Labour MP Tulip Siddiq resigns from shadow frontbench over article 50 vote… Shadow minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned from the Labour frontbench, telling the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, that she could not reconcile herself to the party’s three-line whip to vote for triggering article 50. In her letter to Corbyn, the shadow minister for early years said voting to start the process of leaving the EU would be a betrayal of her north London constituents, three-quarters of whom voted to remain in the EU… Clive Lewis, who is understood to have seriously considered rebelling against the whip, issued a statement several hours after the meeting saying he was prepared to vote for the bill… Other shadow cabinet ministers including Jo Stevens, Rachael Maskell and Cat Smith reportedly argued against a three-line whip, but one source stressed that did not necessarily mean they would rebel or resign. – The Guardian Second Labour frontbencher Daniel Zeichner to defy Corbyn at Brexit vote – ITV News Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner will go against Jeremy Corbyn’s whip and vote against Brexit Article 50 Bill – Cambridge News Labour MP Jeff Smith risks being sacked as whip after refusing to back Brexit vote – Manchester Evening News Norwich MP Clive Lewis will vote for first stage of Brexit bill – but leaves door open to later rebellion – Norwich Evening News Labour Brexit rebel Ben Bradshaw says he’ll vote to block Article 50 ‘to protect my constituents’ – TalkRadio Labour frontbenchers voting against Article 50 – Guido Fawkes Tulip Siddiq’s resignation is a reminder that Labour is in no man’s land on Brexit – James Forsyth for The Spectator Coffee House …after a 133-word Article 50 Bill is laid before Parliament with a fast-track timetable… Brexit secretary David Davis has confirmed a bill on triggering Article 50 has been introduced to the House of Commons. It comes after the Prime Minister suffered defeat in a historic legal battle at the Supreme Court earlier this week – ruling Parliament must vote when to trigger the Article… The Bill will now be rushed through Parliament in order to meet Theresa May’s deadline for triggering Article 50 by the end of March. A second reading – the first Commons hurdle for the Bill – will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some MPs are expected to oppose it outright. It will then undergo its committee stage the following week, where the Government will face numerous attempts to amend the legislation from MPs on all sides… After clearing the Commons, the legislation will be passed to the House of Lords – where the Government does not have a majority – for further scrutiny. – ITV News MPs accuse May of ‘showing contempt for Parliament’ with plan to rush through Article 50 legislation in five days – The Independent The bill to trigger article 50 is bluntly worded but will achieve its purpose – Rafael Behr for The Guardian Historic legislation that will trigger Article 50 and set our nation free – Daily Express editorial No matter what detail the Government gives on Brexit, the Remainers will never be satisfied – Iain Dale for ConservativeHome …and Jeremy Corbyn confirms he will impose a three-line whip on Labour MPs to vote for the bill Mr Corbyn told Sky News: “It’s clearly a three-line whip. I understand the pressures and issues members are under … Labour is in the almost unique position of having MPs representing constituencies in both directions. I say to everyone, unite around the important issues … I’m asking all our MPs not to block Article 50 and make sure it goes through next week.”… Labour is planning to table four amendments, including one which would force Theresa May to go back to Brussels with her deal if Parliament rejects it, while the SNP are planning to table 60. The party’s MPs expressed their frustration that they will have just five days to debate the bill in Parliament. – Daily Telegraph Corbyn and Starmer: Our amendments to the Brexit bill to ensure PM gets the best deal for Britain – LabourList Theresa May’s critics will find it difficult to accuse her of having no plan for Brexit – the same can’t be said for Corbyn – The Independent editorial Labour is split by Brexit and divorced from its own voters – Daily Telegraph editorial Labour candidate for Stoke by-election brands Brexit ‘s***’ – The Independent Is Labour trying to lose Stoke to Ukip on purpose? Its Brexit-hating candidate would suggest so – Asa Bennett for the Daily Telegraph (£) Theresa May prepares to visit Donald Trump in the White House today… British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to become the first leader to visit US President Donald Trump since his inauguration. Mrs May and Mr Trump will spend about an hour in face-to-face talks later today in the Oval Office. The main topics of conversation are expected to be Britain’s hopes of a free trade deal following Brexit and the two countries’ shared security concerns. Speaking to reporters on her flight to the US… Mrs May said President Trump shared some of her political values, and that of Brexit Britain. She said: “I think we both share a desire to ensure that governments work for everyone and particularly that governments are working for ordinary working class families.” – Sky News Theresa May says ‘opposites attract’ about her meeting with Trump – Sky News Why Donald Trump needs Theresa May as much as she needs him – Tom Rogan for the Daily Telegraph (£) Theresa May must be more like Donald Trump if she’s to make Britain great again – Iain Martin for The Sun Theresa May must make it her mission to get Trump on side for Britain’s benefit – lecturing him on controversial views won’t do anything – The Sun says > READ on BrexitCentral: Bernard Jenkin MP on why the UK must lead on free trade with Trump in the White House …after giving a major speech to Republicans in Philadelphia… On the eve of a much-anticipated visit to the Oval Office, the prime minister used a speech to Republican leaders in Philadelphia to pledge that the two countries “have a joint responsibility to lead”, but not as they did before. May argued that a new “special relationship” would be nothing like the one between Tony Blair and George W Bush, which saw the pair collaborate in invading Iraq and Afghanistan… May used the wide-ranging foreign policy speech to Republicans to underline the importance of Nato, which Trump has sometimes expressed scepticism about; and of standing up for allies, including those countries in Russia’s sphere of influence. – The Guardian Theresa May receives standing ovation during speech – ITV News Britain and America will no longer invade foreign countries ‘to make the world in their own image’, Theresa May says – Daily Telegraph Full text of Theresa May’s speech to the Republican retreat – Guido Fawkes Trump and May. She channels Reagan and Thatcher in the first speech of her American visit. – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome > WATCH via BrexitCentral: Theresa May addresses Republican lawmakers …expressing optimism about a new UK-US free trade agreement in the coming months Theresa May has said she hoped a new relationship with the US will see the countries form a new free-trade agreement “in the coming months”. She said: “I look forward to pursuing talks with President Trump and his new administration about a new UK-US free trade agreement in the coming months… It will take detailed work, but we welcome your openness to these discussions and hope we make progress so the new global Britain that emerges after Brexit is even better equipped to take its place confidently in the world.” – ITV News Theresa May: UK, U.S. should look at removing trade barriers before Brexit – Reuters If Theresa May is changing our foreign policy to secure a US trade deal, it had better be worth it – Fraser Nelson for the Daily Telegraph (£) How Theresa May can tackle Trump on trade – Shanker Singham for CapX A trade deal with the US might be tempting, but at what price? – Juliet Samuel for the Daily Telegraph (£) > READ on BrexitCentral: Change Britain’s Damon Poole on why ‘Global Britain’ can be more than a soundbite UK remains fastest growing economy in western world after expanding 0.6pc in final quarter of 2016 Data published by the Office for National Statistics showed the UK economy grew by 0.6pc in the final three months of 2016, matching the expansion in the previous quarter. This is faster than the 0.5pc growth predicted by economists and compares with the Treasury’s dire predictions ahead of the EU referendum that a vote to leave the bloc would trigger a year-long recession. Thursday’s figures mean the economy expanded by 2pc over the year… The ONS fourth quarter growth figures showed the expansion was led by the UK’s dominant services sector, which grew by 0.8pc. Manufacturing, which drives around 10pc of UK output, grew by 0.7pc, while construction output rose by 0.1pc. – Daily Telegraph How gloomy Treasury got its Brexit sums wrong: Britain defies doom predicted before the vote to see economy grow by 2% in 2016 – Daily Mail George Osborne has been proved wrong in his forecasts of doom – Larry Elliott for The Guardian Don’t listen to the ‘alternative facts’ being spewed out about Britain’s economy – Ross Clark for The Spectator Coffee House Allister Heath: It looks like the UK will defy its critics again this year Once again, the Remainers have egg on their faces, so much so that it’s starting to become boring. We were supposed to have fallen into a bitter recession by now, or at least to have ground to a halt. Yet the economy grew by 0.6pc in the final quarter of the year… Do forecasts have consequences? Did the extreme bearishness of the economics profession depress economic activity and thus cost jobs? Is relentless negativity self-fulfilling? These are important questions and those who have got it so wrong so many times should spend some time pondering them. Life isn’t a game: spreadsheets can be a dangerous weapon. – Allister Heath for the Daily Telegraph (£) Barclays to keep global HQ in London no matter outcome of Brexit Barclays has reiterated that it will keep its global headquarters in London even after the UK leaves the EU, in response to media reports that it was planning on establishing a European headquarters in Dublin. Earlier in the day, Bloomberg had reported that Barclays had settled on Dublin for its main hub inside the EU after Brexit. “The idea that a decision has been taken is not correct,” a spokesman for Barclays told The Independent. He said that Barclays’ global headquarters would remain in London regardless of the outcome of Brexit negotiations. – The Independent Spain defies the EU by calling for a start to post-Brexit trade talks with Britain as soon as possible… In an interview with the Financial Times, Spain’s foreign minister Alfonso Dastis said that he believes starting trade talks before the full terms of Brexit are agreed would be beneficial to all involved in Britain’s divorce from the EU. “It would actually be good, while we speak about the separation, to also define where we want to be in terms of a new framework [for EU-UK relations],” Dastis told the FT. “We are interested in getting a result that is good for both sides. We won’t give up that interest for the sake of strict procedural requirements.”… Spain’s foreign minister was also clear that he doesn’t want to “punish” the UK for leaving the EU, something many have suggested could occur in negotiations. “We don’t see this as a battle in which one side has to come out as the victor and the other as the vanquished,” he told the FT. “I don’t see any intention to be punitive.” – Business Insider Spain backs early trade talks in Brexit negotiations – Spanish foreign minister interview in the FT (£) Pakistani Commerce minister: We want a ‘GSP-Plus’ trade deal with Brexit Britain – EurActiv …as David Davis reminds Parliament that Guy Verhofstadt won’t make Brexit decisions Guy Verhofstadt and the European Parliament will have a “limited and peripheral” role in Brexit negotiations, the U.K.’s secretary of state for exiting the European Union said Thursday. David Davis said Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and now leader of the liberal group of MEPs, would be present at the talks, but “I don’t think he’ll be making the decisions.” The European Parliament will have a veto over any final Brexit deal, but the extent of MEPs’ role in the negotiations themselves has been a bone of contention, with Verhofstadt pushing for a greater say. – Politico ‘We need a European FBI’ Guy Verhofstadt wants more EU integration after Brexit – Daily Express How will the election of the new European Parliament President affect Brexit talks? – Agata Gostynska for The UK in a Changing Europe Schulz’s departure liberates the European Parliament’s ‘dark prince’, Klaus Welle – Politico Brexit comment in brief Public must have a say on monumental act of self-harm that is a hard Brexit – Tim Farron MP for The Times Red Box (£) On Brexit, the Lib Dems have one big advantage over Labour: nothing to lose – Stephen Bush for the New Statesman Theresa May is on a sticky wicket over EU nationals living in the UK – Katy Balls for The Spectator Coffee House Donald Trump has declared war on the regulatory state. Theresa May should do the same in Britain – Ryan Bourne for the Daily Telegraph How Brexit could save Yorkshire’s steel industry – Chris Burn for the Sheffield Star Brexit news in brief Brexit to reflect interests of all UK, says David Davis – BBC News Sturgeon should ‘butt out’ over Brexit, says Lord Forsyth – The Scotsman WATCH via BrexitCentral – Lord Forsyth: Sturgeon should “butt out” Britain should relax migration rules to recruit more science, Mandarin and computer science teachers to the UK, report urges – The Sun When is the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election and which candidates are in the running to replace Labour’s Tristram Hunt? – The Sun French Presidential frontrunner François Fillon fights growing ‘Penelopegate’ scandal – Politico