Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Theresa May’s team are secretly plotting a new EU referendum… The Sunday Times has learnt that Cabinet Office officials under [David] Lidington are discussing plans to offer voters a choice between May’s deal and a no-deal Brexit. Officials then expect the Commons to amend the necessary legislation to include on the ballot paper the option of remaining in the EU. “The prime minister can tell voters she tried to honour the referendum result, but parliament has spoken,” a source familiar with the work said. Legal advice is also being sought on how to rescind article 50 — the means by which the UK is to leave the EU — without the need for primary legislation. “[Gavin] Barwell and Lidington are working in tandem,” a senior Tory who has discussed the plans with ministers revealed. “Others in No 10 are aware of what is happening.” Lidington has talked to groups of Labour and Tory MPs in the past week, including a key meeting on Thursday. Labour MPs involved in the discussions include Chris Bryant, Ben Bradshaw, Angela Smith, Stephen Doughty, Chuka Umunna and Chris Leslie. One MP said Lidington went “beyond sounding us out about a referendum to appearing to advocate for one”. Lidington is also at the head of a “gang of five” cabinet ministers — who also include Amber Rudd, Philip Hammond, David Gauke and Greg Clark — who have concluded that a new referendum may be the only way to resolve the impasse in parliament. Yesterday, Rudd argued ministers should form a “coalition” with moderate Labour MPs to thrash out a cross-party compromise. – Sunday Times (£) Theresa May’s Deputy Prime Minister and her Chief of Staff are both plotting for a second vote, infuriating Cabinet Brexiteers – Mail on Sunday …while her Chief Whip is accused of ‘freelancing’ after meetings with his Labour counterpart Theresa May’s chief whip is being accused of “freelancing” by holding talks with his Labour counterpart several times a week as he tries to find a solution for Brexit that will be approved by Parliament. Brexiteers said they feared Julian Smith could be discussing options for a soft exit from the EU in order to secure opposition votes for a deal. Labour, which opposes Mrs May’s plan, says any deal should deliver the “exact same benefits” of the single market and customs union, both of which pro-Leave MPs insist the UK must leave after Brexit. One source said Mr Smith should spend more time with senior Brexiteers to see where the Government and Eurosceptics could meet in the middle. – Sunday Telegraph (£) Jeremy Hunt say the UK will ‘flourish and prosper’ if it walks away from the EU without a deal… In an interview with The Telegraph, the Foreign Secretary says that while a no-deal Brexit would cause disruption, the country has faced much bigger challenges in its history. Mr Hunt’s words are likely to be welcomed by Leavers who insist that a no-deal scenario – the default position if an agreement is not struck by March – would be better for the country than Mrs May’s current agreement. He acknowledges that the deal on the table risks “anchoring Britain indefinitely in the customs union”. He adds: “I’ve always thought that even in a no-deal situation this is a great country, we’ll find a way to flourish and prosper. We’ve faced much bigger challenges in our history. “But we shouldn’t pretend that there wouldn’t be disruption, there wouldn’t be risk, and there wouldn’t be impact and that’s why as a responsible government we have to make all the preparations necessary.” – Sunday Telegraph (£) ‘Every MP would like like to have a crack at the top job. I’m no different’ – Jeremy Hunt interview in the Sunday Telegraph (£) …although he believes a version of May’s deal can get through Parliament May pulled out of a vote on her Brexit deal at the start of the week, fearing a heavy defeat amid concerns over the “backstop” policy. But Hunt says a version of May’s deal could still get through the House of Commons. “When the dust has settled, the only way we’re going to get this through the House of Commons … is to have a version of the deal that the government has negotiated,” Hunt told BBC radio on Saturday. On Friday, May said that the EU could give guarantees that the backstop would be temporary, but EU leaders have insisted that the deal is not up for renegotiation. However, Hunt believes they may have to, with the risk of a no deal too damaging for both sides. “The EU cannot be sure that if they choose not to be helpful and flexible … that we would not end up with no deal,” Hunt said. “We cannot in these negotiations take no deal off the table. I don’t think the EU could be remotely sure that if we don’t find a way through this we wouldn’t end up with no deal.” – City A.M. May accuses Tony Blair of undermining the UK national interest as he seeks to subvert the Brexit process Theresa May launched a blistering attack on Brexit saboteur Tony Blair. She accused the former Labour PM of insulting the British people with his shifty attempts to thwart the referendum result. And she bluntly reminded him it was his own open-door immigration policy which spurred millions to vote leave. Mrs May’s patience snapped after an exhausting week of clashes with MPs and Eurocrats blocking her departure deal. In an astonishing broadside, she lashed out at her predecessor’s treacherous trip to meet EU chiefs in Brussels while Brexit talks were taking place. She raged: “There are too many people who want to subvert the process for their own political interests – rather than acting in the national interest. For Tony Blair to go to Brussels and seek to undermine our negotiations by advocating for a second referendum is an insult to the office he once held and the British people he once served. We cannot, as he would, abdicate responsibility for this decision. Parliament has a democratic duty to deliver what the British people voted for.” It was the second time in 24 hours that the livid PM has publicly berated Brexit wreckers. – The Sun Theresa May launches attack on Tony Blair for ‘subverting Brexit process for his own political interests’ – Independent Theresa May condemns Tony Blair’s new Brexit vote call – BBC News Chancellor Philip Hammond set to share £2bn No Deal Brexit pot with £500m to stop border chaos and £25m for custom checks The Chancellor is poised to give the Home Office up to £500 million to help stop chaos if Britain leaves the EU without an agreement. Cabinet Ministers have been bidding for a share of £2billion of funding to be doled out across Whitehall as preparations are stepped up. Home Secretary Sajid Javid will be given around a quarter of the new cash for projects including manning the borders over security and trade issues. A cross-government Border Delivery Group will be given an additional £25 million to improve IT systems and customs checks. A total of £4.2 billion has been earmarked so far for EU exit preparations. Ministers have already spent £530 million from £1.5billion allocated for 2018/19. Senior Tories will urge Theresa May to make No Deal planning a priority on Tuesday with just over 100 days to go until the UK leaves the EU in March next year. Javid, Treasury number two Liz Truss, Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom and International Aid Secretary Penny Mordaunt will make the demand. – The Sun Justice secretary David Gauke suggests he would quit over no-deal Brexit In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Gauke warned that the pursuit of this outcome was not a decision the prime minister “can responsibly take” given the economic carnage that would ensue. The Europhile minister also warned that should parliament reject Mrs May’s compromise Brexit deal, in a vote earmarked for January, it would fuel populism and political parties offering “simplistic solutions”. The chances of the UK crashing out of the EU are rising, with Mrs May struggling to make progress at a European leaders’ summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday about potential changes to her withdrawal agreement that might persuade sceptical MPs to vote in favour of the deal. Asked if he could remain in the cabinet in the event of a no-deal Brexit, Mr Gauke said: “I couldn’t support a conscious decision to crash out at the end of March and I don’t think there are many who could.” – FT(£) Brexit deadlock ‘is blocking vital domestic policy reforms’ With the deadlock over May’s Brexit deal unresolved, and a key vote in parliament postponed until mid-January, the chairpersons of six all-party select committees have signed a statement saying long-drawn-out arguments over Brexit are having a “serious detrimental effect” on wider domestic policy. The MPs, who include the Tory chairs of the treasury and education select committees, Nicky Morgan and Robert Halfon, add that: “Rather than continuing to drag out the Brexit process for months more, we must bring it to a close if we are to prevent serious damage to our country”. While the six have very different views on Brexit they agree that the government is letting people down with its near-total preoccupation with the issue at a time of crisis in the NHS and social care, rising knife crime, failing public transport, chronic homelessness and environmental challenges. – Observer PM urged not to `run down the clock´ on giving MPs a meaningful Brexit vote Theresa May has been told by a former minister not to “run down the clock” on giving MPs a proper say on Brexit. Jo Johnson urged the Prime Minister to let the Commons vote on her Brexit deal next week as he expressed concern at the way Downing Street is treating Parliament… Mr Johnson, who resigned as transport minister in protest at Mrs May’s EU withdrawal agenda, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The time has come for us to hold this vote. “I am concerned that Number 10 is running down the clock. “Number 10 could try to leave that vote until the very last minute. “Effectively, giving the country, giving Parliament no choice at all, except between her deal, flawed as it is – and facing fundamental opposition across all sides of the House – and no deal at all. “And that’s an unacceptable choice for Parliament. “We need to get on with it. And the first step is to eliminate her deal from the table. “It’s simply unacceptable to run out the clock and face the country with the prospect of being timed-out.” – Mail Online Theresa May told not to ‘run down clock’ on deal – BBC News EU playing hardball over fears concessions will fuel Brexiteers for more The Prime Minister held showdown talks with European officials in the hope of seeking “further assurances” over her highly controversial deal and in particular the Irish ‘backstop’. But stubborn leaders were unwilling to give an inch to Mrs May and accused the UK of not knowing what they wanted from Brussels. The ‘meaningful vote’ in parliament was called off after Mrs May faced a “significant” defeat, which prompted a no-confidence vote in her leadership, which she survived by a majority of 85. But one EU diplomat told the Financial Times even with concessions “not one person in the room” believes Mrs May will be able to get enough support in the Commons. And the current stalemate faced by Mrs May was still not enough to force Brussels to shift its negotiating position. Another diplomat feared a change in tactic by the EU would ignite Brexiteers to push for more in the new year. The diplomat said: “If you give something now it will be put in the fire over Christmas, used for heating and burnt, we will have to find something else to give after Christmas, which will not be possible.” With the exit date of March 29, 2019 fast approaching tensions visibly increased when Mrs May was captured in a head-to-head argument with Jean-Claude Juncker. – Sunday Express EU migrants will have to earn £30,000 before coming to Britain under crackdown EU migrants will have to earn at least £30,000 before they are allowed to come to Britain after Brexit under a crackdown due to be announced next week, The Telegraph understands. Under the plans, which have prompted a Cabinet row, skilled migrants will be required to have a job offer and hit the minimum salary threshold before they are allowed to come to the UK on five-year-long visas. Low-skilled migrants will be able to come to the UK on one-year visas on a “temporary” basis as long as they have jobs. Once their visas expire they will be required to leave the country and unable to apply to return until a “cooling off” period of a year has passed. Government sources said there have been “significant” rows over the plans, with Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, and Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, among ministers who have raised concerns. – Sunday Telegraph (£) EU migrants will have to earn £30,000 before they can work in UK – Metro Labour MP Kate Hoey says ‘EU bureaucrats’ and Theresa May are doing IRA’s work in creating a united Ireland Labour MP Kate Hoey has been criticised after she said that Theresa May was imposing a united Ireland through Brexit. Ms Hoey said that Northern Ireland “didn’t spend 30 years suffering” the loss of life at the hands of the paramilitaries only for the prime minister to achieve their aim through “the back door” with her withdrawal agreement. The hardline Brexiteer was referring to the Irish backstop, which would leave Northern Ireland treated as a different trade entity to the rest of the UK. It would remain in a customs union with the EU in line with the Republic of Ireland, a move which has been resisted by the DUP and hardline Brexiteers. – iNews ‘We didn’t spend 30 years stopping IRA to allow PM and EU to give united Ireland by back door’ says Labour MP Kate Hoey – Belfast Telegraph David Davis: Our Brexit negotiations with the EU have ‘hit a dead end’ so now is the time to be confident, regain control and find solution for all The Prime Minister was concerned the European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker called her ‘nebulous’. Nebulous or credulous? Either way UK negotiations with the EU are in a sorry state. In plain English we’ve hit a dead end. Theresa May’s attempt to move things again following this week’s Westminster turmoil has failed. The EU has knocked her back once again. Parliament had already firmly indicated the Government’s proposed deal will never be passed. So what now? This is not the time to roll over. It is time to stand up to the Europeans, be confident and start again. There is still time and there is an alternative. Freed from alignment with the EU, the UK will be able to pursue trade deals with countries like Australia, New Zealand, India, China, the United States, Singapore and Japan who have a combined GDP of 40.9 trillion dollars. All of these countries say they want trade deals with the UK. On Friday, Switzerland committed to a free trade deal in all circumstances. There is a credible alternative to the present shambles. Quite literally, if the UK has the will there is a way. Then we can seize the Brexit prize. Let’s take it and give the people of Britain the future they deserve. – David Davis MP for The Sun Daniel Hannan: I’m beginning to think Brexit won’t happen. This will destroy democracy as we know it It’s over. If Brexit happens at all – and for the first time I’m beginning to think it won’t – it will be on terms that keep the worst aspects of EU membership. Britain will be humbled in the eyes of the world, having tried to recover its independence and been faced down. The largest popular vote in our history will be disregarded, and the nation that exported representative government exposed as an oligarchy. Plus – and I know this sounds almost trivial next to those calamities, but it matters to me – the Conservative Party might never recover. If Parliament won’t accept Mrs May’s terms and won’t accept no deal then, one way or another, it keeps us in the EU. When you have eliminated the impossible, Watson, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. So we are back to either non-voting membership (I refuse to call it “Norway Plus” since Norway would never accept the backstop and, in any case, the European Free Trade Association is, as the name implies, a trade association, which makes it incompatible with membership of the EU’s customs union); or, more likely, a second referendum. – Daniel Hannan MEP for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Liam Halligan: Drop backstop for a free-trade agreement “The hard-won peace in Northern Ireland is built around this seamless border,” says Theresa May – and she’s right. Since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the military sentry posts and border checks of “The Troubles” have gone. Nobody wants them back. Yet the vexed Irish border question now dominates British politics. Having overshadowed the Article 50 process for months, this issue last week halted Brexit – and could yet reverse it. “It’s clear,” said May in the Commons, postponing the vote on her proposals, “that while there is broad support for many of the key aspects of the deal, on one issue – the Northern Ireland backstop – there remains widespread and deep concern.” The WTO, visiting Ireland last month in a bid to impose some common sense, confirmed no new border infrastructure is needed. But common sense has long ceased to matter. Even the backstop text itself concedes “facilitative arrangements and technologies will be considered” to develop “alternative arrangements for ensuring the absence of a hard border on the island of Ireland on a permanent footing”. The Irish embassy and others assert the backstop protects the Good Friday Agreement. This is the most dangerous untruth of all. For by changing the constitutional status of Northern Ireland without its consent, this egregious and entirely unjustified protocol imperils not only that landmark 1998 settlement but also the precious progress since made in UK-Irish relations. – Liam Halligan for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Janet Daley: Team Remain’s dark arts in the corridors of Brussels are paying off In a wild moment on Friday, during that interminable wait for Theresa May to emerge at last for her press conference in Brussels, I had a splendid vision of her stepping to the podium to make a stunning announcement. “In view of the EU leaders’ decision that there can be no alteration of the legally binding backstop provision in the Withdrawal Agreement,” she would say, “I have regretfully decided that the UK will engage in no further formal negotiations, since retaining the backstop in its present terms is clearly unacceptable to the British parliament. We shall be leaving the European Union, as stipulated by Article 50, on March 29 2019. If at any time before that date, the EU Council and Commission would like to reconsider the position, we shall, of course, be willing to reconvene our discussions.” That’s it. We’re out of here. Good-bye and good luck. But no. What she actually said was even more startling. In fact, it was quite surreal. Her very, very brief statement – followed by a very, very short question session – simply stated that everything you thought you had seen happen over the previous twenty-four hours had not really happened at all. The EU leaders had not ruled out any possibility of amending or adding an additional proviso to the Withdrawal Agreement. They had not, in fact, rejected any possibility of meeting the UK government’s request for some concession (even a rhetorical one) on the Irish border backstop – even though their appointed spokesmen, most notably the charmless Jean-Claude Juncker, had explicitly stated that this was the case. No, you got that all wrong. – Janet Daley for the Sunday Telegraph (£) The Sun: Britain will be humiliated by Jean-Claude Juncker no more — come March we will have a clean-break Brexit Finally, some concrete planning for a clean-break Brexit. This week the jumped-up bureaucrats at the top of the Brussels tree proved that they simply aren’t interested in negotiating a good deal, for us or for them. They’d rather cut their nose off to spite their face, putting their ideological project ahead of the interests of their citizens. Even national leaders seem more interested in trying to trap us into an undemocratic second referendum than ensuring their businesses can freely trade with the fifth-largest economy in the world. The way Jean-Claude Juncker patronised the PM this week was an utter disgrace. We will be humiliated no more. When the clock strikes 11pm on March 29th next year, we will leave the European Union. And we must put every penny and pound we can into ensuring that our exit is as smooth as possible. The Brussels beast has wormed its way into just about every one of our institutions. Getting rid of it is going to take some work. But the predictions of apocalyptic job losses? Instant recession? We’ve heard the doomsday predictions before. Wrong then, wrong now. There is one thing we are sure of, though, never more so than this week. If we believe in ourselves we have nothing to fear. – The Sun says Dominic Lawson: Beware: the fix is in for a second referendum on Brexit Bad news for Brenda from Bristol. I speak of the woman, who, when vox-popped by the BBC on the day Theresa May called a general election, exclaimed: “You’re joking. Not another one! Oh for God’s sake, I can’t stand this.” What will Brenda say if, only 2½ years after the seismic referendum on whether to stay in or leave the European Union, the prime minister decides to have “another one”? Yet, all of a sudden, this is being pressed on Mrs May. From the point of view of the law as it stands, this appears at best ridiculous, at worst insane. Both Conservative and Labour parties promised in their 2017 general election campaigns not only to honour the result of the referendum, but also to cancel the UK’s membership of the EU’s single market: they were committed by mandate, in other words, to what is sometimes known as “hard Brexit”. The fix is in. It is no coincidence that this is the manoeuvre advocated two days ago by Tony Blair. Ever since the outcome of the first referendum, the former PM has argued that the people must be brought to reconsider their unwise decision. His former spin doctor, Alastair Campbell, is the driving force behind the campaign for a second referendum — which calls itself the People’s Vote. Immediately after the 2016 referendum, he demanded the result be ignored, on the grounds that Brexit had been based on a false prospectus (this, from the author of the Iraq “dodgy dossier”). – Dominic Lawson for the Sunday Times (£) Sheila Lawlor: Even with an exit clause from the backstop, this deal would be unacceptable The confidence vote has kept Theresa May in office for now. But the Withdrawal Agreement may yet prove her nemesis. It is that ‘deal’, the EU’s and hers, that almost did for her last week. So far, it has brought Britain’s government to a state of paralysis, prompted political turmoil, constitutional chaos and a level of uncertainty and disruption near-unprecedented for the best part of a century, as well as spooking the markets. Unless it is put right, it will do, in the pejorative sense, not just for the Prime Minister, but for Britain too. An end date to the backstop, legally binding under international treaty, is needed, otherwise the UK may be obliged to remain indefinitely in an EU customs union and under its law, whilst Northern Ireland will be treated as a separate state, UK (NI), with an even greater burden of EU law imposed than the rest of the UK. So much is widely recognised – now, at least verbally, even by May herself. Few, however, recognize all the implications. – Dr Sheila Lawlor for ConservativeHome Justine Greening: MPs must vote on Brexit and be ready for a referendum Britain is months away from leaving the EU, yet Theresa May has still not allowed parliament a say on her deal. And every day that passes, the clock is ticking down. The prime minister rightly says she wants to work with MPs to find a solution. Parliament stands ready to vote on her proposals. In fact, most MPs would be happy for Christmas recess to be delayed to do so. But it is impossible if Mrs May kicks her Brexit can down the road once more. She is leading Britain further down a path that she acknowledges risks an “accidental” no-deal Brexit. Although the prime minister survived a confidence vote last week and many MPs — including me — backed her to avoid chaos, we did not give her a blank cheque. In return for that support, however, Mrs May needs to do what she promised Tory MPs and start listening. There is no time to waste. The longer this goes on, the more damaging it is to Britain, its reputation and my party. Not least because we need to find a route through on Brexit to solve the issues that lay behind the Leave vote. Lack of opportunity and too many people in too many communities without a stake in society — those are challenges that must be addressed. A second referendum can break the gridlock and give Britain the direction it so badly needs. MPs backed the prime minister to steer a course through on Brexit. That was our part of the bargain. It is now time for Mrs May to deliver on her side.- Justine Greening for the FT(£) Ian Austin: We must fight to keep manufacturing jobs in the UK and keep voters’ trust by delivering a fair Brexit deal and immigration system Theresa May won the no confidence vote last week – but now has to sell her Brexit deal to MPs all over again. Whether or not she wins clarifications from Brussels about the backstop, the deal won’t fundamentally change. That would not have changed if she lost and the Tories picked a new leader. And whatever Jeremy Corbyn says, it wouldn’t change if there was an election and he moved into Number 10 either. You can’t rule anything out for certain, but most MPs reckon an election is the most unlikely outcome of all. That’s why calling a vote of confidence in the government is a waste of time. Tory MPs won’t risk it and the Ulster Unionists know they will never be more powerful. Anyway, Jeremy told Labour MPs to trigger Article 50 and set the clock ticking down to departure in March. There isn’t time for an election, the public expect MPs to sort it out and there’s no guarantee it would solve the problem. That’s why I think our choice is between Theresa May’s deal or leaving with no deal at all. I joined the Labour Party to fight for ordinary people and their jobs must come first. This week I met Jaguar Land Rover, a world-beating British company employing 40,000 British workers. Like manufacturers up and down the country they believe a no deal Brexit would threaten their business and the jobs of people who depend on it. Delays at ports will cost jobs. Thousands of parts go into every car – some cross the channel several times before the car is complete. There will never be a perfect deal. But if we want to avoid trust in politics being damaged even more, and if we want to protect jobs and standards, we must think long and hard before rejecting the only deal on offer. – Ian Austin MP for The Sun Brexit in Brief Where does May go from here? – James Forsyth for The Spectator Theresa May is rightly ridiculed over Brexit, but she’s not the only leader to be having problems – Christopher Booker for the Sunday Telegraph (£) The nine lessons of Brexit – Ivan Rogers for The Spectator Prepare for fresh referendum within months, Nigel Farage tells Leave supporters – Independent