Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Theresa May faces up to tomorrow’s ‘Super Tuesday’ votes that could define – or delay – her Brexit… During what has been dubbed ‘Super Tuesday’, MPs will vote on a series of amendments to a Government motion, one of which could lead to Brexit being postponed. With the Prime Minister fighting to keep the Brexit process under control, ministers are also at odds over whether the Government should consider leaving the EU without a deal or to rule that option out entirely. Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary, insisted that he could not envisage a no-deal Brexit becoming Government policy, adding that it “would not be a good outcome” for the country. Defence minister Tobias Ellwood also called for “the very possibility” of such a scenario to be ruled out as it would make Britain “poorer, weaker and smaller in the eyes of the world”. But Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons, accused MPs arguing for the option to be removed of making “a thinly veiled attempt to stop Brexit”. The tensions surfaced ahead of another key week at Westminster, with up to six amendments to the Government’s latest plans on Brexit set to be voted on by MPs on Tuesday. – iNews …with Downing St. reportedly set to back Graham Brady’s amendment calling for the backstop to be ditched… Theresa May is poised to throw her weight behind a Tory ‘unity’ proposal designed to secure concessions from Brussels, it emerged last night. In a high-stakes gamble, she could back an amendment calling for the controversial Northern Irish backstop to be ditched in tomorrow’s crunch Brexit vote. The plan, which was put forward by influential Conservative grandee Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, would instead call for ‘alternative arrangements’ to be put in place to avoid a hard border. Supporters believe the plan could help salvage Mrs May’s deal by orchestrating a show of strength in the Commons and, crucially, win back the support of her Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) allies. With the Conservatives unified, Mrs May could in theory go to Brussels as early as this week and demand concessions to get a deal through. – Daily Mail No 10 gives Brady bunch tacit backing on backstop – The Times (£) …as Ireland tells May there is no chance of changes to the Irish backstop… Theresa May has been warned by the Irish government that there is no chance of the backstop being changed or removed from the withdrawal agreement. Simon Coveney, the Irish Tánaiste, has dismissed suggestions that the European Union could remove the insurance policy, warning that “Ireland will insist on the United Kingdom keeping its word”… Mr Coveney, Ireland’s foreign affairs minister, on Sunday claimed that the backstop was not up for discussion, warning that replacing it with an “aspirational hope” was not a “reasonable” approach. “I don’t think the EU will support that approach at all,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. “The European Parliament will not ratify a withdrawal agreement without a backstop in it. It’s as simple as that. The very need for the backstop in the first place was because of the UK’s red lines, that it wanted to leave the customs union and the single market as well as the European Union.” – Telegraph No change to backstop, Ireland insists – BBC News Coveney: We need to work together.. don’t just listen to DUP, listen to all in Northern Ireland – Belfast Telegraph > WATCH: Tánaiste and Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland Simon Coveney on The Andrew Marr Show …while UK will warn of the backstop’s threat to the Belfast Agreement The Good Friday Agreement is about to be deployed in a last-ditch bid to keep Brexit on track. Prime Minister Theresa May is working on an audacious plan to maneuver the EU into giving legally binding guarantees on the Irish border post Brexit that she hopes will persuade her Democratic Unionist Party backers to support her Brexit deal. Her bold gambit is to use one of the EU’s staunchest arguments — the need for an “all-weather” Northern Ireland backstop to preserve the Good Friday Agreement — against it. It follows accusations from DUP MPs and other leading unionists that the backstop itself contradicts the very historic peace agreement that it is designed to protect. According to two senior U.K. figures familiar with the Cabinet’s internal discussions, May’s most senior advisers are working on a proposal to resurrect a key section of the original backstop deal reached over a year ago, but left out of the final agreement, to the DUP’s fury. – Politico Boris Johnson says Theresa May will win ‘full-throated’ support for her deal if she secures Brexit ‘freedom clause’ from Brussels Theresa May is planning to fight for a “freedom clause” from Brussels in a move that will win the “full-throated” support of the entire nation if she succeeds, Boris Johnson says. Writing in The Telegraph, the former Foreign Secretary says he has heard “from the lips of very senior sources” that the Prime Minister is planning to go to Brussels and renegotiate the Northern Ireland customs backstop. Describing the plans as “unadulterated good Brexit news”, he says that an exit mechanism or sunset clause will “defuse the booby trap” and give the UK a “way out” to negotiate a Canada-style trade deal with the EU. He calls on the Prime Minister to now publicly confirm her “change of heart” and reveal “exactly what the Government has asked for”, including the detail of the “freedom clauses” she is seeking to secure from Brussels. – Telegraph (£) Boris Johnson predicts Theresa May fightback with ‘freedom clause’ – Sky News May urged to secure backstop concessions from EU – BBC News Prime Minister warns rebel Tories not to ‘give a blank cheque’ to opponents of Brexit by handing backbenchers powers to delay or stop it… The Commons is expected to vote tomorrow on various amendments – including one to seize power from ministers and hand it to backbench MPs so they can influence the timing of Britain’s departure. Supporters of the plan – led by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and former Tory minister Nick Boles – say the amendment is designed to stop a damaging No Deal exit, as it would postpone the March 29 leaving date by nine months if a deal is not secured by February 26. But Downing Street insiders last night warned the Bill could be changed later to delay Brexit indefinitely. A senior source said: ‘Leaving aside the constitutional concerns around the Cooper Bill, it is clear from Yvette Cooper’s comments that backing her Bill means signing a blank cheque when it comes to delaying Brexit. ‘It could mean Brexit is delayed for nine months, a year, or more. It also opens the door to Brexit not happening at all.’ The warning came amid signs that Tory ministers who threatened to quit over a No Deal were stepping back from the brink. – Daily Mail …since Yvette Cooper’s amendment ‘would allow Remainer MPs to delay Brexit for years’… No10 last night warned that Remainer MPs would be given a “blank cheque” to delay Brexit for years if the Commons backs a move to rule out no deal. An amendment put forward by Labour backbencher Yvette Cooper to be voted on tomorrow would change the law to stop Britain crashing out without a deal in March. The wording of her motion only proposes extending the Article 50 process until the end of the year. But the law needed to enact the delay would be open to change if MPs wanted. Ms Cooper conceded this point yesterday – saying it would be “for Parliament to decide how long it should be,” adding: “It’s far too early now to say what that length of time should be.” Downing Street said this risked being hijacked by pro-EU MPs who want to reverse Brexit altogether. A senior No10 source warned last night: “Leaving aside the constitutional concerns around the Cooper Bill, it is clear from Yvette Cooper’s comments that backing her Bill means signing a blank cheque when it comes to delaying Brexit. It could mean Brexit is delayed for nine months, a year, or more. It also opens the door to Brexit not happening at all.” – The Sun …and her backers are shown to be Brexit wreckers Remainer MPs backing a plot to delay Britain’s EU departure were branded Brexit wreckers last night. But they all have a history of voting to stop us from leaving or to maintain restrictive ties with Brussels. More than 100 MPs led by Labour’s Yvette Cooper want to tear up Commons rules and keep Britain in the EU for an extra nine months after the March 29 leaving date. But analysis of how they voted in previous debates reveals their true intention – to derail the whole process. Nearly 90 per cent of MPs who have signed Ms Cooper’s amendment voted for at least three out of four previous Brexit-blocking moves. And 66 of them backed all four, while 38 actually voted against triggering Article 50 to start the process of leaving nearly two years ago, according to a study by Change Britain. – The Sun Cabinet tensions over no-deal Brexit spill into the open… Cabinet divisions over a no-deal exit from the EU have broken to the surface again as British Prime Minister Theresa May faces a major Commons clash on the issue while Simon Coveney said the EU was committed to a backstop. Education Secretary Damian Hinds insisted he could not envisage a no-deal Brexit being Government policy. The comments came after Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom branded attempts by MPs to kill no deal as an option, through a series of Commons amendments on Tuesday, as a “thinly veiled attempt to stop Brexit”. Mr Hinds told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “I don’t envisage no deal becoming Government policy. We want to avoid a no deal. No deal would not be a good outcome.” Mr Hinds insisted there were advantages to the controversial backstop proposals intended to avoid a hard border in Ireland by getting the UK to obey EU customs rules if no wider trade deal is agreed after a transition period. – Irish Examiner Minister Damian Hinds edges closer to ruling out no-deal Brexit – Sky News > WATCH: Education Secretary Damian Hinds on Ridge on Sunday …as May loyalists threaten to desert her in push for ‘soft’ Brexit… Conservatives who backed Theresa May’s Brexit plan when it was heavily defeated this month are preparing to abandon her and push for a softer agreement if parliament blocks a no-deal exit tomorrow. MPs who are loyal at present to the prime minister will get behind alternative plans for leaving the European Union if a proposal by the former Labour cabinet minister Yvette Cooper results in a delay to the withdrawal date. One MP who voted for the deal two weeks ago said that they could not afford to wait for Mrs May to try to secure more concessions on the Irish backstop before mobilising behind a softer Brexit. “How long do we have to wait? People on the moderate and centre wing of the party are not going to wait until mid-March,” they said. “We’re just not.” Some privately believe that Mrs May should agree that Britain will stay in a customs union permanently after Brexit, while others are amenable to a Norway-style arrangement in a plan by the Tory backbencher Nick Boles. – The Times (£) …with Remain ministers saying she must secure a Brexit deal within a fortnight during secret call The Telegraph has learned that a dozen pro-European ministers held a conference call on Sunday night to discuss their approach to a back-bench plan to force the Government to extend Article 50. Cabinet ministers on the call included Amber Rudd, the Work and Pensions Secretary, Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, David Gauke, the Justice Secretary, and Caroline Nokes, the immigration minister. Ms Rudd and other Cabinet ministers have previously warned that as many as 20 ministers could quit so they can support the amendment tabled on Tuesday by Yvette Cooper, a senior Labour MP. However the ministers agreed they were prepared to effectively delay their rebellion over the amendment if the Prime Minister commits to holding a second meaningful vote within two weeks. Remainers believe this will enable the Prime Minister to try to strike a deal with Brussels while still allowing time for another backbench bid to force the Prime Minister to extend Article 50. One of those on the call said: “We are not accepting jam tomorrow, we need a firm commitment to a date for the second meaningful vote. It would mean that Tuesday isn’t D-Day.” The Telegraph understands that ministers in the group, described jokingly by one member as the “hairshirt club” because members do not drink alcohol or eat during meetings, will either abstain or vote against the amendment. – Telegraph (£) Remain-backing ministers ‘give Theresa May two weeks’ to get Brexit deal changes or face walkout – PoliticsHome No-deal Brexit ‘cannot be allowed to happen’, says Remain-dominated Brexit Select Committee In a hard-hitting new report, the Exiting the European Union Committee says MPs “must” be given the chance to vote on extending Article 50, delaying the UK’s exit from the bloc to stave off leaving without an agreement. And they tear into suggestions from some Cabinet ministers that Britain could execute a “managed no-deal” if MPs fail to rally behind the Prime Minister’s deal or a fresh plan. Ahead of Tuesday’s showdown, the Committee said a “lack of transparency and a lack of time” had undermined Whitehall’s ability to get ready for a no-deal exit, and said it was “deeply concerned” about the readiness of business for Britain failing to sign off on an EU deal. They warned: “Brexit was always going to lead to change for business with a range of new challenges but also opportunities. The group of MPs said a no-deal exit, which is likely to see the UK face tariffs on goods traded with European countries for the first time in decades, could have a “very significant impact” on Britain’s ability to compete around the world, with agriculture particularly hard hit. – PoliticsHome > Craig Mackinlay MP on BrexitCentral today: Most of my Brexit Select Committee colleagues hate the referendum result and simply want to frustrate it Northern Ireland ex-police chief warns that dissident Republicans would exploit a hard border Northern Ireland’s ex-police chief Sir Hugh Orde has warned that a hard border would be exploited by dissident republicans. The former chief constable of the PSNI said there is no way to avoid the return of security patrols if there is a no-deal Brexit. He also accused politicians of having their heads “stuck in the mud and hoping it will all go away” when it comes to the security threat surrounding the Irish border issue. Speaking to RTE’s This Week programme, Sir Hugh said there would be “huge consequences” if a hard border returned, adding that security officers would be targeted. “History tells us that, by definition, they are targets, as soon as you have a fixed point, and we have to think of this particular issue in the context of the politics, to recreate a hard border would be of huge significance in security terms,” he added. “By definition it would be foreseeable that they would be those at risk and would be targeted. The moment you see anything that starts to create the perception of a very hard distinction between north and south, it creates a catalyst that allows people to exploit that position and certainly dissident republicans would be in that category.” – Belfast Telegraph Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner suggests Labour could back a Brexit delay to avoid no deal Angela Rayner said her party would be prepared to back an amendment to the Government’s Brexit deal designed to push the Article 50 deadline beyond 29 March. The amendment, tabled by Labour MP Yvette Cooper, is due to be voted on by MPs on Tuesday with supporters claiming it is the best way to avoid leaving the EU without a deal. Asked on Sunday if Labour would back the amendment, Ms Rayner said the party would “seriously consider” doing so as it was committed to doing “whatever it takes” to avoid a no-deal Brexit. Asked on Sunday if Labour would back the amendment, Ms Rayner said the party would “seriously consider” doing so as it was committed to doing “whatever it takes” to avoid a no-deal Brexit. – iNews Jeremy Corbyn warned by senior ally that voters do not want to see Brexit delayed – Telegraph (£) Brexit failure would risk investor confidence in UK, warns Moody’s Credit ratings agency Moody’s has warned that failure to strike a Brexit deal with the EU would undermine investor confidence in the institutions of government. Britain has traditionally been seen as a safe, stable location for investment, but analysts claim a no-deal scenario would put this reputation for competence in danger. The agency’s views are potentially important, as a long-term cut to the UK’s credit rating would restrict access to finance and make government borrowing more expensive. “From a sovereign credit perspective, if you leave the EU without a deal, that is a sign that something institutionally has quite profoundly failed. It is a sign of institutional weakness if we end up with this,” said Sarah Carlson, a government debt specialist at Moody’s. – Telegraph (£) Corbyn fears drove James Dyson’s move to Singapore Fears over a Jeremy Corbyn government were pivotal to Sir James Dyson’s decision to move his corporate headquarters to Singapore. The vacuum cleaner tycoon sparked controversy last week when he revealed plans to shift his head office from Malmesbury in Wiltshire to the city state, citing a desire to “future proof” his £4.4bn empire. Dyson, a vocal backer of Britain’s exit from the EU, said the move had nothing to do with Brexit and was a logical step as he targeted the fast-growing Asian market. However, it is understood that Dyson’s concern about the growing possibility of a hard-left Labour government was a central factor in his decision to move the registered office to the low-tax jurisdiction. “A general election is not out of the question, nor a Corbyn victory, and James and Jeremy Corbyn have diametrically opposed views on business,” said an insider. – The Times (£) Brexiteer tycoon James Dyson ‘moved business to Singapore over fears of a Jeremy Corbyn government’ – The Sun MEPs push to relax aviation rules if no-deal Brexit goes ahead The European Parliament is pushing to relax aviation ownership rules that threaten the flying rights of airline groups including IAG, owner of British Airways, in the event of a no-deal Brexit. MEPs leading negotiations on the contingency plans to cope with a hard Brexit are also attempting to scrap the automatic cap on flights between the UK and EU, which was proposed by the European Commission. The changes are contained in a draft report — seen by the Financial Times — setting out amendments that the parliament’s transport committee is demanding to an EU law that will allow “limited” air traffic to continue with the UK, even if it leaves the bloc without a deal on March 29. The parliament has yet to approve these amendments and they could be removed in further stages of negotiation. But they are a striking divergence from the commission’s stricter positions. – FT(£) UK and EU can avoid any financial chaos with this simple agreement Roger Bootle, chairman of independent macroeconomic research consultancy Capital Economics, has said Britain and the EU should sign a temporary agreement committing not to impose tariffs on each other’s imports and exports while a new free trade agreement is negotiated. Mr Bootle argues the deal would be permissible under World Trade Organisation and has questioned why the government has not yet suggested this proposal to Brussels. Mr Bootle said the new deal could “reduce the uncertainty and banish many of the fears of Remainers about the costs of Brexit.” He added Mr Bannerman and Mr Burrage “point out that it is possible, if both the UK and EU agree, for us to carry on trading with each other without imposing tariffs while an FTA is negotiated.” Mr Bootle said Article 24 of the World Trade Organisation’s general agreement on tariffs and trade would permit the agreement. – Express Graham Brady: Here’s how we can get the deal through: an ‘alternative arrangement’ to the Brexit backstop to find a ‘better solution’ to the Irish border problem The massive vote against Mrs May’s EU withdrawal plan two weeks ago seemed crushing – but that is deceptive. The Commons is to vote on an amended version of the agreement tomorrow, the so-called Plan B, and this time the deal could be carried. If MPs from right across the Tory party put aside their differences, in the national interest, we can get the plan over the line. I was one of the 118 Conservatives who vetoed the original proposal earlier this month. While we all have different concerns, there is one issue that we are agreed on: the potential trap of an indefinite Northern Irish ‘backstop’, tying us into the EU customs union permanently and irrevocably, has to be averted. But how to bypass the backstop, and come up with a solution? Crucially, we don’t need to hammer out those details before tomorrow. All we have to do is agree that we will find better, alternative arrangements to ensure there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the South. This could be done with digital technology and the so-called ‘maximum facilitation’ or max-fac arrangements. Tomorrow, Parliament and the Conservative Party have the opportunity to pull together and unite in the national interest to resolve the impasse over Brexit. If we do that, we can start negotiating for the future, with a full and wide-ranging free trade agreement with Europe. Our country demands we must not waste this chance. – Sir Graham Brady MP for the Daily Mail Boris Johnson: If the PM is ready to fight back against Brussels then her deal could yet be fixed Always beware over-optimism. Always fight that instinct, especially when it comes to the UK’s negotiations with Brussels. But just sometimes we can be forgiven for a sudden surging hope that at last this country is about to show our EU partners what we are made of. After two and a half years of being pushed around in the playground of Brussels, we are turning, blinking, rolling up our sleeves, pushing our spectacles up our noses – and preparing to fight back. I have heard it from the lips of very senior sources in government – speaking with the authority, it is claimed, of the Prime Minister herself – that this country is about to seek proper binding legal change to the current lamentable withdrawal agreement. That backstop is dead, rejected by the biggest ever parliamentary majority; and that is why I hope and pray that I am right about the intentions of Number 10. If we mean it, if we really try, I have no doubt that the EU will give us the Freedom Clause we need. So now is the time to stiffen the sinews and summon up the blood and get on that trusty BAE 146 and go back to Brussels and get it. And if the PM secures that change – a proper UK-sized perforation in the fabric of the backstop itself – I have no doubt that she will have the whole country full-throatedly behind her. – Boris Johnson MP for the Telegraph (£) David Davis: Anti-Brexit MPs must beware the dangers of upending centuries of Parliamentary tradition The British constitution is based on four things: statute law, common law, works of authority, and Parliamentary conventions. These conventions exist for a reason. They’re unwritten understandings about how something in Parliament should be done which, although not legally enforceable, until now has been almost universally observed. To the public, process is arcane, boring, and sometimes incomprehensible. But given that we lack a written constitution, it is important, and Parliament must be conducted in a manner which is recognised and respected. Recently the Speaker, the chief officer and highest authority in the House of Commons who is expected to remain strictly impartial, has attracted much controversy with his interpretation of Parliamentary rules. This leads me to question whether the Labour Party realises the path it is embarking on with its own attempts at procedural chicanery. How would they feel if a Labour government were elected on a radical platform, only to have the House hijacked by a small coterie of Blairites? – David Davis MP for the Telegraph (£) Dan Hodges: I was a die-hard Remainer. But arrogant MPs have made me a hard Brexiteer In the moments after the referendum result had been confirmed by the BBC, I went upstairs to my bedroom and looked out of the window. ‘What’s happening out there?’ I asked. ‘Where did the anger come from?’ I understand now. It comes in response to men like Dominic Grieve. People who willingly embrace the title ‘Honourable Member’ then deceive their constituents, agitate in direct opposition to their wishes and laugh in their faces while they’re doing it. ‘I did not try to suborn the Speaker’? He literally thinks we are all idiots. I’ve worked in and around politics all my life. My mother was an MP. I’ve consistently attempted to fight the lazy caricature of British parliamentarians as venal, dishonest charlatans. But you cannot fight for people who refuse to fight for themselves. What do MPs think they are doing? – Dan Hodges for the Mail on Sunday Owen Paterson: Time for Labour to deliver the Brexit people demand Yvette Cooper’s amendment is a bad idea. It seeks to overturn centuries of constitutional precedent by giving an arbitrary group of MPs the authority to set Parliament’s timetable and introduce a new Bill forcing the Government to extend Article 50 unless a deal is agreed by February. This plot is designed to stop Brexit. It is even being introduced in the Lords by arch-Remainer Lord Adonis. Delay would remove all incentive for the EU to negotiate further because – as any trade union official knows – it would remove all the compression from the negotiations. We would Remain indefinitely. On the single biggest issue of the age, Parliament could not be trusted. This may be inconsequential for some Labour MPs. They voted Remain. They still want to Remain. Ignoring the largest democratic verdict ever reached in British history is a small price to pay for that. But they should think twice. – Owen Paterson MP for the Express Roger Bootle: Delaying Brexit would open up a new can of worms for our economy Tomorrow is a critical day because it is when Parliament will debate the amendment to delay Brexit. It may or may not pass, but if it does it opens up a new can of worms. One of the repeated complaints from both Remainers in Parliament and businesses in the country is that the current situation is doing damage to the economy because it is creating uncertainty, which is debilitating. It saps confidence and encourages the postponement of decisions. So surely people from both sides of the debate can agree that it would be a good thing if uncertainty could be dispelled. But how is that achieved if Brexit is delayed? Uncertainty would be prolonged. And there is every chance that a delay would bring no resolution. After all, the European parliamentary elections are in May and they will absorb pretty much the full attention of the Brussels establishment. After the elections, that establishment will go into suspension as it departs for the summer holidays, allowing precious little time before the end of the year to get any change out of Brussels and to forge the necessary compromises here in Parliament. Meanwhile, we would all have been wracked by a combination of boredom, fatigue, exasperation and anger. – Roger Bootle for the Telegraph (£) Telegraph: The establishment is trying to break Brexit The establishment is waging war on Brexit on all fronts. In Parliament, it aims to overturn the referendum result with amendments to Theresa May’s withdrawal plan – itself a dreadful deal, but Remainers are consciously trying to make it worse. First, they want to take the no-deal default Brexit option off the table; second they want to delay leaving the EU by extending Article 50. This would be like tying Britain’s arm behind its back and then pushing it back into the negotiating chamber. Remainers are gambling either that Mrs May returns with a Brexit so soft that it would be pointless, or that the project is cancelled altogether. Most voters don’t want to go on litigating the referendum result. They want the Government to get on with what they voted for – Brexit. – Telegraph (£) editorial Barnabas Reynolds: How financial services firms can weather Brexit As parliament considers how to pluck a withdrawal agreement out of the ashes of the previous draft, it is important that the respective interests of the UK and the EU are brought to the fore, particularly for the UK’s highly-successful financial services sector. The UK wants a deal on services, covering 80 per cent of the economy. The EU wants a deal on goods, protecting its massive trade surplus. Some in the EU also wrongly seek to acquire dynamic control of the UK’s competitiveness – allegedly protecting a “level playing field”, but in reality going far beyond any normal international trading terms. Two key issues are fundamental for the agreement in financial services: sovereignty and trade. May’s deal falls dramatically short on both, and parliament has rightly rejected it. – Barnabas Reynolds for City A.M. Brexit in Brief Why Brexit won’t weaken the UK’s position with aerospace giant Airbus – Lewis Page for the Telegraph Deal or no deal, MPs must not supplant the government’s elected right to govern – Andrea Leadsom MP for the Sunday Times (£) Ruling out a no-deal Brexit spares Britain and saves the Tories – Defence minister Tobias Ellwood MP for the Sunday Times (£) Questions for Remain – John Redwood’s Diary Nigel Farage rubbishes ‘scaremongering’ no deal martial law claim – ‘wholly irresponsible’ – Express Student backing for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour falls as support for Final Say referendum jumps – Independent