Jeremy Corbyn indicates he will order Labour MPs to vote for triggering Article 50… Jeremy Corbyn says he will ask his MPs to vote for the Article 50 Brexit process to begin, if the government is forced to seek Parliament’s approval… Mr Corbyn said: “It’s very clear the referendum made a decision that Britain is to leave the European Union. It was not to destroy jobs and living standards or communities, but it was to leave the European Union and have a different relationship in the future. I have made it very clear that the Labour Party accepts and respects the decision of the British people. We will not block Article 50.” Asked if that meant he would be imposing a three-line whip – the strongest available sanction – on Labour MPs, requiring them to back Article 50, he said: “It means that all Labour MPs will be asked to vote in that direction next week or whenever the vote comes up.” – BBC …as several Shadow Cabinet ministers including Clive Lewis prepare to defy him… Four shadow cabinet ministers, including close Corbyn loyalists, and several more junior frontbenchers, told the Guardian they were struggling to back the bill in principle. One shadow cabinet minister from a remain constituency told the Guardian: “I’m concerned that if we wave article 50 through, my constituents will go crazy.” Another said: “When the pain hits, as it will, and when people lose their jobs, you need to be on the right side of that. I don’t think we should vote to trigger article 50.” – The Guardian Corbyn ally Clive Lewis has become the first Shadow Cabinet member to publicly say he may refuse to vote to start Brexit – The Independent The shadow ministers pledging to vote against Brexit – Guido Fawkes The irony of Corbyn’s three-line whip – Isabel Hardman for The Spectator Coffee House …and confusion reigns as Corbyn’s aides say he is still making up his mind about what to do Labour is in chaos over Brexit as Jeremy Corbyn appeared to back down after telling MPs they would be forced to vote in favour of triggering Article 50… Just hours after suggesting MPs will be subjected to a three-line whip on the vote, meaning they would have no choice but to back Mrs May, aides close to the leader said no decision on the party’s stance had been made. In an apparent U-turn, sources denied Mr Corbyn will force his MPs to vote with the Government and instead claimed that the leader is still making up his mind. – Daily Telegraph Tim Farron accuses Corbyn of giving up over Brexit – The Guardian Labour can’t even pretend to be united on Brexit, so Theresa May can do whatever she wants – Tom Harris for the Daily Telegraph (£) Labour is in a unique bind over Article 50 – Owen Jones for The Guardian Theresa May and Philip Hammond stick up for the City in Davos after banking job threats over Brexit… Prime Minister Theresa May and her chancellor Philip Hammond came out fighting at Davos yesterday following reports that London’s banking sector faces job losses in the wake of Brexit… May insisted her summit with bank chiefs included “a very good, positive discussion about the benefits of the City of London, about what it is that has brought them to the City of London, and how we can continue to build on that for the future”… Hammond told Bloomberg the financial sector is “a priority for the UK government” during upcoming Brexit negotiations, praising the industry’s “scale and depth”… Hammond also argued that “fragmentation of the City will hurt all of Europe”, urging EU states not to “let revenge get in the way of economic logic”. According to the Telegraph, Hammond added: “Mutual access is in everyone’s interests, which is why we will seek a phased process.” – City A.M. Theresa May declares Brexit will make a ‘truly global Britain’ at Davos – Daily Telegraph May: UK will lead world on free trade – BBC Chancellor says protecting financial services is priority for Brexit negotiations – The Sun Hammond delights business leaders with pledge to ‘do whatever is necessary’ to ensure the UK’s competitiveness – Daily Telegraph We won’t pull up drawbridge to migrants, says Hammond – The Times (£) UK’s Philip Hammond on Brexit, financial services, and the pound – Bloomberg interview > WATCH via BrexitCentral: Theresa May: Brave British people chose to build a truly global Britain …as Barclays boss is confident London will remain the “financial lungs” of Europe… London will remain the financial centre of Europe even after Britain leaves the European Union, according to Barclays chief executive Jes Staley… The Barclays chief executive explained he did not forecast major operations would be moved away from the City. “I don’t believe that the financial centre of Europe will leave the city of London,” he said. “There are all sorts of reasons why I think the UK will continue to be the financial lungs for Europe”… Staley said changing the lender’s legal structure would be enough to appease British and European regulators, while safeguarding the interests of European governments… Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs has dismissed rumours it might halve its London staff, after German newspaper Handelsblatt reported the US lender could cut 50% of its 6,000 workforce. “No decision has been taken and the numbers mentioned are none we would recognize,” company spokeswoman Nicole Mommsen was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. – International Business Times May reports positive talks with banks over Brexit – City A.M. Instead of wasting time trying to replay Project Fear, banks must help us get the best deal from Brexit – Allister Heath for the Daily Telegraph (£) > WATCH via BrexitCentral: Barclays boss Jes Staley: The UK will continue to be the financial lungs of Europe …and Sadiq Khan warns the EU that freezing out London will make Europe suffer London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned European Union leaders that their countries will suffer if the U.K. capital is not allowed privileged access to the bloc’s single market after Brexit. Financial services companies, their taxes and jobs will go to competitor countries around the world rather than to European nations if London is frozen-out in negotiations, Khan said… “If London was to become inward looking and we fail to secure privileged access to the single market, if we fail to attract talent, businesses would inevitably leave London,” Khan said. “My message to European leaders is they wouldn’t just leave London and go to Madrid, Paris, Frankfurt or Berlin, they’ll go to Hong Kong, Singapore or elsewhere so it’s a lose-lose, a lose for London and the U.K. and a lose for Europe too.” – Bloomberg Schäuble warns UK against a race to the bottom on corporation taxes – Bloomberg UK ‘will be bottom of Brussels trade queue’, warns EU Trade Commissioner – Daily Telegraph (£) Britain underestimates German resolve to preserve the single market – Hans von der Burchard, Simon Marks and Christian Oliver for Politico Theresa May plans for a Supreme Court defeat over Article 50 Theresa May has drawn up emergency plans to cope with the fallout from her expected defeat next week in the Government’s legal battle over Brexit… The Prime Minister could be forced to tear up parliamentary business and rush legislation through the Commons and Lords before she can invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, beginning the formal process of leaving the European Union. – The i How the PM could turn a Supreme Court failure to her advantage – Ben Kelly for Reaction Foreign investment figures expected to show minimal “Brexit effect” Business investment in Britain has barely been touched by the Brexit bombshell – with over £170 billion pouring into the nation last year. Sources claim figures due to be released next month will show the amount spent by companies was just 0.5 per cent down on 2015. Ministers claim it reflects a “huge vote of confidence” in Brexit Britain given the uncertainty triggered by the Referendum campaign. One insider told the Sun: “Everyone said the sky would fall in but it just hasn’t happened.” Big name firms from GlaxoSmithKline to Jaguar Land Rover and Honda all announced plans to invest in the UK last year. Drugs giant Glaxo insisted the UK was “still attractive” as it unveiled plans to pour £275 million into its UK manufacturing facilities. – The Sun European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman rules out separate Brexit deal for Scotland… A senior member of the European Parliament has rejected any possibility of a separate deal to allow Scotland to remain in the single market. Elmar Brok, chairman of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said there could be “no exceptions” for Scotland in Brexit negotiations. The Scottish government said it recognised there would be one deal. But they want a “differentiated position” for Scotland, said External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop. Mr Brok, a German MEP, told BBC Radio Scotland: “We cannot have two agreements with the United Kingdom and with Scotland.” – BBC …but Nicola Sturgeon still insists she will “save Scotland from Brexit” Nicola Sturgeon has said she is “determined to save Scotland from Brexit”. The First Minister condemned the UK Government after Theresa May made clear Britain will no longer be part of the single market when it exits the European Union. The SNP leader said the Scottish Government will “continue to argue that our businesses should continue to be free to trade within the European single market”. – The Scotsman Theresa May: Scots do not want indyref2 despite Remain support – The Scotsman Nicola Sturgeon’s credibility on the line – Bill Jamieson for The Scotsman Michael Gove: Brexit will strengthen, not weaken, the Union Support for Scottish independence has been steadily falling since the Brexit vote and last week it was at its lowest yet, at just 40 per cent, down from the 45 per cent recorded in the 2014 independence referendum. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. During the EU referendum we were warned that a vote to leave would precipitate the break-up of Britain… The vote to leave the EU was a vote of confidence in the ability of the UK to make its own way in the world and a vote, for the first time in my adult life, to strengthen the powers of the Westminster parliament. It is no coincidence that support for the UK has risen and the appeal of separation has receded. As has the prospect of a second independence referendum. Having embraced the idea with enthusiasm in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, the SNP leadership has now retreated, influenced by the implacable opposition of a majority of Scots. Whatever their views on the EU, they don’t want to leave the one union and one single market that genuinely does work — the UK. – Michael Gove MP for The Times (£) Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Europe’s ideological civil war laid bare in Davos Europe’s leaders lashed out at each other in Davos in an inflamed dispute over how to stop the EU collapsing, laying bare the festering divisions that will plague the European project long after British withdrawal. “The whole idea of an ever-closer Europe has gone, it’s buried,” said Dutch premier Mark Rutte, dismissing calls for full political union as a dangerous romantic fantasy… His comments went to the heart of a fierce battle under way for control over the EU project, and provoked an impassioned counter-attack from Martin Schulz, the European Parliament’s president. Mr Schulz called it profoundly misguided to give up the dream of political union and retreat to the nation state. – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard for the Daily Telegraph (£) Eurocrats think Britain is an exception. But the forces that drove Brexit are coming for them too – Jeremy Warner for the Daily Telegraph (£) Davos man is lost in a blizzard of complexity – Ed Conway for The Times (£) Prime Minister was dead right to give ‘global elite’ a piece of her mind at Davos – The Sun says Theresa May’s message to the global elite at Davos is simple: change or die – Asa Bennett for the Daily Telegraph (£) Fraser Nelson: The evolution of Theresa May sets Brexit Britain on course for a bright global future The result was nothing short of a manifesto for a new British foreign policy and one of the best speeches given by a Prime Minister in recent years. It was a landmark not only in the evolution of her approach to Brexit, but in the development of her own political identity. It shows how far she has travelled in just a few months… She could have added that Britain, virtually alone in Europe, has no problem with populism: the BNP dead, Ukip in crisis. And why? Because we had Brexit. It was not a Trump-style disruption; Brexit was how Britain avoids Trump-style disruption. This is the point that European leaders find hard to understand. From Sweden to Sardinia, they are facing Eurosceptic insurgents whom they portray as barbaric and xenophobic. So they tell themselves (and their voters) that Britain has succumbed to a similar malady and is now sinking into a pit of hate crime, nativism and isolationism. – Fraser Nelson for the Daily Telegraph (£) Brexit isn’t the death of economic liberalism, it could be its saviour – Allister Heath for the Daily Telegraph (£) Andrew Lilico: Britons aren’t actually opposed to free movement. They just don’t want it with the EU Last year the Royal Commonwealth Society conducted a survey of views on whether there should be completely free movement between the Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK (the so-called “Canzuk” countries). That found three to one support in the UK, among those with an opinion (58 per cent including those “unsure”) for free movement within Canzuk… So why, if restrictions on immigration are supposedly a response to public clamour, are we restricting immigration from countries that the public wants free movement with and regards as our closest kin in the world? – Andrew Lilico for the Daily Telegraph Brexit comment in brief Donald Trump’s quite right to be confused about the EU’s presidents – Michael Gove MP for The Spectator Why Donald Trump looks like just the friend Britain needs – Freddy Gray for The Spectator Britain weighs costs of Trump embrace – Tom McTague and Charlie Cooper for Politico Britain must seize chance for more trade with Africa – Richard Dowden for The Times (£) Remainers still don’t get it. If they fail to accept the result, they won’t get a say in the Brexit negotiations – Rupert Myers for the Daily Telegraph (£) Brexit debate has given us some tragic and hilarious voices – Christian May for City A.M. Voting ‘leave’ meant leaving the single market – and most voters knew it – Brendan O’Neill for The Spectator Coffee House Why Brexit is the perfect opportunity to drop our aid target – Daniel Mahoney for CapX Theresa May has cemented her role as the dominant figure in politics – Leo McKinstry for the Daily Express Brexit news in brief France won’t ‘punish’ Britain says foreign minister – The Sun Labour planning double by-election on 23 February to “get them over with” – Sky News Labour select arch-Remainer in Copeland – Guido Fawkes New York Jets owner Woody Johnson to be US ambassador to UK – The Guardian