Barclays boss backs London’s Brexit future… The chief executive of Barclays has insisted that London will remain Europe’s pre-eminent financial centre even after Britain leaves the EU. Jes Staley told Sky News that, even though the bank might have to make some “tactical shifts” depending on whether Britain remained in the single market following its departure from the EU, London would remain the principal financial market for Europe. He added: “It is very difficult to replicate, in any period of time, the overall ecosystem that you find in London… Fundamentally, Europe will not cut itself off from the capital that’s available in the United Kingdom.” Mr Staley said that Barclays, which already has employees in some of the cities hoping to take business from London, such as Paris, Frankfurt and Milan, did not expect any of the staffing changes it makes post-Brexit to be to the detriment of the UK. – Sky News London: Our city of eternal resilience is not endangered by Brexit – Mark Field MP for City A.M. …as May and Carney are warned to halt the London Stock Exchange German merger A Eurosceptic coalition of City grandees is calling on Theresa May and Mark Carney to put the planned £24 billion merger of the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse on hold for two years. They claim it would be destabilising for the deal to take place while Britain negotiates its departure from the EU. In a letter in The Times today Lord Lawson of Blaby, the former chancellor, Andrew Beeson, the former chairman of Schroders, and Lord Flight, the chairman of Flight and Partners and former deputy chairman of the Tory party, insist the deal is “a risk that the government should recognise, evaluate — and not take now”. Among the 40 signatories are Peter Cruddas, chief executive of CMC Markets and former Tory treasurer, Edmund Truell, chairman of Disruptive Capital, and John Mills, chairman of JML Group – The Times (£) Top City grandees and politicians come out against London Stock Exchange merger – City A.M. >Daniel Hodson on BrexitCentral last week: As the City prepares for Brexit, the authorities should call a halt on the LSE merger with Deutsche Börse Tories win Copeland by-election as Labour holds Stoke The Conservatives have won the Copeland by-election, beating Labour in an area it represented for more than 80 years. Trudy Harrison won with 13,748 votes to Labour’s Gillian Troughton’s 11,601. Mrs Harrison hailed the victory – the first by-election gain by a governing party since 1982 – as “a truly historic event”. Labour’s Gareth Snell held Stoke-on-Trent Central with 7,853 votes, seeing off a challenge from UKIP leader Paul Nuttall who got 5,233… In Stoke-on-Trent, UKIP had hoped to capitalise on voters’ leanings towards Brexit – the area voted strongly to leave the EU in June. – BBC News Labour retain Stoke-on-Trent seat as Ukip finish second – ITV News Tories snatch Copeland as Labour lose historic seat held since 1983 – ITV News UKIP leader vows to stay on after Stoke loss – Sky News The remain vote is now Labour’s urgent priority – Stoke and Copeland prove it – John Curtice for The Guardian Labour optimistic about forcing EU nationals concession on Article 50 Bill with Corbyn preparing to make a speech… Labour is increasingly optimistic it can force concessions from the government over the status of EU nationals in post-Brexit Britain, after securing cross-party backing for an amendment to the article 50 bill. Angela Smith, Labour’s leader in the Lords, said: “My sense is there’s real momentum behind this one, and my sense talking to peers across the house and listening to the debate is this is something that the House of Lords would support, cross-party.”… Hopes of progress on the issue came as the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, prepared to deliver a speech on how his party would fight to protect workers’ rights and prevent Britain becoming a “bargain basement” after Brexit… Theresa May has promised to tackle the issue of EU citizens’ rights early in the Brexit negotiations, but has insisted she wants to see the status of British citizens living elsewhere in the EU settled at the same time. – The Guardian Brexit: What does leaving the EU mean for expats? – Asa Bennett for the Daily Telegraph …as net migration falls below 300,000 for the first time in three years Net migration has fallen to its lowest level in three years, driven by a sharp increase in the number of eastern Europeans leaving in the wake of Brexit. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show net migration, the difference between people arriving in the UK and those leaving, has dipped below 300,000 to 273,000 in the year to September – a 59,000 drop… However, they also showed a record high of 74,000 people coming into the UK from Romania and Bulgaria, perhaps in an attempt to be in the UK before any Brexit immigration deadline is imposed. The number of people coming to live in the UK from the EU has dropped to 268,000 from a record high of 284,000. – Sky News More EU migrants came to UK than from all other nations combined after Brexit vote, figures show for first time – Daily Telegraph Analysis: Five key charts as net migration from the EU overtakes that from the rest of the world – Daily Telegraph Net migration drop is all about students – and it could cause the PM a headache – Faisal Islam for Sky News As official figures show a drop in net migration, should we fear a post-Brexit brain drain? – Russ Shaw and Len Shackleton for City A.M. Brexit isn’t to blame for the Polish exodus – Ed West for The Spectator Coffee House Here are five ways Theresa May can make immigration work for post-Brexit Britain – Thom Brooks for the Daily Telegraph (£) It’s about time we set about protecting Britain’s needs and resources by tackling EU immigration – The Sun says The government should scrap its immigration target – James Dobson for The Times (£) Immigration by numbers is failing families. Brexit must not leave them in the lurch – Chris Murray for the Daily Telegraph (£) Government has made progress but immigration remains a major problem – Daily Express editorial What will immigration look like post-Brexit? – Daily Telegraph editorial EU backs Dublin on open Northern Ireland border The European Commission president has said he agrees with the Irish government that Brexit should not bring back a “hard” Northern Ireland border. “We don’t want to have hard borders between Northern Ireland and the Republic,” said Jean-Claude Juncker. He was speaking after talks in Brussels with Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Enda Kenny… The Commission and Irish government “will work closely together during the whole process of the Brexit negotiations,” Mr Juncker said. Mr Kenny said Dublin was very concerned by the implications of Brexit and wanted “the closest possible relationship between the UK and the EU”. “There should not be a return to a hard border and there won’t be,” AFP news agency quoted him as saying. – BBC News EU rules out post-Brexit ‘hard border’ with Northern Ireland – EUObserver Ireland’s Brexit Bombshell: Dublin demands exit clause so Northern Ireland can rejoin EU – Daily Express Irish PM wants clause in Brexit deal to guarantee Northern Ireland’s place in EU ‘after reunification’ – The Sun Jake Berry MP: Commonwealth makes the perfect partner for post-Brexit Britain In previous decades, as we grew closer to Europe, we neglected our relationship with the Commonwealth and allowed our expanding ties to Europe to limit our ability to engage with our historical allies. Brexit provides an opportunity to renew these ties and our Commonwealth friends and allies are the perfect partners as we explore the uncharted waters of a post-Brexit UK. – Jake Berry MP for The Times (£) United States could become an ‘associate member’ of the Commonwealth – Daily Telegraph >Erin O’Toole on BrexitCentral today: Canada must embrace its closest allies and launch trade talks with the UK as soon as possible Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Unpayable debts and an existential EU financial crisis – Is the break-up of the euro now inevitable? Vast liabilities are being switched quietly from private banks and investment funds onto the shoulders of taxpayers across southern Europe. It is a variant of the tragic episode in Greece, but this time on a far larger scale, and with systemic global implications. There has been no democratic decision by any parliament to take on these fiscal debts, rapidly approaching €1 trillion… It is France and Italy that threaten to subject the euro experiment to its ordeal by fire… This is a greater threat to the City of London and the banking nexus of the Square Mile than the secondary matter of euro clearing, or any of the largely manageable headaches stemming from Brexit. – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard for the Daily Telegraph (£) Tom Welsh: Britain is an oasis of calm amid Europe’s political chaos In a fit of pique at the Brexit vote, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told MEPs last July that Britain had “collapsed – politically, economically, monetarily and constitutionally”. Embarrassingly for him, events have proven otherwise, with the UK posting the strongest growth in the G7 in the final quarter of 2016, the Bank of England still very much in control, and most Scots firmly against a second independence referendum. In politics, Britain is an oasis of stability… The contrast with the situation in Europe could not be more marked. – Tom Welsh for City A.M. Is the French election Brexit’s Waterloo? – Darren McCaffrey for Sky News Europe must reinvent itself or markets will tear it apart – Francine Lacqua for City A.M. The EU has much bigger problems than Brexit – Douglas Carswell’s blog Brexit in brief How much do we spend on the EU, and what else could it pay for? – Asa Bennett and James Kirkup for the Daily Telegraph The civil service is ripe for disruption – and Brexit could well be the catalyst – James Frayne for City A.M. Financial protectionism may signal a global trade war – Juliet Samuel for the Daily Telegraph Scottish Labour leader reveals she made secret Brexit pledge to Nicola Sturgeon – Daily Express Fast-tracking of Brexit Bill should not set a precedent – House of Lords Constitution Committee ‘We’re at peace with Brexit’ says Juncker over Britain’s ‘tragic’ decision to quit – Daily Express ‘We work as 27’ Brussels slaps down Norway and Iceland over bid to butt in on Brexit talks – Daily Express