Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Labour Remainers pile pressure on Corbyn over Brexit stance… Labour’s divisions over Brexit are exposed today as an alliance of more than 80 senior figures from across the party warn Jeremy Corbyn that he will be unable to fund his promised investment in schools, hospitals and social care unless the UK stays in the EU single market. In a statement issued exclusively to the Observer on the eve of a keynote Brexit speech by Corbyn, the group of MPs, MEPs, council leaders, peers and trade unionists say the pursuit of social justice and a leftwing anti-austerity agenda depends on avoiding the “multibillion-pound hit to the public finances that leaving the single market would entail”. The timing of the statement, signed by 37 MPs and a dozen peers, including Helena Kennedy and Doreen Lawrence, will infuriate Corbyn as he prepares to announce a significant shift in policy tomorrow that is expected to commit Labour to backing permanent membership of a customs union with the EU. – Observer Statement from the Labour Campaign for the Single Market – Observer Labour figures urge Corbyn to keep UK in single market – BBC News As Corbyn shifts Labour towards soft Brexit, Tory jitters grow – Observer May cannot lead on Brexit. Here’s Corbyn’s chance to seize the day – Jonathan Freedland for the Guardian …as Labour EU rebels say Jeremy Corbyn is ‘playing with fire’ Frank Field, Graham Stringer and Kate Hoey warned Mr Corbyn not to renege on the party’s election promises and the result of the Brexit referendum, amid concern that remaining in a customs union would prevent the UK from striking free trade deals with countries outside the EU, and isolate pro-Leave voters… Mr Field said of the reports of Mr Corbyn’s “evolving” position: “This is not what people voted for and it is playing with fire. We will lose northern seats if this happens. They [voters] know when they are being messed around. There was a referendum and referendums are senior to elections. We surrendered power to them to instruct us and they have instructed us. I think he ought to spell out how he is supporting the referendum result.” Miss Hoey, a former Labour minister, said: “I hope Jeremy will remember that in the last election our manifesto commitments on the EU helped ensure that many ex-Labour voters who had gone to Ukip came back to us on the understanding that he was committed to leaving the EU and not leaving in name only, which is what any form of customs union with the EU would mean.” – Sunday Telegraph (£) Corbyn’s heading towards a Brexit trap – if he is caught Labour’s finished – Frank Field for the Sun on Sunday > Fawzi Ibrahim on BrexitCentral: Labour members wanting to get behind Jeremy Corbyn need to ditch their support for the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union Theresa May planning to say the UK’s ‘best days lie ahead of us’ in major speech on Friday… Britain’s best days “really do lie ahead of us”, Theresa May has said in comments ahead of a key speech about Brexit. The Prime Minister will hold a special Cabinet meeting on Thursday ahead of her speech in the North East the day after. It comes after she held a “war Cabinet” meeting at her country residence Chequers to work out forthcoming Brexit negotiations strategy… Mrs May said: “Delivering the best Brexit is about our national future, part of the way we improve the lives of people all over the country. So I concluded the meeting by reminding the committee that the decisions we make now will shape this country for a generation. If we get them right, Brexit will be the beginning of a bright new chapter in our national story, and our best days really do lie ahead of us.” – Sky News …as she plans to issue ‘back-me-or-sack-me challenge’ to Brexit rebels Senior allies want her to make the MPs’ Customs Union vote an issue of confidence in her leadership. It would force Tory Europhiles to do it her way — or sink the Government and face certain election defeat… Cabinet hardliners reckon Tory Remainers would back down from voting to stay in a Customs Union if it risked making Jeremy Corbyn PM. Mrs May is being urged to fight to the death to implement the plan decided at Thursday’s eight-hour Cabinet Chequers summit. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says the trade deal thrashed out must be executed in full. He told colleagues: “It has to be our bottom line, not an opening bid.” – Sun on Sunday Coalition of Tory rebel MPs plot to ambush the Prime Minister by inflicting Commons defeat on Brexit plans to leave the customs union – Mail on Sunday Mrs May’s ‘awayday’ was a sideshow: the big Brexit crunch will be in parliament – Andrew Rawnsley for the Observer Here is another bump in the Brexit road that Theresa May will survive – John Rentoul for the Independent Initial Irish ‘smart border’ solution could be in place by 2021, EU-commissioned expert says A new generation of “smart” borders after Brexit will modernise Britain’s trade and give the country an “extra advantage” on the world stage, a European Union-commissioned expert has said. Lars Karlsson, a former director of the inter-governmental World Customs Organisation, said a system of electronic borders of the kind being considered by the Government would make the UK a “very attractive” trading partner following its departure from the EU… Mr Karlsson’s intervention comes after Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, pointed to concerns that plans to use technology to create a “frictionless” border would be costly and take a significant amount of time to implement. Mr Karlsson said “these are things that take time”, but added: “I think a first version of a border like this could be in place at the end of a transition period in 2021. A few years later there would be a full solution in place.” – Sunday Telegraph (£) Smart Border 2.0: Avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland for Customs control and the free movement of persons – Lars Karlsson report for the European Parliament Brexit trade deals could be ruined by SNP, Theresa May’s deputy warns The SNP risks “splitting” the UK’s economy and causing serious damage to the country’s ability to strike trade deals by demanding a series of powers currently held by Brussels, Theresa May’s de facto deputy has warned. Writing in The Telegraph ahead of a major speech on Monday, David Lidington, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, says an attempt by Nicola Sturgeon’s government to seize control of key trade powers would result in a “disjointed” economy and leave Britain “struggling to make our way in a new world outside the EU”. In a stark warning to both the Scottish and Welsh governments, Mr Lidington suggests that Holyrood and Cardiff risk damaging the Westminster Government’s “ability to act in the national interest” and forge new trade agreements, by opening the door to “different sets of rules” in each part of the UK. Ministers fear that any disparity in areas such as food safety and chemicals standards, including items such as bleach and paint, could tie their hands when they attempt to strike trade deals on behalf of the entire country. – Sunday Telegraph (£) Brexit trade deals could be destroyed by the SNP if its seizes key powers from Brussels, Theresa May’s deputy warns – Sun on Sunday We must preserve the internal market – David Lidington MP for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Airbus will stay in Britain after Brexit despite warning it could move business abroad Aerospace giants Airbus have committed to stay in Britain “long into the future” after warning they could move operations abroad after Brexit. The firm were staunch critics of leaving the EU but boss Tom Enders has told the government his 15,000 UK employees are safe in their “home country.” Writing to Business Secretary Greg Clark early this month he said Britain is still “a competitive place to invest” despite the firm playing a key role Project Fear doom-mongering before the 2016 referendum. The leaked letter talked of “planning stability’’ for thousands of employees working on the A380 program at Airbus facilities in Broughton, northern Wales, and Filton, near Bristol, describing the plants as among its most productive, according to Bloomberg. – The Sun Airbus will remain in the UK despite staunchly backing remaining in the EU previously – Express Europe’s great symbol of industrial cooperation – Airbus – is staying in Britain – Guido Fawkes MPs may be forced to sit during summer recess to pass Brexit legislation MPs could be forced to sit during the six-week summer recess to deal with the weight of Brexit legislation making its way through parliament. The proposal is a response to fears that parliament could be overwhelmed by the huge volume of legislation and secondary laws needing to be agreed before Britain leaves the EU in March 2019… A source familiar with the discussions said the idea, put forward by a minister, has been considered by the procedure committee in recent weeks. “There are people who think it’s the only viable option although at present no decision has been taken,” the source said. The Withdrawal Bill alone, which began its passage through the House of Lords last week, is expected to involve about 1,000 statutory instruments — or secondary laws — as EU legislation is converted into British law. – Sunday Times (£) Tory and Labour MPs sound alarm over moves to block Lords from changing Theresa May’s EU withdrawal plans – Independent Spain sets Brexit challenge with Gibraltar demands Spain is demanding joint management of Gibraltar’s airport after Britain leaves the EU, as it spells out its position on an issue that could derail a Brexit deal. Alfonso Dastis, Spain’s foreign minister, told the Financial Times that Spain wants a bilateral deal with the UK that includes “managing the airport together” as well greater co-operation on tax fraud and tobacco smuggling. His position falls well short of a full-blooded demand for sovereignty over Gibraltar as part of a Brexit deal. “Sovereignty is something we aspire to, that we are not renouncing, but in these negotiations it is not the issue,” Mr Dastis said. But the Spanish proposal is likely to be highly contentious for London, which has long maintained that the airport is a British asset on British land… The two governments have repeatedly failed over the past 40 years to reach a lasting deal on the airport. – FT (£) Frank Field: Corbyn’s heading towards a Brexit trap – if he is caught Labour’s finished Traps have been set by certain sections of the political class who remain intent on defying the instructions voters gave us two years ago for regaining control of our country’s destiny. Very few of those responsible for setting the traps openly admit to their aims of derailing Brexit and keeping us in the EU. Most of them try to pretend they are merely looking to make improvements to the journey that will take us to Brexit. Voters will seek revenge… Food and clothing currently attract hefty tariffs if they are imported from outside the EU. The ability to trade freely with any country and reduce or abolish those tariffs would make a massive difference to the living standards of hard-pressed families. It will also enable us to seek improvements in the standards attached to traded goods and services as well as the pay and conditions of the workers who produce them. That is what the country expects from Brexit — a free-trading nation in control of its own destiny. So if the anti-Brexit plotters manage to spring a trap or two on the Government or the Labour Party, voters will feel that yet again the political class has stuck two fingers up at them. – Labour MP Frank Field for the Sun on Sunday Sunday Telegraph: A customs union would be a betrayal of Brexit [I]t is a non-negotiable condition that the UK leaves the customs union. No Eurosceptic has ever wanted to remain part of it. Brexit always meant regaining the freedom to trade: even Norway is allowed to do this. The Tory rebels in Parliament must back down. They mustn’t do Jeremy Corbyn’s work for him. They have to understand that the future of the Conservative Party rests on making Brexit work – and that Brexit will only work if Britain is fully outside the EU, outside the customs union and free to seek its fortune in the global marketplace. – Sunday Telegraph editorial (£) Tim Shipman: May gets her way on Brexit with Cluedo and shortbread [Chief civil service negotiator Oliver] Robbins mapped out a four-point plan. When Britain begins trade talks with the EU in March the UK will: demand mutual recognition of standards for goods traded between the UK and the EU; make a public commitment that British standards will remain as high as those of the EU; pledge to keep rules and regulations “substantially similar”; insist upon the creation of a dispute mechanism to oversee areas where the UK wants to diverge from EU regulations — and that the European Court of Justice would have no role in it… In the key moment of the meeting May turned immediately to Boris Johnson, the most outspoken Brexiteer, and asked his opinion, putting the foreign secretary on the spot. The fourth point was enough for him. “It answers the requirement to take back control of our laws,” Johnson said. “This is something which we can sell to the country and will unite the party.” Next up was Philip Hammond, usually the most outspoken minister pushing for close alignment with the EU. “This is broadly a good paper,” the chancellor said. May visibly relaxed. Her two most awkward ministers were on board. There was even time for levity. Another who was present said: “If you both agree with it, there must be something wrong.” – Tim Shipman for the Sunday Times (£) Theresa May’s Brexit cabinet: who was in the study at Chequers? – Sunday Telegraph How Theresa May kept Remainers close but Brexiteers even closer at crunch summit – Glen Owen for the Mail on Sunday James Forsyth: No plan B, but plan A seems to be working out pretty well for the Tories The Brexiteers were not in good spirits ahead of Thursday’s crunch meeting of the inner Cabinet. Word had reached them of a ‘terrible paper’ that would have left the UK as a rule-taker from the EU for years to come… But when this meeting broke up eight hours later, they were in good cheer. One of them described it as ‘one of the best days of this government’. So, what had changed? Well, the negotiating position that the inner Cabinet agreed was far closer to the referendum promise to ‘take back control’ than they had expected. The UK will not automatically take every new rule that comes out of Brussels. Just as importantly, the UK will demand the power to diverge from EU rules. It will, under the Chequers proposal, not have to ask permission to do this. Rather, both sides will be able to take the other to an independent dispute resolution panel if they feel the other is trying to gain an unfair advantage by cutting regulations. Crucially, the Brexiteers feel that they have defended the freedom of action of future UK governments. It might not make economic sense to diverge too much from EU rules right now in certain sectors, but this arrangement would not stop future governments from doing so when the time is right. – James Forsyth for The Sun David Davis takes back control – James Forsyth for the Spectator Tony Connelly: Brexit and the Border: The Great Reckoning? The ink was barely dry on the December agreement when its glaring contradictions became obvious. If there was no border on the island of Ireland, then the only way to stop goods from Great Britain that were not compliant with EU regulations and standards from flowing into the single market via the Republic of Ireland would be to impose checks at Northern Irish ports and airports. But Paragraph 50 appears to preclude that. In that case, the only way to protect the integrity of the single market would be if the UK as a whole were aligned with the EU single market and customs union. But the Conservative Party, and the DUP, are – for the most part – dead set against such an arrangement, because it would prevent the UK having an independent trade policy post-Brexit. How will this circle be squared when the political fudge of December is converted into a binding and unambiguous legal construct in February? – Tony Connelly for RTE Tony Blair attacks Tories’ ‘sickening’ irresponsibility towards Good Friday Agreement over Brexit – Daily Mirror Jeopardising peace in Northern Ireland is hardly imaginary, Mr Rees-Mogg – Adam Boulton for the Sunday Times (£) Liam Halligan: Brexodus? The immigration figures just do not add up With much of our political and media establishment still absolutely determined to reverse the June 2016 referendum, that ongoing effort to discredit Brexit is now cranking up. That’s why the latest immigration figures, released last week, have been met with co-ordinated screams of “Brexodus” – claims that previously contented EU nationals are so upset by the intolerant, racist nation we have become that they’re quitting Britain in droves. The trouble is, that’s not what the numbers show. There are many journalists who, either don’t understand the difference between a level and a rate of change or are willing to deliberately misinterpret data if it drives a headline that they want. So, yes, net immigration to the UK fell during the year to September 2017. Official data showed a net 244,000 people of all nationalities moved to Britain during that period, down from 273,000 in 2016. As such, net immigration is back where it was in 2014 – still strongly positive, but down slightly from 2015 and 2016, which were both record years. Net immigration from the EU also remains strongly positive, with 220,000 EU nationals moving here during the 12 months to last September, while 130,000 left… There were 3.6m EU nationals living in the UK at the time of the Brexit referendum in June 2016 and now there are 3.8m. Brexodus? I don’t think so. – Liam Halligan for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Former Tory health secretary Stephen Dorrell calls on Theresa May to scrap NHS visa cap – Independent Despite Brexit away-day, Tories have yet to tackle immigration – Macer Hall for the Express Brexit comment in brief Clarify Brexit now, Mrs May, so that the UK can get back to business – CBI Director General Carolyn Fairbairn for the Observer Weaving the UK’s Brexit strategy into three baskets – Nick Clegg for the FT (£) May must learn the art of French seduction – Ben Marlow for the Sunday Telegraph (£) Most Brexiteers never had a problem with the Single Market – it’s the rest we didn’t like – Andrew Lilico for Reaction Free Exchange: Brexit trade-offs – Oliver Wiseman and Allie Renison podcast for CapX The folly and the failure of mass EU migration – Jayne Adye for the Commentator Angela Merkel is about to pay for the ‘Mutti’ of all blunders – Niall Ferguson for the Sunday Times (£) Italian election 2018: When is general election in Italy? Date, polls, what to expect – Vickiie Oliphant for the Express Martin Selmayr, the Blackadder of Brussels, slips into position to sharpen Britain’s Brexit pain – Matthew Campbell for the Sunday Times (£) Brexit news in brief Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby warns of ‘crushing’ austerity and divisive Brexit – Sunday Telegraph Justin Welby warns of divisive Brexit and crushing austerity – Observer UK to lose EU rebate in 2021 ‘in extended Brexit transition’ – Guardian Nigel Farage vows to return to frontline politics if public given second referendum – Independent Trump administration fears trade deal will not be done by 2020 election, Nigel Farage says – Sunday Telegraph (£) Poland’s spat with EU edges towards truce – Bloomberg