Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Shop prices fall despite Brexit Remember the huge stink kicked up by Remainers last year over Brexit and supermarket prices in the run-up to Christmas? Well, according to British Retail Consortium figures just released, shop prices fell by 1% in the year to March 2018. The BRC said: “Shop prices have been deflationary for 59 months now, and this is the deepest deflation since February 2017.” When general prices ticked up for a brief period many Remainers claimed it was all down to a Brexit effect on the pound. The pound is now correcting to pre-referendum levels at around $1.40 – a weaker pound did not prevent shop prices falling. – Guido Fawkes UK economy battered by the ‘Beast from the East’ snowstorm – Bloomberg UK services sector felt the chill from the Beast from the East – Independent State Bank of India says London is “ideal launch pad for a global presence” post Brexit State Bank of India has launched its UK subsidiary after an initial £225m commitment from its parent bank… The Indian bank said the move would offer its UK customers greater confidence amid continuing uncertainty around the country’s departure from the EU, as well as reinforcing its confidence in London’s importance as a global financial capital. “Many banks primarily see the UK as the gateway to Europe and are phased by the impact of Brexit,” said Sanjiv Chadha, regional head of SBI UK. “Our calculus is different. We see London as the ideal launch pad for a global presence and have full faith that, despite Brexit, London will remain the premier international financial centre.” – City A.M. India trade deal “not going to be done overnight” – Politico Little progress on Irish border Brexit talks The UK side is suggesting that regulatory “equivalence” on both sides of the border would ensure livestock, food and pharmaceuticals checks could remain the same, with veterinary and phytosanitary checks continuing to be executed on-site in farms and food processing plants. However, the British side is also insisting on the future right to diverge from EU law, which the EU fears could open the floodgates to chlorinated chicken and hormone-injected beef if the UK agrees a free-trade deal with the US that includes agriculture. It is understood the EU does not accept standards would be maintained by a voluntary alignment and is unwilling to make an exception for Ireland just to ensure an open border. The Irish talks are scheduled for six weeks, with a stocktake on 18 April by Robbins and the EU’s deputy negotiator Sabine Weyand. – Guardian Britain urged to come up with a fresh Brexit Border plan – Irish Times Irish general election is the last thing that the country needs right now – Times leader (£) Gibraltar keeps calm but is ready to play hardball with Spain over Brexit… “We find ourselves in a position we don’t want to be in: we did not vote for this, we didn’t ask for this, but it’s there,” says [deputy chief minister Dr Joseph] Garcia. “We are leaving too and for us it’s now about negotiating the best possible deal for Gibraltar as we exit.” …Hours after the referendum results came in, Spain’s then acting foreign minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, suggested Madrid would take a hard line on exit negotiations by claiming the vote had advanced the prospect of a Spanish flag fluttering over the long-disputed territory. The contention was emphatically dismissed by Gibraltar’s chief minister. “Gibraltar will never pay a sovereignty price for access to a market,” said Fabian Picardo… [S]hould the current good faith sour and Spain use its veto to exclude Gibraltar from any Brexit deal between the EU and the UK, the government has not ruled out rescinding the rights and protections enjoyed by Spanish and other EU nationals living and working in the territory. – Guardian Gibraltar vows to survive Brexit: ‘We’re more British than the British’ – Express …with Spain set for capitulation on threats to derail Brexit transition deal over Gibraltar Spain almost caused an agreement on a transition deal to be stalled last month after tabling last minute demands on Gibraltar. But the move went down badly with other capitals. One diplomat said The Rock was a minor issue that wouldn’t be allowed to hold up wider Brexit progress whilst another accused the Spanish of playing “hardball” at the wrong time… [Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso] Dastis said: “Things are progressing well so therefore we’d like to be optimistic… We recognise that Gibraltar was ceded to Britain more than 300 years ago but our aim is to recover it. However, we do not want to convert the conversation between the European Union and Britain into a hostage-type situation.” – The Sun Britain eyed for leading role in European military alliance after Brexit Britain is being tapped up for a leading role in a new European military alliance outside of Brussels’ control. France and Germany met yesterday to develop plans for a rapid reaction force that would have the UK at its heart. The force would be comprised of troops from a number of EU states and could be deployed overseas to help in humanitarian crises and civil wars… A source said: “It would not be within the European Union and would allow countries outside it, like Britain, to be part of it.” … A French official added: “The EU’s second-biggest army is leaving the union so this multilateral project makes sense when everything is being broken up.” The EU has its own battlegroups which can in principle be deployed on such missions, but they have never been used. Brussels is also developing plans for enhanced defence cooperation that critics have said lays the groundwork for a euro army. – The Sun Trump slams EU as being ‘solidly against us’ on trade President Donald Trump criticized the European Union today for its trade policies, saying barriers in European markets have made it nearly impossible for U.S. companies to do business there, despite statistics showing otherwise. “If you look at the European Union, it’s very solidly against us in terms of trade,” Trump said during a trip to West Virginia to talk about the new tax law. “It’s almost, we can’t even do business.” – Politico China will fight US “at any cost” after President Donald Trump mulls $100bn in extra tariffs – City A.M. Christian May: From planes not flying to a City exodus, Brexit myths give way to reality Last week, the City’s other newspaper, the Financial Times, ran an unusually bullish piece entitled ‘Reasons to be cheerful about Brexit in the City.’… It suggested three reasons why Brexit might not result in the kind of damage predicted by the notorious Project Fear… While it was interesting to see such a strongly pro-Remain newspaper flirt with a more optimistic perspective, the truth is that developments emerge all the time that should at least reassure Remain voters, if not win them over to the Brexit cause. Just this week we carried an interview with Easyjet’s chief executive, Johan Lundgren, who poured a bucket of cold water over the oft-repeated line that planes might not fly after Brexit day, insisting that it was “business as usual.” This view was echoed by the boss of another major airline to whom City A.M. spoke yesterday. Barclays chief Jes Staley told an audience this week that Brexit could make the UK more competitive, and Peugeot owner PSA committed to building its next generation of vans in the UK, saying Brexit didn’t undermine the case for investment. – Christian May for City A.M. Barclays boss Jes Staley: Brexit impact won’t be noticed – but competition from the US might – City A.M. Tom Harris: Going to see some comedy? Don’t let slip that you voted Leave Why such reticence publicly to embrace the label of Leave voter? You need to ask? We are, as a tribe, regularly and volubly insulted, that’s why. Yes, Remain voters come in for their fair share of abuse from the Leave side. But unlike Remainers, Leavers don’t just get their abuse courtesy of social media – we also have the stand-up circuit, TV current affairs quizzes, chat shows and any other form of televisual entertainment where news “balance” can be safely ignored for the sake of entertainment… [W]e have an anti-Conservative, anti-Brexit establishment whose integrity and creativity must never be challenged or diluted just for the sake of professional balance. And if you demur from the received wisdom, for goodness sake don’t admit it publicly, and definitely don’t declare your views from your seat in the audience at a stand-up gig. – Tom Harris for the Telegraph (£) Have I got news for you: Left-wing – not gender – bias is ruining a hit BBC show – Julia Hartley-Brewer for the Telegraph (£) Raphael Hogarth: There’s little to lose from exploring sunlit uplands Down Under Last week Alexander Downer, the outgoing Australian high commissioner to the UK, gave a speech in which he extolled the benefits of such a deal, beseeching Britain to shed its “distinct lack of national self-confidence” and abandon any talk of aligning its tariffs with the EU. He promised that new trade deals with countries like Australia would be “relatively easy”… Our negotiators’ skills are untested. More importantly, so are the attitudes of British voters, politicians and businesses on trade. Take the reaction to the Times report this week that Australia’s powerful agricultural lobby is pushing its government to demand that Britain lift an EU ban on hormone-treated beef, which is meatier than the natural stuff, in order to increase access for Australian producers. They say, probably rightly, that this restriction is a protectionist measure with no basis in public health evidence. Responding to the suggestion that giving British consumers access to Australian beef would be a “win-win” move, the Wrexham farmer Will Evans tweeted: “It’s not a f***ing win for me.” – Raphael Hogarth for The Times (£) Comment in brief Chopper’s Brexit Podcast Episode 44: It is ‘perfectly possible’ to sign a free trade deal with the EU by the end of 2020, says top Brexit expert – Telegraph What Brexit Britain can learn from German Reunification – William Cook for the Spectator Leave voters didn’t vote to become poorer – they were protesting, and they should be heard – Will Tanner for The i May should announce she’s stepping down after Brexit day – Philip Collins for The Times (£) Macron grits his teeth as the rail unions bare their gums – Walter Ellis for Reaction Coming soon: Italy’s Macron – Matteo Garavoglia for Politico News in brief Voice of 318,000 Mail readers is heard in No 10 as the post-Brexit passports petition is presented to Downing Street – Daily Mail Remainers finally realising they can’t stop Brexit – Guido Fawkes ‘The worst of all worlds’ Fury over Hilary Benn’s attempts to dilute Brexit – Express Labour MP Chris Williamson accuses government of using Salisbury attack as ‘diversion’ to distract attention from Brexit – Mirror Cable: Lib Dems are well-kept secret – BBC News Britain opens first naval overseas base in 50 years in sign of ‘global reach’ – Telegraph (£) Migrant surge blamed on EU for failing to pay €3billion promised to Turkey two years ago to stem the flow – Mail Italian government talks grind to a halt – Politico Five Star: we want a coalition but will not talk to Berlusconi – The Times (£) Germany frees Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont on bail – The Times (£)