Brexit begins: Theresa May to take axe to EU laws Addressing the Conservative Party Conference for the first time as leader, Mrs May will declare that her government will begin work to end the legislation that gives European Union law supremacy in Britain. In its place, a new “Great Repeal Bill” will be introduced in Parliament as early as next year to put power for the nation’s laws back into the hands of MPs and peers. – Sunday Telegraph Under the plans, the 1972 act would be overturned in advance of Britain leaving the EU but the repeal would take legal effect the moment the UK formally pulled out. On that day domestic law decided by British judges would be supreme once more and the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg would no longer be able to deliver judgments binding on the UK. All Britain’s laws would remain but the government could pass new laws to overturn EU rules in any areas it wished. – Sunday Times (£) The Bill will transfer all existing EU laws on to the UK statute book so the government can decide which ones to keep, amend or scrap. – The Sun on Sunday With a slender majority of 17, Mrs May runs the risk of the Bill being blocked by Opposition parties in the Commons or Lords…. The Government is gambling on the Remainers on the Opposition benches respecting the democratic will of the majority who voted for Brexit, many of whom did so on the basis of giving Britain back its sovereignty. The move means that those who have challenged the legality of Brexit on the basis that it has not been approved by Parliament will effectively be silenced. – Sunday Express May had to have something to say to conference on Brexit. So, May’s team have come up with an announcement that doesn’t involve Article 50 but does enable her to show ‘momentum’, and to claim she is getting on with things. – James Forsyth for The Spectator‘s Coffee House blog “The signals from the government are getting ever clearer that we will see a clean Brexit: restoring full sovereignty to Westminster, taking back control of our borders, and giving elected British politicians the power to negotiate our own trade deals around the globe. This clean Brexit is what the British public voted for in such large numbers at the referendum. Any deal that involved membership of the single market – which is being promoted by some Remain campaigners unwilling to accept the verdict of the British people – would be akin to a phoney Brexit and totally unacceptable.” – BrexitCentral’s Jonathan Isaby quoted in The Observer The Great Repeal Bill is a bold move by Theresa May – Sunday Telegraph editorial The prime minister proposes her Great Repeal – Sunday Times editorial (£) Theresa May interview in the Sunday Times (£) Jeremy Hunt: Let’s replace foreign doctors with homegrown talent in Post-Brexit Britain In one of the clearest indications yet of the Government’s vision for Brexit Britain, Jeremy Hunt questioned why more than a quarter of NHS doctors were foreign when scores of bright Britons were turned away from medical school. – Mail on Sunday Iain Duncan Smith: Don’t go into Brexit talks on ‘bended knee’ Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has warned Theresa May not go into Brexit talks on “bended knee”, begging to get concessions from Europe. Mr Duncan Smith claimed David Cameron failed to win a decent deal from EU leaders using the same tactic and said the current Prime Minister had to show Brussels it is in their interest to reach an agreement beneficial to both parties. – The Independent on Sunday How panicking David Cameron aborted a last minute Brexit plea to Germany Panicking David Cameron aborted plans to make a last-ditch plea to Angela Merkel over letting Britain curb immigration just ten days before his EU referendum defeat. He arranged a dramatic phone call to the German Chancellor to ask her to back him – but changed his mind moments before speaking to her because it would look ‘desperate’. – Extract from Sir Craig Oliver’s book in the Mail on Sunday ‘Hard Brexit’ will breed “bigotry”, claims Nicky Morgan in her latest intervention “There are some who interpret the 23 June vote as giving a licence to harsher rhetoric and returning to policies which have been rejected in the past. Who seem to want to return to the days we spoke to ourselves rather than the public at large. There are already those for whom the referendum result is not enough – they want us to have a ‘hard Brexit’ that cuts us off from the EU, turns our back on the single market and allows people to say things about their fellow citizens that promote intolerance and bigotry.” – Extract from a speech former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan will deliver on the fringe reproduced in The Observer Tories to do battle over ‘hard Brexit’ at party conference – Scotland on Sunday Firms expect surge in economic activity amid calls for Government to outline clear Brexit strategy A survey of almost 800 private companies by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) revealed a fall in business in the services industry, but healthy growth in manufacturing and distribution. All sectors expect strong growth in the next three months, the study found. – The Independent on Sunday SMEs expect to grow faster next year despite Brexit vote – Sunday Telegraph UK’s Brexit minister says workers’ rights will be protected – Reuters Businesses are urging the government not to rush divorce talks with the EU – Sunday Times (£) Carney to hold fire on rate as Brexit fears ease The prospect of another interest rate cut has receded dramatically amid signs that the economy is so far weathering the fallout from the vote to leave the European Union… A slew of data over the past two months has shown the economy faring better than many economists had predicted. – The Sunday Times (£) What the UK’s fishing industry wants from Brexit The decline of the [fishing] industry has been steady but clear. The UK became a net importer of fish in 1984, a year after the Common Fisheries Policy and its quotas were introduced….Dale Rodmell, assistant chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, says Brexit is an opportunity to “realign” quotas and tip the balance back in favour of UK fishermen, many of whom believe Britain gave up too much when quotas were carved out in the 1980s. – Sunday Telegraph Halligan: ‘Hard Brexit’ is the best way to fight global protectionism As anti-globalisation sentiment rises, political leaders are reaching for easy, yet ultimately deeply counter-productive, solutions. Both candidates in next month’s US presidential election are now actively campaigning against free trade – a first in post-War American history. Hard Brexit means leaving the single market – a deeply imperfect set of rules that discriminates against the services in which the UK excels. The EU tariffs we’d face are in the low single digits. On manufactured goods they average 2.4pc – far less than the recent fall in sterling. And that’s a worse case scenario. – Liam Halligan for the Sunday Telegraph Bernard Jenkin MP: We need a clean break before article 50 ties us up in knots We need to be aware that Article 50, as intended, could tie us up in knots. Nobody can guarantee that there will be an acceptable agreement at the end of the process anyway. So we must be prepared to leave without any formal agreement if necessary, or the commission has us over a barrel. Leaving without a formal withdrawal agreement would be messy, but a messy Brexit is what many have suggested that the commission and much of the EU would like. – Bernard Jenkin MP in The Observer Alastair Campbell: New Labour helped sow seeds of Brexit vote “I think deep down we always felt despite the difficulties we would be able to persuade people of the benefits of immigration and the benefits of the EU. We did to a large extent but where we are now, on both issues, suggests that we did not cement the political views we were putting forward.” – Extract from Alastair Campell’s Diary quoted in the Observer Brexit comment in brief With the right exit from Europe, UK can be a world power in innovation – Haakon Overli in the Sunday Telegraph This is the only way Brexit won’t plunge us over the cliff – Christopher Booker in the Sunday Telegraph It’s time to give Britain a clear Brexit vision – Mail on Sunday editorial As May and Davis announce a bill to restore self-government, next we need a date for Article 50 to be moved – Paul Goodman on ConservativeHome Let’s hurry up and leave the EU – Sir Gerald Howarth for Prospect magazine Brexit news in brief Ruth Davidson and Boris Johnson in secret talks regarding Scotland’s interests post-Brexit – Sunday Express What do the ‘big three’ Cabinet secretaries think Brexit means?- Sky News Sky News Documentary: Out and proud, two months after the Brexit vote – Sky News Jeremy Corbyn calls for carmakers to protect jobs and investment to receive Brexit cash – Sunday Mirror Austrian minister predicts Britain will regret Brexit and re-join the EU – Sunday Telegraph Hungary holds referendum on EU mandatory migrant plan – BBC 100 days since Brexit result: cheaper mortgages and stable house prices – Which? Even at 3.10am, five hours after counting began, REMAIN was still a 51% chance on Betfair – Political Betting