Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson refuses to rule out leaving EU on WTO terms Boris Johnson has left the door open to coming out of the EU on World Trade Organization terms next year, after his foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said it was “absolutely” right to keep a no-deal outcome on the table in trade talks. The prime minister was grilled about Raab’s statement after his cabinet minister appeared to let slip the government’s negotiating plans in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday. Johnson shook his head as it was mentioned but then three times declined the opportunity to refute Raab’s position or to tell businesses to stop their no-deal planning. Asked if businesses should continue spending money getting ready for no deal, he said: “We have a great deal. It’s going to allow us to come out smoothly and efficiently on 31 January.” Pressed that it was actually 31 December 2020 when the danger of no deal occurs, he simply repeated: “We have a great deal that will allow us to come out of the EU smoothly.” Asked again whether he would advise companies to cease no-deal preparations, he parroted the same line: “We have a great deal which will allow us to come out smoothly, efficiently, seamlessly on 31 January.” Johnson’s words will fuel suspicion that the prime minister still intends to use the threat of leaving transitional arrangements on World Trade Organization terms at the end of 2020 as leverage in trade talks with the EU. – Guardian Donald Trump says the US wants ‘nothing to do with the NHS’ in post-Brexit trade talks… Donald Trump has insisted the US wants “nothing to do” with the NHS in post-Brexit trade talks as he sought to repudiate opposition claims that the health service would be “up for sale”. On a visit to the UK, the US President claimed he had no interest in increased market access to the NHS for US firms even if handed on a “silver platter”. But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he still had “very serious concerns”. And the SNP said MPs should pass a law to exclude the NHS from discussions. Boris Johnson said the Conservative election manifesto had “categorically ruled out” any NHS services, or drug prices, being up for negotiation. In June, the US president suggested the health service would form part of negotiations over a possible future trade deal after the UK leaves the EU, saying: “When you’re dealing in trade, everything is on the table.” But speaking on Tuesday morning as he and other world leaders prepared for a summit to mark the 70th anniversary of Nato, he issued a different message. “I don’t even know where that rumour started,” he told journalists. “We have absolutely nothing to do with it. If you handed it [the NHS] to us on a silver platter, we want nothing to do with it.” – BBC News …as Opposition politicians continue to warn over a post-Brexit US trade deal Opposition leaders are using Donald Trump’s visit to the UK to raise concerns about the terms of a post-Brexit trade deal with the US. Jeremy Corbyn said there would be “no deal” under a Labour government if the US insisted the NHS was included in trade talks, while the SNP reiterated its call for a “legal lock” to stop it. Boris Johnson said he “categorically ruled out” the NHS being on the table. In a press conference, Mr Trump denied having any interest in the NHS. In June, the US president said it would form part of negotiations over a possible future trade deal, saying: “When you’re dealing in trade, everything is on the table.” But speaking ahead of a Nato summit in the UK on Tuesday morning, he told reporters: “I don’t even know where that rumour started. “If you handed [the NHS] to us on a silver platter, we wouldn’t want to have anything to do with it.” The Liberal Democrats’ foreign spokesman, Chuka Umunna, said Mr Trump’s comments should be taken “with a lorry load of salt”. He added: “Trump has repeatedly made clear in the past that everything including the NHS will be on the table in future negotiations. “If Boris Johnson wins a majority he’ll be so desperate for a trade deal with Donald Trump that he’ll become his poodle.” But Mr Johnson said: “I can categorically rule out any part of the NHS will be on the table in any trade negotiation… including pharmaceuticals.” – BBC News Ireland to lose ‘privileged access’ to Brexit deal talks The Irish Government will lose “privileged access” to Brexit negotiations on talks on a future trade deal between the UK and EU get under way in what is a fresh blow to Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. Ireland has been central in the three years of intense Brexit talks and meetings as it is the only European Union country which shares a significant land border with the UK. EU leaders have since been insistent a withdrawal agreement is not possible without the approval of the Irish Government, which has battled to avoid a hard border on the island. But this privileged access to top negotiators in Brussels, including Michel Barnier, will now be heavily impacted, according to the Irish Independent. A confidential memo presented to Cabinet ministers by Tainiste (deputy prime minister) Simon Coveney on November, which proved an update on Brexit, warned Ireland’s access to the negotiators, which has been a crucial feature of the three-year Brexit process, will be more restricted once trade talks begin between the UK and EU. – Express Jean-Claude Juncker ignored EU commissioners’ warnings that the Brexit backstop would cause problems Jean-Claude Juncker ignored warnings over the Brexit border backstop from his British and Irish commissioners during negotiations with the UK, it has emerged. The former president of the European Commission asked for advice in the “college of commissioners”, a weekly Cabinet-style meeting in Brussels, after a briefing from Michel Barnier, the chief Brexit negotiator. Sir Julian King and Phil Hogan, the UK and Ireland’s EU commissioners, both warned Mr Juncker that the deep historical problems around the Irish border could not be overcome by a legalistic text such as the backstop. People in the region could “react” because of that history, Sir Julian, who was responsible for security in the EU, told Mr Juncker, who stepped down last week. Despite those fears, the European Commission pressed forward with the plan. The backstop was meant to prevent a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland if UK-EU trade negotiations failed by putting the UK in a bare bones customs union with the EU. Sir Julian said, “Phil Hogan and I would say this is difficult. You need to be careful how you do this. We would remind everyone there there was a lot of history and it was complicated. “In Northern Ireland in particular there were divisions between the communities, that were managed through the Good Friday Agreement, that reflected deep historical problems which couldn’t just be easily translated into an EU legal text.” Sir Julian, a former British ambassador to Ireland, told Mr Juncker and Mr Barnier that the European Commission could not ignore the objections of the Democratic Unionist Party to the Irish backstop. – Telegraph (£) Emily Thornberry appeals to Remain voters to back Labour in first election interview Emily Thornberry has appealed to Remain voters to back Labour at the general election as she insisted the party can still close the gap with the Tories. The shadow foreign secretary said that the “only way” the UK could legitimately stay in the European Union was to deliver Labour’s confirmatory vote. She admitted she had been “frustrated” by Labour’s slow march to its final Brexit position of a second referendum. “I wish we’d come to the agreement earlier,” she said. In an interview with The Mirror, Ms Thornberry said: “What I say to people who want to Remain is we can’t, certainly not the way the Liberals want to do which is to revoke. “You can’t just go back on a decision in a referendum, but if after the public have seen what leaving really looks like versus Remain, it may well be that confirmatory referendum can be won by Remainers. “But it does seem to me that the only way that one can Remain is if the public decide that is, in the end, what they want after these many years.” – Mirror Nigel Farage gets radio grilling on Brexit deal Nigel Farage suffered a brutal grilling by a Leave voter who asked him if he had “stopped caring about Brexit” the moment he rejected Boris Johnson’s strong deal negotiated with the EU. Nigel Farage took tough questions from BBC Radio 5 Live callers on his party’s policies ahead of the general election. Leave voter Emily, from Worthing, grilled the Brexit Party leader over his disapproval of Boris Johnson’s “strong” Brexit deal negotiated with the EU. She asked: “Boris Johnson has negotiated a strong deal but you didn’t support it. Have you stopped caring about Brexit?” Nigel Farage claimed the Prime Minister’s deal would have kept the UK shackled to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and aligned to Brussels regulations without a say. He said: “Boris Johnson’s deal wasn’t Brexit in any shape of form at all. “It would have meant the European Court of Justice permanently having jurisdiction over this country. “It did not – and you’re living in Worthing – it would not have got us back our territorial waters. – Express > WATCH: Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage discusses the PM’s Brexit deal Hugh Grant attacks Lib Dems for ‘misleading’ tweet one day after campaigning for them Hugh Grant has accused the Liberal Democrats of sharing misleading information just one day after endorsing one of their candidates. Grant, who supports tactical voting to prevent a Conservative majority, was photographed campaigning for Luciana Berger, the former Labour MP who is standing for the Lib Dems in Finchley & Golders Green, over the weekend. In an attempt to capitalise on the endorsement, the Lib Dems tweeted it was “great to see Hugh Grant supporting @lucianaberger” and added: “Only the Lib Dems can take seats off the Tories – and together we can stop Boris and #StopBrexit.” However, the British actor appeared to take issue with the claim that “only the Lib Dems” could defeat Conservative candidates. “Your second para is not true,” he said in a retweet of the post. – Independent Lib Dem candidate says thanks to Leave voters and claims Brexit was a ‘wake-up call’ The Liberal Democrats’ Brexit policy is to revoke Article 50 and cancel the result of the 2016 referendum altogether – but Jane Dodds, who was an MP for three months and is running for re-election, told Express.co.uk she wants to thank Leave voters. Ms Dodds was elected as the MP for Brecon and Radnorshire in mid-Wales in a by-election in August, after the Conservative incumbent Chris Davies was removed from office by a recall petition. His removal came after Mr Davies pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud concerning parliamentary expenses in March. Despite the wider area of Powys voting Leave by 53.7 percent, Ms Dodds was elected by a narrow margin after Mr Davies ran against her. However, after spending just three months in Parliament, the general election was called and according to the YouGov MRP poll she is set to lose her seat to fresh-faced Conservative Fay Jones. When asked what she would say to the 53.7 percent of people in her area that voted Leave, Ms Dodds was quick to point out that there is no breakdown for how individual constituencies voted within Powys. Then she added that she thinks the Brexit vote was “important” and a “wake-up call” for politicians. – Express Mark Francois: I urge Leavers to vote Tory – so gaining Brexit, preparing for free trade and smashing Marxism. All at once. I know a number of ardent Brexit Party supporters but none of them, as far as I know, have ever been in favour of a Marxist Government. We now have the most amazing opportunity to deliver an emphatic victory over Corbyn’s extremists – and achieve Brexit into the bargain. Crucially, if Brexit Party supporters accept the results of the YoGov poll, which shows that it is unlikely to win in any single constituency, if they voted Tory instead, as the poll also shows, they could help defeat a raft of pro Remain incumbents across the country. The one thing that might be holding such people back, is the inaccurate perception that Boris Johnson’s deal doesn’t really take us out of the EU. It does. Without going into all the precise details of the differences between his deal and Theresa May’s version, the two key changes are that, firstly, the Backstop (and thus the Customs Union, which would have kept us effectively in the EU) are removed and, secondly, the Political Declaration has now been significantly amended, so that the desired end state is a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement – something which Eurosceptics in the ERG have been advocating for many years. Put another way, does anyone really believe that Bill Cash would knowingly have voted for a deal in the Commons that kept us in the EU? Moreover, the entire ERG (including all 28 so-called “Spartans”) voted for this deal. The bottom line is that while it isn’t perfect (for instance I still oppose paying billions of pounds to the EU for the privilege of leaving) it does actually take us out of the European Union and therefore, no Brexiteer should be in fear of voting for it. – Mark Francois for ConservativeHome Brexit-deranged comedians are now Britain’s biggest bores I’ve always thought of cricket fans as a refreshingly un-PC bunch. Gentle – sometimes not-so-gentle – ribbing is written into the sport’s DNA through traditions like sledging and the chants of the Barmy Army. So it came as no surprise to hear of the comedian Nish Kumar’s less-than-rapturous reception at a charity cricket lunch held by the Lord’s Taverners this week. Kumar, for the uninitiated, hosts a topical “satire” programme called the Mash Report. It is awful beyond measure; so irredeemably unfunny that it makes Ken Burns’s nine-hour documentary on the American Civil War look like Monty Python. But gloriously, when exposed to an audience not populated by the usual hand-picked sycophants, Kumar’s tedious schtick finally got the reaction it deserved. You have to inhabit quite a bubble to see a tendentious paean to Remain as suitable entertainment for the well-oiled Taverner throng, yet Kumar opened with a passionate anti-Brexit rant. Amid jeers from the audience, he changed tack and began insulting them, yelling that they’d have preferred a “far-Right” comedian. One audience member threw a bread roll at him. Thankfully it missed, falling as flat as Kumar’s jokes. Leftie comics stepping out of the BBC/Channel 4 bubble are regularly mugged by reality. Marcus Brigstocke, displaying a similar kind of entitlement, has complained about non-London audiences objecting to his pro-Remain material. Since the referendum, comedians have fallen prey to a particularly violent strain of Brexit Derangement Syndrome. – Madeline Grant for the Telegraph (£) Brexit in Brief Winter may be coming for the Conservatives in London – Rob Wilson for the Telegraph (£) Can Labour fend off Brexit challengers in the battle for Ashfield? – PoliticsHome Comedian ‘pelted with bread’ after making Brexit jokes at charity cricket lunch – Independent Nigel Farage reveals his biggest Brexit mistake – Express