Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Theresa May calls for transition on same trade terms for two years after Brexit… Theresa May has said there should be a transition period of “about” two years after Brexit, during which trade should continue on current terms. EU migrants will still be able to live and work in the UK but they will have to register with the authorities, under her proposals. And the UK will pay into the EU budget so member states are not left out of pocket. She hopes this offer, made in a speech in Italy, will unblock Brexit talks… Such a period should be “time limited”, she said, as neither the EU nor the British people would want the UK to remain in the EU longer than necessary – with its length being determined by how long it takes to set up new systems. – BBC News Theresa May asks EU for two-year Brexit transition period – Guardian May buys time with call for two-year transition to full Brexit – The Times (£) Theresa May’s Florence speech breaks Brexit deadlock in EU talks – The Sun Theresa May offers stronger protection for EU citizens in Florence speech – FT (£) Theresa May vows to protect Britain’s EU nationals in landmark Brexit speech – Evening Standard What did we learn from Theresa May’s Florence speech? – BBC News Seven vital Brexit issues and what the Prime Minister really meant – Daily Mail May tailors tone to European audience with evolving position – FT (£) Theresa May’s Florence speech attempts the optimistic tone of Boris Johnson’s Brexit vision – Telegraph Newspaper headlines: May’s offer to EU ‘pauses Brexit’ – BBC News …as European leaders welcome ‘constructive spirit’ of Theresa May’s Florence speech… European leaders last night applauded Theresa May’s list of Brexit concessions as evidence of a more “realistic” approach to the negotiations from Britain and welcoming what they called the Prime Minister’s “constructive spirit”… The warm response came after days of careful back-channel negotiations by British officials to ensure that leaders in Brussels would greet the speech positively as Mrs May strove to break the impasse in the negotiations. The EU’s chief negotiator stopped well short of declaring “sufficient progress” for trade talks, however, warning that Mrs May’s offers on the financial settlement, transitional deal and EU citizens’ rights would all need to be fleshed out in the negotiating room. – Telegraph (£) EU gives guarded welcome to May’s conciliatory Florence speech – FT (£) EU negotiator Barnier gives thumbs up to May’s ‘constructive’ speech – Express UK needs to clarify issues, says Emmanuel Macron – BBC News Italy EU minister: May took ‘steps forward’ on citizens’ rights – FT (£) Leading EU figures react to Theresa May’s Florence speech – Guardian May’s speech leaves Germans unmoved as continental press warns of ‘problems’ in UK’s approach – Independent ‘Aggressive EU negotiators want to damage UK’ over Brexit, says DUP chief Arlene Foster – Express Comment: Theresa May was clear: the best Brexit deal will be a win-win one – James Cleverly MP for the Telegraph (£) Theresa May has put the UK’s cards on the table, the EU must step up and do the same – Suella Fernandes MP for the Telegraph (£) May’s Italian overture deserves a fair hearing – FT editorial (£) Theresa May dispensed with Brexit threats in Florence to extend an olive branch to EU leaders – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Theresa May in Florence: right speech, wrong time – Robert Colvile for CapX Theresa May’s speech was eminently reasonable. How could the EU reject it? – Lord Lamont for the Telegraph (£) EU bureaucrats so intent on punishing us for Brexit now have no leg to stand on – The Sun says The Brexit clock is ticking, so this could be the EU’s last chance for a full deal – David Campbell Bannerman MEP for the Telegraph (£) …but some UK Eurosceptics raise concerns about the proposals Mrs May faced an immediate backlash from Tory Eurosceptics who said Britain would not be able to reap the benefits of quitting the EU for fully five years after voters chose to leave… There were signs of friction with the Conservatives’ parliamentary voting partners the DUP, whose leader Arlene Foster insisted that the transition period should be kept to an “absolute minimum”… Even the former chancellor Kenneth Clarke, the most Europhile Tory MP, was happy with the speech, saying it had “an altogether more grown-up tone about it” and he was “very reassured by it”. But in appealing to the likes of Mr Barnier and Mr Clarke, Mrs May risked alienating Eurosceptic Tories – and millions of Leave voters. – Telegraph (£) Theresa May slammed by angry hard-line Brexiteers and Remainers following ‘worrying’ keynote speech – The Sun Jacob Rees-Mogg raises concerns over ‘ambiguous’ ECJ position during transition – Express Boris Johnson praises PM’s Brexit blueprint as ‘positive, optimistic and dynamic’ but Nigel Farage slams transitional period as leaving the EU in ‘name only’ – The Sun UK business groups and politicians demand Theresa May provide further detail – Independent Anna Soubry welcomes ‘sensible’ PM Brexit speech – Express As an ardent Brexiteer I was impressed by Theresa May’s Florence speech – Jonathan Isaby for the Independent Brexiteers can live with a two-year transition – but it must be strictly limited – Iain Duncan Smith MP for the Telegraph (£) The great Brexit betrayal continues: Theresa May in her naivety has sold the British people out to Brussels – Nigel Farage for the Telegraph (£) The government needs to press on with the No Deal option – John Redwood’s Diary So what are the tests for Theresa May’s Florence speech? – Peter Bone MP for the Express Further comment: Will Tory MPs swallow May’s Brexit formula? – Mark D’Arcy for BBC News How did Theresa May’s Florence speech shape up? – Telegraph commentators (£) Theresa May’s Florence speech – our writers’ verdicts – Guardian commentators May confirms that she wants an implementation phase. Having one is unavoidable – but also dangerous. – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome May’s Florence speech is a blueprint for keeping Britain in the EU as an ‘associate’ member – Robert Peston for the Spectator Theresa May’s Brexit offering was thin British gruel – Macer Hall for the Express This may keep the Cabinet together but where was the beef, Theresa? – Peter Oborne for the Daily Mail Short of giving Mr Juncker a peerage Theresa May couldn’t be more placatory – Quentin Letts for the Daily Mail A Brexit transition deal could make things worse – James Kirkup for the Spectator By choosing to play for time the PM has taken the only possible path to keep the Remainers and Leavers on board – Matthew Parris for The Times (£) Brexit is delayed – but the fight for freedom goes on – Telegraph editorial (£) Theresa May’s government is split as to the final destination. That is why she is playing for time – Times editorial (£) Treasury anger as Moody’s downgrades UK credit rating after Theresa May’s Brexit speech Moody’s downgraded Britain’s sovereign rating by one notch last night, to AA2, over what it called weakening public finances and rising debt… Analysts at Moody’s blamed the “increasingly apparent challenges” since the vote to leave the European Union, and expressed scepticism over the government’s ability to cut costs… The Treasury accused Moody’s of using outdated information, saying that the decision predated Mrs May’s speech… Moody’s said that since 2015 “the government has been finding it increasingly difficult to implement the spending cuts that it has been targeting, in particular on welfare spending… Moody’s changed its outlook on the UK from negative to stable, meaning that another downgrade is not imminent. – The Times (£) UK tourism hits record high as weak pound lures overseas holidaymakers More overseas tourists visited the UK in July than during any month on record, as a slump in the pound sharpened the country’s appeal as a holiday destination. More than four million trips to the UK were recorded during the month, up 6 per cent on the same month in 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics. International visitors spent £2.8bn in July, also representing the highest amount for a month since records began in 1961. – Independent UK draws record overseas tourists after pound’s Brexit plunge – Guardian Applications for UK citizenship from EU14 nations rise threefold Applications for British citizenship from the 14 “original” EU member countries including Germany, France and Italy have more than tripled since the year before the Brexit referendum, analysis has revealed. Home Office data show that just under 14,000 nationals from the so-called EU14 group applied for citizenship in the year to June 2017, compared with about 4,500 in the year to June 2015. – FT (£) Charles Moore: The Prime Minister wants us to leave in peace – for which she will have to fight hard In the EU, democracy is not the whirring engine of the system: it is just distant noise – the shouts of angry crowds cordoned off from government buildings… Unfortunately, and more covertly, it applies to the British side as well. If you are an official type of person, you are overwhelmingly likely to favour Remain. If, because of the referendum, you find yourself charged with implementing Brexit, you will do your best. But your idea of the best will be to replicate, so far as possible, what already exists. Neither by temperament nor by electoral arithmetic is Mrs May a strong counterweight to this mindset… The Treasury and the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood – assisted by their political spokesman, Philip Hammond – pushed her towards European Economic Area-style arrangements, which would have kept Britain’s regulations and trade effectively under EU control… This is where Boris Johnson’s intervention last week was of real service. He reminded the world that the majority had voted for something positive, and must get it. – Charles Moore for the Telegraph (£) Ignore all the false smiles, our Deep State is trying to turn Brexit into Wrexit – Trevor Kavanagh for The Sun James Forsyth: Theresa May sensibly bought us more time with a transitional period — but she still must settle on the right route to Brexit Will this country chart its own course or stick as close to EU rules and regulations as possible? The problem is the Cabinet cannot agree on an answer to this question. Even in Thursday’s marathon meeting, the issue wasn’t resolved. Philip Hammond and Michael Gove set out their very different views on the matter. But Theresa May didn’t side decisively with one or the other. Neither side in the Cabinet is strong enough to win this argument. Boris and Gove can stop Hammond and Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood from getting what they want, but they can’t triumph themselves. This stalemate means that the Government doesn’t have a clear direction on this, the most important issue facing the country. – James Forsyth for The Sun May’s Brexit speech leaves some key questions unanswered – James Forsyth for the Spectator Guy Platten: We risk Britain’s future without a united, ego-less approach to Brexit Britain is by no means “the sick man of Europe”, as many have gleefully proclaimed this year. But unless we want to be, we mustn’t poison ourselves with aggressive partisan coverage of our departure from the EU. If there are enough news stories about banking crises, house prices tanking and general financial instability, people might just start to think it would be better to save for a rainy day than go on a holiday or buy a new TV. Lower spending means a fall in demand from the perspective of businesses, which might lead them to cut back on investment and employment, which leads to ever-starker economic warnings. – Guy Platten, UK Chamber of Shipping Chief Executive, for the Telegraph (£) Owen Polley: EU’s position on ‘Ireland’ is neither coherent nor constructive If the EU insists that elaborate infrastructure is needed in the Republic of Ireland, to protect the customs union or the single market, then that is the EU’s responsibility. Barnier’s summary dismissal of the British outline for further dialogue means Brexit supporters will, understandably, point to another example of the type of bureaucratic inflexibility that justified the ‘leave’ campaign in the first place. – Owen Polley for This Union Brexit in brief Theresa May needs to be genuinely ready to walk away in order to ensure the best Brexit deal possible – Rob Wilson for the Telegraph (£) Fine words from the Government are not the same as having actual policies – Juliet Samuel for the Telegraph (£) The Brexiteers own optimism just as Remainers claim reason – Sarah Sands for the Spectator Khan and TfL’s war on Uber has baleful implications for post-Brexit Britain – not just Londoners – Diego Zuluaga for ConservativeHome London’s Uber Ban is a big Brexit mistake – Tyler Cowen for Bloomberg The tortoise and the hare: Merkel and Macron back in the starting blocks – Walter Ellis for Reaction Revolting French workers will always win – Ben Macintyre for The Times (£) New Scottish MP admits she did not vote in the Brexit referendum – Telegraph