Labour all at sea over freedom of movement as Diane Abbott and Andy Burnham pursue very different lines Labour’s divisions over immigration have returned to the fore in the wake of Andy Burnham breaking with party colleagues to suggest Britain may need to pull out of the EU’s single market after Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn ally Diane Abbott said it would be “misleading” to suggest that Britain could “dump” freedom of movement, which she said was “inextricably linked” to the single market. – The i Burnham sounds like ‘paler version’ of Farage, says Clarke – Sky News Jeremy Corbyn branded ‘out of touch’ as shadow immigration job remains vacant – IBTimes > WATCH via BrexitCentral: Labour won’t block Brexit ‘in a trivial way,’ says Diane Abbott Britain gets a festive Brexit boost as weak pound attracts record number of visitors to the UK this Christmas… This Christmas season is set to be especially lucrative for the UK’s tourism industry – and it may be thanks to the aftermath of Brexit. A record number of visitors are flocking to the nation, attracted by the weak pound. More Britons are also considering taking ‘staycations’ in their home country rather than traveling elsewhere for their holiday breaks. The UK’s official tourist organisation, Visit Britain, reported that flights are up by 10 per cent this Christmas compared to last. – Daily Mail …while the job market shakes off Brexit blues as the number of City roles up for grabs soars in November Londoners who plan to spend the festive period polishing off their CVs are in luck, as the City job market has surged back into action following the Brexit vote. Figures out today from professional services recruiter Morgan McKinley show a six per cent year-on-year increase in professional jobs available for November, the first year-on-year rise recorded by the firm since June’s vote to leave the EU. “Heading into the new year with a higher base of jobs compared to last year bodes well for City employment in 2017,” said Hakan Enver, operations director at Morgan McKinley Financial Services. – City A.M. Paolo Gentiloni picked to replace Matteo Renzi as Italy’s Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Italy’s foreign minister, has been chosen to replace Matteo Renzi as prime minister amid signs of a quick solution to the political crisis that has convulsed the eurozone’s third-largest economy over the past week. After three days of consultations with parliamentary leaders, Sergio Mattarella, Italy’s president, on Sunday summoned Mr Gentiloni to the presidential palace in central Rome and asked him to form a government. Mr Gentiloni accepted in a brief statement. – FT (£) > WATCH via BrexitCentral: Earlier this year Paolo Gentiloni said “Brexit may not happen”, as there have been “plenty of European referendums reversed by new votes or by parliament” Johnson: UK in line for lucrative Brexit boost as Gulf nations queue up for trade deals Mr Johnson said middle-eastern nations are “looking forward to the day when the UK is once again engaged in the campaign that made this country great — standing up for the global free trade that has lifted billions out of poverty”. He said: “I am now in the Gulf, and it has been amazing to talk to our long-standing allies — partners who have been with us for 200 years or more of unbroken comradeship — and who are champing at the bit to enter into free trade deals. “This is already a boom zone for UK exports: Worth £20billion last year, worth more and growing faster than anywhere outside the EU apart from the US.” – Daily Express Economy grows at best rate all year: Midlands, Wales and the East lead the as households and businesses defy warnings of a Brexit vote slowdown Britain’s economy is growing at the fastest pace since the start of the year as households and businesses defy warnings of a Brexit slowdown. Figures published today by Lloyds Bank show the Midlands, Wales and the East of England are leading the way as the economy ends the year on the front foot. In a separate report, the British Chambers of Commerce upgrades its growth forecasts for this year and next, although the economy is still expected to slow in 2017. The upbeat outlook for the economy makes a mockery of the dire warnings issued during the referendum campaign as part of Project Fear. – Daily Mail Ken Clarke warns Theresa May over her future if she backs ‘hard Brexit’… Former Chancellor Ken Clarke has suggested that Theresa May might not “survive” as prime minister if she sides with “hard Brexit” MPs. Mr Clarke, a leading supporter of the European Union, told BBC One’s Sunday Politics that only a “minority” in the Commons shared such views. He added it would be “pretty catastrophic” to tell the EU “we’re just pulling out”. Mrs May has promised to negotiate the “best possible terms” for Brexit. The prime minister – who is promising to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, getting formal talks with the EU under way, by the end of March – has also said she is “ambitious” for future relations. – BBC News …As senior Tory Dominic Grieve warns final Brexit deal will need MPs’ backing A Brexit deal hammered out between the UK and Brussels would have to be approved by Parliament, a former government legal chief has told Sky News. Dominic Grieve, who served as attorney general in the Conservative-led coalition government, said there was an argument the final package should be put to the people in a second referendum. The senior Tory MP also told the Murnaghan programme even if the Government lost its current Supreme Court appeal over starting the formal two-year Brexit process, it would be able to secure the majority at Westminster to trigger Article 50. – Sky News Secret Tory team reportedly planning General Election for February to save Brexit Plans are being put together by a secret team of Tory advisors after a surge in support for the Conservative Party. The move depends entirely on the outcome of the Supreme Court hearing held this week in which the Government appealed a High Court decision which ruled parliamentary approval needs to be given before Article 50 can be triggered to start the process of leaving the European Union (EU). If the 11 Supreme Court judges rule next month the Government has lost the appeal then Mrs May will call a General Election. – Daily Express UK and Ireland must start their own Brexit talks or they put peace at risk, says Lords report Britain and Ireland will be putting peace at risk if they do not start their own talks to decide what happens between the two countries after Brexit, an influential Lords committee has found. The group of peers said the highly complex relationship between the two countries, due to the special circumstances in Northern Ireland, means leaders should themselves negotiate a draft bilateral agreement, which could then be formalised as part of any Brexit deal between the EU and the UK. – The Independent Gibraltar’s Chief Minister calls for continued free movement after Brexit Fabian Picardo said the Brexit deal needed to be “multi-faceted” to take into account the needs of individual regions. Theresa May has said free movement cannot continue to work in the same way after the EU referendum, but Mr Picardo said it applied in to Gibraltar in a different way to the UK. “When you talk about freedom of movement in the United Kingdom post-Maastricht, you’re talking about immigration and the right of establishment in the United Kingdom,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. “Freedom of movement in Gibraltar, which is two and a half square miles by one mile at the bottom of the continent of Europe, means travelling in and out on the day because people don’t tend to establish themselves in Gibraltar. – PoliticsHome > WATCH via BrexitCentral: Gibraltar to seek special status within EU says Chief Minister Fabian Picardo EU nationals ‘should be allowed to remain in UK permanently after Brexit’, says British Future EU nationals living in the UK before the formal Brexit process is triggered should be allowed to remain in the country permanently, a report has recommended. Theresa May’s refusal to agree the status of the 2.8 million Europeans in the UK unless the rights of Britons living on the continent are guaranteed is “morally wrong”, according to the report by think tank British Future. It called for the UK to demonstrate “goodwill” and “make the first move” as the Government prepares to begin divorce negotiations. – Sky News UK’s WTO status ‘could be blocked over territorial disputes’ Brexit Britain’s drive for a new World Trade Organisation settlement could be blocked by countries with which the UK has territorial disputes such as Argentina or Spain, experts warned today. The UK will need unanimous agreement from all the WTO’s 160-odd members for its new “schedule” to set baselines for future trade deals. – The Independent John Longworth: Brexit means cheaper food for Britons The food industry told us last week that we should be worried about food prices rising after Brexit and given the fall in the value of the pound. Some might consider this wonderful positioning for a bout of profiteering but certainly not a valid proposition. On the contrary: if the government do the right things then food prices will fall after Brexit. The starting point is the common misconception of the nature of the EU internal market and customs union. Much of the left-leaning and pro-EU media report it as a free trade area that we are about to abandon and to which we must seek “access” , as if there were no means of trading without this. In fact, the EU is a protectionist zone which makes hardworking families in the UK pay far more than they need to for food and consumer goods by imposing tariffs on our imports — as high as 50 per cent on some foodstuffs and 20 per cent on clothing — and prevents us from signing trade arrangements outside the EU. – John Longworth in The Times (£) Roger Bootle: It’s not too early to start planning for the end of the EU Financial markets are remarkably myopic. Faced with a choice between paying attention to the risk of nuclear war next year and the prospect of the US non-farm payroll number, out at, say, 1.30 tomorrow, the non-farm payroll number wins hands down every time. This is not altogether daft. How should you cope with things utterly uncertain? The markets do it either by ignoring them altogether or by adopting a conventional assumption – usually the comfortable continuation of the status quo. – Roger Bootle in the Daily Telegraph Fraser Nelson: Here’s how Theresa May can grant assurances to all Britain’s EU nationals In the chaos after the Brexit vote, no one really noticed when Theresa May adopted an odd position on EU nationals*. Throughout the campaign, everyone – from Ukip to the Lib Dems, Boris Johnson to Andy Burnham – had been clear that the Brexit debate was not about deporting anyone. Those EU nationals who were in Britain should stay here. In a fractious debate, it was a note of rare consensus. But days after the referendum, the then Home Secretary sat down on Robert Peston’s sofa and suggested that EU nationals might not be safe after all, and that she might use them as bargaining chips in her negotiation. (A plan which would later backfire badly.) – Fraser Nelson for The Spectator’s Coffee House Blog Nadhim Zahawi MP: Britain cannot be an international Jobcentre Plus. Free movement from the EU must be curbed Immigration is one of the biggest issues in British politics, and has been looming large for years. Whether they want to talk about it or not, it is now always one of the most talked-about issues in every political party, and features regularly in our day to day interactions with voters. There are still some people who claim that it’s a subject that can’t be discussed and infer that any mention is taboo, but that’s just not true. Whether you’re reading newspapers, watching the news or scrolling through Twitter, so much of current affairs is either dominated by, or strongly linked to, immigration. In the last week, although admittedly boosted by Home Office questions, the word ‘immigration’ was mentioned 100 times in Parliament. The week before saw it raised on a further 61 occasions. – Nadhim Zahawi MP for ConservativeHome Gerard Batten MEP: Brexit, Article 50 and The Supreme Court’s Nelsonian Eye If the Supreme Court accepts use of the Royal Prerogative in 1972 but not in 2016 it will demonstrate decades of judicial bias in favour of the EEC/EU, suppress the sovereign will of the people and undermine the legitimacy of swathes of legislation since 1972. – Gerard Batten MEP for UKIP Daily Brexit news in brief Are the Remainers now leading the resistance on Brexit? – BBC News Brexit blamed for falling Christmas Champagne sales – Daily Telegraph Indyref2 ‘should wait until Brexit deal is done’ – The Times (£) Second Brexit legal challenge could be tabled in Irish courts – Sky News Peter Bone MP clashes with Jolyon Maugham QC over latest Brexit legal challenge – LBC