£) 65 Tories are prepared to leave EU without a deal 20 per cent of Conservative MPs (or 65) would back an even harder form of Brexit than Mrs May’s, including walking away from the talks without a deal and trading with the EU on the high tariffs set by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Fifty-five per cent of Conservative MPs (or 174) are “Lancaster loyalists”, supporting the form of Brexit Mrs May set out in January. To assign each of the 317 MPs to one of the categories, the research considered a number of factors including how actively and passionately they campaigned in the referendum, who they supported in last year’s leadership election and whether they signed a letter accusing the BBC of being biased against Brexit in the referendum’s wake. – The Times (£) Scottish indyref2 put on backburner as Sturgeon focuses on Brexit Nicola Sturgeon has put her independence referendum plans temporarily on hold after announcing a “reset” of her proposed timetable. The first minister had called for an independence referendum to be held in the autumn of 2018 or spring of 2019. … In the meantime, she said she would “redouble” her efforts to secure the best possible Brexit deal for Scotland, and to keep the country in the European single market. Ms Sturgeon stressed that she continued to be “strongly committed” to Scotland having a choice on its future at the end of the Brexit process. – BBC Scots referendum on hold until Brexit ‘clearer’ – Sky News Sturgeon shelves independence plans after election losses – The Times (£) St Nicola turns off satnav for more scenic route towards independence – John Crace for the Guardian Sturgeon won’t give up on IndyRef2 – Katy Balls for the Spectator Sir Keir Starmer says EU nationals need superior rights to British citizens Labour’s Shadow Brexit Secretary has said that EU nationals living in the UK should enjoy greater rights than their British neighbours. Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC’s Today Programme that the controversial £18,600 income threshold for visas for foreign spouses that is currently applied to Brits should not be applied to EU nationals living in the UK after Brexit, which would hand British based EU nationals greater rights than UK citizens. Sir Keir, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, also indicated that a compromise would have to be found, through which European courts, not UK ones, could preside over the rights of EU nationals in the UK after Brexit. – Independent How do citizens’ rights affect Brexit negotiations? – Guardian Government say fall in EU nurses registering for work caused by language test, not Brexit A big drop in the number of nurses from the EU registering to work in the UK has been blamed by the Government on new language tests rather than Brexit. Health minister Lord O’Shaughnessy said the health department’s assessment suggested “this is largely a consequence of the NMC introducing language testing rather than the vote to leave the EU”. – CareAppointments British Social Attitudes survey finds us more eurosceptic than ever In the immediate aftermath of the Referendum the public has become more sceptical about the EU than ever before. Three in four (75%) feel that Britain should either leave the EU or that if it stays the EU’s powers should be reduced, up from 65% in 2015. Only one in five favoured the status quo or EU expansion. There was also a widening social divide as views on immigration have become more polarised. The young and highly educated are more likely than ever to believe that immigration is good for the economy, while older people and non-graduates are more likely to say immigration is bad for the economy. – NatCen Downing Street says Home Office will cope with millions of EU citizens applying for ‘settled status’ Downing Street has insisted the Home Office will be able to cope when millions of EU citizens apply for “settled status” to guarantee their post-Brexit future. Fears have been expressed that the Government could be overwhelmed when the 3.2 million EU nationals living in the UK apply for documentation to guarantee their right to remain. But the Prime Minister’s official spokeswoman has said Theresa May is “confident” the Home Office will be able to handle the huge administrative task. – Telegraph Three signs that Theresa May will get tough on EU immigration or much of the past year the phrase “Brexit means Brexit” has been used in different ways by the opposing sides in the debate over Britain’s departure from the EU. For Brexiteers that phrase became a warning to ‘Remoaners’ not to water Brexit down by half-measures, while for Remainers the superficial emptiness of the words came to encapsulate their belief that the government’s Brexit plans were an empty vessel and in chaos. However, the publication this week of the government’s offer paper on EU citizens’ rights after Brexit, provides significantly greater clarity on what Brexit will actually mean, at least for immigration. – Telegraph (£) Jurgen Maier: ‘We have done enough to deter immigration’ – The Times (£) DUP reportedly to demand £460m in tax cuts to keep Theresa May in power after Brexit The Democratic Unionist Party is set to demand tax cuts costing £460million to keep Theresa May in power after Brexit in two years’ time, The Telegraph can disclose. The party wants the money to pay for cuts in corporation tax, air passenger duty and VAT on hotels and restaurants in Northern Ireland as part of its price of continuing to prop up Mrs May’s minority Conservative government. The cash demand will form part of the next bill for DUP MPs’ continued support of Mrs May’s Government when their “confidence and supply” agreement is reviewed after Britain leaves the European Union in March 2019. – Telegraph (£) Henry Kissinger says Brexit will bring Britain closer to the US Henry Kissinger believes Brexit is a chance for the UK to renew the transatlantic alliance – but that Britain would be mistaken if it left Europe altogether. The former US national security adviser and secretary of state revealed that when the referendum first came up he was “automatically a supporter of remain” because it was “familiar” to have Britain in the EU. But the 94-year-old said since then his thinking had evolved as he saw the need for “a new articulation of the Atlantic partnership”, and now he believed Brexit could strengthen Britain’s role. – Guardian Swiss treaty talks founder over European Court of Justice Talks about a new treaty governing the European Union’s relationship with Switzerland have collapsed over the same issue bedevilling Brexit — the European Court of Justice. Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU, has more than 100 bilateral agreements with Brussels overseeing ties including transport, trade and education, but the EU is demanding a single framework treaty. Brussels wants the relationship to be overseen by ECJ judges in return for smoother access for Switzerland to the single market, including for financial services on which there is no formal agreement. Brexit must mean ending EU judges’ control over us – Stephen Pollard for the Express Nigel Farage: The establishment will have seen nothing yet if it doesn’t tackle immigration As Theresa May forms a minority government and our Brexit negotiations finally begin, one very important issue has completely disappeared from view. The Leave campaign would not have won were it not for the vital issue of taking back control of our borders and stopping the free movement of people. Just last week, the Office of National Statistics issued some figures for the UK’s population growth last year. They went largely ignored despite immigration consistently being the top issue for the British public over the last few years. – Nigel Farage MEP for the Telegraph (£) Rupert Myers: If Britain cannot escape meddling foreign judges, some will wonder what the point of Brexit really was As the former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg pointed out at a conference on Saturday, agreeing the rights of EU citizens at the beginning of the Brexit negotiations is “the easy bit.” Somehow, though, it doesn’t seem all that simple. Unlike the European Union, the UK government has been slow to release working papers and position documents, so the publication yesterday of our plan to safeguard the rights of EU citizens and UK nationals is a welcome moment of transparency in a sometimes opaque process. – Rupert Myers for the Telegraph (£) Henry Newman: Now it’s the EU that’s mishandling the future treatment of its nationals in Britain On the one hand, the imbroglio over the status of EU nationals in the UK is a Government own goal: the lives of three million people have been thrown into unnecessary confusion. But on the other, the refusal of such countries as Germany to countenance an agreement on guaranteeing citizens’ rights before negotiations had formally begun, and their insistence that the issue should not be resolved separately, is a striking moral failure. – Henry Newman for ConservativeHome Roger Bootle: 10 Brexit canards that need to be put out of their misery This week I am off on a duck shoot across the familiar terrain of the great Brexit debate, over which many canards regularly used to flap their way. I had thought that during the past year they had been brought down to earth but, having recently participated in various debates and interviews, I now know that many are still alive and flapping. Here are ten of the leading ones that I think need to be put out of their misery… – Roger Bootle for the Telegraph (£) Lucy Fergusson: How to beat the clock to ensure UK law makes sense post-Brexit In preparation for leaving, the UK will have to establish new legislative frameworks covering complex areas including customs and trade, immigration, nuclear safeguards, agriculture, fisheries and international sanctions. Each area will be a moving target, as policies evolve and negotiations continue. The demands on civil servants and ministers will be massive, and they will have little time to focus elsewhere. – Lucy Fergusson for City A.M. Matthew Lynn: ‘Merkron’ axis is likely to leave the European economy in worse shape Young. Reformist. Sweeping aside restrictive practises, re-invigorating the European economy, and finally fixing some of the flaws in the euro. Investors are starting to buy into the Macron-Merkel reboot of the economy, assuming that the eurozone’s two power-brokers will finally manage to put some fire back into the region’s moribund economy. There is a problem, however. Unpeel the rhetoric, and the reality is very different. – Matthew Lynn for the Telegraph (£) Philip Johnston: May has been very generous to EU nationals. But who will pay the bill? Theresa May’s offer to confirm the settled status of an estimated 3.2 million EU citizens living in the UK is certainly “generous”, as the Prime Minister told the Commons on Monday. More so, indeed, than may be appreciated. It includes access to benefits and extends to the relatives of European nationals already here – parents, siblings, even cousins in some cases. Most people accept this as fair and expect the EU countries where 1.2 million British ex-pats live to respond in kind. – Philip Johnston for the Telegraph (£) Brexit comment in brief The EU is not ready to negotiate yet – John Redwood’s Diary The leading Conservative pro-Brexit group joins the Government – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome May’s magic money machine would suffer from a hard Brexit – Vince Cable for The Times (£) Europe’s populist tide has turned – leaving Brexit Britain washed up – James Newell for the Guardian Theresa May claimed her offer to EU citizens would be ‘generous’. It isn’t – Catherine Barnard for the Guardian Our biased broadcasters must admit the EU is no panacea – Brian Monteith for City A.M. Brexit news in brief EU must not get obsessed by Brexit, warns former Irish PM Enda Kenny – The Times (£) EU exploring invisible border in Ireland post Brexit – Politico British insurers warn messy Brexit could be detrimental to customers – Telegraph Greece could ‘ruin’ Albania’s EU ambitions in row over rock – The Times (£) EU workers need transition period, UK firms urge Theresa May – Evening Standard Theresa May’s tech choice: Make friends or kick hard – Politico Vince Cable set to become Lib Dem leader as last remaining rival quits – PoliticsHome Brexit will cement disenfranchisement of millions of citizens – Guardian Brussels’ potential weapon against bad behaviour — the budget – Politico At last it’s clear: David Davis is against identity cards – except for EU nationals – Guardian Theresa May’s offer does little to relieve the anxiety of EU citizens in Britain – Guardian Brexit could have ‘catastrophic’ effect on access to new life-saving drugs for decades, warns expert – Independent And finally… The real Brexit debate: do you pronounce it Breggsit or Brecksit? …why the split, though? Brexit is a recent coinage and, linguistically speaking, a “blend” (like brunch or smog), so you would expect most people to take their cue from the words used to create it: Britain and exit. If you say exit with a “k”, you will carry that over into Brexit. If you are in the significant minority of British people who say eggsit, you will say Breggsit. If in doubt, blame the Americans. The usual pronunciation of exit in the US is voiced, which may be why Breggsit seems to have conquered the airwaves over there. (Interestingly, though, the commander-in-chief says Brecksit; perhaps he took his cue from his first post-inauguration foreign visitor to Washington. – Guardian