Philip Hammond to put Brexit at the heart of a Budget that retreats from austerity… Philip Hammond will herald the end of austerity on Monday in his third Budget, but warn Eurosceptics that a brighter future of tax cuts and higher public spending will be wrecked if Britain does not secure a good Brexit deal… Mr Hammond will use his Budget to turn the screws on Tory Eurosceptics to back Mrs May’s compromise plan, agreed with her cabinet at Chequers in July, which would keep Britain close to the EU’s customs union and single market. The chancellor will claim that a Chequers-style deal would create a “deal dividend” in two ways: official growth forecasts would be upgraded while he would also be able to spend some of the £15bn held in reserve as a “buffer” against a disorderly Brexit. – FT (£) …but he warns the Government would have to set a new Budget if it is unable to reach a Brexit deal with the EU… Philip Hammond said a no-deal Brexit would require a “different response”, with “fiscal buffers” being maintained to provide support for the economy. Mr Hammond was speaking on the eve of his Budget, which he will present to the Commons on Monday. Questioned about the impact of a no-deal Brexit, Mr Hammond told Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday programme: “We would need to look at a different strategy and frankly we’d need to have a new Budget that set out a different strategy for the future.” – BBC News Philip Hammond: no-deal Brexit will jeopardise budget plans – Guardian …which would jeopardise tens of billions of pounds in spending and tax cuts Philip Hammond will use his Budget to warn that tens of billions of pounds in new public spending commitments and tax cuts will be jeopardised by a no deal Brexit… However, Mr Hammond yesterday warned that the spending commitments are dependent on securing a deal with the European Union in a clear warning to Eurosceptics both inside and outside the Cabinet… Senior Eurosceptic Tory MPs yesterday accused the Treasury of trying to “bribe the electorate” into accepting the Theresa May’s Brexit plan, which has bitterly divided the Conservative Party. – Telegraph (£) No-deal Brexit could scupper the end of austerity – City A.M. Chancellor will also announce a special Brexit 50p coin Philip Hammond will announce a special Brexit coin in a major victory for The Sun. The Chancellor will unveil advanced plans for the seven-sided 50p piece in his Budget. It will be available from March 29 next year, the day Britain exits the EU at 11pm. And in a bid to send out a positive signal to the world, it is expected to bear the phrase, ‘Friendship With All Nations’. – The Sun We welcome Brexit 50p coin to mark a genuine historic moment as we finally leave the EU – The Sun says Jacob Rees-Mogg brands Treasury a ‘bastion of Remoanerism’ Tory Brexit champion Jacob Rees-Mogg called the Treasury a ‘bastion of Remoanerism’ after Philip Hammond’s Budget warning. Reacting to Mr Hammond saying he would set out a new Budget in the case of no Brexit deal, Mr Rees-Mogg told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday: ‘Well, I would have thought it would be better to take the opportunities ahead of us now rather than waiting.’ He said: ‘The Treasury has been the bastion of Remoanerism since the referendum and indeed before. It came out with all these lunatic forecasts before the referendum as to what would happen purely on a vote to leave’. – Metro MPs do not have ‘legal veto’ to stop no-deal Brexit, say Commons officials Parliament does not have a “legal veto” over a no-deal Brexit, House of Commons officials have said – suggesting MPs who want to stop Britain crashing out of the EU will have to find another route… In written guidance to a member of parliament, seen by The Independent, experts in the House of Commons library said parliament cannot “legally and in isolation prevent a no-deal Brexit” if it votes against Theresa May’s deal. The Commons chief clark, Sir David Natzler, confirmed that the vote MPs will take on what should happen in the event of no deal also “has no statutory significance”. – Independent Trade ministers clock up the airmiles as they pave the way for post-Brexit deals (though Vince Cable is unimpressed) Liam Fox’s trade department has spent more than £1 million on overseas trips and missions in an effort to maintain economic ties with key markets and pave the way for post-Brexit trade deals. Ministers and officials made 376 foreign visits in the two years after Britain voted to leave the European Union… The trade department, which is preparing for negotiations with the US, Australia, New Zealand and a Pacific trade bloc, said that visits had helped to build relationships to boost exports. However, Sir Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat leader, accused the government of “wasting money on pointless exercises”. – The Times (£) Nick Boles claims David Davis and Boris Johnson favour a Norway-style transition Nick Boles MP’s four-step self-dubbed ‘Better Brexit’ is generating “strong interest” from cabinet members and senior MPs. Ex-Brexit minister David Davis and Boris Johnson are among the Brexiteers in favour of the new approach, according to Mr Boles. It would see the UK shake off it’s full EU membership while remaining in the European Economic Area (EEA), like Norway, for three years. This would mean Theresa May’s planned two-year transition period would be scrapped, giving more time to allow the UK to negotiate a free-trade agreement similar to the one between the EU and Canada. – Express Consultants paid £1.6m in a month by Whitehall for Brexit planning American companies were among consultancies paid more than £1.5 million last month to advise officials drawing up plans to implement Brexit. Figures released by the Cabinet Office reveal the extent of spending on project management fees by the teams co-ordinating the government’s response to leaving the EU. It comes on top of multimillion-pound contracts that have been signed by other government departments to provide programmes such as the registration of EU citizens in Britain and a new border customs system. – The Times (£) UK has ‘rolled over’ only 14 out of 236 EU international treaties The UK has managed to “roll over”only 14 of the 236 international treaties that the EU has signed with countries around the world, raising fresh concern of disruption if Britain crashes out the bloc without a deal. With just five months to go to Brexit, the UK is under mounting pressure to replicate agreements that the EU has with 168 countries, so that Britain can retain rights that it currently has with these nations as a result of being a member of the bloc. Whitehall officials were last week given data showing that only a fraction of the 236 treaties that the EU has with countries outside the bloc have been successfully copied by the UK into new mini-arrangements with the relevant nations. – FT (£) Merkel’s CDU and Social Democrats suffer heavy losses in latest regional election Both the parties in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition have suffered heavy losses in a regional election, early results show. Her centre-right CDU party and the centre-left SPD were each 10% down on the previous election in Hesse state. SPD leader Andrea Nahles said the federal government’s poor performance had “significantly” contributed to the disappointing result. She told reporters the state of the government was “unacceptable”. – BBC News CDU and Social Democrats suffer substantial, though not crippling, losses in Hesse – Politico ‘I don’t think we’re going to leave the EU next March’, says Boris Johnson’s Remain-backing father, Stanley Stanley Johnson, the father of Boris Johnson and a known remainer, has said that come March 29th 2019 he doubts that the UK will leave the EU. “I personally don’t think we’re going to leave on March 29th” he told Nigel Farage. Mr Johnson suggested that even if Theresa May manages to gets Chequers voted through parliament, he believes that there will be a second parliamentary vote on a series of resolutions, which may well include a second referendum. “As long as this vote intervenes before March the 29th, there will be time for the government” he said. – LBC Boris Johnson: Another reason why Chequers is ‘an absolute humiliation’ Under the Chequers proposals we are about to fail the number one test of Brexit, and to fulfil a promise that was made by both sides in the referendum. The essence of the EU is that it is a customs union, and in effectively failing to leave we are betraying the referendum result. But it is worse than that, far worse. Let us suppose that by 2021 the Dyson EV is confounding the sceptics; let us imagine that it is causing a stir among European motor manufacturing – still dominated by German companies. What is there to stop the European Commission from deciding that there is something about the Dyson EV that means it should attract a higher tariff? British consumers will be in the humiliating position of being forced to pay more for a product in the UK domestic market – and to send that tax to Brussels – when Britain has no say whatsoever in setting that tariff. That isn’t taking back control. It is losing control. It is an absolute humiliation, and it is quite incredible that the world’s fifth biggest economy is willing to sign up for it. – Boris Johnson for the Telegraph (£) Matthew D’Ancona: This budget may not survive the coming Brexit hurricane From Hammond’s interview on Sunday with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, it was clear that the chancellor wants to postpone as many serious decisions as possible until next year’s spending review. Who can blame him? For better or worse, the moment of departure from the EU will be in the rearview mirror: whoever is chancellor will at least have the measure of what is happening – Matthew D’Ancona for The Guardian Chloe Westley: Brexiteers in Cabinet must speak up for all of us who voted Leave We’re in the final months before Britain’s departure. The question of whether we should leave the EU has been well and truly settled – but the question of how is down to Theresa May and her Cabinet. Many of the leading politicians who campaigned for Brexit now have a seat at the top table. It’s up to them, now, to keep the Prime Minister honest and see this through. Resigning at this late stage would be a mistake, in my opinion. There’s no guarantee that May wouldn’t replace Brexiteer colleagues with yes men and push through a deal that keeps us in the EU by the back door… To those Brexiteers in Cabinet who campaigned with me for Brexit – Gove, Fox, Dominic Raab, Esther McVey, Penny Mordaunt, and Andrea Leadsom – please don’t let us down now. – Chloe Westley for ConservativeHome Oliver Moody: Chancellor Merkel will be quietly confident of adding to her 13 years in office Her coalition is ostensibly exhausted and in tatters. Her party has been hammered in a regional election and battered in national polls. The far right is hoovering up her conservative voters and her rivals are circling like hyenas. Yet Angela Merkel does not look like a broken woman. Her public appearances of late have been lively and humorous. Those close to her have noticed a striking calm and confidence in her manner in recent weeks. “I’m still full of life,” she told an audience in Bavaria this month. – Oliver Moody for The Times (£) Comment in Brief We’re tired of Brexit but can’t stop reading about it – Will Clothier for The Times (£) News in Brief Brexit Block: Lord Adonis demands ‘popular front’ of Labour and SNP to keep UK in EU – Express Former British diplomat condemns Tories ‘ideological warfare’ on Brexit – Express Italy goads EU over budget as Eurozone crisis escalates – Express Europe urgently needs a banking union and eurozone investment budget, says French Finance Minister – Politico