Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team No 10 ‘doesn’t recognise’ reports on rejected Irish border plans… No 10 says it is confident a deal can be done to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit despite signs of an impasse over the issue. The BBC understands UK plans to resolve the matter faced sustained criticism from the EU at a meeting on Wednesday. The UK wants to use technology to help goods flow freely and avoid regulatory alignment between the North and South.Downing Street said it did not recognise reports it had been told none of its proposed ideas would work.The EU wants to present an agreed solution on the issue to a summit meeting of European leaders in June. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier told French TV on Friday that 25% of the final withdrawal deal had still to be settled and it could still be derailed by disagreements over the border and other issues. – BBC News Brexit negotiators on both sides reject reports that Irish border talks have stalled again – The Sun …as Barnier warns Britain risks ‘disorderly’ Brexit over May’s Irish border solution… Britain risks a “disorderly” Brexit after the EU comprehensively rejected proposals for avoiding a hard border in Northern Ireland, Michel Barnier has warned. The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator said that there is still no agreement on 25 per cent of Brexit negotiations, meaning there is a “risk of failure”. It comes after senior EU diplomatic sources said that Theresa May’s plan for avoiding a hard border in Northern Ireland was subjected to a “forensic annihilation” at a meeting between senior EU officials and Olly Robbins, the UK’s lead Brexit negotiator. – Telegraph (£) Brexit customs trouble spells peril for Theresa May – Politico The EU is using the Irish border to try to force the UK to stay in the Customs Union – John Redwood’s Diary > Hugh Bennett on BrexitCentral: The EU is cynically exploiting the Irish border to try to keep Britain under the thumb …but May risks trade deal with Australia (or any country, for that matter) if the UK stays in the Customs Union… Australia has warned Remainer MPs that staying in the EU customs union would kill an Oz trade deal. It came as Singapore offered a rapid agreement with Britain to prevent a “hard stop” after Brexit. Australia’s foreign minister Julie Bishop said her government also sees “enormous opportunities for more trade and investment”. But she warned rebel MPs in Westminster not to blow the chances when they vote next week on whether to try to keep Britain shackled to Brussels tariff and customs rules. She said that would mean “the opportunity for us to enter a free trade agreement with the UK standing alone would not be achievable”. – The Sun EU sharks want to force the UK to stay in the customs union, a hideously one-sided arrangement – James Forsyth for The Sun Bullying the British people won’t stop Brexit. It just makes them doubt if a deal is worth it – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Trading possibilities await the UK if we break free from the EU’s Customs Union – The Sun editorial …while a Customs Union cave-in would also likely cost the PM her job Brexiteers warned Theresa May that she could face a leadership challenge if she conceded that Britain should stay in a customs union with Europe. Downing Street looks likely to duck a fight next week when the first of a series of votes is held. Julian Smith, the Tory chief whip, has declared Thursday’s vote on a non-binding motion a one-line whip, meaning that attendance is not compulsory for the party’s MPs. Mrs May will have to overcome Brexit challenges on customs before the summer recess. There are warnings that MPs may start sending no-confidence letters to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench Conservative 1922 Committee. – The Times (£) “I’m not saying that there would be an organised push, but the letters would just go in to Graham Brady,” one senior pro-Leave backbencher told this site yesterday. The sense is that in these circumstances some Brexiteer MPs have had enough – not necessarily as an organised collective, but certainly as angry individuals. “If there’s a cave-in on the Customs Union, I think there will be a leadership challenge,” said another. – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome Delayed Brexit immigration plans ‘due in months’… Delayed proposals for Britain’s post-Brexit immigration policy will be published “in the coming months”, Downing Street has said.The immigration bill would establish new rules for EU migrants to the UK after free movement ends. An official policy document had been expected last autumn and the Times reports a “cabinet row” over delays.The PM’s spokesman said ministers were “confident” the new system would be ready “for when we leave the EU”.The immigration bill was in last year’s Queen’s Speech – it would enable the government to end the free movement of EU nationals into the UK but ministers said it would allow the country to attract “the brightest and the best”. – BBC News …despite a Cabinet split over Rudd’s bill Amber Rudd is at the centre of a new cabinet row over delays to Britain’s post-Brexit immigration policy. The home secretary is being pressed by Brexit-supporting ministers to speed up a bill that is supposed to settle the new immigration system after Britain leaves the EU in March next year.The dispute comes as the Windrush scandal exposes a faultline between Theresa May and those, including Ms Rudd, who want a softer policy on immigration. Ms Rudd said last month that the immigration bill would not be introduced until early next year — the latest in a series of delays. She also declined to confirm that she was aiming to hit the Tories’ target of reducing annual net migration to beneath 100,000 by the time of the 2022 election. – The Times (£) Tory MPs demand PM fires ‘trade ambassador’ who voted to stop post-Brexit deals with other countries Tory MPs last night demanded Theresa May sack her Remainer trade ambassador who voted to stop Britain forging new deals with other countries after Brexit. Baroness McGregor-Smith sparked uproar after voting with Labour to keep Britain tied to Brussels customs and tariff rules, despite being hired by the Trade department to bang the drum for the UK. The Pro-EU businesswoman was one of two dozen Tories that rebelled against the PM’s policy to leave the Customs Union on Wednesday, sparking a humiliating defeat for Mrs May. – The Sun Brexit bill may exceed Treasury estimate, says National Audit Office The final Brexit bill may exceed the U.K. Treasury’s upper estimate of £39 billion, according to a report from the National Audit Office. The report, which looks in detail at the calculations behind the U.K. government’s financial liabilities, found the Treasury’s estimated range for the financial liability agreed with the EU in December of between £35 billion and £39 billion to be “reasonable.” But it concluded that it could be higher or lower. – Politico Rejoice! The Brexit divorce bill is shrinking – George Trefgarne for CapX Royals save Theresa May at Commonwealth summit Theresa May had plenty to thank the royal family for this week. Their resplendent palaces and castles provided the backdrop for a meeting of the Commonwealth heads of government that was supposed to be a chance for May to show off her post-Brexit “Global Britain” strategy but ended up overshadowed by the U.K.’s treatment of the so-called Windrush generation… It was confirmed on Friday that Charles will one day succeed Queen Elizabeth II as the Head of Commonwealth, which resulted in much back-slapping and questions from journalists about the “not very democratic or diverse unelected head of one state” asking leaders to appoint her son as the next head of the 53-country organization. That controversy, however mild, took some of the heat off May and allowed her escape questioning over an immigration clampdown stemming from her time as home secretary. – Politico Bank of England downgrades Brexit job losses The City may lose fewer jobs before Britain leaves the EU than previously expected, the Bank of England said. Sam Woods, its deputy governor, told the Exiting the EU select committee that there had been a “slight downward drift” in his estimate of Brexit’s immediate impact on the financial sector. The number of jobs created by banks and insurers on the Continent by the time Britain leaves next March would be “probably towards the lower end” of a spectrum from 5,000 to 10,000, he said. “It is also the case that, in round numbers, maybe about 20 per cent of those will simply be new jobs,” he said. – The Times (£) Before the Brexit referendum, there were a number of strong warnings that thousands of jobs would leave the City if Britain voted to leave the EU. But, as the threat of a “cliff-edge” exit receded, and it became clear that Frankfurt and Paris, for example, didn’t have the immediate capacity for large scale moves, those warnings have been tempered. – Kamal Ahmed for BBC News Nigel Farage should be ’embalmed’ and put in Brexit museum, says minister Brexiteer Nigel Farage “can be embalmed like those Soviet leaders” and placed in a “Museum of Brexit,” senior Tory MP Liz Truss said. Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said Farage and the Vote Leave bus — which told people that Brexit would free up £350 million a week for the NHS — were her picks to go into a fictional Museum of Brexit on the Telegraph’s Chopper’s Brexit Podcast, released Friday. – Politico Chopper’s Brexit Podcast – Telegraph Asa Bennett: Bullying the British people won’t stop Brexit. It just makes them doubt if a deal is worth it European officials seem rather pleased with how sharply they rejected their British counterparts’ proposals on how to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland, gloating to my colleague Peter Foster that they gave them a “systematic and forensic annihilation” this week. At least Michel Barnier’s team have been able to find something to puff themselves up about, after the deflating experience they had last August when – as we reported – a “young man from Whitehall” tore apart their demands for as much as €100bn in a divorce settlement. – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) George Trefgarne: Rejoice! The Brexit divorce bill is shrinking Great news! The EU divorce bill of £35-£39bn has gone down already and might be lower still. That is what the National Audit Office has found. The NAO published its review of the Brexit financial settlement this week and rightly warned that although the £35-£39 billion range “were consistent with” the Treasury’s internal modelling, “the actual value of the settlement is uncertain because it depends on future events”. Cue beating of chests and wailing in the usual quarters. The Guardian, for instance, reported that the cost of the Brexit divorce bill could be “billions higher”. – George Trefgarne for CapX Emma McClarkin: Global Britain can refresh the Commonwealth for people worldwide As heads of government from 53 Commonwealth nations convene in London and Windsor for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, now is the opportunity to define ‘Global Britain’ in the eyes of 2.4billion Commonwealth Citizens – one-third of the world’s population. It is crucial that the world understands what to expect from Global Britain partway through our negotiations to leave the European Union.Over the last 40 years, the UK has significantly underleveraged its place as a leader in the Commonwealth and has not shown the leadership the organisation deserves. – Emma McClarkin MEP for the Telegraph (£) Brexit in Brief Macron and the federalists are losing Europe’s battle of ideas – Kai Weiss for CapX The unrestrained powers of the European Commission – Robert Bates for Get Britain Out Consumers must come first in any UK-Australia trade deal – Peter Vicary-Smith and Alan Kirkland for the Telegraph (£) What European MEPs think of UK’s EU split and how they can influence it – Express Wanted: British export and innovation expertise post-Brexit – FT (£) Trump to finally come to Britain in July and could even stay with the Queen at Balmoral – Daily Mail