Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team EU putting lives at risk over Brexit, warns May… Theresa May told European leaders last night that they were putting their citizens’ lives at risk by allowing Brussels to restrict security co-operation with Britain after Brexit. In a stark message, delivered directly to member states over the heads of the EU’s Brexit negotiators, she accused the European Commission of putting obstacles in the way of a new security pact with the bloc. The prime minister appealed to leaders to overrule the commission and widen their negotiating mandate to allow the unrestricted sharing of police and security information that would be “in all our interests”. Senior government sources said that the prime minister’s appeal, made over dinner at an EU summit in Brussels, was designed to unblock stalled talks on a future security partnership. – The Times (£) Brussels ‘risking lives’ if bloc rejects post-Brexit security pact – Express May urges EU leaders to put citizens’ safety first – BBC News …but Brexit little discussed during EU Council summit An EU Summit with a special World Cup gift: Belgian prime minister Charles Michel handed his British counterpart Theresa May his team’s shirt ahead of their football clash. A moment of levity after months of grinding through Brexit negotiations, Mrs May laughed as she held aloft the top – only to realise she’d performed an own goal. As the Council meeting kicked off, it was 1-0 to the EU – although she equalised later in the day by handing Mr Michel an England shirt. But this meeting – once billed the Brexit summit – was not about tackling Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU. Mrs May arrived with one item on her agenda, but her decision to hold back her Brexit white paper setting out exactly what she wants from Brexit till after this meet, left the EU27 without much to discuss. Instead, the EU27 – which briefly touched upon Brexit at the working dinner – are likely to raise concerns about the lack of progress. French President Emmanuel Macron joked with Mrs May over the Belgian football shirt, but is also preparing to deliver a “serious and grave” rebuke to the prime minister over the state of Brexit as the EU urges authorities to accelerate plans for a no deal Brexit. – Sky News EU leaders tell Theresa May to sort out her warring cabinet and get on with it – The Sun May calls to speed up Brexit talks at EU summit – Sky News Theresa May says both sides want Brexit progress – BBC News > Watch on BrexitCentral’s YouTube Channel: May welcomes speeding up negotiations Irish PM warns May that Britain is outnumbered… European Union leaders heaped yet more pressure on Theresa May to solve the vexed issue of the Irish border in the Brexit negotiations as they arrived at a Brussels summit. Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, warned Mrs May that Britain was outnumbered in the tense talks and risked crashing out of the bloc without a deal unless it provided a workable backstop to prevent a hard border. “Any relationship in the future between the EU and UK isn’t going to be one of absolute equals. We’re 27 member states, the UK is one country, we’re 500 million people, the UK is 60 million, so that basic fact needs to be realised and understood,” Mr Varadkar said. – Telegraph (£) …and Dutch PM says Irish border is the “first, second, third priority” Resolving the Irish border is the “first, second and third priority” for Brexit talks, the Dutch Prime Minister has said ahead of the first part of this week’s European Council summit. Arriving in Brussels for the summit, leaders of the EU27 have expressed their frustration at the lack of progress in negotiations – even as UK Prime Minister Theresa May insisted work was moving forward. Dutch leader Mark Rutte told journalists that while he wanted to avoid talking “in apocalyptic terms”, he was concerned at the lack of pace. – City A.M. Brexit Britain Wins $35 Billion Contract to Build Australian Warships… Possibly the biggest #DespiteBrexit yet: British defence giant BAE Systems has won the tender to design and manage the construction of nine anti-submarine warships. The deal represents the biggest peacetime building programme in Australian naval history and is worth $35 billion, or £20 billion. It is being reported that the clincher was Gavin Williamson’s decision to send Royal Navy ships to Australia and the Pacific. – Guido Fawkes In a huge boost for Britain ahead of our EU exit, UK defence giant BAE Systems has seen off rival bids from Spain and Italy to win a major contract to build frigates for the Australian navy. Aussie Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said of the landmark programme: “BAE’s Global Combat Ship will provide our nation with one of the most advanced anti-submarine warships in the world, a maritime combat capability that will underpin our security for decades to come.” He will officially announce the new deal tomorrow, which will underpin the key ties between Australia and the UK as we seek to leave the EU. – The Sun UK’s $35bn frigate win – The Australian … as Australia calls on UK to join forces after Brexit against protectionism Britain and Australia must join forces after Brexit to battle a rising tide of protectionism in America and “rigid state capitalism” in China, Canberra’s new High Commissioner to the UK has said. George Brandis, a former Australian attorney-general turned diplomat, said both countries aimed to sign a free trade deal “quite soon after Brexit” which will ” announce the arrival of the UK as a modern major global trading nation in its own right.” The deal would sent a stark message to President Donald Trump, the US president, and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, that only global free trade provides countries with “security and prosperity,” he said. It would also mark the end of a period in British history where the country’s trade policy was “sequestered in Brussels,” which led to trade between the UK and Australia falling substantially after the former joined the EU. – Telegraph (£) JCB defies Brexit fears with £50m factory investment… JCB is investing £50m in building a new factory at its Staffordshire base that will create hundreds of skilled jobs. The company best known for its bright yellow diggers aims to open the new plant next summer. It will build cabs for JCB’s plant equipment. Graeme Macdonald, chief executive of the privately owned company, described the investment as one of the largest in JCB’s history. He added: “This underlines our commitment to manufacturing in Britain and in our home county of Staffordshire.” – Telegraph (£) JCB to invest £50m and create 200 jobs in UK by 2022 – City A.M. … and BMW gives a resounding vote of confidence for Brexit Britain in dramatic U-turn… BMW last night gave a resounding vote of confidence in Brexit Britain as it signalled its long-term commitment to the UK. The German car giant rubbished claims that it would be forced to shut plants in Britain if we leave the customs union without a deal. It insisted the comments, made by its UK customs manager and reported in the Financial Times, had been ‘taken out of context’. Stressing that Britain is the ‘home’ of Rolls-Royce and Mini and BMW’s fourth biggest global market, it said closing any of its factories is not an option. – Daily Mail …and UK car production enjoys slight rise The number of cars produced in the UK rose in May, despite output in 2018 still remaining below what it was the previous year. An expected bump in domestic demand led to the 1.3 per cent increase in cars manufactured in the UK last month, with 137,225 cars produced through May, according to statistics out today from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).That rise comes despite a 1.5 per cent dip in export production, with like-for-like manufacturing levels this year down 2.9 per cent from 2017. However, a 12.8 per cent rise in cars made for domestic consumers helped offset the fall in foreign demand. – City A.M. Survey shows two thirds of businesses do not see Brexit as major cause for concern The majority of British businesses do not see Brexit as a major cause for concern, according to a report by the Bank of England. Just 37 per cent of bosses said leaving the European Union was one of the top three sources of uncertainty for their business. The Bank also reported a rise in retail sales, boosted by demand for summer clothes and shoes, and an increase in factory output amid ‘robust’ growth in exports. The findings further undermine claims by big business and the pro-Brussels CBI that Brexit anxiety among companies was holding back the economy. – Daily Mail Eurosceptics accuse Brexit Select Committee of publishing Remain ‘propaganda’ over call to delay UK’s withdrawal from EU Eurosceptic MPs have accused the Brexit Select Committee of publishing Remain “propaganda” after it suggested delaying Britain’s withdrawal from the EU and rubbished the prospect of the UK leaving without a deal. The committee said a “limited extension to Article 50 may be required to prevent the UK leaving the EU in March 2019 without an agreement”. It also suggested the Government should make it possible for the transition period, which under current terms would finish at the end of 2020, to be extended. – Telegraph (£) MPs may not have enough time to sign off final Brexit deal – City A.M. Brexit Committee demands delay to UK’s EU exit until deal is done with Brussels – The Sun MPs demand five days to debate Brexit deal – BBC News UK population growing at slowest rate in 14 years as fewer EU migrants arrive without a job The UK population is growing at its slowest rate in 14 years because Brexit means fewer EU migrants are arriving here without a job, ONS figures show. The data shows that the population hit 66 million for the first time in mid-2017 but is growing at a rate of 0.6 per cent, the lowest since mid-2004. While the number of people coming to the UK to take on a job they have already secured has remained stable, the number immigrating to look for work fell by 43 per cent in the year following the Brexit vote, a trend which is particularly stark for EU citizens. – Telegraph (£) Britain’s population reaches 66million – but sees a huge drop in migrants coming here after Brexit – The Sun Algeria dumps thousands of migrants in the Sahara amid EU-funded crackdown – Telegraph (£) Anger over ‘offensive’ anti‑Brexit attack advert Chuka Umunna has distanced himself from a “misguided” anti-Brexit advertising campaign that targeted fellow Labour MPs. The senior Labour backbencher, who chairs a co-ordinating group of Remain organisations, criticised the billboard campaign and stressed that he had no involvement in it. The controversial posters were designed by the Our Future Our Choice (Ofoc) group, which is pushing for a second referendum, and show the Labour MP Preet Gill with masking tape over her mouth. – The Times (£) How the EU plans for more border guards and tougher rules to solve its migration crisis Europe has many challenges but migration could end up determining Europe’s destiny,” Angela Merkel told the German parliament before heading to an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. Divided European Union leaders are meeting for crunch talks over migration as the bloc struggles to contain a political crisis that threatens to engulf the German Chancellor and widen splits between Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern countries. Despite the fact that migrant arrivals are down and far lower than the heights of 2015’s crisis, EU leaders are hardening their stance and have turned on each other. New, fiercely anti-migrant governments in Italy and Austria have added their voices to the long-held opposition of the Visegrad countries of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. – Telegraph (£) EU plans African asylum camps to limit migrants – The Times (£) EU chief urges leaders to accept tough new migration controls – or see Continent plunge into clutches of ‘tough guy’ fascists – The Sun Angela Merkel faces a make-or-break moment of her own making – Rachel Cunliffe for City A.M. Mass immigration has destroyed hopes of a borderless society – Tim Marshall for The Spectator The crisis-plagued Angela Merkel has entered the final stages of her chancellorship – The Times editorial (£) City of London’s special EU envoy stepping down The City of London Corporation’s special representative to the EU Jeremy Browne is stepping down after three years with the organisation. Browne, who had been tasked with championing the City’s call for mutual recognition as part of the Brexit process, will leave when his contract expires at the end of August. City A.M. understands that Browne – who was earning a six-figure salary – will not be replaced directly. He was hired under the previous policy chairman Mark Boleat. Policy chairman Catherine McGuinness thanked Browne for his “invaluable” work, adding: “Jeremy’s work has been pivotal over the last three years – particularly following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. “He has generated a clearer understanding of the climate across Europe at this critical time, and helped the City Corporation build stronger, more tangible relationships with member states.” – City A.M. The City’s right to warn the EU against its own complacency – Christian May for City A.M. James Forsyth: July 2018 could prove to be Theresa May’s cruellest month Theresa May is about to embark on the toughest month of her premiership to date. Next week, she must persuade her cabinet to agree a common position on Britain’s future relationship with the European Union. The following week, she will attend a Nato summit which may well shake the foundations of the alliance. Then, without a moment to catch her breath, she must host Donald Trump when he visits the UK. As if that weren’t enough, she must also win a Commons vote on Britain leaving the customs union. It is tempting to predict that the cabinet meeting at Chequers in the coming days will result in yet another elaborate compromise. After all, that is what happened when the Brexit inner cabinet was last summoned in February to her country retreat for a ‘crunch meeting’. It ended in everyone agreeing that progress had been made towards ‘managed divergence’. One of those present recalls that the drinks before dinner were one of the few times this government seemed at ease with itself. Remainers and Leavers were, for once, content in each other’s company. – James Forsyth for The Spectator Fraser Nelson: At her Chequers summit, Theresa May will have the right people in the right place – but does she have a Brexit policy to debate? Chequers was donated to the British government to give Prime Ministers a country house to which they could retreat and escape the pressures of political life. Next week Theresa May will use it to intensify pressure, summoning Cabinet ministers there in the hope that they will agree – or at least compromise – with her on Brexit. There is no time left for debate, she will say: a decision is needed now. There is also a coded message: if you wish to resign, this would be a good time to do so. In Buckinghamshire, no one can hear you scream. – Fraser Nelson for the Telegraph (£) Tom Slater: Brexit has shattered Corbynistas’ radical pretensions They claim to speak for the many but they fear the 17.4million Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party is riddled with contradictions. It is beloved by young identitarians but led by the most pale, male and stale leader in the country. It is a movement caught somewhere between Old Labourism and nouveau eco-misiberalism. Its leading thinkers wonder out loud about a socialist space agency, while their shadow chancellor rails against Heathrow expansion. But perhaps the most glaring contradiction of all is on the question of Brexit. Corbyn was a lifelong Eurosceptic, until he sold out his principles at the EU referendum and backed Remain. The working-class people who Corbynistas claim to speak for voted for Brexit in their millions. It has served the sort of blow to the global elites that left-wingers are always claiming to crave. And yet Labour Party members, Momentum-ites and hardcore Corbyn fans hate it with every fibre of their being. – Tom Slater for Spiked Pamel Dow: Remain and the Civil Service Even if we can’t prove a conscious Remain ideology in the civil service, we do know enough from behavioural science that what people do is governed by what they believe, and this unconscious bias is harder to deny. In the same way that ‘despite Brexit’ has become a revealing indicator of Remain support in the media, many of the leaked government papers purporting to be neutral are similarly revealing in tone and underlying assumptions. The authors inadvertently but obviously reveal that they see their role as minimising the inevitable harm of an act of self-destruction, not maximising the possibilities of a disruption to the status quo. This makes them ‘Professional Remainers’ in the Tombs Taxonomy, but not in the same way as the CBI or other lobbyists.- Pamel Dow for Briefings for Brexit Brexit in Brief It’s time to tell the EU to get real or get lost – John Redwood MP for The Commentator How I was called a racist for having a pro-Brexit bag – Lucy Harris for The Spectator Europhile ministers need to twig it — Trump, Brexit and immigration WILL bring down the EU – The Sun editorial A Very English Coup d’Etat – Gwythian Prins for Briefings for Brexit Brexit football chant competition.- Steerpike for The Spectator Podcast: A Deal or No Deal Brexit? – Briefings for Brexit Don’t worry about Brexit, David Davis has a titanium-plated spine, says Jacob Rees-Mogg – Telegraph (£)