Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Jeremy Corbyn says he is wary of committing to stay in the European single market… Jeremy Corbyn has said he is wary of committing to stay in the European single market because it would restrict the powers of a future Labour government to implement party policies. Speaking from Labour conference in Brighton, the Labour leader said he wanted tariff-free access to the single market with a close relationship to the EU, but said he was wary of committing to full single market membership, akin to the deal Norway has with the EU, despite a recent poll showing 66% of Labour members back a single market deal. – Guardian > On BrexitCentral’s YouTube: Jeremy Corbyn suggests transition period could be longer than two-years …as Labour delegates prevent a vote on Brexit at Labour conference… Jeremy Corbyn has avoided a potentially embarrassing row over Brexit, after delegates at the Labour conference vetoed a vote on the issue. Members and trade union officials picked eight other “contemporary” subjects on the party’s “priorities” ballot to vote on instead. – Sky News Labour keeps Brexit off the menu at their party conference – Spectator’s Coffee House These Labour MPs are furious the Party won’t be voting on Brexit at its conference – Buzzfeed Brexit rows could tear Labour in two, warns party’s election chief Andrew Gwynne – Huffington Post Divisions over Brexit reopen among Labour figures as party conference begins – Channel 4 News Labour MP: ‘It is disappointing’ that Labour ‘have ducked the biggest issue of the day’ – BBC Radio 4 …and John McDonnell says Labour could support free movement if the single market were reformed… Labour would be in favour of keeping a form of free movement after Brexit if a “changed single market” could be formed, John McDonnell has said. The shadow chancellor hinted at a softening in his party’s position on the single market after the EU withdrawal, suggesting European leaders might agree to reforms which retained some of the benefits of the existing deal. – Independent > On BrexitCentral’s YouTube: McDonnell: backing single market membership “difficult” at the moment Labour split over membership of the EU Single Market – Wales Online …while Diane Abbott backs Theresa May’s two-year Brexit transition plan Labour’s Diane Abbott has backed plans for a two-year transitional period after the official Brexit date. The shadow home secretary said she was “content” with the proposal, revealed by Theresa May in a high-profile speech to woo EU negotiators in Florence. Ms Abbott added she was “glad” the Prime Minister had shunned resistance to the move from Foreign Secretary and arch Brexiteer Boris Johnson. – Sky News Sir Keir Starmer says Labour would keep Britain in a ‘form’ of customs union with EU… Writing in The Times today, Mr Starmer said such a move would be subject to talks between the UK and the EU, the fourth round of which is set to kick off in Brussels later today. He has previously backed Britain remaining within the single market and in a customs union with the EU during the transitional period, which is set to begin in March 2019. He added that the party would take a “pragmatic approach” and would consider a range of options to secure a beneficial trading relationship with the bloc, including membership of the single market. “Subject, of course, to negotiations, remaining in a form of customs union with the EU is a possible end destination for Labour,” he wrote. – Politics Home A form of customs union is possible – Sir Keir Starmer for the Times (£) …as he predicts that the second phase of negotiations won’t start on time Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has said that the next phase of negotiations with the EU will not start on time. Speaking at the Labour party conference in Brighton, Starmer welcomed Theresa May’s decision to opt for a post-Brexit transitional period, saying “the penny has dropped” that a new deal won’t be in place by 2019. – City A.M. Remain cheerleader Sadiq Khan says Brexit will not be a disaster for London Mr Khan’s new intervention came on the fringes of the Labour conference in Brighton today during a public interview with Guardian editor Kath Viner. Asked if he believed London was in ‘real trouble’, Mr Khan replied ‘no’ and later added: ‘Don’t believe the hype’. Asked if Brexit means Brexit, Mr Khan said: ‘Let’s wait and see. I think the goalposts have moved.’ Do you ever feel London is in real trouble because of Brexit? ‘No’ and later added: ‘Don’t believe the hype.’ – Daily Mail Corbynista MP Clive Lewis claims voters who oppose free movement of EU migrants are driven by racism He said today that the party should support unlimited migration from other European countries despite the result of the Brexit referendum. Mr Lewis told fellow MP Caroline Flint: “I actually believe in freedom of movement. You are talking about managing migration. “You are not going to like to hear this – it always comes back down to something the Left in this country has very much difficulty with, which is that it is ultimately about racism. It comes down to racism.” – The Sun > On BrexitCentral’s YouTube: Caroline Flint: My pro-EU colleagues need to be more honest on trying to stop Brexit Labour must be hoping Brexit-supporting voters didn’t hear Clive Lewis brand them racist – The Sun says David Davis says there was ‘no change of policy’ in May’s EU speech after Johnson article… Brexit Secretary David Davis has denied claims that Mrs May’s speech on her vision for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union had been changed as a result of the intervention from Boris Johnson. The Foreign Secretary had controversially set out his own vision for Brexit in a 4,000-word article for The Daily Telegraph. Appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Mr Davis said: “The policy in the Prime Minister’s speech had been coming for a long time.” “Some of them – transition – we were designing right back in the beginning of the year,” “I don’t think there’s been any change of policy in the last few weeks,” he added. – ITV News > On BrexitCentral’s YouTube: Brexit Secretary David Davis speaks to Andrew Marr …as he heads to Brussels for the latest round of Brexit talks British negotiators will on Monday travel to Brussels aiming to translate Theresa May’s “constructive” speech in Florence last week, including the offer of €20bn towards the EU budget, into a breakthrough in Brexit talks… Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, hailed Mrs May’s “constructive spirit” but his team will spend the week in talks with UK Brexit secretary David Davis to flesh out details of the Florence speech. Downing Street hopes that Mrs May’s intervention will unblock the talks and allow Mr Barnier to conclude by the EU summit in October that “sufficient progress” has been made to move on to negotiations on a UK-EU trade deal. – FT (£) Philip Hammond allies brand Boris Johnson ‘simple minded’ as Brexit rift deepens Philip Hammond’s allies have accused Boris Johnson of being “simple minded” and warned that the Brexit transition period may need to be extended until after the next election. Mr Johnson has made clear that a Brexit “implementation period” must last no longer than two years, meaning that the UK will effectively leave the EU by 2021. However the Chancellor and other ministers including Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, have argued that the UK will need at least an extra year so that businesses can adjust. – Telegraph (£) James Brokenshire ‘should represent NI in Brexit talks’, says UUP MEP The Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson has called on the Secretary of State James Brokenshire to speak for Northern Ireland in future Brexit discussions. Mr Nicholson told the BBC Sunday Politics programme that other parts of the UK were actively involved in talks. He said the absence of an executive meant that the Northern Ireland secretary had to step in. – BBC News Varadkar and May to seek movement on stalled power-sharing – Times (£) Scottish ministers told to ‘get serious’ over Brexit powers Damian Green, the de facto deputy prime minister, has made it clear that he expects Scottish ministers to compromise when he meets them for crunch Brexit talks today. Mr Green said he would not agree to anything that jeopardised the integrity of the UK single market as he prepared to go into talks with Mike Russell, the Scottish Brexit minister, and John Swinney, the deputy first minister. – Times (£) Second Brexit referendum needed because Leave voters are dying off, Nick Clegg suggests Brexit should be put to a second referendum because people who voted Leave are dying off, the former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has suggested. Mr Clegg, who was deputy prime minister in the coalition government, said the “high point” of support for Brexit had passed because “the oldest voters voted for Brexit in the largest numbers” while the young voted to remain in the EU. – Telegraph Here comes the real Brexit fight over cash Although the EU has never published a figure, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in March it would be about 60 billion euros ($71 billion), prompting outrage in the U.K. After EU governments upped their demands, the gross number became about 100 billion euros. On Sunday, Brexit Secretary David Davis rejected as “made up” a sum of 40 billion pounds ($54 billion) reported in the Times newspaper, and vowed to go through the EU’s numbers line by line. – Bloomberg Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel ‘hatch plot to keep UK chained to two-tier EU’ Germany and France are plotting to keep the UK tied to a two-tier EU, it is claimed. French premier Emmanuel Macron and newly re-elected German Chancellor Angela Merkel will push to create a less formal relationship with the EU – aimed at the UK. And it left one MP fearing that Brexit could be in serious danger. The unnamed senior Tory told the Express: “A serious effort to stop Brexit is now underway. I am very worried that we will now never leave the EU. “The danger is that we are on course for nothing to have changed five years after we voted for Brexit. “That gives an opportunity for all sorts of machinations and new offers to try to keep us back in.” – The Sun …as Merkel limps to victory as AfD surges in German elections Merkel has admitted that she had ‘hoped for a better result’ and now faces the arduous task of forming a coalition with the Greens and the Free Democrats (assuming the SPD is true to it promise not to enter a ‘grand coalition’). This will prevent the AfD from becoming the Bundestag’s official party of opposition. As a result, Germany looks like it could be heading for a ‘Jamaica coalition’, so-called as the colours of the CDU, Green Party, and Free Democratic Party resemble the Jamaican flag. – Spectator The German election and the collapse in support for Mrs Merkel – John Redwood for John Redwood’s Diary Far-right returns to German parliament for first time in 60 years as Angela Merkel wins fourth term – Telegraph Merkel’s poll win unlikely to make much difference to Brexit, analysts say – Guardian Immigration to fall by hundreds of thousands Annual immigration into the UK is expected to fall by 100,000 even if a smooth deal is agreed very quickly in the Brexit talks, according to economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) as a stronger eurozone economy encourages EU workers to stay put. – Telegraph Hilton confidence rises as UK enters `golden age of travel´ Hilton’s UK boss has said Britain is experiencing a “golden age of travel” that has been bolstered by the effects of the Brexit-hit pound. Steve Cassidy, Hilton’s senior vice president and managing director for UK and Ireland, said it was notable momentum in the UK tourism industry that sparked recently revealed plans to build 34 new Hilton hotels across the country over the next two years. – Daily Mail City to unveil much anticipated report on post-Brexit trade in financial services this Tuesday An influential group of City luminaries will this week publish a much-anticipated report outlining a blueprint for the City’s post-Brexit relationship with Europe, with government keeping a keen eye on the outcome. The report, created by the International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG), is expected to be published on Tuesday in Brussels. – City A.M. Chris Roycroft-Davis: Keep calm, Brexit will happen, it has just been delayed As negotiations go it’s a bit odd to make concessions to the other side (on free movement of labour from the EU, massive budget payments and the European Court of Justice being “taken into account” by British courts) and then threaten them with a big stick. But who knows? It might just work. Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron are making tough noises but when the crunch comes, as it must, and their national economies are at risk, will they blink? – Chris Roycroft-Davis for the Express Brian Monteith: Theresa May is neither down nor out The Prime Minister has extended a generous hand of friendship – if the EU rejects her offer it is she who will be strengthened and in a far stronger position to say she tried to reach agreement but that the EU was not interested in finding a solution. She will then have the British public’s sympathy when she declares no deal has to be better than a bad deal and her critics will understand the nature of the strategy she has had to adopt. – Brian Monteith for the Scotsman Nicky Morgan MP: May’s Florence Speech: It was good – pragmatic and overdue. Now we must stop banging on about Europe So the Prime Minister’s speech had to balance fulfilling the Leave vote whilst also respecting those who didn’t vote to Leave; those EU citizens living here who are desperately worried about their future status; those employers who want and need to continue to recruit from abroad, and those businesses crying out for a transition period so they only have to make one set of changes to the way they work. I think that May achieved that balance admirably. Going back to my timing theme, she knows that there has to be time to allow the EU negotiations to succeed, that there must be time for everyone to adjust – but that the transition must also be time-limited so that eventually everyone can move on. – Nicky Morgan MP for ConservativeHome Helen Harrison: May’s Florence speech: It was bad – and activists must speak out against these feeble, careerist, pro-Remain ministers Being a campaigner, I spend a huge amount of time knocking on doors and talking to people. Here are a couple of examples of what they have said to me in the last week: “Given that we have consistently paid more into the EU than we have ever got back, how can we possibly owe them any money?” and “the money that we contribute to the EU is just international aid with a different name and distributed exclusively on mainland Europe!” Contrast that with what someone who works in the City said to me: “£20 billion is just a rounding error.” This demonstrates the gap between most of us, and some of us! Most of us think that £20 billion pounds is a vast and community-changing sum of money. – Helen Harrison for ConservativeHome Alex Deane: Theresa May’s speech in Florence was a positive start to unlocking the Brexit talks Our future lies in a global free market trading with the world, taking advantage of our historic and cultural links with friends in many countries, who speak our language and practise our broad traditions and rule of law, while maintaining strong links with our neighbours. That’s exactly what the PM said, and exactly what we should want. Much rests on our excellent negotiating team, for whom we should now all offer full throated support. In the meantime, well done Theresa May. – Alex Deane for City A.M. Brexit in brief Control migrant numbers – or extremists flourish. Germany’s election lesson for May and Corbyn – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome Could Britain wind up extending Article 50? – Alex Dean for Prospect Magazine Making Brexit work for UK business – Adam Marshall for the Times (£) Britain’s Government is still dithering over Brexit – Bloomberg The UK must decide if minimal defence spending is enough, says new US ambassador – Telegraph (£) Northern Ireland farmers call for five-year transition after Brexit – FT (£) UK and US report trade surplus with each other – FT (£) Tax crackdown on tech giants is not anti-Irish, says EU – Times (£)