Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team DUP privately agree to support Theresa May’s ‘Plan B’ Brexit deal when she ‘toughens it up’ ahead of crunch Commons vote… The DUP have privately decided to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal next week when she toughens it up, in a major breakthrough for No10. The Sun can reveal that delicate deliberations are now ongoing between the Ulster unionist party’s leaders and the PM. They are close to agreeing an amendment to another showdown Commons vote on Tuesday that would curtail the unpopular Irish backstop – an insurance policy that divides the UK into two different legal regimes if there is no EU trade deal in place by 2021. In a crucial shift, it has emerged that the DUP are now willing to accept a backstop as long as it’s specifically time limited. In another twist last night, Tory grandees told The Sun they have tabled a new Brexit plan of their own in a bid to end the Conservatives’ civil war. The group, lead by 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, have issued a fresh call on the PM to get the backstop removed altogether. Mrs May has agreed to go back to Brussels to demand fresh concessions to the Withdrawal Agreement if that’s what MPs decide is needed to end the deadlock. – The Sun …while Sir Graham Brady tables a new amendment on the backstop One of the most dramatic examples of how Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement had lost the support of her backbenches came when Graham Brady—the elected chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs—walked into the no lobby. Brady has now put down an amendment ahead of Tuesday’s vote which makes clear in what circumstances he would back the agreement. It says the House would support the withdrawal agreement if the government and the EU ‘replace the backstop with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border’. The amendment is backed by the officers of the 1922 Committee—three of whom voted for May’s deal last week, and three of whom opposed it; the chairman of the Northern Ireland select committee Andrew Murrison—who has his own amendment down–and Theresa May’s former First Secretary of State Damian Green. – The Spectator Amber Rudd hints she could resign to stop a no-deal Brexit.. Pressure has mounted on the Prime Minister to rule out a no-deal Brexit after Amber Rudd hinted she could resign from the Government to stop the UK crashing out of the EU without an agreement. The Work and Pensions Secretary, a prominent Remain supporter, said she was going to “wait and see” if Theresa May allows a free vote on a series of amendments to her Brexit “Plan B” on Tuesday. During an interview with BBC Two’s Newsnight, Ms Rudd was asked three times whether she would quit the Cabinet to back a bid by Labour’s Yvette Cooper to extend Article 50 unless a deal is reached by the end of February. She said: “At this stage I’m going to stick to trying to persuade the Government to allow it to be a free vote. There is a lot taking place and there are a lot of new amendments. We’ll have to wait and see.” Ms Rudd told the programme she is “committed to making sure we avoid no-deal”, which she described as “the worst possible outcome”. – Guardian Amber Rudd could quit as May faces cabinet revolt against Brexit no deal – The Times (£) Amber Rudd says she is committed to avoiding no deal – BBC News …while Philip Hammond says a no-deal Brexit would be ‘a betrayal’ as ministers row in behind him… Philip Hammond has said leaving the EU without a deal would be a “betrayal” of the EU referendum result as it emerged ministers may have colluded with Airbus over a dire no deal Brexit warning. The Chancellor was one of three ministers taking part in what appeared to be a co-ordinated attack on no deal, in a direct challenge to Theresa May’s insistence that it must remain on the table. Amber Rudd, the Work and Pensions Secretary, refused to rule out resigning if she is not allowed to vote in favour of blocking a no deal Brexit next week, saying her colleagues would have to “wait and see”. Meanwhile Richard Harrington, a business minister, said he was “delighted” by comments from the head of Airbus saying no deal could be “very harmful” and might force the aircraft firm to pull out of the UK. An Airbus executive later said the Government had asked the company to “make clear the potential impact of no deal”. Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, accused the ministers of “crying wolf” over no deal, saying the real betrayal of Brexit would be to remain in an EU customs union “by stealth”. On Thursday talks between Mrs May and union leaders in Number 10 – aimed at winning Labour support for her Brexit deal – stalled over her refusal to take a no deal Brexit off the table. – Telegraph (£) The day Remain ministers went to war over no-deal Brexit ‘betrayal’ – Telegraph (£) …and calls for a more liberal immigration regime post-Brexit… Philip Hammond took a swipe at Theresa May’s drive for a clampdown on European immigration on Thursday, raising the prospect of a special deal for EU citizens that could give the UK a Norway-style relationship with the bloc. The chancellor’s comments to British business leaders on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum held out an olive branch to those in his party, such as Nick Boles and Nicky Morgan, who want an extremely close economic relationship with the EU. Mr Hammond acknowledged that a recent government paper on immigration proposed the same rules for migrants from EU and non-EU countries, but added “it does not rule out the possibility that future trade deals, including with the EU, might have provisions in this area”. – FT (£) …but also rejects calls by business leaders for a second referendum The Chancellor has faced down top business leaders calling for a second referendum, saying he understood their frustration but said it would be a “Pyrrhic victory” to play games with the political system. A Finnish private equity executive at the World Economic Forum in Davos told Philip Hammond he did not understand what was undemocratic about holding a second EU referendum. His comment was met with a round of applause from the audience of chief executives and bankers and cries of “well said”. The Chancellor responded by saying “it would be a mistake to trash the political settlement that underpins society. The long-term consequences of doing so would be very serious”. He called for a new settlement to be reached on Brexit so that the outcome of the referendum could be delivered and a damaging no-deal avoided. Mr Hammond said that not leaving “would be a betrayal, but leaving without a deal would also be a betrayal of what was promised”. He added that it would “undermine prosperity and equally undermine the referendum”. – Telegraph (£) Trade union chiefs repeat calls for no-deal Brexit to be ruled out after talks with May… Prime Minister Theresa May has been pressed by union leaders to guarantee jobs and workers’ rights after Brexit during a series of face-to-face meetings in Downing Street. Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, stressed a no-deal Brexit would be “disastrous”. He hoped his first ever meeting with Theresa May was not a “PR stunt”. Mr McCluskey said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was right to refuse to meet the Prime Minister unless she ruled out a no-deal Brexit but urged Mrs May to extend Article 50 beyond March 29 for three months. “I think the (Labour) amendment talks about nine months, I think that’s way way too long, I’d like to see an amendment of about three months if proper negotiations are going to take place,” he added. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady, Dave Prentis of Unison and Tim Roache of the GMB, also held separate meetings with ministers. – ITV News …as she launches a bid to win over Labour to Brexit by boosting rights for pregnant women at work Theresa May last night made a huge pitch for Labour Brexit votes by toughening up workers’ rights for pregnant women and new parents. In a huge charm offensive, the PM said they would now get up to six months’ redundancy protection when they go back to work – instead of two weeks. She said this went much further than current EU requirements. Officials said one in nine women claim to have been fired or made redundant after returning to work following birth. It followed a series of meetings in No10 with trade union chiefs such as Unite’s Len McCluskey and TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady. And it came with Downing Street desperate to “peel off” Labour MPs in next Tuesday’s showdown on parliamentary plans to stop a No Deal. Caroline Flint, the Labour MP for Doncaster, is the only one to so far publicly denounce a move by Yvette Cooper and Tory Nick Boles to delay Brexit. – The Sun Campaign for second Brexit referendum in retreat as pro-Remain MPs scrap plan and blame Jeremy Corbyn for lack of support… The campaign for a second Brexit referendum was forced into retreat as MPs scrapped plans to force a Commons vote on the issue and blamed Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader was accused by pro-Remain MPs of “facilitating a job-destroying Brexit” and ignoring the wishes of his party as they dropped plans to table an amendment calling for a second referendum. Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna, the Labour MPs, and Sarah Wollaston, the senior Conservative MP, were among those who had backed the cross-party amendment which could have been voted on next Tuesday. But they announced they were scrapping the plan as Ms Berger said the decision had been taken “because the Labour leadership and frontbench won’t back a People’s Vote”. It came as Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, said it would be “relatively simple” to delay Brexit by three months to July 1. The Labour leadership has put forward an amendment which would offer MPs a vote on whether there should be a second referendum but the party is not formally calling for another national poll. – Telegraph (£) People’s Vote crisis: Speech outside Parliament ‘not sanctioned’ – Express …although Corbyn still faces a revolt from Labour MPs backing second referendum Jeremy Corbyn faces a revolt from Labour MPs backing a new Brexit referendum, who will launch a drive to rewrite his proposals for the next phase of withdrawal. The move from three MPs to redraft his strategy, so it ties Labour unambiguously to giving Britain a Final Say referendum, once again thrusts the party’s deep Brexit divisions into the spotlight. Hours earlier four other Labour MPs had joined Tory counterparts at a press conference, with one accusing Mr Corbyn of “standing in the way” of a people’s vote. While Mr Corbyn’s office declined to comment on Thursday, the leader’s social media outriders launched a counter-attack on the Labour rebels whom they accused of dishonesty. Meanwhile doubt has emerged over the viability of a cross-party push by MPs to delay the UK’s withdrawal in order to avoid leaving the EU without a deal on 29 March. – Independent Penny Mordaunt says UK is shifting towards no-deal to get Brexit done A UK cabinet minister has said the British public is throwing its support behind a no-deal Brexit, suggesting that MPs will be thwarting democracy if they block such an outcome. Penny Mordaunt, the Eurosceptic international development secretary, said that the country’s stance was hardening on leaving the EU without a deal — in favour of the alternative of trading with the bloc on World Trade Organisation terms. “You see this shift to no-deal. It’s not because [voters] particularly want WTO terms, it’s because they want it done,” she told the Financial Times in an interview. “That’s not necessarily because that’s their preferred option. But I think the public want to send us a message that, end of March, we expect you to leave the EU, and that is the most important thing. To them, no Brexit is worse than no-deal.” Despite government warnings about economic and administrative disruption, a quarter of Britons now say that a no-deal Brexit is their preferred outcome, according to two recent polls. – FT (£) Queen calls for respect for ‘different points of view’ in apparent bid to end Brexit divisions The Queen appeared to send a message to politicians deadlocked over Brexit yesterday as she spoke of “coming together to seek out the common ground”. Her Majesty used a speech to the Sandringham Women’s Institute to emphasise the need for people to be respectful of “different points of view”. Although the monarch is expected to be politically neutral, she has a track record of making her feelings known at times of national crisis, having subtly intervened in the Scottish independence referendum. The Queen was speaking at the centenary celebrations of her local WI in Norfolk, of which she is a long-term member. As she reflected on “a century of change”, the Queen said: “Of course, every generation faces fresh challenges and opportunities. As we look for new answers in the modern age, I for one prefer the tried and tested recipes, like speaking well of each other and respecting different points of view; coming together to seek out the common ground; and never losing sight of the bigger picture. To me, these approaches are timeless, and I commend them to everyone.” – Telegraph (£) End Brexit feud, Queen tells warring politicians – The Times (£) The Queen calls again for more respect for others’ views – ITV News Now it is Brussels’ turn to indulge in ‘magical thinking’ about the Irish border Brussels has spent years scoffing at Brexiteers’ solutions to the Irish border, dismissing their ideas as nothing more than “unicorn hunting” or “magical thinking”. But recently it has been the European Commission’s turn to wriggle on the hook of the divisive Irish border backstop, which it has now publicly undermined. No less an august person than Michel Barnier himself was reduced to hunting for “EUnicorns”, as he appeared to back the very solutions advanced by Brexiteers for the Irish border if there is a no deal Brexit. The commission succeeded in infuriating Dublin and handing the Brexiteer opponents of Theresa May’s Brexit deal a hefty stick with which to batter the prime minister ahead of next week’s crunch vote. The problems began on Tuesday when Margaritis Schinas, the commission’s chief spokesman, had an attack of honesty. “If you push me to speculate what will happen in Ireland after a no deal Brexit I think it is pretty obvious, there will be a hard border,” Mr Schinas said at the midday press briefing. – Telegraph (£) EU mask slips as Lithuanian leader claims a no-deal Brexit to be better than Article 50 extension Lithuanian leader Dalia Grybauskaitė claimed a no deal Brexit would create less damage than extending the negotiating process under Article 50. Ms Grybauskaitė insisted the European Union would be willing to accommodate a request for postponing the withdrawal date past March 29 but suggested a swift exit would be “better” for all parties involved. Theresa May has refused to take no deal off the table after her draft divorce deal was rejected in the Commons earlier this month, forcing some EU member states to launch contingency plans for an abrupt British exit from the bloc. Speaking to Euronews on Thursday, the Lithuanian Prime Minister said: “The more we try to extend this chaos, the worse it will be for both sides. But if Britain will ask, of course, we will try to be supportive and helpful. “But the more we will be trying to extend any kind of uncertainty, the worse it will be for both sides. And in that case, even it’s better to finish this chaos sooner even with no deal or with any kind of deal.” Ms Grybauskaitė also suggested Lithuania would be open to enter immediate talks with London to maintain the “absolutely special relations” her country and the UK share on matters of economy and security. – Express No-deal Brexit better than ‘chaos’ of delay – Politico Emergency plans revealed as UK ‘enters critical final stage’ for no deal Brexit Whitehall mandarins have triggered the final stages of critical contingency planning – codenamed Operation Yellowhammer – as expectations grow that Britain will leave the EU on March 29 without a deal in place. Thousands of Civil Servants have been briefed that the protocol – usually used in emergencies such as a flu pandemic – is being significantly stepped up with only 63 days (from Friday) to go until Brexit day. Some 100 new specialist ‘No deal’ civil service roles have been created including jobs in Poland, France and other European countries to help with the transition. More than 12,000 civil servants are take on key tasks. A Whitehall source said last night: “It’s clear that Yellowhammer planning is entering the critical final stage. “You get the sense that Whitehall is really gearing up for a no deal Brexit. The merry-go-round of staff brings a sense of urgency now.” – Express Online sales tax to help save high street falls foul of EU rules An online sales tax to help high street shops has in effect been ruled out by the Treasury because it would fall foul of EU rules. The Times has learnt that Mel Stride, financial secretary to the Treasury, has written to Nicky Morgan, chairwoman of the Treasury select committee, to say there was a “high risk” that any such tax would breach the bloc’s state aid rules. The UK is due to leave the European Union on March 29 but under the draft withdrawal agreement Britain has accepted “dynamic alignment” with Brussels on state-aid rules. Retailers including Dave Lewis, the chief executive of Tesco, and Mike Ashley, the owner of Sports Direct, have called for an online sales tax to help high street shops to compete on fairer terms. Mr Lewis suggested that the tax could be 2 per cent of sales and Mr Ashley said the levy should be applied to retailers that have more than 20 per cent of their turnover online. – The Times (£) Push for more generous EU no-deal offer on aviation Some EU countries are pushing for the European Union’s no-deal legislation to be more generous to the UK. The European Commission has proposed “bare bones” arrangements on aviation and road haulage if there is no deal. The legislation would allow British truckers to carry goods into the EU and British airlines to fly in and out of the EU, from 29 March to 31 December. But a group of countries want to give UK hauliers the right to operate within the EU as well, known as cabotage. Some also want British airlines to be able to offer connecting flights within the EU. Diplomats are also concerned that airlines will not be able to offer new routes or run more services because the number of flights would be capped at 2018 levels. The issues were discussed at a meeting of member states’ ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday. Officials will try to hammer out a compromise at a meeting on Friday and ambassadors will discuss it again next week. – BBC News Caroline Flint: Why won’t MPs take Remain off the table? It’s now 946 days since the UK voted to leave the EU in the referendum, 722 days since Parliament overwhelmingly voted to trigger Article 50, and 596 days since both Labour and the Conservatives pledged to honour the referendum outcome at the general election. You would think all those decisions meant no MP could countenance Remain as a viable option. How wrong you would be. The rearguard action to delay, then kill, Brexit is in full force. We hear a lot from MPs about “taking no-deal off the table”. For some, this is code for extending Article 50, delaying Brexit, allowing time to hold a second referendum before we leave. I cannot agree. The public simply don’t trust the MPs who are asking for no-deal to be taken off the table to then get on and deliver Brexit in any sort of form. If we were to take Remain off the table too, we would have far more trust and support. Those same MPs will line up behind the Yvette Cooper proposal, which would enable Parliament to force a vote to delay Brexit Day to December 31. That would mean contesting the European Parliament elections in May, three years after we voted to leave. Imagine how that will go down with voters. And what is the purpose of a nine-month delay? More talks? Hardly. The EU shuts down for elections in April; it also shuts down for the summer, only reappointing Commissioners in October. Slim hope of much negotiating before Christmas. – Caroline Flint MP for the Telegraph (£) Tom Harris: The People’s Vote campaign can almost taste victory – so why are they such a mess? In his refusal (so far) to endorse a second referendum, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has undoubtedly been encouraged to drag his feet by his suspicion of the political motives and leaders behind the People’s Vote, and by fears that it may become, down the line, the basis for a new political party to challenge Labour. Well, even a broken clock, etc. It is one of a number of mind-bending ironies that pepper this debate that it was Blair’s own decision, in 2004, not to impose temporary restrictions on the arrival in Britain of citizens of ten new EU accession countries – mainly from Eastern Europe – that led, eventually, to a treaty-fracturing level of disillusionment with the European project. Even now, the People’s Vote campaign sees no problem with Britain remaining in the EU and maintaining its position as a favourite destination for the citizens of 27 other EU countries to live and work, dismissing any concerns with the usual – although increasingly devalued – pejorative labels. – Tom Harris for the Telegraph (£) Johnny Mercer: Theresa May should show some military spirit and face her fears to make Brexit a success Are we brave enough to face down the prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal if that’s what it takes to keep the promise that has been made to the British people? Do we have the courage to accept that while it is clearly not what we wanted, we must and we will look it in the face and stare it down on behalf of our country? The European Union clearly think we haven’t the minerals for the fight. There is no chance of any movement on the ridiculous backstop arrangements in Northern Ireland so long as we cower from no deal. So we must prepare to leave without a deal – like it or not, as we should have done from the beginning. We owe it to the people who voted for Brexit in numbers not seen in this country before. The hope, the promise of Brexit must not be failed at this critical moment for fear of failure. If ministers feel they are unable to meet this challenge then they should resign – of course. Threatening resignation publicly is never endearing – to the public or your peers. – Johnny Mercer MP for the Telegraph (£) Iain Martin: It’s time Brussels gave ground over Brexit As early as next week, Theresa May will head back to Brussels armed with a set of proposals designed to break the Brexit deadlock. Here, she will say, are some changes to the Irish backstop, and to the understanding on our future relationship, that could get the withdrawal agreement through the Commons. If those changes are accepted the prime minister stands a decent chance of unlocking the 116 or so votes she needs, from a mixture of wavering Brexiteers who are looking for a ladder to climb down, and moderate Labour MPs who want a resolution. If it is sensible the European Union will move, not out of a misplaced sense of sympathy for Mrs May, but because it is in its own interests to offer greater flexibility. Her deal with added fudge is about as good as it is going to get. Unless a deal is passed soon, the EU will have on its doorstep the Continent’s second-largest economy and its biggest trading partner fighting itself for years in an ever more messier populist culture war, growing steadily more resentful, while bordering an EU member state, Ireland. – Iain Martin for The Times (£) Ruth Dudley Edwards: Naive Leo Varadkar has finally clocked that the EU has used Ireland to punish Britain “If you’d like to push me and speculate on what might happen in a no-deal scenario in Ireland, I think it’s pretty obvious – you will have a hard border”, said Margaritis Schinas, the EU Chief Spokesperson on Tuesday, causing shock in the Republic, where there has been blind faith that the British government would inevitably be forced to accept the backstop. Ireland would not accept a hard border and therefore wouldn’t plan for one was the mantra the Government continued to repeat, but as the day went on, the floundering Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was forced to admit that in the case of a no-deal outcome, the British and Irish governments “would have to negotiate an agreement on customs and regulations that would mean full alignment so there would be no hard border.” Varadkar hasn’t suddenly joined the European Research Group, but he’s had an unpleasant bucketload of reality dump on him. It’s a dramatic volte face, since when he came into office in June 2017, the Taoisach opposed the idea of bilateral negotiations with the United Kingdom and deliberately dismantled the arrangements his predecessor – Enda Kenny – had set up with London and Northern Ireland officials to minimise the negative effects of a border could be minimised. – Ruth Dudley Edwards for the Telegraph (£) Simon Coveney: No secret plan for the Irish border There is no secret plan for the Irish Border. Let me say that clearly. In the last 48 hours, heightened pressure has come on the Government because of comments in Brussels and the ongoing impasse in the UK. It has even been suggested that the government is keeping something about the Border from the Irish people. We are not. Throughout the Brexit process, the Taoiseach and I have been open and consistent. We are not planning for the reintroduction of a border on the island of Ireland, deal or no deal. We have a way to avoid a border in the deal. It has been the result of a painstaking negotiation, framed by UK red lines, which led to compromises on both sides, and which resulted in a withdrawal agreement endorsed by 27 European Union nations and the British cabinet. That withdrawal agreement is the only deal on offer. We have heard commentary from some quarters that the EU would not stand by Ireland in reaching a deal with the UK. These predictions have been proven to be false. Similar prophecies of doom are now being bandied about on the basis of one answer from a spokesman who, by his own admission, was speculating. EU clarifications yesterday attracted less coverage.Ireland and the EU have lived up to our responsibilities, but we share responsibility for the peace process and the Belfast Agreement with each and every party and each and every MP in the House of Commons. – Simon Coveney, Tánaiste of Ireland for The Irish Times Ruth Lea: Yes, there would be some losers from No Deal. We can easily afford to compensate them In a recent note for The Conservative Woman I criticised business lobbying groups, not least the Chemicals Industries Association, for their needlessly pessimistic utterances about a No Deal Brexit. Instead of exaggerating the difficulties they would face trading with the EU under the WTO’s tried and tested rules, they should be embracing the future. Fifty-five per cent of our export trade is basically conducted under such rules already. Rather than ‘crashing out’ and/or ‘falling off a cliff’, it would be more of a ‘leap into the familiar’. There are two factors in our favour if there is a No Deal Brexit. Firstly, there should be no need for painful discussions over the EU’s recognition of our product standards because we are completely compliant already. Given this compliance, WTO rules state quite clearly that the EU cannot discriminate against our exports to them. Even if the WTO’s rules on non-discrimination did not exist, the EU would have been cutting off its nose to spite its face if it discriminated. The UK would surely have retaliated and, given the EU’s huge visible trade surplus with us (£95billion in 2018), their exporters would have had more to lose than ours. Commercial realities, surely, would have prevailed and this tit-for-tat would never have arisen. – Ruth Lea for The Conservative Woman John Redwood: Parliament and the Executive For the Tuesday debate in accordance with the EU Withdrawal Act the government has tabled a neutral motion on our exit from the EU. The motion simply says Parliament has considered the matter of our withdrawal. Parliament after all has debated little else for the entire last two and a half years. It has also legislated twice to leave the EU on 29 March 2019. As I made clear to the Commons when we passed the EU Withdrawal Notification Act, that was the decision point. Parliament’s wish to send the Article 50 letter should have been the end to the debate on the principle of leaving. Some in Parliament have now decided they would like to move amendments to the government motion to undermine the legislation Parliament has put through to allow us to leave. It is true that passing a motion next week cannot of itself change the law, so unless the law is amended we will still leave. Some hope that if Parliament expresses a strong view that it has changed its mind it might get the government to think again. That would be unwise given the solemn promise made by Parliament and government that we would implement the decision of the referendum. – John Redwood’s Diary The Sun says: Our spineless Cabinet must keep No Deal alive — we need it so the EU fix Theresa May’s deal What did Britain do to deserve a Cabinet this spineless? It is vital to keep No Deal alive and Theresa May knows it. Otherwise the EU has no incentive to fix her deal to get it through the Commons. The very existence of the Labour-backed Yvette Cooper amendment to “avoid No Deal” — a Remainer ruse to kill Brexit — threatens our position. So what possessed our idiotic Chancellor Philip Hammond to tell his big business buddies at Davos that No Deal would “betray” the referendum result? It’s both Grade A cobblers and pulls the rug from under his boss. The Business Department, meanwhile, appears to have asked Airbus to make dire public warnings about No Deal, while europhile Minister Richard Harrington openly dared Mrs May to fire him for branding it a “total disaster”. Amber Rudd is at it too. Remainers have abandoned collective Cabinet responsibility and made their Government look even more feeble. Tory MP, ex-Army officer and Afghanistan veteran Johnny Mercer knows vastly more than these Cabinet clowns about achieving difficult objectives with teamwork, loyalty and courage. He describes it well on the right. This Cabinet should work as one to fix the Irish backstop which is scuppering the deal. If that fails, No Deal it still is. If they haven’t the stomach for it, quit. – The Sun Brexit in Brief On Brexit, Auntie just can’t help herself – Robin Aitken for UnHerd We’re heading towards an application to extend Article 50 – and, if it’s accepted, towards revoking Brexit – Iain Dale for ConservativeHome French president Macron blasts Brexit saying UK’s bid to leave Europe ‘can’t be delivered’ and had ‘torn society apart’ – Daily Mail Minister backs Airbus Brexit remarks and dares May to sack him – Guardian ‘Big firms want to stay in EU to crush ordinary people’: Nigel Farage clashes with Andrew Adonis – Choppers Brexit Podcast, Telegraph (£)