The Brexit select committee demands transitional arrangements and a parliamentary vote on the final deal… Theresa May must ask the European Union for a transitional arrangement to avoid a “cliff edge” when Britain leaves the European Union, and offer parliament a vote on the final deal, a powerful committee of MPs from both sides of the Brexit debate has demanded. As the prime minister prepares to set out her approach in a keynote speech on Tuesday, the first report from the cross-party select committee on Brexit, chaired by Labour’s Hilary Benn, says a transitional deal is essential to prevent economic disruption as Britain leaves. – The Guardian …while urging the Government to publish a White Paper within weeks that clarifies its position on the single market and customs union Theresa May should clarify whether she wants to keep Britain in the European single market and customs union when she publishes her Brexit negotiations plan, a cross-party committee has said… The committee said Mrs May must publish the plan as a White Paper by mid-February, to give MPs a chance to debate it before she triggers Article 50 in March. – ITV Hilary Benn blasted over ‘negative’ and ‘flawed’ report calling for a ‘soft Brexit’ – The Sun No veto on final Brexit deal for Wales say MPs – Wales Online Brexit transitional deal ‘unacceptable’ says Bernard Jenkin MP – BBC > Today on BrexitCentral: The Brexit Select Committee flexes it muscles for the first time Theresa May to declare next week that Britain will no longer bow down to EU judges Britain will no longer obey edicts handed down by EU judges, Theresa May will declare in a speech on Brexit next week. Setting out detailed plans for Britain leaving the EU, the Prime Minister will say that the public has delivered a clear message that it wants to break free of the European Court of Justice. And she will pledge that, in her negotiations with Brussels, she will insist that Britain once again takes full control of its own laws. – Daily Mail May might not give much away in Brexit speech – Isabel Hardman for The Spectator’s Coffee House blog Theresa May must use her skill and negotiate trade deals early for a clean Brexit – James Forsyth for The Sun Theresa May’s Brexit speech must be bold enough to make the Remoaners’ campaign to reverse the referendum result irrelevant – The Sun Says How Theresa May plans to reduce immigration after Brexit – Politico EU negotiator wants ‘special’ deal over access to City post-Brexit The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator has shown the first signs of backing away from his hardline, no compromise approach after admitting he wants a deal with Britain that will guarantee the other 27 member states will continue to have easy access to the City. Michel Barnier wants a “special” relationship with the City of London after Britain has left the bloc, according to unpublished minutes seen by the Guardian that hint at unease about the costs of Brexit on continental Europe. – The Guardian The UK should pursue a deal based on equivalence but not at all costs – FT editorial (£) If the UK’s financial services sector drops demands to keep the EU passport, the case for staying in the single market gets weaker – Vincenzo Scarpetta for Open Europe New Zealand Prime Minister praises Theresa May’s Brexit ‘clarity and determination’ and seeks early trade deal The New Zealand Prime Minister has said he is impressed by the “clarity and determination” Theresa May has brought to Brexit. Bill English also said he hoped negotiations could start as soon as possible on reaching a “high quality” trade deal after the UK left the EU. He said the two nations were “natural partners” and would “continue to forge ties” after Britain’s departure from the bloc.- Sky News Theresa May says UK will pursue ‘bold’ trade deal with New Zealand after Brexit – PoliticsHome > WATCH on BrexitCentral’s YouTube channel: Theresa May and Bill English discuss a UK-New Zealand trade deal at a Downing Street press conference Top Bank of England official reveals Britain’s economy has fared much better than expected since the EU referendum vote The central bank’s latest forecasts, published in November, included a rise in unemployment from the current rate of 4.8 per cent to 5.4 per cent this year – adding more than 200,000 people to the dole queue. But in yet another U-turn by the Bank, Michael Saunders, a member of the monetary policy committee that sets interest rates, suggested the outlook was far brighter than previously thought. The comments marked another climb down from the Bank followings its gloomy warnings that a vote to leave the European Union could tip the economy into recession and send unemployment soaring. Brexit supporters said it represented the final nail in the coffin for Project Fear. – Daily Mail Buoyant economy steels Brexiters’ resolve on EU talks ahead – FT (£) Jobless rate may defy predictions of a rise and stay at 11-year low – Sky News Cash boost for Edinburgh as tourist spending up 24% – The Scotsman London could be about to see the biggest stock market flotation in six years – The Independent Mark Wallace: In Brussels, a clash is coming between dogma and pragmatism Since the referendum, we in Britain have tended to talk about “the EU” as one monolithic negotiating outfit in the forthcoming Brexit talks. “The EU” won’t accept free trade without free movement, “the EU” has more to lose than us from tariff barriers, and so on. It’s easy to forget that the people we will be dealing with are many and varied – and the faces and balance of power among them could change at various points in the process. At the most fundamental, we’ll see two broad groups: the dogmatists and the pragmatists… A British strategy has to take into account the fact that the people we are talking to do not all have the same goals. – Mark Wallace for ConservativeHome Ryan Bourne: The EU’s customs union is a protectionist racket By definition, a customs union is an agreement between countries to embrace tariff-free trade between members but impose common tariffs on goods imported from non-members. At an EU-level, this means a Common External Tariff (CET), a dizzying array of over 12,651 different taxes (and some quotas to boot) imposed on goods from the rest of the world. The long and short of it is that the EU is internally trade liberating but outwardly protectionist. – Ryan Bourne for CapX Lord Marland: The preoccupation with free trade between countries hides the real issue says However, while [Lord Marland] is supportive of more collaboration between the 52 Commonwealth members, he does not believe a free trade agreement is necessary. In fact, he believes the focus on free trade agreements has become a “media obsession” that hides the real issue: not enough small businesses are exporting.“Most businesses don’t think about exporting to a country on the basis that the UK has a free trade agreement,” he adds. “People are obsessed with free trade agreements. Our biggest trading partner is the US and we’ve never had a trade agreement with them.” – Lord Marland interviewed by The Guardian Daniel Mulhall: Ireland won’t turn its back on the UK in Brexit aftermath Asked what Ireland’s post-Brexit relationship would be, Ambassador Mulhall said: “Ireland is committed to continued membership of the European Union. We want the European Union to flourish and prosper and meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. At the same time – and there’s no contradiction between these two statements – we want to continue to have as close as possible a relationship with our neighbours in the UK… It’s a question of minimising the negative impact on Ireland of the UK’s departure from the European Union by preserving as best as we can the very positive relationship that has developed between the UK and Ireland in recent decades.” – Daniel Mulhall interviewed by the International Business Times Full interview with Daniel Mulhall, Irish ambassador to the UK – International Business Times Brexit comment in brief How to negotiate a progressive Brexit – Phil Wilson MP for the New Statesman’s Staggers blog The public’s Brexit instructions are clear; time to act on them – Gerald Howarth MP for Prospect Magazine Why I, a Brit, am standing to be president of the European Parliament next week – Jean Lambert for The Guardian We must remember the recipe for success – Allister Heath for the Daily Telegraph (£) Brexit news in brief Senior MEP says an independent Scotland could take the UK’s place in the EU – The National Donald Trump ‘wants EU to break up in wake of Brexit vote’, outgoing US ambassador in Brussels suggests – Daily Telegraph Mercedes slashes prices in Ireland by 10% because of weak pound – The Independent Merkel to chair German Brexit committee meeting after May speech – FT (£)