Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson predicts Britain will enjoy an ‘all-singing, all-dancing’ free trade deal with Japan Boris Johnson is predicting post-Brexit Britain will enjoy an “all-singing, all-dancing” free trade deal with Japan thanks to a raft on inward investment since the referendum. The Foreign Secretary was speaking during a visit to Tokyo, where he said deals like the £24 billion takeover of UK electronics firm ARM proved we were set for a bright future. He said: “I have found a wide measure, or a growing measure, of understanding about what is involved. “They see the possibilities of a great new free trade deal between the UK and the EU, and you can see the proof of the pudding is in the eating. “We have seen since June 23 record investments in the UK – 2,200 separate investments. “A huge takeover of ARM by SoftBank, £24 billion, the biggest international investment I think we have seen in our country … perhaps in history. “And Nissan putting two more models on the production line in the North East. – The Sun Farmers will be paid to make the countryside beautiful after Brexit Farmers will be paid for delivering benefits for nature and the countryside after Brexit instead of receiving subsidies for the amount of land they farm, Michael Gove has indicated. Under the Europe-wide Common Agricultural Policy UK farmers receive around £3 billion a year in subsidies, mostly linked to the amount of land they farm. The Government has pledged to maintain levels of funding up to 2022, but Mr Gove said ministers could only go on “generously supporting farmers” in the face of other demands on spending if the environmental benefits were clear. – Telegraph (£) Michael Gove’s speech on his plan for a ‘Green Brexit’ is one of the first signs of what he is up to in his new role as Defra secretary. It was always a given that he would stir things up, as his is wont, but it remained to be seen whether his Brexit plan would be seen to be a good thing or a bad thing by British farmers and rural communities. So what did this morning’s speech deliver? Well, when it comes to farming, the answer is far more questions than it did answers. – Camilla Swift for the Spectator Just as with previous incarnations of CAP it isn’t hard to foresee the perverse outcome of Gove’s proposed reforms. Genuine farmers, who actually grow food, might qualify for some money, but their scope for claiming it will be compromised by the need to plough, drill, spray and combine-harvest their acres. Gentlemen farmers who are just playing at agriculture as a hobby, on the other hand, will with great delight turn their fields into woodland and ponds. No longer, it sounds from Gove’s proposals, will they have to pretend to be farming in order to claim money – they will be able to claim it for their grouse-shoots without any need to plant crops. – Ross Clark for the Spectator Gove rallies behind UK farmers as he reveals ‘green’ Brexit plan – Express In pitching to the environmental movement, Gove seeks allies in the forthcoming debate about farm subsidies – Mark Wallace for ConservativeHome Michael Gove: eco-warrior – Politico Of course we farmers want to be profitable and sustainable. Here’s how to help us get there – Minette Batters for the Telegraph (£) We welcome a fresh start for our farmers– Telegraph editorial (£) Full text of Gove’s speech pledging a ‘Green Brexit’ – ConservativeHome Hammond reportedly believes Brexiteers are ‘softening’ on transition deal for free movement… Senior Conservative Brexiteers have signalled that they are comfortable with a transition offer that allows EU citizens free movement to Britain for up to two years after leaving the bloc. Philip Hammond, the chancellor, believes he has the support of every cabinet minister for a transitional deal after Britain leaves the European Union in 2019. A new immigration regime would be put in place after the two years. Yesterday a series of prominent Brexiteers, some of whom had previously rejected transition periods, were relaxed about the plan. – The Times (£) …as Gove says Cabinet is united over EU transition deal The “cabinet is united” over the need for a transitional period after Britain officially leaves the European Union, Cabinet minister Michael Gove has said. He said an “implementation period” ensuring access to migrant labour and economic stability would happen. He said it must be driven by “pragmatism” but also recognise the UK’s vote to leave the EU last year. It follows newspaper reports that free movement for EU citizens could continue for years after March 2019. – BBC Cabinet ‘united’ over plan to keep our borders open after Brexit, Michael Gove claims – The Sun Brexit betrayal fears – Express Philip Hammond criticised by MPs over plan to keep borders open for two years after Brexit – Telegraph (£) Leavers should embrace a transition deal – the Brexit they wanted is just on the other side – Tom Harris for the Telegraph (£) Goldman urges government to make Brexit transition deal- BBC Hammond told Goldman Sachs he wants long Brexit transition – Reuters Has the Cabinet reached a deal on immigration? Not yet. – Henry Hill for ConservativeHome Japan offers loan of its trade negotiators to help in Brexit talks Japan has offered to lend trade negotiators to Britain to agree a post-Brexit deal with the European Union. The ambassador, Koji Tsuruoka, made the offer after years of Japanese haggling with Brussels which have just resulted in one of the world’s biggest free trade agreements. Remain supporters will seize on the development as evidence that Britain was ill-prepared for the practical challenges of leaving the bloc when Theresa May set the two-year clock ticking by invoking Article 50 in March. – The Times (£) Migrants raised UK population by 250,000 in each of past 12 years Net migration has added a quarter of a million people to the population each year for the past 12 years, according to official figures published yesterday. The figures show the impact of the expansion of the EU when Britain’s job market was opened to eight east European countries including Poland and the Baltic states.In recent years immigration has been the main driver of population growth rather than the number of births over deaths. – The Times (£) Britons jailed in France for smuggling migrants in light aircraft – The Times (£) Irish ambassador begs UK not leave single market Ireland’s ambassador to the UK pleaded the country to seek a softer Brexit to avoid a hard border with the European Union. Speaking to Sky News, Dan Mulhall suggested Britain could reconsider its current stance as talks on Brexit progress. “We have to find solutions that don’t require a border to be imposed on the island of Ireland.” Mulhall said that establishing a border between Northerm Ireland and the Republic of Ireland would create “so many problems that it cannot be contemplated.” – Express Ryanair has warned it will cut flights between Britain and the EU if there is no agreement The airline’s chief commercial officer David O’Brien said flights would be affected from summer 2019 onwards, the BBC reported. He added that the company would relocate 85 aircraft from Britain to other airports in Europe. It is not the first team bosses at Ryanair have spoken frankly about how Brexit will impact the business. Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary has said British ministers “don’t have an idea” about how Brexit will impact the sector. – City A.M. Donald Tusk backs Polish anti-government protests European Council President Donald Tusk gave strongly worded support Friday to thousands of Polish demonstrators who took to streets to protest against plans to curb the independence of the country’s judiciary. “These people are out in streets because of a beautiful concern for Poland to become better,” Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, told the TVN24 news channel from his office in Brussels. “I appeal to the president not to disregard these people because there is only good in them.” – Politico The EU has already hinted, after appearing to sit on its hands for ages, that time is running out for Poland. EU commissioner Frans Timmermans said this week the EU was “very close” to triggering Article 7, which could result in Poland losing its voting rights in the European Council. It requires the backing of a qualified majority – a system of weighted votes based on population – of EU leaders to come into force, and has far never been used. Matthew Day or the Telegraph (£) Poland defies EU with power grab for supreme court – The Times (£) Poland on the Brink – The Times editorial (£) As Poland marches towards the jaws of autocracy, The EU faces a battle for its soul – Ben Kelly for the Telegraph (£) Patrick West: It’s not Brexit that’s scaring migrants away There is a consensus among the most stubborn and fanatical Remainers that Brexit unleashed a wave of xenophobia in Britain, a dormant sentiment that itself sustained the Leave campaign. In the immediate wake of the referendum, there were many headlines about the rise in xenophobic assaults and abuse perpetrated against not only Eastern Europeans, but ethnic minorities in general. – Patrick West for spiked Mark Brolin: The Tories have left young people vulnerable to pro-EU propagandist teachers The grandeur and neatness of the EU vision arguably makes it almost irresistible to anyone with only an armchair understanding of how the world really works. To no small degree, this explains why great political schemes – big on vision, small on practical detail – have always particularly appealed to academics and students. In relation to the latter, I can only look to myself when leaving university in the 1990s. I left with no doubt that the EU, in many ways the grandest political scheme ever fabricated, really was a peace project and that economic drawbacks could either be dismissed as birth pangs or as a price well worth paying while somehow still ensuring a better world. How could I think otherwise? Across Europe, every “sane” expert said so. – Mark Brolin for the Telegraph (£) Asa Bennett: Vince Cable wants you to vote again on Brexit – yet he knows how insulting he sounds Cable insists that the party doesn’t want to go “back over history”, but would offer the electorate the chance at the end of the Brexit negotiations to vote on whether to accept the deal, or “go back to where we were … staying in the European Union”. Those expecting a change from Tim Farron’s anti-Brexit crusade will be disappointed, as his successor has taken it up. The last Lib Dem manifesto, which put Mr Farron front and centre, pledged a second referendum “with the alternative option of staying in the EU on the ballot paper” once a deal had been negotiated. Sir Vince’s solution is to repackage this with a new soundbite. – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Mark Fox: Brexit still provides opportunities – if we are willing to seize them The Brexit process, like the long debate that preceded it, nearly always generates more heat than light. The process, like the debate, has continued to cause bitter division, but slowly a considered and thoughtful approach is emerging. Most of the public focus has been on Brexit’s impact on business, with some loud voices consistently complaining about the negative effects. Business is the part of our society that generates jobs, wealth, income, investment and enables politicians to raise money through tax and spend it on the things we like – schools, hospitals, parks, teachers, doctors, nurses, roads, railways, security, the military, the police and so on. – Mark Fox for Reaction Brexit comment in brief Britain has little to fear from French land grab – Agnes Poirier for The Times (£) Appeasement of reactionaries over Brexit betrayed Heath’s legacy – John Deben for ConservativeHome Scheduling conflict for Liam Fox at the WTO – Faisal Islam for Sky News The Government needs to commit to a plan that puts the economy first – The Times editorial (£) Brexit news in brief Farage fumes at EU as he gets his own £80,000 bill – Express Switzerland provides glimpse of UK’s future as exports hit record high – Express Brexit secretary David Davis given funds by Remain donor – The Times (£) Bank of America picks Dublin as post-Brexit hub – AFP Nine shocking ways Remainers are plotting to keep Britain in the EU – Express