Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team ‘Brexit Cabinet’ set to agree latest divorce offer today… Ministers are expected to sign off an improved financial offer to the European Union today that Downing Street hopes will unblock the Brexit negotiations. Theresa May will lay out her plans at a meeting of cabinet ministers, including the Leave supporters Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and David Davis. If the proposals are approved, she will present them on Friday to Donald Tusk, the European Council president. The plans are understood to include a commitment to honour billions of pounds of EU liabilities that Britain signed off as a member but that have yet to be paid out by the bloc. The government will not put a figure on the total offer, but it is likely to include commitments in the region of £20 billion that would be paid over a number of years as bills become due. – The Times (£) …as Hammond puts May under pressure to pay more… Philip Hammond has put Theresa May under pressure to promise more money for the Brexit “divorce bill” by suggesting an improved offer will be made to Brussels within three weeks. Asked if it would soon be clear “what the bill is going to be”, the Chancellor said he was “sure” Britain would set out its financial proposal to the EU in time for a crucial meeting of EU leaders on December 14. But Brexiteers in the Cabinet are expected to use a crucial Cabinet Brexit committee meeting on Monday to demand that Mrs May sets out exactly what Britain expects to get for its money before a penny more is promised. – Telegraph (£) May under pressure to justify paying higher Brexit divorce bill – Guardian …but Remain-backing ex-minister warns public would ‘go bananas’ if Brexit bill hits £40 billion Conservative MP and Education Select Committee Chair Robert Halfon has told the Westminster Hour that he thinks the public would “go bananas, absolutely spare” at £40-50 billion being given to the EU, when money is needed for schools, hospitals and housing. – BBC Remainer rebels accused of plotting to ‘torpedo Brexit’ Pro-Europe rebels are plotting to insert new “layers of rights” into the Government’s Brexit legislation and may be attempting to “torpedo Brexit”, two senior Conservatives have warned. In an article for the Telegraph, Suella Fernandes, the chairman of the party’s Eurosceptic European Research Group, and John Penrose, a former constitution minister, criticise fellow Tory MPs for attempting to bring a controversial rights charter into British law this week despite “the newly won freedom” achieved by the Brexit vote. – Telegraph (£) Tory Remainers plot to bring ‘flabby’ EU Rights Charter into UK law and ‘torpedo Brexit’ – Express Dominic Grieve accuses Tory colleagues of becoming ‘unhinged’ over Brexit – Independent Why I’m proud to be a mutineer – Nicky Morgan for ConservativeHome > Bryn Harris today on BrexitCentral: Why the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights must not be transposed into UK law Irish premier Leo Varadkar is urged to block Brexit talks… Leo Varadkar is under pressure to veto phase one of the Brexit talks as the British government insisted that negotiations on the border could not be finalised until trade talks began. Philip Hammond, the UK chancellor, yesterday described the border issue as a “chicken-and-egg” situation and maintained that the overall relationship must be agreed first. The taoiseach has asked Theresa May for a written guarantee that there will be no post-Brexit hard border in Ireland. With Irish issues among the key areas that remain unresolved, Mr Varadkar can maximise his leverage to block the negotiations from progressing at an EU council summit next month. – The Times (£) How and why Ireland raised the stakes – Tony Connelly for RTE … as downbeat Irish companies neglect contingency plans Irish companies are increasingly pessimistic about the impact of Brexit despite robust economic growth since the referendum, a report has found. Most are expecting the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union to have a largely negative effect on their business with only one in six anticipating a positive impact. A survey of business attitudes compiled by KBC Bank Ireland and Chartered Accountants Ireland showed that companies expected Brexit to have a slightly greater impact than first thought. Austin Hughes, chief economist at KBC Bank Ireland, was surprised that more companies had not made contingency plans to mitigate the impact of Brexit given the level of concern. – The Times (£) Ireland is the target of Brexit bile in a propaganda war – The Times editorial (£) Ditch subsidies to rich farmers after Brexit, urges Bright Blue think tank Farmers should be means-tested after Brexit to end the payment of vast subsidies to wealthy landowners, according to a Conservative think tank. The EU system of paying farmers according to how much land they own should be replaced by payments for environmental benefits plus a “means-tested livelihood support” for the poorest, the report by Bright Blue says. It accepts that the system could reduce food production and make Britain more reliant on imports, which account for 40 per cent of consumption. However, it says that the loss of self-sufficiency is a price worth paying for protecting wildlife and natural beauty. Michael Gove, the environment secretary, has signalled that he will abolish payments just for owning land and the Bright Blue report is expected to influence his thinking. – The Times (£) James Dyson poured £75 million into his farms – he won’t get any of it back – Will Heaven for the Spectator > Eamonn Ives today on BrexitCentral: How to reform rural payments and make a ‘green Brexit’ a reality MPs call for clarity over devolved powers after Brexit A cross-party committee of MPs has united to call on the UK government to set out which powers will be devolved to Scotland after Brexit. The Scottish Affairs Committee said the move was needed to end the stalemate between the UK and Scottish governments over the EU Withdrawal Bill. And it said it needed to be done before MPs vote on the bill in the House of Commons. The committee has members from the SNP, Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems. The deadlock over the Brexit bill centres on what happens to powers in devolved areas such as fishing, farming and the environment that will return from Brussels once the UK leaves the EU. – BBC UK to clear the way for US space rocket launches in Britain Britain could soon launch US rockets into space as trade negotiators are striking regulatory deals to remove barriers to trade, even before the UK leaves the EU. A full free trade deal cannot be negotiated before Brexit, but regulatory barriers to trade can be tweaked or removed more quickly and the Department for International Trade is working on identifying these impediments. In the space industry’s case, that means making sure US technology matches UK safety and environmental standards, while also reassuring the Americans that technology developed in the US will be used securely in Britain. Officials from both countries met last week to talk trade, and space was a key item on the agenda. – Telegraph UK aerospace industry concern over lack of Brexit trade deal – Guardian Theresa May to pledge billions for post-Brexit technology research – The Times (£) New German election possible as coalition talks collapse after FDP walkout Germany was thrust into political disarray late Sunday as talks to form a new government collapsed, raising the prospect of a new election while clouding Angela Merkel’s future as chancellor. Negotiations between Merkel’s conservatives, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens ended abruptly just before midnight after FDP leader Christian Lindner said he saw no hope the parties could break a stalemate that had dogged the discussions for days.“It’s better not to govern, than to govern badly,” Lindner told reporters as he left the talks in Berlin. He added that despite weeks of talks, leaders of the parties had failed to build “a foundation of trust.” – Politico Germany stuck in limbo and euro tumbles after coalition talks with the FDP collapse – City A.M. The Times: Britain’s offer to settle its accounts must be taken seriously by the European Union Amid a popular and often accurate perception of cabinet dissent and turmoil over Brexit, an agreement would represent a welcome show of unity, having the backing not only of Mr Hammond but also of Michael Gove and Mr Johnson. The offer would come with the expectation that the EU, in return, would place a meaningful trade deal on the table, along with continued access to European science and education programmes. Mrs May narrowly avoided significant humiliation after her Florence speech, having been led to believe by Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, that the theoretical concessions it made would be enough to move stalled talks forward. – The Times editorial (£) Gerald Howarth: Britain has long defended Europe’s self-determination. Why won’t it respect ours? The UK worked hard to help rebuild Germany, where I grew up in the Fifties, and which now, thanks in large measure to the euro, has become the most powerful economy in the region. What was the principle for which Britain made these sacrifices? National self-determination. For this we sought to defend Belgium in the First World War, Poland in the Second, and those lucky enough to be our side of the Iron Curtain throughout the long decades that followed. My purpose in bringing all this up is only to point out that Brexit, whether or not you agree with it, is unquestionably a fulfilment of this principle. It is simply Britain exercising its right to control its own fate. Some of our continental partners may be unhappy about that, but they should at least accept our right to do so. – Sir Gerald Howarth for the Telegraph (£) Comment in Brief We need a Budget that enables departments to plan for Brexit – Jill Rutter for City A.M. Britain’s new military BFF – Tom McTague and Nicholas Vinocur for Politico What’s on the menu for Britons outside the EU? – FT’s Brexit podcast News in brief “Unicorn” jewellery company opens first overseas store in London – City A.M. David Davis request for RAF flight was blocked – The Times (£) Dozens of organisations join forces to issue ‘save our EU rights’ plea – Independent Experts claim ‘Copy and paste’ EU free trade agreements cannot work –Telegraph (£) Frankfurt favourite to win European Banking Authority – City A.M. Dublin falls behind in race to host EU agency – The Times (£) Resolving Brexit uncertainty is top priority for British investors says survey – City A.M.