Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Theresa May urges Tory MPs to unite and back her deal… Theresa May has urged Conservative MPs to put aside “personal preferences” and support a Brexit deal in the Commons. In a letter to all 317 Tory members of Parliament, the prime minister said “history will judge us all” over the handling of Brexit. It comes after the government suffered a defeat in a vote on its strategy. Mrs May says in the letter she will return to Brussels to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker next week. She will also speak to the leaders of every EU member state over the coming days, she says. The prime minister is trying to secure changes to the Irish backstop, an insurance policy designed to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Brexit. The plan is widely disliked by members of her party, who fear it will mean the UK will stay closely aligned to the EU for years to come, without Britain being able to end the agreement unilaterally. But EU leaders have repeatedly said the withdrawal agreement is closed. – BBC News Theresa May issues desperate Brexit letter to 316 MPs and urges warring Tories to unite as ‘history will judge us’ over crunch vote – The Sun …but her unity plea is shattered by leaked WhatsApp messages Theresa May made a desperate appeal for unity this weekend as a leader of the party’s hardline Eurosceptic wing warned that continuing with her Brexit deal risked splitting the Conservative Party. The prime minister wrote to all 317 Tory MPs yesterday urging them to back her deal by sacrificing “personal preferences” to unite in the “higher service of the national interest”. The letter was sent hours after The Sunday Times received leaked WhatsApp messages revealing that Steve Baker, the deputy chairman of the 100-strong European Research Group (ERG), told colleagues that May’s Brexit negotiations with Brussels were a “complete waste of time”. In a message on Friday, Baker said Downing Street and Brussels were pretending to negotiate while “working together to run down the clock to force [May’s] deal through” with few changes. Baker said the ERG had to “insist” that the Irish backstop — an insurance policy to prevent the return of a hard border in Ireland that could lock Britain into an indefinite customs union with the EU — be removed from May’s withdrawal agreement. The alternative, according to the leaked messages from Baker, is to “just grind towards a party split”. – Sunday Times (£) EU leaders are risking their own electoral success by pushing the UK towards a no-deal Brexit, says Liam Fox… EU leaders are threatening their economies and risking defeats in forthcoming elections by edging the UK toward a no-deal Brexit, says Liam Fox. In an interview with The Telegraph, the International Trade Secretary says the “very reasonable” change MPs had requested to Theresa May’s Brexit deal was a “strange thing on which to hang much of the economic well-being of the people of Europe”. A rejection of Britain’s demands would risk recession across the continent, following the shrinking of Italy’s economy last year, he claims. Ministers warn a no-deal exit will cause disruption on both sides of the Channel. “This is a Europe that’s got European elections … and a number of potential elections – a potential Spanish election – coming up,” Dr Fox says. “There comes a point where politicians have to park ideological issues and recognise the importance and dominance of real economic issues.” He also signalled support for a limited postponement of the exit day if a deal was agreed but more time was needed to implement it. – Sunday Telegraph (£) …as it is reported that President Macron will help May end the Brexit stalemate with a legally-binding assurance on the Irish backstop Emmanuel Macron is to give Theresa May a legally-binding assurance that the Irish Brexit backstop is only a temporary measure. The French president has reportedly softened his stance after an eleventh-hour bid by the EU to help get the withdrawal agreement finalised. Senior European diplomats said the British government would be given enough in terms of legal assurances to persuade attorney general Geoffrey Cox to change his advice that the backstop could be used to trap the country in a customs union. A veteran European ambassador said: “There will be sufficient changes to allow Mr Cox to give a pass to the agreement.” Cox and Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay are expected in Brussels on Monday for talks with Michel Barnier, the EU’s lead negotiator. – The Sun France’s President Macron ‘will give legally-binding assurance that Irish Brexit backstop is only temporary in bid to help Theresa May win Brexit battle’ – MailOnline Cabinet minister David Gauke suggests Brexit should be delayed as he admits ‘grave concerns’ about no-deal A cabinet minister was unable to say whether he would resign over no-deal Brexit five times. Justice Secretary David Gauke said he “won’t support an irresponsible policy” during a tense interview on Sky News. Presenter Stephen Dixon asked “If we do leave with no deal, which is a very real possibility now, at one minute past 11 on the 29th March, are you going to resign?” Mr Gauke replied: “I don’t imagine that that will be the circumstances, I am fighting to deliver a deal and that’s what I want to do. The Government’s position is to deliver a deal so that we can leave on the 29th March.” Despite being asked the question by Mr Dixon a further four times, the minister tried to dodge giving a clear yes or no answer. – iNews Minister says he won’t support ‘irresponsible’ Brexit no-deal – Metro Leaving EU with no deal ‘very adverse’, says Gauke – BBC News No Brexit deal ‘better than a bad deal’, say DUP No Brexit deal is better than a bad deal, a leading Democratic Unionist MP has told his party conference. Nigel Dodds was speaking just days after MPs voted down UK prime minister Theresa May’s approach to the Brexit talks. He told his party’s spring conference in Omagh, Co Tyrone, that they want a Brexit deal, “but we are very clear that a no-deal is better than a bad deal. As we leave the EU — for us the guiding star is the union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, ” he said. “We will do nothing to undermine that Union. The only way to a majority in the House of Commons is with DUP votes. With necessary changes to the backstop, the prime minister will have our support.” In her speech to the conference, Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster said her party will say no when the deal is “not suitable”, but will also “not be afraid to yes when the deal is right. We will measure any new draft withdrawal agreement against our own tests of both protecting the Union and respecting the referendum result,” she said. – Irish Times Outcry at Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to sell soft Brexit to Brussels… Fury erupted yesterday amid fears Jeremy Corbyn will meddle in EU negotiations on a visit to Brussels next week in a desperate attempt to push through a super-soft Brexit. The Labour leader is expected to meet EU lead negotiator Michel Barnier and European Parliament Brexit chief Guy Verhofstadt. Mr Corbyn’s visit next Thursday comes after senior EU figures spoke out welcoming Labour’s proposals for a softer Brexit than the one planned by Theresa May. The Prime Minister will also be in Brussels next week to meet the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. Mr Corbyn’s trip triggered a furious backlash from Brexiteers yesterday. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: “There are enough people in Brussels already working against British national interests without Corbyn and his circus joining them.” – Sunday Express …while he is accused of ditching Labour’s Brexit policy as party delegates turn on their leader… Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of betraying the party’s Brexit policy by the delegates who wrote it, as they demand he finally backs a Final Say referendum on Brexit. The delegates from around the country have sent a letter to the Labour leader, directly charging him with failing to implement the plan carefully formed and approved by conference last year. In a stinging rebuke they remind him that he promised “policy will be made by Labour members, not the leader”, but then go on to say, “the complete opposite now appears to be happening”. A series of recent incidents have pushed Labour unity over Brexit to its limits, with the leader’s office and Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer at loggerheads, prominent backbenchers warning over a collapse in support and rumours of some MPs forming a breakaway group. The letter seen by The Independent was written by 23 constituency Labour party delegates who took part in a six-hour compositing meeting in September last year which set Brexit policy. – Independent …and Labour green group urges Corbyn to back a second Brexit vote The only environmental group affiliated to the Labour party has written to Jeremy Corbyn calling on him to back a second referendum on Brexit and to campaign for remain. It warns that leaving the EU will have devastating consequences for millions of British people, drastically undermine UK farmers, and do untold damage to the countryside. The hard-hitting letter from the Socialist Environment and Resources Association (SERA), considered to be the environmental voice inside Labour, says that leaving the EU risks harming the people Labour should be fighting hardest for – the poorest and most needy in society. “As a party we recognise that there is no social justice without environmental justice,” the letter says. “We all have the right to clean air and water, to our green and pleasant lands, and access to affordable and safe food. We cannot ignore that some of the most vulnerable in our global community are hardest hit by the environmental challenges. It is also true for local communities in Britain, with dirty, toxic air and climate change hitting the poorest, young and elderly most severely.” – Observer Brexit will not affect European security cooperation, say intelligence chiefs Brexit will not affect the UK’s security cooperation with NATO allies in France and Germany, intelligence chiefs from all three countries have confirmed. The three cited growing external threats to the continent’s stability in a rare joint statement on Friday from the heads of Germany’s BND, France’s DGSE, as well as MI6. “The chiefs … said that all three services would continue to be close allies in jointly protecting Europe from threats such as Islamism, terrorism, organised crime or cyber-attacks,” they said. “This would also hold true… in view of Brexit,” they added after meeting at the Munich Security Conference. Britain and the European Union have pledged to continue their cooperation on security issues through institutions like Europol and Eurojust, even after the UK leaves EU on March 29, with or without a deal. – City A.M. Scare stories about transport chaos after no-deal Brexit demolished after EU chiefs agree secret deal with Britain to maintain links Brexit scaremongers were exposed as hoaxers last night after their warnings of No Deal chaos were finally demolished. EU chiefs have secretly agreed measures to ensure transport links with Britain are maintained, The Sun on Sunday can reveal. One will allow UK-based airlines to continue providing scheduled flights. The other will let road hauliers, coach and bus firms carry goods and passengers across the EU. The contingency plan drawn up by the European Commission is on the condition that the UK offers the same rights to the EU. Former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said: “It is welcome that the EU wants to agree reciprocal arrangements for a No Deal. “This pierces the Project Fear myths and shows that the UK and EU can work sensibly together.” – The Sun Australia to fast-track free trade pact in the event of no-deal Brexit Australia’s trade minister has said his country is ready to sign a fast-tracked trade agreement with the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit, but poured cold water on Britain’s ambition to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership regional bloc. Simon Birmingham said Canberra was preparing for all eventualities in a bid to reduce disruption for business, just weeks before Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29. Some Australian groups have already registered their alarm at the prospect of no-deal, with IFM Investors suggesting a proposed £500m investment in Stansted airport could be at stake. “If we face a no-deal scenario then we would be urging and encouraging the UK to negotiate and finalise an agreement as quickly as possible,” Mr Birmingham told the Financial Times. “I would absolutely hope that we would conclude negotiations this year.” An informal British-Australian working group has been meeting for around 18 months to prepare for a possible trade deal. But formal negotiations cannot begin until the UK has left the EU and may prove difficult over issues such as agriculture, where Canberra wants much-expanded access to the British market. – FT(£) EU citizens ‘could travel to UK and stay illegally under no-deal Brexit’ using e-gates EU citizens could travel to the UK and remain in the country illegally under a no-deal Brexit because of a decision by ministers to allow them to continue to use electronic gates at airports, immigration officers have claimed. Lucy Moreton, the general secretary, of ISU, the union representing border staff, said that if the country leaves without a deal EU citizens will still be able to pass through e-gates, which keep no formal record of an individual’s entry into the country. She raised concerns that they could then stay beyond the three month period for which they will be allowed to stay – or falsely claim that they entered the country years earlier, as part of an application for permanent residency. Conversely, e-gates at EU airports are expected to be closed to British travellers after March 29 in a no-deal scenario. – Sunday Telegraph (£) Graham Brady: MPs must help Theresa May transform Irish backstop or risk thwarting country’s will On January 29, the House of Commons was briefly united in stating what it wanted from Brexit, as opposed to what it didn’t. The amendment I tabled, which called on the government to seek alternative arrangements to ensure there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the republic, won the support of almost all Conservative and Democratic Unionist Party MPs, as well as a handful of Labour and independent MPs. It was a landmark moment. Since the 2016 EU referendum, a parliament largely made up of MPs who voted to remain, speaking on behalf of a country that voted to leave, has been unable to agree on very much. But as a result of this amendment, a clear majority of MPs in the House of Commons coalesced around a plan and, for the first time in a very long while, colleagues handed Theresa May a clear direction and mandate to get the changes necessary to the Northern Irish backstop that will achieve a good Brexit deal for our great country. It is imperative that the government is able to eliminate the legal risks of the UK being tied into the EU customs union permanently and irrevocably through the backstop. We are so close to an agreement that can work, taking us out of the EU on time, into the transition arrangements and gaining the freedom to negotiate the free trade agreement that should be at the heart of a close and profitable relationship with the EU. This can only happen if all of us who respect the biggest democratic vote in Britain’s history rediscover the unity that we found on January 29 and pull together behind the prime minister for that final push to Brexit on March 29. – Sir Graham Brady MP for The Sunday Times (£) Sunday Express: Donald Trump pledges to increase trading with UK after Brexit Say what you like about US President Donald Trump but his recent intervention on Brexit could not be more welcome or timely. In saying that not only would £12.8billion of trade between our two nations be preserved but that it would be “very, very substantially increased”, he has injected a note of optimism and indeed common sense into the proceedings. And not before time. Politics in this country seems to have become subsumed into a form of hysteria. Prophets of doom shriek from every corner, our two main parties seem more intent on tearing themselves apart than actually doing something for the people who elected them and, if you listened to some people, you would have thought the UK is about to collapse into the North Sea. It is not and it is about time we all calmed down. What has been singularly lacking from either of the main parties since the referendum result is the sense that this is a time of the most enormous opportunity ahead. Mr Trump has made it clear that not only are our two countries allies and trading partners, but that there is all for which to fight and strive. – Sunday Express editorial Janet Daley: We’re heading for the great Brexit trap – so why not stay in and wreck the EU instead? The Brexiteers have been outplayed. The government has now effectively ensured that the only choice on 29 March will be between Brexit in Name Only and no Brexit at all. It has even managed to make the European Research Group – the only party in this farrago which has at least been consistent in its policy and coherent in its aims (whether or not you agree with them) – appear irresponsible precisely because they have insisted on being consistent and coherent (whether or not you agree…etc). The ERG has always said that it would be a catastrophic negotiating mistake to rule out the possibility of “no deal”. In last week’s Meaningless Vote, they refused to support a motion that would have ruled out “no deal”. Why should this be a surprise? Maybe because nobody is expected to stick to first principles or to mean what they say anymore. So the official claim is that “no deal” is still absolutely, totally within the bounds of possibility if Mrs May’s latest talks with the EU are unsuccessful. There are two things wrong with this statement. The first is that is that there are no “talks”: the EU has made it absolutely, totally clear that it is not now considering – and has no future intention of considering – making changes to the Irish border backstop clause of the Withdrawal Agreement. The second is that neither the Cabinet nor Parliament will accept a “no deal” outcome. – Janet Daley for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Fraser Nelson: Is Emmanuel Macron about to call Theresa May’s bluff on the Brexit backstop? The EU has agreed a standard exit clause on almost every treaty it has ever negotiated – so why not the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement? Olly Robbins made a grave error in failing to have such a clause inserted, and Theresa May made a worse one in signing up to a deal that Parliament was never going to accept. But it’s easily fixed: just add a standard exit clause, something that can be done in one sentence, and Parliament will (probably) agree the deal. So what’s the problem? It seems that other EU leaders are beginning to wonder. The Times today reports that they are willing to compromise on the Withdrawal Agreement so it conforms to basic international standards (ie, that either party can serve notice) or, alternatively, is time-limited. The acid test of all this is whether Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney-General, will agree that the backstop is now temporary. It seems that Emmanuel Macron is pushing for the change. – Fraser Nelson for The Spectator James Forsyth: What can May now get on the backstop? When Theresa May goes to Brussels next week to bat for changes to the backstop, she’ll do so with a large crack in her bat—I say in The Sun this morning. The symbolic defeat that MPs inflicted on her Brexit plan on Thursday night has significantly weakened her negotiating position. The EU doesn’t want to make significant changes to the backstop. When the Brady amendment passed the House of Commons, saying parliament would accept the deal if the backstop was replaced, the EU responded by saying that they didn’t think this parliament majority was ‘stable’. Thursday night’s vote helps them make that argument. I understand that when the Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay dined in Brussels this week, Sabine Weyand—the EU’s deputy negotiator—spent her time telling him that a customs union was the only major change to the backstop available. The EU think that Corbyn’s support for it means that a customs union could pass parliament. I am told that Barclay attempted to disabuse them of this idea. If Theresa May is forced to ask the EU for an extension but with no parliamentary agreement in sight, then the EU is more likely to offer a long extension than a short one. I understand that the view in several EU capitals is that the longer the extension, the more likely it is that the political dynamics in the UK will change. – James Forsyth for The Spectator Martin Howe: Only a treaty-level clause which confers an unconditional right on the UK to exit the backstop would work On 29 January, the House of Commons threw Theresa May a lifeline. The Brady amendment said that the House would support her deal if the backstop is “replaced with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border”. It was passed with the united support of pro-Brexit Conservatives and of the government’s DUP partners. So the Prime Minister needs to do what the Brady amendment says, which is to make the EU’s acceptance of alternative arrangements a condition of reaching a deal. This would involve conventional customs and regulatory controls being exercised on goods which cross the land border, but using “away from the border” means. Unfortunately all the signs are that she is not doing this. Apparently blind to the actual words of the Brady amendment, she talks of making “changes” to the backstop, rather than replacing it. Supporting the Brady amendment was a huge concession on the part of pro-Brexit Conservatives. Theresa May’s deal without the backstop is still a very bad deal for the UK. It contains a two to four year transition period, costing at least £39bn, during which the UK will be a vassal state, beholden to obey EU laws without being able to vote on them so that, for example, the City could be gravely damaged by regulatory changes designed to benefit the Eurozone. – Martin Howe QC for Sunday Telegraph (£) Jeremy Warner: Why Mrs May will eventually triumph in her high stakes game of Brexit poker “Get’s down to what it’s all about, doesn’t it, making the wrong move at the right time”. So says “The Man Howard” in the movie, the Cincinnati Kid, having just demolished a stunned Eric “The Kid” Stoner, played by Steve McQueen, at the end of a marathon poker session – his winning hand a queen high straight flush, close to the best the game has to offer. It is impossible to credit Theresa May with the same seasoned poker skills as “The Man Howard”, but she does at least seem to possess one of them. Nobody knows what she is thinking. Even her husband may not know – why, it seems eminently possible she doesn’t know herself. This may yet prove a winning formula. Not knowing Mrs May’s mind hasn’t stopped a veritable industry of pundits coming forward to claim they do, indeed her inscrutability has positively encouraged it. A “no-deal”, clean break, Brexit, some have been arguing, has become not just the default option, but privately the preferred one in the face of continued intransigence both at home and in Brussels. – Jeremy Warner for the Sunday Telegraph (£) The Sun: No Deal Brexit would be far smoother than Project Fear scaremongers would have us believe Project Fear scaremongers have long been warning that Britain faces complete chaos under a No Deal Brexit. Under their apocalyptic scenario, planes would be grounded and lorries barred from the continent, resulting in dire shortages of food and medicine. Irish PM Leo Varadkar even said he would ban British jets from flying over Irish airspace in the event of a No Deal. But key documents quietly slipped out by the EU chiefs have debunked these hysterical predictions as the nonsense they always were. They show scheduled flights and normal road traffic should be uninterrupted even if this country leaves without an agreement, as long as the UK returns the favour. So in contrast to Remoaner propaganda, a No Deal Brexit would actually be far smoother than the doom-merchants would have us believe. And Brexiteers who argued EU chiefs would ultimately act in their own self-interests by minimising disruption are proved right. These crucial preparations have only been taken seriously in Brussels because the prospect of a No Deal has become increasingly realistic. So the idea of taking No Deal off the table, as many MPs are demanding, would be madness. – The Sun says Brexit in Brief Tories reportedly planning to crown Boris Johnson PM in exchange for supporting Theresa May’s Brexit deal – Sunday Mirror More than 100,000 members said to have joined Nigel Farage’s new Brexit party – The Sun Taxpayers’ money meant for no-deal planning ‘blown on anti-Brexit rally’ – The Sun Remainers plan mass march and key vote in last days before Brexit – Observer