Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Revealed: EU’s attempt to control Britain’s tax policies after Brexit The European Union is drawing up plans to control Britain’s tax policies after Brexit, leaked documents seen by The Daily Telegraph disclose. According to draft documents, the EU wants to ensure the UK pledges to keep its tax rules aligned with those of the bloc as part of any future Brexit agreement. Such a move would prevent the UK from becoming a low-tax economy by cutting its corporation tax rate to attract business. And – depending on the wording of any agreement – it could mean that any future changes to the EU’s tax rules would need to be followed by the UK, even years after Brexit. The document was written by the European Parliament’s TAX3 secretariat following a meeting with the Brexit Task Force, the EU negotiating team led by Michel Barnier, last week. It states: “The objective is that the UK will abide by the tools adopted at EU level to fight tax evasion/avoidance.” The EU desire for alignment on tax reflects a fear in Brussels that Britain could become a Singapore-style low-tax economy after Brexit and a magnet for business and investment.- Telegraph (£) Pro-EU activists set to march through London calling for second Brexit referendum… Thousands of pro-EU activists are set to take to the streets of London tomorrow to campaign for a second referendum on Brexit. Up to 200,000 Remainers will attempt to put pressure on Theresa May to call a so-called “people’s vote”. Today’s march, which will go from Park Lane to Westminster, is set to be the biggest second referendum protest yet. Speakers will include Sadiq Khan, Delia Smith and Vince Cable. It’s also being supported by celebs including actor Brian Cox and ex-footballer Gary Lineker. – The Sun Anti-Brexit march to call for final say on deal – Sky News Five reasons the People’s Vote march is a terrible idea – Iain Martin for Reaction Kids, dogs and celebs: Remain’s choice of spokesmen shows their contempt for voters – Gawain Towler for the Telegraph (£) …as Alastair Campbell is grilled over Brexit march hypocrisy This weekend thousands of anti-Brexit protesters are expected to take to the streets in the name of the People’s Vote march – the campaign calling for a second referendum. Of all the ‘People’s Vote’ cheerleaders, Alastair Campbell is one of the loudest and he appeared on This Week to plug the event.Only Andrew Neil had a question to ask which seemed to catch Tony Blair’s former spin doctor by surprise:‘Over 1m people marched, urging the government – of which you were a central figure – not to invade Iraq. You ignored them.’- The Spectator Alastair Campbell on Iraq and Brexit marches and numbers – BBC News > John Penrose MP on BrexitCentral today: Anyone who genuinely values democracy should stay away from today’s “People’s Vote” march > Benjamin Mercer on BrexitCentral today: The People’s Vote campaign is a betrayal of democracy – and the Left Theresa May reportedly ready to drop Brexit demand on Irish border to secure a deal… Theresa May is said to be ready to ditch one of her key Brexit demands in order to resolve the vexed issue of the Irish border and clear the path to a deal, according to people familiar with the matter. The fix opens the possibility that Britain would end up bound indefinitely to the European Union’s customs rules. While that’s something that the EU and many businesses want, it risks detonating a crisis in May’s government that could even bring her down. Until now, May has insisted that a legal guarantee to ensure no new border emerges on the island of Ireland should be strictly limited in time… Now May and her team of Brexit advisers accept the EU’s point that it must be open-ended, for an “enduring” solution, one of the people said. – Bloomberg …as she is told to ‘get some steel’ and stand up to Brussels by furious Tory MPs over possible extension of transition period Theresa May faces a rebellion from furious Tory MPs after her “capitulation” to Brussels over the Brexit transition period. Brexiteers called on the PM to “get some steel” – and warned they will block any attempt to pay in more to the EU’s budget. But Mrs May’s ally Jeremy Hunt stood up for her – claiming the only reason Brexit talks are in trouble is because of her firm negotiating strategy. The PM said yesterday that she would consider keeping Britain tied to the EU for an extra year in order to reach a Brexit deal. But Brexit backers in her own party have responded with anger to the plans for extending the transition period until the end of 2021. Iain Duncan Smith told the BBC: “I couldn’t understand why we would offer to extend the transition period when we still haven’t got anything back in return. – The Sun May under fire from all sides in Tories’ ‘existential’ Brexit battle – The Times (£) May’s triple blunder over Brexit and the Union – John Redwood for ConservativeWoman Hunt urges Tories to unite behind PM . – Politico Fears of a revolt by disappointed Leave voters could kill Theresa May’s ‘Brextension’ plans – John Curtice for the Telegraph (£) Singapore’s PM is ready to strike a UK trade deal The Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, said his country was ready to strike a trade deal with the U.K., which would come into effect at the end of any Brexit transition period. “We can do what the trade people call in the jargon a short-form agreement, which is basically to continue to do with Britain what we have agreed to do with the EU as if you were still inside it,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme on Friday. Lee is attending the Asia-Europe summit in Brussels today to sign a new Singapore-EU – Politico UK and South Korea to work on trade ties after Brexit – Reuters Chinese deputy leader tells Theresa May he plans to upgrade relations from a ‘golden era’ to a ‘diamond era’ – The Sun Michel Barnier says Leave voters were nostalgic and didn’t understand what Brexit would mean Michel Barnier insisted Leave voters are “nostalgic” and don’t understand Brexit. Brussels’ chief negotiator said people were “not told all the consequences” before choosing to quit the bloc in June 2016. Speaking on French radio, he said: “I wouldn’t confuse belief in the free market with nostalgia.” Mr Barnier added: “Brexit can’t be soft. It has innumerable consequences. It was chosen by the British. “Were they well informed at the time they voted? They were not told all the consequences.” And he warned the talks could still collapse over the thorny Irish border issue after this week’s EU summit ended in stalemate. The Frenchman told Theresa May that whatever happens the split from Brussels will be “much more grave for Britain” than the rest of Europe. – The Sun Barnier says ‘not yet convinced’ Brexit deal will be done. – Politico Scottish Secretary David Mundell’s ‘concern’ over Brexit fish policy Scottish Secretary David Mundell has raised concerns with the prime minister over the timing of the UK’s departure from the Common Fisheries Policy. Theresa May has said the Brexit transition period could be extended “for a few months” if needed. But Mr Mundell has told the BBC he wants assurances any extension to the transition would not delay exit from CFP beyond the agreed date. He said that leaving the CFP in December 2020 is “essential”. The current plan is for a transition period of 21 months to smooth the path from Brexit to the UK and EU’s future permanent relationship. But with the two sides so far failing to reach a deal after an EU summit of all its leaders this week, Mrs May said this arrangement could be extended “for a few months”, if needed. – BBC News Post-Brexit Gibraltar deal has been agreed, says Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez The UK has reached a deal with Spain on how Gibraltar will be regulated after Brexit, according to Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister. Mr Sánchez said a protocol on the territory setting out citizens’ rights and memorandums of understanding on issues such as security “is already closed with the British government”. Speaking after the European Council summit in Brussels yesterday he indicated that significant progress had been made. Gibraltar will leave the EU along with the UK in March next year and it had been feared that reaching agreement on its status could delay the wider divorce package because it required the agreement of Spain, which has long contested British rule of the territory. – The Times (£) LSE boosts stake in clearing house LCH despite uncertainty over post-Brexit rules The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has extended its control over the world’s biggest clearing house LCH despite uncertainty surrounding the €850bn-a-day euro-clearing market. The LSE said it was in the process of investing a further €438m (£384m) into LCH, taking the exchange’s total ownership of the group to more than 80pc. Clearing houses act as middlemen between buyers and sellers for financial assets, with LCH by far the world’s biggest. The LSE’s decision to increase its stake comes despite Brussels’ push to move big clearing houses inside the bloc after Brexit. – Telegraph (£) Toyota boss claims car prices will go up in event of no-deal Brexit Toyota’s president has warned UK and EU leaders to “avoid at all costs” Britain crashing out of the bloc without a trade deal, saying it could push car prices up for consumers and cost manufacturing jobs. Speaking in his capacity as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (JAMA), Akio Toyoda raised the prospect of a no-deal Brexit damaging Japanese-owned car plants in the UK and across Europe. Mr Toyoda warned over Japanese car companies’ “growing apprehension that withdrawal without an agreement will become a reality”. – Telegraph (£) Suzanne Moore: I won’t be marching for a people’s vote. There has already been one I wonder why politicos are so bad at even beginning to understand this. Two years on, it is all, as Danny Dyer said, “a mad riddle”. Progressives still prefer to bully leavers rather than understand what drives them. Despising half the country is now the progressive position. So half the country are racist, old, small-minded, poor people who were seduced by a combination of Aaron Banks and delusions of empire. What these people really need is to be lectured constantly by a motley crew of metropolitan celebrities and has-been politicians (Clegg, Heseltine, Blair). Spare me, please. – Suzanne Moore for the Guardian James Forsyth: May will lose even more of her Cabinet if she doesn’t get the EU to accept the escape clause that ministers want Theresa May has one route to a Brexit deal that can avoid irrevocably splitting her party and bringing down her government. She needs to persuade the European Union to replace the Northern Ireland backstop with a UK-wide one and to accept an escape clause to show that the UK won’t be trapped in a customs union with the EU forever. Influential Cabinet ministers expect the Government to decide on the escape clause it will propose to Brussels in the coming days. The Brexit negotiations will then resume with the EU in the second half of next week. Key Cabinet ministers have one test for the escape clause: Is it legally meaningful. In other words, will it give the UK a genuine opportunity to leave. Just putting the word temporary in front of the phrase ”customs union” — a solution favoured by some at the heart of Government — won’t be enough for these Secretaries of State. – James Forsyth for The Sun Iain Martin: Blair and Clegg’s manoeuvres are shameful This week one former prime minister and two former deputy prime ministers — Tony Blair, Sir Nick Clegg and Lord Heseltine — wrote an article for Die Welt in Germany and five other European newspapers advising EU governments to be as tough as possible on Britain in order to help those trying to stop Brexit. If that does not merit the use of the “t” word, then what other label is better suited? Deceitful, dishonourable or despicable, perhaps. Iain Martin for the Times (£) Robert Peston: There’s only one way forward for Theresa May – keep Britain in the customs union Hello from Brussels and the EU Council that promised a Brexit breakthrough and delivered nothing.So on the basis of conversations with well placed sources, this is how I think the Brexit talks are placed (WARNING: if you are fearful of a no-deal Brexit, or are of a nervous disposition, stop reading now). Forget about having any clue when we leave about the nature and structure of the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU. The government heads of the EU27 have rejected Chequers. Wholesale. And they regard it as far too late to put in place the building blocks of that future relationship before we leave on 29 March 2019.- Robert Peston for The Spectator Juliet Samuel: This Government has made a fool of our great country These Brexit negotiations are all a loathsome, disgraceful embarrassment Of all the moments of drama in the Eurozone crisis, there was one that undeniably crossed the line into farce. It was June 2015, and Greece’s Left-wing government had reached the end of the line. It had provoked and insulted its EU creditors. The banks had shut down. Cash was being rationed. There was one decision left to make: fold or call the EU’s bluff. – Juliet Samuel for the Telegraph (£) Brexit in Brief The Brexit headbangers understand the EU far better than Theresa May – Charles Moore for The Telegraph (£) Use of the Caine – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome Bungling Brexit or leading the Commonwealth? – Jayne Adye for The Commentator May must choose: confront the EU or pick a fight with her party – Alex Massie for CapX Why the Swiss aren’t hot on the EU either – Dr. Alexandra Nogawa for CommentCentral Why neither Angela Merkel nor any other EU leader will rescue Theresa May from this Brexit quagmire – Peter Foster for the Telegraph (£) My vote is for None Of The Above – Patrick Benham-Crosswell for ConservativeWoman How many Labour MPs will vote for Theresa May’s Brexit deal? – BBC News Italian government splits over budget – Politico Turning EU rules into UK law – how is it going?- BBC News Leading Brexiteer Tory MEP Daniel Hannan has urged Leave voters to boycott second EU referendum – The Sun Brexit EU summit: The week the talks got stuck in spinach – BBC News Career civil servants attack Brexiteers – The Times (£)