Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Senior Tories back pro-Brexit campaign group’s plans to end low-skilled migration Senior Conservatives are backing a report calling for an end to low-skilled migration after Britain leaves the European Union, in order to “honour the results of the referendum”. Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, and David Jones, who was Brexit minister until June, said a forthcoming Government policy document on immigration should set out plans to cut migration to “mid-Nineties levels”. The pair supported a paper sent to Downing Street by Leave Means Leave, the pro-Brexit campaign, calling for ministers to stop low-skilled migration and set criteria which would be have to be met by highly-skilled migrants seeking work permits following Britain’s departure from the EU. – Telegraph (£) Unskilled EU migrants could be barred from the UK under proposals backed by Brexiteers – Sun on Sunday > Richard Tice on BrexitCentral today: We need to control immigration in a fair and flexible way post-Brexit Don’t betray EU court red lines, Theresa May warned Theresa May has been warned not to retreat from a pledge to “take back control of our laws” as she faced lobbying from at least one senior minister for a compromise with Brussels over the powers of European judges after Brexit. Eurosceptic ministers and backbenchers have expressed alarm at a plan being pushed in the Cabinet’s Brexit sub-committee for the UK to agree to a system of “voluntary referral” of cases to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) following Britain’s departure from the EU. Mrs May has previously made the jurisdiction of the ECJ a “red line” in Britain’s negotiations, saying that the British Supreme Court would be the “ultimate arbiter” after Brexit. – Telegraph (£) ‘No EU-UK deal? It is not the end of the world’, says WTO chief So what of the UK? If Britain fails to strike a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU ahead of March 2019, when we’re scheduled to leave, then UK-EU trade reverts to WTO rules. While some claim this would be a disaster, not least parliamentarians determined to frustrate Brexit, Azevedo disagrees. “About half of the UK’s trade is already on WTO terms – with the US, China and several large emerging nations where the EU doesn’t have trade agreements,” he says. “So it’s not the end of the world if the UK trades under WTO rules with the EU. – Telegraph (£) Ministers dig in for ‘trench warfare’ with Lords over EU Withdrawal Bill Ministers are preparing for “trench warfare” with the House of Lords over the Government’s Brexit legislation, the Telegraph can disclose. Senior sources said they were expecting a showdown with peers seeking significant changes to the EU Withdrawal Bill when it is debated by the upper chamber in the new year. Influential peers, including Lord Judge, the former lord chief justice, and Lord Pannick, the leading constitutional QC, believe that the legislation will need to be amended to address major issues that have been overlooked in the Commons. – Telegraph (£) Unelected Remainer peers are the real threat to the Brexit process – Macer Hall for the Express Arlene Foster warns DUP will block any move for Northern Ireland to follow EU laws… The Democratic Unionist Party’s leader has warned she will not back any plan for Northern Ireland to adopt European regulations after Brexit. Arlene Foster told her party’s conference she wanted a “sensible Brexit” with a seamless Irish border, but said Northern Ireland could not operate under different rules to the rest of the UK. The border is one of three issues Brussels wants progress on in the next 10 days before it decides to move on to Brexit trade talks. – Sky News ‘We want a sensible Brexit’: Arlene Foster at DUP conference – Daily Mail …as Theresa May starts work on new DUP deal to stop Government collapsing in June 2019 Theresa May has started to work on a new deal worth hundreds of millions of pounds with the Democratic Unionist Party to stop her Government collapsing in just over 18 months’ time. Mrs May’s Government will set out plans to cut Air Passenger Duty and VAT on hotels and restaurants in Northern Ireland in the new year. The new cash will be on top of the £1billion which Mrs May agreed to spend in Northern Ireland after the DUP’s 10 MPs agree to support her minority administration. The Treasury has promised to publish its response to the consultation at the next Budget in Autumn next year to allow the changes to be introduced in the 2019/20 tax year. – Telegraph (£) Ireland’s European Commissioner urges May to change course on border Brexit plan… Theresa May has faced fresh pressure over her plans to deal with the Northern Irish border after Brexit, as Ireland’s European Commissioner urged her to change course. Phil Hogan said the problems around the border – one of the key obstacles blocking talks on a UK-EU trade deal after the country leaves the bloc – could be solved by remaining in the customs union and single market, or allowing Northern Ireland to do so. His comments came after the Prime Minister’s DUP allies issued a warning that they would not tolerate any attempt to put barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK after Brexit. – Aol Ireland ‘to play tough’ over talks – commissioner – BBC News Support for Irish PM’s party falls as snap election nears – Reuters How Leo Varadkar ‘firestorm’ could weaken Ireland’s hand at Brexit summit – Telegraph (£) > Kate Hoey MP on BrexitCentral yesterday: Leo Varadkar needs to stop the hypocrisy and remember who Ireland’s true friends are …as a new report suggests a ‘low friction’ Brexit border solution A customs expert has outlined a “low friction” solution for the Irish border after Brexit, which involves a combination of technology and international best practice. Lars Karlsson’s suggestions are contained in a report commissioned by the European Parliament. He says there will need to be a customs and border solution, regardless of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations. He based it on an enhanced version of the Sweden/Norway arrangements. – BBC News Brexit towns of Tamworth and Clacton slam Theresa May’s costly negotiations as divorce bill rises to £38 billion… Butcher John Prince has some advice for the Prime Minister – don’t let the EU take advantage. John voted Brexit last June but is now frustrated with PM Theresa May’s plans to virtually double our EU “divorce” bill to an estimated £38billion before discussing a trade deal. German MEP Hans-Olaf Henkel said negotiator Michel Barnier was trying to get the UK to “name its price without knowing what you are going to get for it.” Mrs May went to Brussels this week to try to move the talks on, but locked horns with eurocrat Donald Tusk on Friday. He warned that even £38billion is not good enough and set a December 4 deadline to fix a fee. That is when the PM will have dinner with European Commission president Jean-Claude Junker. – Sun on Sunday …as it is suggested the Brexit divorce bill will be kept secret Theresa May has agreed with Brussels that Britain will hand over more than £40bn when the UK leaves the EU — but keep the final bill secret from the public even when the final deal is done in 2019. EU negotiators said the prime minister had provided a clear assurance to fellow leaders that her cabinet has agreed to pay more money after a crunch meeting last week — paving the way for formal talks on a new trade agreement to be approved at a summit in Brussels next month. – Sunday Times (£) Competitive pound lifts factories A weak pound and booming markets in Europe are fuelling strong growth for Britain’s factories, figures will show this week. The closely watched manufacturing purchasing managers’ index from data firm Markit is expected to show that expansion of the sector accelerated in November. City forecasters have pencilled in another month of strong manufacturing growth partly on the back of strength in Europe. – Sunday Times (£) Government to unveil post-Brexit industrial strategy tomorrow An Industrial Strategy for the UK will be unveiled by the Government tomorrow. The White Paper will outline plans to improve productivity and growth, support promising industries and encourage investment. Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for Business, is expected to propose a watchdog – similar to the independent Office for Budget Responsibility which produces economic forecasts – to monitor progress. – Mail on Sunday Italy’s would-be PM, Luigi Di Maio, warns against punishing Britain The leader of Italy’s Eurosceptic Five Star Movement, which is topping opinion polls, has said Britain must not be “punished” for Brexit or damaged by it. Luigi Di Maio, 31, said in an interview with The Sunday Times that he wanted to reassure other countries that his anti-establishment party would not spell disaster for Italy and Europe. Di Maio was looking rather like the establishment himself as he sat in a well-cut suit in the palatial office of the vice-president of the chamber of deputies, a job he took at 26. “Let me say straight away that I highly appreciated Theresa May coming here to Italy to say that the Italian community in Britain will be taken care of,” he said. “For us, Brexit must not be an occasion either to punish the British because they have made a choice, or to damage Britain. Damaging Britain will damage our citizens and our companies there.” – Sunday Times (£) Keir Starmer gives Theresa May two weeks to save Brexit talks — and her job Theresa May has been given two weeks to rescue her Brexit negotiations, the economy and her premiership as she is put on notice by Labour to show she has the “authority” to lead the country out of the European Union. Sir Keir Starmer, Labour’s Brexit spokesman, issues a coded warning to the prime minister today, hinting that his party could trigger a vote of no-confidence in her Brexit strategy unless she succeeds in moving the talks on to trade and transition. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Starmer insists transitional arrangements must be agreed before March to give confidence to businesses. – Sunday Times (£) Brexit Secretary David Davis’s staff start self-defence and combat sessions to gear up for key EU talks Former SAS bruiser David Davis’s Brexit staff have taken up self-defence during crunch negotiations, we can reveal. Members of his Whitehall department signed up for a lesson as they prepared for battle during ongoing talks with the EU. The ex-Special Forces reservist’s department put on a diversity week that included the combat session. Officials also endured a session with tips on “how to look after each other”. It comes as hundreds of civil servants in the Department for Exiting the European Union prepare for a key phase of talks. Mr Davis and his team have been involved in intense discussions with the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier since they kicked off in June. – The Sun on Sunday Digby Jones: Remoaners might take dodgy Brexit deal… but we will walk Imagine the scene: A Remoaner or one of the Corbynistas has found an ad for a car that they like, which is on sale at £10,000. So they call the number and say: “I want the car. I’m offering you less than the ten grand but if you refuse to accept less I won’t walk away. Oh, and I don’t want to see the car before I do the deal.” How bonkers is that? Yet this is precisely the stance the Government is being criticised every day by their opponents for not adopting. Businesses in our country, small and large, need certainty on what the future trading relationship with the EU will look like, just as quickly as possible. Investment decisions, location appraisals and job creation initiatives all need predictability on which to take risk and spend money. – Lord Jones of Birmingham for the Sun on Sunday Adam Boulton: Just two problems, remainers: what about immigration and sovereignty? In politics there is usually an FAQ knocking around. Now that a car-crash budget has been averted, the most Frequently Asked Question is again: “Is Brexit going to happen?” How this question is posed depends on the prejudices of the speaker, ranging from “Brexit must be stopped, mustn’t it?” to “Can the liberal elite treacherously thwart the will of the people?” It’s unlikely, but possible. Tony Blair gives it a 30% chance. Analysts at the Morgan Stanley bank put it at 10%. Political upsets have come in at longer odds recently. – Adam Boulton for the Sunday Times (£) Cormac Lucey: As EU shifts from the centre, Varadkar must remember our ally waiting in the wings I think it’s a profound mistake to overplay our hand here. While we will have closer institutional links to the EU than Britain after Brexit, on every other dimension that matters — from geography and culture to politics and law — we are closer to Britain. We risk going overboard with a tactical advantage and disregarding our strategic interests, especially when — post-Brexit — the EU will want to move against our national interests in the areas of neutrality, migration and taxation. – Cormac Lucey for the Sunday Times (£) Ivan Menezes: Brexit is a chance to offer our young people a route to work When Madeleine Davidson was 18 she was unemployed – and she wasn’t alone. She was one of around a million young people aged 16 and 24 in Britain termed a “NEET” – not in employment, education or training – trapped in the negative loop of no experience, no-job, no experience. Madeleine’s Jobcentre Plus adviser suggested she try Diageo’s Learning for Life programme, offering training and work experience in bar-tending and hospitality. Just six weeks later her life had been transformed. Where there had been self-doubt and anxiety, she now had confidence and purpose. Most importantly, she ended the programme with a job. – Ivan Menezes for the Telegraph (£) John Rentoul: Theresa May has handled Brexit about as well as it could be handled – she will cling on to power This is an unfashionable opinion, I know, but Theresa May has handled Brexit about as well as it could be handled. This is not to say that it is going well, but that any country wanting to leave the EU would be in an inherently weak bargaining position. She has played a weak hand with some skill, and held a divided party together. If May comes away from the EU Council empty-handed, the question the Conservative Party has to ask itself is: who could do better? Although a minority of Tory MPs were Leave voters in the referendum – 43 per cent – it wouldn’t be possible for another Remainer such as Amber Rudd or Philip Hammond to do it. Of the Leavers, it certainly could not be Boris “Busted Flush” Johnson. Nor Michael “Economicky Words” Gove. – John Rentoul for the Independent Brexit in brief Low-carbon wind is set to power Brexit Britain. The work that Thatcher, Major and I undertook is paying off – Lord Howard of Lympne for ConservativeHome The inside story of how David Cameron drove Britain to Brexit – Sir Ivan Rogers for Prospect Magazine Anna Soubry on Brexit: ‘History will condemn those who haven’t tried to stop all this nonsense’ – Observer Liz Truss went head-to-head with a fiery BBC audience last night after she was continuously booed for airing her pro-Brexit views – Express Australia slams UK post-Brexit trade plans over fears for its own export industry – City A.M. And finally… former Italian PM says EU should ‘force UK to give us English language after Brexit’ The European Union should adopt English as one of its most prominent languages after Brexit because the move would “force” the UK to “give to us one of the very best products of Britain”, a former Italian prime minister has said. Mario Monti, who is also a former EU commissioner, said Europeans “should find ways to upgrade the use of English” in official bodies after Britain’s departure from the EU. – Telegraph (£)