Brexit News for Sunday 15 October

Brexit News for Sunday 15 October
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Cross-party group draws up plans to make it impossible for PM to allow Britain to leave the EU without a deal

A powerful cross-party group of MPs is drawing up plans that would make it impossible for Theresa May to allow Britain to crash out of the EU without a deal in 2019. The move comes amid new warnings that a “cliff-edge” Brexit would be catastrophic for the economy. One critical aim of the group – which includes the former Tory chancellor Kenneth Clarke and several Conservative ex-ministers, together with prominent Labour, SNP, Liberal Democrat and Green MPs – is to give parliament the ability to veto, or prevent by other legal means, a “bad deal” or “no deal” outcome. – Observer

Philip Hammond plans daring Budget to boost Brexit…

Embattled Philip Hammond is planning a daring Budget to boost Brexit — and save his job. The Chancellor accepts he must make bold changes to get Britain in shape for leaving the EU. And after a chaotic week, he knows his job is on the line if he fails to deliver on November 22. MPs have hit him with demands, including putting aside cash in case of a “no deal” divorce. Bosses believe a cut in air passenger duty, which costs business £212million a year, would help forge new post-Brexit trade links. A report by City giants PwC suggests halving it would give a £5billion boost to the economy in the first year and £20billion by 2022. – Sun on Sunday

…as the Chancellor’s Brexit gaffes have reportedly led two pro-EU ministers to come out in favour of a change at the Treasury…

Philip Hammond has lost the support of senior ministers who backed “remain” in the European referendum, adding to pressure on Theresa May to fire her chancellor in the next cabinet reshuffle. Two senior remainers in the cabinet have joined prominent Brexiteers in arguing that Hammond should be moved when the prime minister changes her top team. – Sunday Times (£)

…while the DUP voices its ‘concern’ over Hammond

A small Northern Irish party which is keeping Britain’s government in power has concerns over Chancellor Philip Hammond, saying he is causing unnecessary division over Brexit, the Sunday Telegraph reported, citing sources in the party. British Prime Minister Theresa May must warn Hammond he faces the sack unless he changes his approach to the UK’s departure from the European Union, unnamed senior parliamentary sources in the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) told the newspaper. – Reuters

  • DUP orders Theresa May to rein in ‘divisive’ Philip Hammond – Telegraph

Hillary Clinton: Brexit vote was precursor to US election defeat

Hillary Clinton has said the vote for Brexit, and specifically the false claims made in the EU referendum campaign, were a forerunner of her defeat to Donald Trump in last year’s US presidential election. During an interview for BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, she said: “Looking at the Brexit vote now, it was a precursor to some extent of what happened to us in the United States.” – Observer

  • Brexit no deal will be ‘big disadvantage’ to UK – Hillary Clinton – Evening Telegraph

Jeremy Corbyn: Theresa May risks UK ‘jobs meltdown’ over Brexit

Jeremy Corbyn has warned that Tory infighting over Brexit is putting Britain on a path to “economic disaster”. Accusing the Government of “failing” in exit negotiations, he claimed Prime Minister Theresa May was risking a “jobs meltdown” across the UK. – Telegraph

Brussels’ chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier ‘happy to push Britain into a hard Brexit in punishment for leaving Europe’

Brussel’s top Brexit negotiator is happy to push Britain into a hard Brexit in punishment for leaving Europe, according to reports. A senior diplomatic source claimed that Mr Barnier believes the UK must be seen to “pay a big price” for leaving the bloc. The source told the Mail Online: “The idea of avenging Britain for damaging the EU by leaving resonates with Barnier “He has an old-fashioned view of Anglo-French relations based on mutual suspicion and ancient rivalry.” – Sun on Sunday

EU officials in Soviet-style ‘disinformation campaign’ to damage Brexit, Tory MPs claim

The European Commission is engaged in a Soviet-style “disinformation campaign” designed to damage public support for Brexit, Tory MPs have claimed. Two former ministers said EU officials appeared to be disseminating false statements aimed at stirring up opposition in the UK to the country’s departure from Europe. – Telegraph (£)

James Forsyth: The government needs to know what kind of Brexit deal it wants

Theresa May needs to invite the Cabinet down to Chequers to thrash out the government’s position on Brexit, I say in The Sun this morning. Remarkably, the Cabinet have never had a proper discussion about what the final deal with the EU should be. One senior Cabinet Minister tells me that ‘The million dollar question is the trade-off between regulatory compliance and market access and we haven’t had that discussion yet’. – James Forsyth for the Spectator

David Jones: The UK has displayed conspicuous goodwill. Now is the time for the European Union to reciprocate

The latest round of EU withdrawal talks ended last Friday in a wholly predictable manner, with Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator, declaring that there had been insufficient progress to allow him to recommend the European Council to open discussions on the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the continuing 27. The talks have turned into such a ritual of frustration that it is remarkable that my friend and former colleague David Davis retains his patience and good humour. – David Jones MP for the Telegraph

John Redwood: Let’s get real on no deal because the UK will still have bags of trade options after Brexit

The Prime Minister made a generous offer to the EU but it looks as if they still do not want to talk to us about our future partnership. The President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, seemed to slam the door on talks by saying we need to pay a huge bill just to have the privilege of sitting down with them. Next week there is a big European Council meeting which is likely to tell the UK they are not willing to talk about trade without us paying a shedload of money that we don’t owe. – John Redwood MP for the Sun on Sunday

Telegraph: Tories must return to the foundational principles of Euroscepticism

Some Britons may refuse to see this as an ideological struggle, but the Europeans, whom Theresa May meets at this week’s council summit in Belgium, certainly do. The EU’s reluctance to condemn the violence in Catalonia and its plans for even closer integration are in its very DNA: it exists to regulate the continent into a unitary state. – Telegraph editorial

Daniel Hannan: Free trade will always enrich our country. If we can’t embrace it now, Brexit was pointless

Hovering behind our Brexit anxieties is a belief that Britain isn’t up to it. We worry that we have become idle and inefficient. We haven’t run a trade surplus in 20 years. We don’t seem to make stuff anymore: manufacturing, despite a recent uptick, has fallen to 11 per cent of national output. Trade deals with China and India will open our market to places with much cheaper labour. Can we, who are used to faffing about for hours on our iPhones, compete with workers who put in 16-hour days assembling them? – Daniel Hannan MEP for the Telegraph

James Wise: UK leads Europe in tech but politicians are silent on start-up nation

The party conference season has finally ended and despite some grand plans put forward, notably building new council houses, the technology sector felt overlooked in a way it hasn’t been for decades. – James Wise for the Telegraph (£)

Janet Daley: The public are running out of patience with insolent Remainers who drum up fake Brexit anxiety

Once again, the Remain camp has overplayed its hand. First, it lost the referendum – which it just might have won – 
by insulting the intelligence of the people with a scare campaign so hysterical that it became, to the splendidly laconic British voter, risible. Apparently having learnt nothing from this searing experience, it now gleefully circulates stories of planes having to circle endlessly in the air like the Flying Dutchman because they are unable to land and lorries trapped in an endless purgatory at Dover. – Janet Daley for the Telegraph (£)

Brexit in brief

  • We need to cooperate with the EU on security after Brexit – Observer opinion
  • Let’s have a Brexit settlement that all can live with – by joining EFTA – John Stevenson MP for ConservativeHome
  • The German and UK elections – some political arithmetic that affects the talks – John Redwood’s Diary
  • The fashion world speaks out: ‘Without immigration, we’d be selling potato sacks’ – Observer
  • PM’s former security adviser warns of Brexit defence cuts – Observer
  • Brexit is a game changer for the British nuclear industry – Bloomberg
  • Dyson heads to European court over vacuum cleaner energy labels – Telegraph