Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Government commits to releasing information from Brexit impact studies… The government has said it will release information from Brexit impact studies, after Labour won a vote effectively forcing their hand. Ministers had argued that releasing the economic impact studies would undermine their Brexit negotiating position. But Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom agreed that Wednesday’s vote was “binding” and told MPs: “The information will be forthcoming.” Brexit Secretary David Davis said ministers would be “as open as we can”… [Leadsom said]: “It is the case that it is difficult to balance the conflicting obligation to protect the public interest through not disclosing information that could harm the national interest and the public interest whilst at the same time ensuring that the resolution of the House passed yesterday is adhered to.” – BBC News Labour accused of not acting in the ‘national interest’ by forcing Brexit documents to be published – Daily Mail Brexit impact papers to be released in victory for Labour – Guardian Brexit minister Steve Baker insists UK won’t give away negotiating hand to Tusk or Barnier – Express Lord Callanan indicates the Government is working on how to disclose the documents – Bloomberg ‘It’s a farce!’ Lord Lawson lashes Labour MPs for trying to force Brexit papers release – Express David Mundell says there’s no Scotland-specific report into the impact of Brexit – National …as Exiting the EU Committee chair Hilary Benn pushes David Davis on Brexit papers The chair of the Committee on Exiting the European Union has heaped more pressure on David Davis to publish the government’s impact assessments on Brexit. Hilary Benn wrote to Davis, the secretary of state for the Department for Exiting the EU (DexEU), asking him to confirm “in writing as soon as possible” the arrangements he was making in regards to publishing the papers. “As I indicated to you, once the material has been provided to the committee I would be very happy to discuss with you any particular concerns you may have about publication of parts of the material so that the committee can take these into account in making its decision on release,” Benn wrote. Benn added that he expected to government to provide the material much sooner than the 12 week deadline Davis originally stated. – City A.M. What the Brexit impact papers may – or may not – reveal – Dan Roberts and Seán Clarke for the Guardian The government has run, but they can no longer hide — the Brexit studies will be published – Seema Malhotra MP for The Times (£) David Davis ‘confident a Brexit deal will protect all of the Good Friday Agreement’… After talks in London with the Republic’s Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, Mr Davis said avoiding a hard border was a priority for Britain. The Brexit secretary also said he had honest and constructive talks with Mr Coveney on how to find specific solutions to issues affecting the island of Ireland. “We both recognise the importance of finding flexible and imaginative solutions to the issues we face, and I am determined to build on the genuine progress we have made so far when negotiations with the EU begin again next week,” he said. “I’m confident we can reach a deal with the EU that protects the Belfast Agreement in all its parts, and gives people and businesses the certainty they need.” – Irish Times …as Irish foreign minister calls for flexibility and pragmatism in finding Irish border solutions Simon Coveney, who met with Chancellor Philip Hammond and Brexit Secretary David Davis on Thursday, suggested UK politicians “need to be honest” about Britain’s departure from the EU. He outlined how Ireland is hoping for “as close to the status quo as possible” after Brexit, but warned forging a new relationship between his country and the UK is “proving much more complicated and much more difficult than people had anticipated”… He said: “This is such a difficult political challenge and that’s why we have to be mature, flexible and pragmatic about how we find solutions.” – Sky News Ireland wants ‘close to status quo’ after Brexit – Sky News Davis considers giving Brits an ‘opt-in’ chance to keep dual EU citizenship post-Brexit Brits could be given an “opt-in” chance to retain dual EU citizenship after the UK leaves. Brexit Secretary David Davis promised to consider the idea yesterday. The proposal would allow UK nationals associate citizenship allowing them to work across the EU without having to gain a visa. It could see Brits who opt-in given a separate EU passport. Mr Davis told MPs he will “look seriously” at the idea after he discussed it with European Parliament Brexit chief Guy Verhofstadt, who proposed it. Mr Verhofstadt has put the associate citizenship plans in the European Parliament’s wider Brexit proposals and called on the European Commission to back it. – The Sun David Davis says Britain in touching distance of EU citizens deal – Express Experts say leaving EU will cut food prices and make UK global farming leader In an upbeat report that will give cheer to eurosceptics the respected Chatham House group said a shift to a “market-orientated model” after March 2019 will reap huge dividends for the country. But in contrast, the experts predicted the EU is set to spiral into “regression and protectionism” as European leaders look to out up “distortive” trade barriers in a bid to save the bloc. The document outlines a bright future for British agriculture outside the constraints of EU policy, but acknowledges this would mean some “unviable” farms going under. It calls for the UK to slash subsidies and significantly drop its import tariffs on food, which are currently set centrally by Brussels and are artificially high to protect French farmers. Experts say this would lower food prices by allowing cheaper imports and that the extra competition force inefficient British farms to either boost efficiency or go bust. – Express The Implications of Brexit for UK, EU and Global Agricultural Reform in the Next Decade (report) – Chatham House Britain can become ‘global leader’ in agricultural trade outside EU – study – EurActiv Prices for EU farmers to plummet if UK imports cheap food post-Brexit – Farmers Guardian No EU trade deal before Brexit deadline, suggests Government official Britain will not have signed a trade deal with the European Union before the Article 50 deadline is reached in March 2019, one of the Government’s leading Brexit officials has admitted… Theo Rycroft, Head of the EU Exit Strategy Department in the Foreign Office, cast doubts on the prospect of Britain finalising a trade deal before the Brexit deadline is reached, stating it was more likely to occur during an implementation phase. Asked whether the UK would lose serious bargaining power by having to agree the divorce bill before a trade deal is agreed, Mr Rycroft said: “There is a certain amount of truth in that.” – The i FCO strategy chief dubs no-deal Brexit ‘highly unlikely’ – Civil Service World VW explores UK banking licence ahead of Brexit Volkswagen is exploring applying for a full UK banking licence so that it can continue to offer car loans after Britain leaves the European Union, the German automaker said on Thursday. The company confirmed comments to the Financial Times by David Maloney, chief executive of its UK financial services arm, that discussions were underway with the Prudential Regulation Authority. These may lead to an application… Volkswagen’s loan book in the UK is worth 15 billion pounds, larger than any other carmaker’s in-house financing arm. – Reuters French commerce lobby chief: Business braced for ‘catastrophic’ Brexit French firms are preparing for a possible “catastrophic” breakdown in Brexit talks and Britain’s disorderly departure from the European Union, said the head of France’s largest business lobby… The French economy is heavily exposed to Britain, with some 3,000 French firms employing nearly 400,000 people across the Channel, according to the Franco-British Chamber of Commerce. Some 60,000 French people work in London’s financial sector, for a total French expat population estimated at around 300,000 people, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs… According to [lobby chief] Gattaz, [France] is fully focused on limiting damage and priming firms for the next big challenge: beating rivals — Germany in particular — in the race to win the jobs and investment leaving Britain. – Politico Nick Clegg hosting Christmas dinner for Remain elite at 5-star Knightsbridge Hotel More than 300 wealthy Europhiles will dine in opulence at the Jumierah Carlton Tower, Knightsbridge, where surrounded by Viennese crystal chandeliers in the art-deco ballroom they will discuss how to undo the democratic will of 17 million people. Tickets for the exclusive “Exit from Brexit” dinner cost £200-a-head – the cash will swell the anti-Brexit war chest of Nick Clegg’s agitators Open Reason. Clegg himself, flanked by acolytes Chuka Umunna and Anna Soubry, will address the Brussels-backing glitterati as they sit at tables booked for £2,000 each. – Guido Fawkes EU slammed by more than 100 academics over Catalonia silence In an open letter to EU chiefs Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk some of the continent’s most prominent experts branded Madrid’s response an “undisputable abuse of power” that must be tackled. They said PM Mariano Rajoy’s actions in suppressing the referendum and disbanding the Catalan parliament “constitute a violation of the Rule of Law” that needs to be probed by authorities. And they warned a failure to act would look hypocritical given Brussels’ active stance on Poland and Hungary’s transgressions and that this would “risk causing long-term damage to the Union”. The EU has largely stuck to the line that the violence in Catalonia is an internal Spanish matter, but senior eurocrats have also offered open support for Mr Rajoy’s controversial actions. – Express Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont faces arrest as eight of his ministers are jailed – The Times (£) Christian May: The Russians swung the Brexit vote? Pull the other one In the UK, a handful of anti-Brexit MPs are now determined to pursue the theory that Russian activity across social media contributed to the Brexit vote… The Labour MP Ben Bradshaw is demanding a judge-led inquiry into the issue, and is in a lather over “hybrid social media warfare” and “impermissible donations.” Though Bradshaw’s concerns are dressed up in the language of national defence, his rhetoric amounts to little more than the latest attempt to undermine the referendum result. There are many reasons why a slim majority of the electorate voted to leave the EU (Geoffrey Evans and Anand Menon’s excellent new book unpicks many of them) but the emergence of some overactive overseas Twitter accounts is not one of them. Bradshaw is right to be concerned about Russian activity, but wrong to suggest his fellow Brits were manipulated by social media to vote the way they did. – Christian May for City A.M. John Redwood: Assessing a good deal The best way for the government to negotiate from here with the EU is to remind them what a No Deal does for us, and then ask what they would prefer to that No Deal. An agreement needs to be better than a No Deal for both parties. No Deal ticks four of the five boxes to provide us with a good deal. It means we pay them no money over the legal requirements for regular contributions up to departure in March 2019. It means from March 2019 we can make our own laws, with the ECJ no longer having any sway over our legal system which will be under the control of the UK Supreme Court. It means we will regain control of our fishing grounds and territorial waters. We can set out our own borders and migration policy with a system which is fair for the whole world. The only box it does not tick is our preference to have a full free-trade agreement with the EU, instead of relying on WTO terms and rules. If the EU understands our intent to leave without an agreement, it is still possible – as it is massively in their interest – that they will want to take up our offer of free trade as well. – John Redwood MP for CommentCentral Christopher Snowdon: The low-hanging fruit on the Brexit tree: repeal the Tobacco Products Directive Disentangling ourselves from the EU after four decades will be fiendishly complicated but some elements of Brexit are refreshingly simple and uncontroversial. The recently enforced EU regulations on e-cigarettes are a case in point… Recent years have seen a mass switchover from smoking to vaping that has been a boon for consumers, small businesses and ‘public health’. Britain now has the second lowest smoking rate in Europe. This all happened under a free market for e-cigarettes which no longer exists thanks to over-eager bureaucrats in Brussels. Pointless EU regulations have restricted competition, raised prices and reduced consumer choice. The advertising restrictions are so severe that it is questionable whether the government’s own stop smoking campaign, which promotes vaping, is legal. Most British MEPs did not vote for these laws. The minister in charge, Anna Soubry, was not even aware that they had been passed. – Christopher Snowdon for the IEA Vaping solutions: An easy Brexit win (report) – IEA Ross Clark: Why can’t the Bank of England admit it was wrong to cut interest rates after the Brexit vote? It took all of five minutes for news of the Bank of England’s first rise in base rate for over a decade to be blamed on Brexit… Well no, actually. The explanatory notes from the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) explain that… the inflationary effects of low sterling… are falling away, but ‘net trade is bolstered by the strong global expansion and the past depreciation of sterling. Business investment is being affected by uncertainties around Brexit, but it continues to grow at a moderate pace, supported by strong global demand, high rates of profitability, the low cost of capital and limited spare capacity’. In other words the economy is doing much better than the MPC assumed it would when, in August 2016, it cut rates in half to 0.25 per cent… Wouldn’t it have been nice if the MPC could have admitted that it had got things wrong? Now, it hints that this rise will not be the last as the economy runs ahead. It would have been better if there had been no cut in August 2016 to reverse. – Ross Clark for the Spectator The Bank of England has finally raised interest rates. More, please – Fraser Nelson for the Spectator As rates rise, a decade of crisis finally draws to a halt – Matthew Lynn for the Telegraph (£) Why the Bank was right to raise rates – Andrew Lilico for CapX Brexit comment in brief Ready on Day One for Brexit 5) Reactions, refinements – and further work – James Arnell for ConservativeHome Britain has to offer more money for a smooth Brexit – Martin Wolf for the FT (£) Let’s ‘take back control’ of immigration – and increase it – Rachel Cunliffe for City A.M. BBC: Home of Despite Brexit – Guido Fawkes How Britain can raise its innovation game – Madsen Pirie for CapX The road to reversing Brexit: Three ways the UK could take it all back – Flavia Krause-Jackson, Emma Ross-Thomas and Mira Rojanasakul for Bloomberg Brexit news in brief Brexit-supporting students getting abuse on campus – BBC News National Audit Office to scrutinise €100bn Brexit bill to see if it is value for money – Telegraph (£) Brexit Britain should ‘stop funding EU foreign aid at the earliest moment’, say campaigners – Express Alistair Darling: UK should look at a Scottish immigration system – The i