Neil Kinnock and Peter Mandelson among pro-EU peers looking to force changes to Brexit deal in House of Lords – but they are still earning tens of thousands from Brussels… More than 20 peers expected to force changes to the Brexit Bill this week are still earning tens of thousands of pounds from Brussels, it can be revealed. Lord Mandelson, Labour’s former communications director, Lord Kinnock, the party’s former leader, and Lord Patten, who served in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet, all still receive EU pensions. Many other former MEPs and European commissioners are also receiving payouts from a Brussels pension pot estimated to be worth £10 million. The peers are facing demands to reveal their “financial interest” before speaking on Brexit legislation this week or face the “outrage” of the public. – Sunday Telegraph Brexit-bashing Lords receive £500k in EU pensions a year and aren’t allowed to criticise Brussels… but won’t say so in Brexit debate – The Sun on Sunday Hypocritical Lords should sever pensions ties with EU before they vote on Brexit bill – The Sun on Sunday If the House of Lords manages to delay decision on Brexit any longer, they’ll be next for the chop – Tony Parsons for The Sun on Sunday …as former Commons clerk Lord Lisvane says the Lords should not delay Article 50 Bill The House of Lords should not delay or alter the Brexit Bill, a former senior Parliamentary official has said. Last week MPs voted by a majority of four to one, and without amendment, to give the Prime Minister the power to invoke Article 50 and begin the process of Britain leaving the EU. Peers are due to discuss the bill on Monday. Lord Lisvane told the Sunday Supplement programme they would be “extremely ill advised” to go against the will of MPs. He said: “If the elected house has decided not to do so [amend the bill]. Then the unelected house, would not, should not and could not do so.” – BBC News Germany warns against treating UK too harshly on Brexit The German Foreign Minister has said the EU should resist the temptation to treat Britain too harshly as a result of Brexit. Sigmar Gabriel, speaking at a security conference in Munich, said he regretted Britain’s decision to leave the bloc, but added: “We must respect it.” “We should resist the temptation to treat Britain overly harshly, not out of pity, but in our own interest,” said Mr Gabriel, who is also Germany’s vice chancellor. “We need Britain, for example, as a partner in security policy, and I’m also convinced that Britain needs us.” – Sky News Brexit will cut shopping bills by £300 a year, says former Environment Secretary Owen Paterson… British households could save up to £300 on their annual shopping bill after Brexit because a tariff on non-EU goods will no longer apply, a Eurosceptic campaign group has said. New Zealand lamb chops will cost around £1.45 less and Thailand prawns 36p less, according to analysis from Leave Means Leave. The price of imported breakfast staples are also estimated to fall, with certain honeys becoming 17 per cent cheaper and peanut butter becoming 13 per cent cheaper. Owen Paterson, the the former Tory environment secretary, uses a piece in Sunday’s Telegraph to say the average household could save £300 a year. – Daily Telegraph …as his successor, Andrea Leadsom, hints that Britain could sell in pounds and ounces after Brexit The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs secretary said Britain would be free to decide how to label its goods without interference from Brussels, once the divorce was finalised in 2019. Companies could ditch the EU-sanctioned metric-system and give weights and measurements however they saw fit, she claimed, including using teaspoons to demonstrate how much sugar is present in the product. Mrs Leadsom said: “Once we have left the EU, we will get the opportunity to look at how we can change rules that will be better for the United Kingdom and whether that’s on weights and measures or issues like teaspoons, those are things for the future.” Under EU law, manufacturers must display metric units on all packaging. Imperial measurements can be displayed but “cannot stand out more than the metric measurement”. – Sunday Express Blair’s Brexit speech was “unhelpful”, warns Corbyn Tony Blair’s demand for the British people to “rise up” over the damage being done by Brexit was “unhelpful”, Jeremy Corbyn said today. The existing Labour leader criticised the intervention by one of his predecessors after the former prime minister said the benefits of leaving the EU were “largely illusory” and that voters had made their choice “without knowledge of the true terms”. Corbyn said the referendum had produced a “very clear” result which politicians must respect. He was speaking 24 hours after Blair had made a controversial speech which included the verdict that “the debilitation of the Labour Party is the facilitator of Brexit – I hate to say that, but it is true”. – LabourList Ministers discuss diverting foreign aid cash to Eastern Europe for better Brexit deal… Ministers are at war over plans to divert billions of pounds of foreign aid spending to eastern Europe in an effort to get a better Brexit deal. Downing Street officials and senior cabinet ministers believe part of Britain’s £12bn annual aid budget should be used to win support for a favourable new deal from Brussels. Under the plan, cash currently pumped into wasteful projects in Asia and Africa would be diverted to allies such as Poland, Hungary and the Baltic states. One of Theresa May’s closest aides has used private conversations on Brexit strategy to argue that the money would persuade eastern European countries to back Britain’s demands for an advantageous trade deal. The senior figure also thinks the plan would help reduce the “exit bill” the UK is expected to have to pay when Brexit happens — while slashing the amount poured into questionable aid projects elsewhere. – Sunday Times (£) Make our aid budget work for Brexit – Sunday Times (£) …as India’s new top man in London is ready to see UK aid scrapped for ‘win-win’ Brexit deal British relations with the economic powerhouse should now widen out to focus on easing restrictions on free movement and better access to each other’s markets. In his first newspaper interview since taking up his post in London, His Excellency YK Sinha said the relationship between the countries had reached “a new level” and promises to deliver a “win-win” in terms of vital trade ties following Brexit. He said both countries excelled in cutting-edge technology and “the sky’s the limit” for what they could achieve together. – Sunday Express Brexit Britain to shun EU for Commonwealth countries in new plans… Of the 52 Commonwealth countries, 16, including the UK, are in the Commonwealth Realm – those where the Queen is the sovereign. These include Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Bahamas. Now sources at the highest level of the Commonwealth say new passport arrangements for the realms were very much “back on the table” post-Brexit. They could ultimately include fast-track visas and easier entry to the UK, with reciprocal rights for Britons. The insider said: “The will is certainly there on behalf of countries like Australia and New Zealand. “The subject has been raised at Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings and there’s now a sense that Brexit could turn the theoretical into reality. – Sunday Express …as Australia’s High Commissioner in London suggests Britain will have to open its doors to Australians if it wants a free trade deal Australians must be granted the same rights to work in Britain as European Union citizens as the price of a free trade deal, the country’s most senior diplomat in London has said. Alexander Downer, 65, Australia’s high commissioner, said he wanted a ‘non-discriminatory approach’ for his countrymen after Brexit. And he urged Theresa May to make it easier for Australians to get work visas in Britain as part of any deal. – Mail on Sunday UK offers Peugeot assurances on post-Brexit auto industry Britain has offered Peugeot manufacturer PSA Group (PEUP.PA) assurances on post-Brexit trade and supply chains in an attempt to protect Vauxhall car plants after a possible takeover, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. Business minister Greg Clark met French politicians and PSA executives in Paris on Thursday to discuss their plan to buy General Motors’ (GM.N) European unit, Opel, which include Vauxhall plants in Britain. The talks have set political alarm bells ringing in Britain and Germany, where there are fears that a sale to the French company could lead to heavy job losses. Clark said on Friday, after the meeting, that PSA executives had “stressed that they valued highly the enduring strength of the Vauxhall brand, underpinned by its committed workforce”. – Reuters Britain must boost investment in skills beyond apprenticeship levy to compete with Europe after Brexit, says IPPR The UK must significantly increase its skills investment beyond plans for the apprenticeship levy if it is to compete with European rivals in the post-Brexit world economy, according to a new report. The government’s new apprenticeship levy will not bring employer investment in skills up to levels seen before the financial crisis, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Employers in the UK spend £5.1bn less on training in real terms at today’s prices than it did a decade ago, according to IPPR analysis, before the financial crisis caused a big drop-off in business investment of all kinds. – City A.M. Leaked MEPs’ report sparks fears that EU citizens living in the UK could face legal limbo after Brexit The EU fears millions of its nationals living in the UK will be left stranded in a legal no man’s land after the country leaves the EU because of the weaknesses of the British immigration system, a document obtained by the Observer reveals. MEPs and senior European diplomats fear that chaos will ensue as the Home Office does not have the information or systems in place to select who can stay, once the UK restricts access to nationals from the other 27 EU member states. It is widely assumed that, at an early stage of the article 50 negotiations, Britain and the EU will agree a cut-off date after which foreigners who have settled in the country will not have an automatic right to remain. But a leaked document, drawn up by MEPs on the European parliament’s employment committee to aid the EU’s Brexit negotiations, warns: “The UK has no population register. In practice it would be difficult to determine which EU27 citizens were residing legally in the UK before the Brexit would have taken effect. – The Observer Harry Briggs: Brexit could be the best thing that ever happened to the UK tech industry I voted firmly to Remain in last year’s Brexit vote, but the EU’s response has forced me, uneasily, to re-think. Most of us in the UK tech sector have blithely assumed the EU is “a good thing” because it gives our companies access to fantastic pools of talent, and untrammelled access to the world’s biggest single market. But what about all that fantastic talent outside the EU? Is it really fair that if I am Polish or have an Italian grandma then I get access to the UK willy-nilly, but if I am Indian or Zimbabwean I have to pass stringent tests and arduous visa renewals every year? Tech City & Nesta’s Migration survey, published this week, shows that non-EU nationals make up a higher share of the UK’s tech sector than those from the rest of the EU – and they are more likely to have a Master’s or PhD. – Harry Briggs for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Simon Heffer: The British people knew what they were doing by voting for Brexit, Mr Blair As we reflect on Tony Blair’s bizarre speech last Friday, it is important to ask yet again: why don’t these people get it? Can’t this intelligent and experienced politician grasp that what he did – hinting that Leavers were ignorant, arguing that the political class knows best, and above all showing a seething contempt for democracy – confirms everything many who voted Leave thought about those who were lecturing them on the importance of staying in a failing, out-of-touch and corrupt EU? A similar phenomenon is operating in America: the more so-called liberals vilify and undermine President Trump, the firmer his support in his country is likely to become, and the more likely he is to win a second term in the White House. Politicians and pundits, most of whom live together in the same closeted world and only ever talk to each other, need to understand what living in a democracy really means. – Simon Heffer for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Geoff Norcott: Tony Blair is deluded if he thinks his speech about Brexit will change people’s minds I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be married to Tony Blair. But relationships aren’t just about the good times, they’re about about dealing with the inevitable blazing rows that punctuate the tedium of domesticity. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Blair’s answer to any disagreement will always be, “You just don’t understand, dear, let me explain it again.” Anyone who’s been in a relationship with the likes of Tone will know how infuriating this is. You’d rather a proper shouty argument with the odd plant pot getting lobbed out of the window than someone whose moral certitude is as fixed as their rictus grin. And just when we thought we’d heard the last of it, Blair is at it again. This week he urged the British people to “rise up” against Brexit. It’s totally on-brand, I suppose: if there’s one thing he has a knack for it’s starting insurgencies. – Geoff Norcott for The Independent on Sunday Michael Toner: Tony Blair doesn’t deserve an opinion on Brexit Now listen up, you poor, pitiful saps. I know the Brexit vote wasn’t really your fault. You just couldn’t help it. You’re as thick as mince. Ignorant. Uneducated. You didn’t know any better. Like children playing with matches, you had no idea you were heading for disaster. But don’t worry, my people. I’m on a mission to save you. There! I bet you feel better already! Yes, with a mighty fanfare of bells and whistles Tony Blair is back in the political arena, with a speech so comically lacking in self-awareness, so gloriously arrogant, patronising and disdainful of us little people, that for a wild moment I thought it might have been meant as a joke. – Michael Toner for International Business Times George Maggs: Brexit, our Commonwealth friends – and a chance to discover the deepest sense of our national interest Over the centuries, Britain has often had a very confused understanding of what it is to act in the national interest. As a country, we have been praised by so-called ‘realists’ because of our willingness to deal with, and often to sell arms to, countries with which we have very little in common. We have historically had few loyalties to other countries, and have not been afraid to rescind on alliances. We are said to have “permanent interests, not permanent friends”. We have also tended to view the national interest in economic terms, and have been unwilling to concern ourselves too deeply with the welfare of other countries, even when nations have been compiled of people who would consider themselves to be British in every sense other than actually living on our small windswept collection of islands. Thinking and acting in such a way fundamentally confuses what it is to act in our best interests, and has led to some disastrous foreign and domestic policy decisions. – George Maggs for ConservativeHome In Brief Mike Pence warns Europe that lack of spending ‘erodes the foundation’ of Nato as Russia calls for ‘post-West world order’ – Sunday Telegraph Now is the time for the UK to lead NATO – Richard Black for ConsevativeHome No peace inside the Eurozone for Greece – Jayne Adye for The Commentator Anti-Brexit campaigners stage motorway protest on Irish border – ITV News Holyrood’s legal intervention over Brexit cost nearly £140k – Scotland on Sunday Joanna Lumley and Selina Scott launch campaign to use Brexit to ban live exports – Sunday Times (£)