Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson and Michael Gove to warn against post-Brexit Customs Union in ‘explosive’ Cabinet confrontation… Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Liam Fox will this week warn against joining a Customs Union with the EU after Brexit in a potentially “explosive” Cabinet confrontation. The three eurosceptic Cabinet ministers will say that Britain must be able to strike free trade deals after it leaves the European Union as the issue is debated for the first time by senior members of the Government. Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, and Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, have argued for a new Customs Union to limit the loss of trade with Europe, reduce the need for new customs procedures and avoid a hard border in Ireland. – Telegraph (£) Theresa May and Liam Fox at odds on customs union – The Times (£) Cabinet explodes in a fresh row days before key meetings on Brexit trade deal – The Sun Liam Fox says UK will have to be outside any customs union – Independent Theresa May under pressure over Brexit position – BBC Time is fast running out for Theresa May, we need a sharp Brexit and a leader – James Forsyth for The Sun Theresa May must never surrender to a bad Brexit deal and should resist calls to join a new customs union – The Sun editorial …as Jacob Rees-Mogg blames Philip Hammond for trying to frustrate Brexit… The recording of Charles Grant’s Prospect lunch raises more questions about the Treasury’s behaviour. When Mr. Grant says ‘The Treasury is determined to keep us in the Customs Union’ does he mean the Chancellor or officials? If the Chancellor, it is a breach of collective responsibility, if officials, against their duty to implement Government policy. When Mr. Grant refers to ‘unpublished papers’ on the Customs Union, who commissioned these and authorised him to be told? Again, if officials, improper for them to tell a partisan think-tank leader before most of the Government or Parliament. Mr. Grant refers to private conversations with Treasury officials. Have these been authorised by Ministers or are officials freelancing? The conclusion must be either the Chancellor or his officials are deliberately trying to frustrate Brexit. Ultimately, Ministers must take responsibility. – Jacob Rees-Mogg MP via Twitter Mogg: Either Hammond or Treasury officials trying to frustrate Brexit – Guido Fawkes > Listen on BrexitCentral’s Youtube Channel: Jacob Rees-Mogg says the Treasury is fiddling the figures on Brexit forecasts …and Remain MPs unveil plan to force Government into ‘soft’ Brexit… Remain-backing Tory MPs have set out plans to force the Government to deliver a soft Brexit as Liam Fox ruled out the possibility of Britain staying in any form of customs union with the EU. Anna Soubry and Ken Clarke have tabled amendments to two key pieces of Brexit legislation which, if agreed by MPs, would keep the UK in the customs union after withdrawal. The move has the backing of a handful of Labour MPs and with speculation mounting that Jeremy Corbyn’s party is “shifting” to a softer stance on Brexit, Remainers believe it has a “serious prospect” of success if a dozen or so Tories rebel. – Telegraph (£) …while Theresa May tries to convince Brexiteers to back new alignment plan Theresa May’s team will try to break the 19-month cabinet deadlock over Brexit next week by presenting senior ministers with a plan they hope will win the approval of the main Conservative factions as well as Brussels. Oliver Robbins, the prime minister’s Europe adviser, will seek to convince cabinet members on the 11-person Brexit strategy committee that a blueprint involving a new customs arrangement and areas of regulatory alignment and divergence should be put forward to the EU… The blueprint is a closely guarded secret but could involve a customs arrangement for goods that might prevent certain types of trade deals. “We will approach this with an open mind,” a cabinet source said. “If this is about tricking us to a soft Brexit, then it won’t wash.” – The Times (£) Theresa May and David Davis to meet Michel Barnier in London on Monday Theresa May is set to meet the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator in London amid fresh splits over the transition period after Britain leaves the bloc. The Prime Minister will see Michel Barnier when he attends a working lunch with David Davis on Monday ahead of the next phase of talks – in a rare example of the divorce discussions taking place outside of Brussels. It comes as Ms May faced increasing pressure to set out her position on the UK’s long term relationship with the European Union in the face of growing dissatisfaction from both wings of the Conservative Party. – Independent Theresa May claims foreign students have no impact on immigration figures Theresa May claims foreign students are no longer having an effect on long-term immigration numbers in a dramatic change of tone. After years of demanding tough action, the PM said all of the “abuse” had now been tackled. Theresa May claims foreign students are no longer having an effect on long-term immigration numbers in a dramatic change of tone. After years of demanding tough action, the PM said all of the “abuse” had now been tackled. – The Sun Theresa May softens stance towards keeping students in net migration data – Independent Brexit immigration White paper delayed until Autumn – FT (£) Britons will not accept any Brexit which does not cut immigration – Tom Harris for the Telegraph (£) > Today on BrexitCentral: Ending unfettered free movement of people remains a vital element of Brexit Exporters will be banned from selling live animals for slaughter once Britain leaves EU Exporters will finally be banned from selling live animals for slaughter when Britain is free from Brussels under plans being drawn up by ministers. Thousands of animals are shipped from Britain to be slaughtered in sub-standard abattoirs in Europe every year. Livestock also endure cruel conditions during long journeys across the continent. Membership of the EU makes it powerless for ministers to ban the trade. – The Sun Countries to demand concessions from Britain in return for rolling over EU trade deals Countries are to bombard Britain with demands for concessions in return for rolling over their EU trade deals. South Korea and Chile have already objected to their agreements being automatically applied to the UK after March 2019, whilst Australia is readying protests.The setback will come as a shock to the Government, which believed the continuation of over 70 FTAs would be easy to achieve. Last month trade minister Greg Hands announced: “None of the 70 plus countries engaged has objected to transitioning their existing EU agreement to a UK one.” – The Sun Julian Jessop: Let’s leave the EU’s customs union for good Remaining in the Customs Union, even if applied to goods only, would take away one of biggest prizes of Brexit. This is the ability to do independent trade deals with the rest of the world that cover both goods and services… Second, continued membership of the Customs Union is likely to be a backdoor to keeping many of the obligations of the Single Market too. For example, the Customs Union still requires extensive regulatory alignment to allow goods to move across borders without checks. – Julian Jessop for the Telegraph (£) Jon Moynihan: We’ve had enough of Treasury’s silly stunts and flawed reasoning The Treasury has failed to publish the maths of their model. If it was published, we could likely show how absurd its assumptions are. A small tweak in the draconian “distance” assumptions would very likely result in a diametrically opposite result. (Puzzlingly, these economists purport themselves to be enthusiastically pro-free trade, yet nonetheless are great supporters of England’s membership of the EU – notoriously, the worst large protectionist trade cartel in the world)… When will the audit of the Treasury’s failures begin? When will the Treasury acknowledge its multiple failures over the decades? When will there be a wholesale cleanout of the diehard Treasury Remainers, who fail to understand that this is the time to get behind the Government, not subvert it with silly stunts and leaked, flawed conclusions? – Jon Moynihan for the Telegraph (£) Charles Moore: For true sovereignty, Britain must extract itself from another meddling Behemoth Mrs May said yet again yesterday that Britain, post-Brexit, must regain control of our money, our laws and our borders. She is right. But if we ask ourselves why we do not have control of our laws and borders, our membership of the European Union is only part of the answer. The other big bit is the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. The ECHR was founded before the EU and is not an EU institution. It was invented shortly after the Second World War to help prevent the return of Nazi tyranny. Over time, however, its purpose has been diverted. Nowadays, it is effectively the sister of the EU in the long-running international project to weaken the right of nations to have their own laws made by their elected representatives. – Charles Moore for the Telegraph (£) Priti Patel: If we want to be a a great, influential nation after Brexit, we need to look east As we witness a historic global economic and political shift towards Asia, with its rising share of the world’s total GDP, the UK must use its influence to achieve greater strategic access into Asia’s biggest markets. The importance of this preferential access cannot be overstated; China is the largest economy in the world with its GDP on the purchasing power parity measure estimated at $23.1 trillion in 2017.We know that India, the world’s third largest at $9.5 trillion, and its 1.2 billion people present enormous commercial opportunities for decades to come, with an ever-growing middle class and demand for UK services. These are just two clear examples of where Britain’s leadership and bilateral relationships can lead to a focused approach on creating prosperity and promoting stability. – Priti Patel MP for the Telegraph (£) Alex Wickham: Time is running out even for Brexiters to be convinced Leavers are pessimistic that Mrs May’s aides are pushing a deal towards high alignment with Brussels rules and regulations, remaining in a customs union and no free trade agreement for many years to come. This would put paid to their hopes of taking back control of laws, borders, money and trade before the 2022 election. Hardline MPs in the European Research Group are giving serious consideration to declaring the negotiation a failure and backing no deal. More moderate Leavers suspect we are heading for a middling Brexit that no one voted for and no one will be happy with, ultimately handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to Number 10. – Alex Wickham for iNews Brexit in brief We’re on course for soft-Brexit zombie land – John Longworth for CommentCentral Is the Brexit forecast a conspiracy? Apply Hammond’s Razor. – Mark Wallace for ConservativeHome The toxic politics of ‘soft Brexit’ – Rupert Darwall for the Spectator Enough! May must make up her mind on Brexit – or risk the collapse of her negotiating position. – Henry Newman for ConservativeHome Bring down the Lords if they bring down Brexit – Daniel Huggins of Get Britain Out for the Commentator Ministers must not be cowed by Brussels protestations of unity – Syed Kamall MEP for ConservativeHome Tories are lying to the voters and themselves over Brexit – Matthew Parris for The Times (£) UK risks missing Brexit boat – Stephen Kinnock for Politico Green Brexit is impossible to guarantee, EU is warned – Guardian