Theresa May arrives at Conservative Party Conference amid a gathering Brexit storm… The civil war over Europe showed no sign of abating as Prime Minister Theresa May arrived for the party’s autumn conference.The gathering in Birmingham has been marked by a deepening rift over Brexit policy, with former foreign secretary Boris Johnson at the centre of a vicious row over the party’s direction. – ITV News …telling Tory rebels to back Chequers deal and ‘stop playing politics with Brexit’… In an interview with The Sunday Times on the eve of her party conference, the prime minister confronted her critics, accusing those who refuse to back her Chequers blueprint for Brexit of “playing politics” with Britain’s future and undermining the national interest. In an attempt to show that she has ideas beyond Brexit, May announced that foreign buyers will face a higher stamp duty rate to stop them driving up house prices. People and businesses who do not pay tax in Britain will face a surcharge of between 1% and 3% when they buy a property, with the proceeds pumped into a scheme to combat rough sleeping.In a signal that she wants to defy rebel MPs and stay in Downing Street for several years, May also gave the green light to a nationwide festival of innovation and culture, starting in January 2022, just four months before the next scheduled general election. – Sunday Times (£) Theresa May: back me on Europe or you are undermining Britain – The Sunday Times (£) Theresa May talks to The Sun about her determination to deliver Brexit – with or without a deal – The Sun …and announcing plans to evoke the 1951 ‘Festival of Britain’ with a £120million nationwide celebration to boost post Brexit pride… Theresa May plans to evoke the spirit of the famous 1951 Festival of Britain with a £120 million nationwide celebration after Brexit. Scheduled for 2022, the event – also inspired by the Great Exhibition of 1851 – will be used to project a proud post-Brexit Britain around the globe. Speaking as the Tory conference opened in Birmingham, the Prime Minister boasted that the festival would showcase the best of the nation’s talent in business, technology, arts and sport to the rest of the world. And, with events set to take place in every nation and region of the UK, Mrs May raised hopes that the celebration would generate billions of pounds of investment for Britain and Northern Ireland. She said: ‘Almost 70 years ago, the Festival of Britain stood as a symbol of change. Britain once again stands on the cusp of a new future as an outward-facing, global trading nation. ‘And, just as millions of Britons celebrated their nation’s great achievements in 1951, we want to showcase what makes our country great today.’ – Mail on Sunday …while Boris Johnson accuses May of ‘misleading him over Brexit’… In opposing May’s Brexit proposals Johnson has a problem — he, along with David Davis and Michael Gove, backed last December’s plan for a Northern Ireland “backstop”, which the EU is using to argue that the province remain in a customs partnership with the EU. He is clear they were misled: “I remember going in to see the PM and her advisers and being absolutely reassured that this was just a form of words that was necessary to float the negotiations off the rocks. What has happened is that the issue has been allowed to dominate in a way that we were expressly promised would not happen.” Johnson rightly argues that he did not exactly go quietly. “I repeatedly erupted to try to get my point across in public in a way that was deemed at the time to be unhelpful, and that was nothing compared to what went on in private.” Now he insists he is simply trying to encourage the PM back to the path of righteousness. “I am like a loyal and faithful labrador that is relentlessly returning to her an object that she has mistakenly chucked away in the form of her own first instincts about how to do this.” – Sunday Times (£) …and David Davis calls for ‘a more robust approach’ to the Brexit negotiations When David Davis resigned from the Government in July, he was careful not to attack Theresa May personally over her handling of the EU negotiations. While furious with the way her Chequers plan was foisted on him as Brexit secretary, his quarrel, he has repeatedly said, is with the policy itself rather than the Prime Minister. Now he has unleashed a previously pent-up stream of criticism of Mrs May’s advisers, describing a failure to adequately grasp the “practicalities” of the negotiations, and tendencies to believe EU claims “that are simply exaggerations” and “quail” in front of arguments from Brussels. – Telegraph (£) Business Secretary Greg Clark says there are ‘grounds for optimism’ over securing a good Brexit deal Business Secretary Greg Clark has said there are “grounds for optimism” that the UK will strike a Brexit deal with the EU. It comes as leading Conservative Brexiteers urge the prime minister to ditch her Chequers plan in favour of a Canada-style agreement. Theresa May said her proposals, which were rejected by EU leaders at a summit in Salzburg, remain the only viable option for an exit agreement.Mr Clark told BBC Radio that “of course we want a deal”, adding that there “are grounds for optimism that we can can reach an agreement”. – Sky News Martin Selmayr briefs the EU27 on no-deal Brexit plan EU diplomats are accelerating plans for managing the potential chaos of a no-deal Brexit amid fears that the summits planned for October and November to hammer out and endorse an agreement with Britain could be fruitless and negotiations could run on into next year.Over breakfast on Wednesday, Martin Selmayr, the EU’s top civil servant, briefed ambassadors from the 27 other EU countries on back-up plans to keep planes flying and essential supplies moving if Brexit talks — which are deadlocked over the Irish border question — fail. The briefing sketched out how member states could trigger a legislative blitz, granting the European Commission special powers “within five days”. – Sunday Times (£) Tory MP Heidi Allen calls for a second referendum A Conservative MP says she sees no alternative other than backing another referendum on leaving the EU. Heidi Allen becomes the latest Tory to support a new vote, saying the “right-wing” of her party had made Theresa May’s Chequers Brexit plan – “dead”. “They have behaved unacceptably through this and have completely tied her hands,” she told the BBC. The prime minister has ruled out a referendum on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations. – BBC News Alan Sugar should be hired to run negotiations, says The Apprentice‘s Claude Littner But as series 14 of The Apprentice starts on Wednesday, Lord Sugar’s trusted aide thinks his no-nonsense pal’s talents are being under used. Claude Littner is convinced the Government should tell Lord Sugar: “You’re hired” – to help with Brexit talks. With the prospect of a no deal looking ever more likely, Claude, 69, said: “The fact people like Alan are not being used by this Government with Brexit is a real, real mistake. “There is a role for him and many other entrepreneurs who could at least advise on the best tactics, strategy, way of approaching [talks] – you wouldn’t want to miss out on that.” He argued that an entrepreneur with experience working in Europe could give a politician’s argument more weight. – The Mirror Toyota warns no-deal Brexit would halt production at key plant Toyota’s plant at Burnaston, near Derby, produced nearly 150,000 cars last year, with nine in ten exported to the European Union. But managing director Marvin Cooke told the BBC: “My view is that if Britain crashes out of the EU at the end of March we will see production stops in our factory. Asked how long this would last, he said: “We can’t predict – it could be hours, days, weeks – even months.” The firm has said it cannot predict how long a closure would last, but unions are concerned a halt in production could see workers being let go.Responding to the claims, a Government spokesman said: “We are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world for automotive and other advanced manufacturing. – Politics Home /*COMMENT*/ The Sun Says: Theresa May must be brave for Britain against the democracy-deniers You tell ’em, PM. She’s bang on to remind the democracy-deniers that we’ve already had a “people’s vote” on the EU.In the largest vote ever recorded in Britain, we chose to leave the Brussels racket..Tory Conference this week will be testy. There remain serious splits in the party over Brexit but on one thing they must be united: nothing can imperil our exit. But while the PM is right that a second referendum is for the birds, the country is constantly holding a referendum on her leadership. – The Sun says Lord Ashcroft: Why Brexit isn’t enough to win the Tories the next election Theresa May can arrive at the Conservative Party conference today with a spring in her step following her slapping down of EU leaders after the Salzburg summit. My latest research shows voters think the Prime Minister is right to threaten to leave without a deal, rather than seek further compromise with an intransigent EU. Yet with her MPs trying to pull her in two directions at once, this could be the most difficult Tory gathering for many years. Even so, she and her party need to look beyond Brexit and the conference hall. Since the referendum it has become a cliche to say we are a divided country, but we are at odds over more than just Brexit: we are split over the whole past decade of political life. – Lord Ashcroft for the Mail on Sunday The two divides: Austerity, Brexit, and the problem of building a winning coalition – Lord Ashcroft Polls Steve Baker: Business needs an alternative to the timid, relentlessly wrong CBI Today, the CBI is a grave menace to the political stability and economic prospects of the UK. I choose that term deliberately. When Hayek attacked economists for making the intellectual error of concentrating on superficial short-run effects at the expense of the long-term forces of economic life, he called them “a grave menace to our civilisation”. So it is with the CBI. The CBI’s influence at the top of government is profound: they can expect a call from the Chancellor after a major speech like Lancaster House. When a CBI member tells me they consider Chequers’ “Common Rule Book” to be one of their great achievements, I believe it.The voice of business should be heard. Companies are entitled to seek minimal interruption to commerce and, as the party of free enterprise, Conservatives should listen. But the CBI is not that voice. A profound crisis of political economy is unfolding: their conservatism is not equal to the challenge when populism and nationalism – the very forces the EU seeks to suppress – are rising in countries across Europe, with extraordinary monetary policy propping up economies everywhere. – Steve Baker MP for the Telegraph (£) John Redwood: Just in time production Let me remind people about Just in time (JIT). I have run JIT systems for a UK factory. Our complex supply chain included components coming in from non EU sources as well as from EU sources. There were no special problems with the non EU components. The supply chain included components coming long distance by sea. Every JIT supply chain manager makes allowance for transport problems, and builds in usual delays that can come from traffic jams, bad weather at sea, delayed flights and the rest. The UK supply chain from the continent is more prone to delays from traffic congestion and road accidents than from port delays. – John Redwood’s Diary Andrew Rawnsley: Conference will reveal whether the Tories still have the recipe for survival Unless an election happens soon, the Tories will pick a new leader before they next present themselves to the electorate. They will simply not entrust another campaign to Mrs May after the train wreck she made of the last one. The sharper Tories also understand that they will need a lot of fresh thinking if they can get to the other side of Brexit in more or less one piece. They will need a political regeneration that Mrs May has neither the authority nor the creativity to provide. If the Tories are to renew themselves, they will have to rediscover their past dexterity at evolving to succeed. – Andrew Rawnsley for the Observer Dan Hannan: The Eurocrats are expecting us to drop Brexit. How little they understand the British EU leaders calculate that, if they hang tough, we might drop the whole idea of Brexit. Hence the choreographed appeals to think again from the prime ministers of countries with strong historical claims on our affection, such as Malta and the Czech Republic. The notion that we might come crawling back displays a colossal misreading of our character. Where have EU leaders picked up this bizarre idea? For an answer, look at the troops of British Remainers boarding the Eurostar for Brussels every week. “Hold the line”, they tell their Brussels accomplices. “We’ll vote to extend Article 50. Labour is now committed to opposing any deal and plenty of Tories will vote with them. Keep saying no and we’ll get a second referendum.” Their advice is almost certainly wrong. We are a bloody-minded people. When someone asks us the same question again, we repeat ourselves with added emphasis. – Dan Hannan MEP for the Telegraph (£) James Forsyth: The Tories need a domestic agenda Brexit dominates the headlines going into Tory conference. But as I say in The Sun this morning, the absence of a domestic agenda is an even bigger problem for them than their divisions over Brexit.Labour have over the last few days set out their vision for Britain. Unsurprisingly, I don’t agree with it and think the attitude to property rights revealed by its plan for ‘inclusive ownership funds’ is downright alarming. But give Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell this, their agenda is undoubtedly clear and bold. As one Cabinet Minister says, half admiringly, ‘they’re hungry’.- James Forsyth for The Spectator Andrew Gimson: After Salzburg Theresa May’s leadership is weaker than ever, and Boris Johnson has cunningly positioned himself as her antithesis Johnson today sees that the story, so far as he and his supporters are concerned, is Theresa May’s failure to make a success of the Brexit negotiations. The British press reported she was humiliated at the European summit in Salzburg. Johnson himself says, in a long piece for Thursday’s Daily Telegraph, that “from the very beginning of Theresa May’s government … the UK was in the grip of a fatal uncertainty about whether or not to leave the customs union”. He goes on to lament “a conspicuous infirmity of purpose”, “basic nervousness” and “utter lack of conviction”, with the result that after “two years of dither and delay”, we are heading for “enforced vassalage”, “a democratic disaster” and “a moral and intellectual humiliation for the country”. – Andrew Gimson for the Independent Comment in Brief Tories can’t take eye off domestic policies – Express editorial News in Brief Preparing to exit – Robert Tombs for Briefings for Brexit Anti-Brexit MP Chris Leslie no-confidenced by local Labour Party – BBC News Brexit damaging Tory reputation for economic competence, says Dominic Grieve – Scotsman