Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team ‘Unworkable’ Brussels plan would put EU customs staff on British soil and Northern Ireland in a “common regulatory area” with the Republic… Brussels has demanded that EU customs officers are allowed to operate in the UK in what would be an unprecedented arrangement for a sovereign country. European Union plans to prevent an Irish hard border after Brexit will mean customs checks on goods arriving in Northern Ireland from Britain, Michel Barnier admitted in Brussels. The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator was speaking after the European Commission published the 118 page draft Withdrawal Agreement, which translates into legally binding language the “Joint Report” agreed by the UK and EU in December last year. The document calls for the creation of a “common regulatory area” between Ireland and Northern Ireland if no other solution to prevent a hard border between the two countries can be found. – Telegraph (£) Brexit withdrawal text: What it says and what it means – Politico Draft Brexit treaty: key points – The Times (£) Irish government makes contingency plans for no-deal Brexit – The Times (£) Sir Bill Cash: EU trying to create ‘Constitutional crisis in the UK’ – BBC News Growing concern among Brexiteers over ‘exploitation’ of Irish border – Katy Balls for The Spectator If key elements of Brexit text survive, DUP will be under pressure to topple Theresa May – Sam McBride for iNews The EU wants to lock us in the single market under its control. We cannot accept that – Nick Timothy for the Telegraph (£) Brussels will rue the day it tried to divide the United Kingdom – Matt Kilcoyne for the Telegraph (£) The EU Withdrawal Agreement – An attempt to annex Northern Ireland? – Graham Gudgin for Briefings for Brexit Back off, Barnier – you don’t need to invent obstacles to Brexit – Spectator editorial It would be nice if Michel Barnier could practice some of the pragmatism he preaches – Telegraph editorial (£) Michel Barnier must be sacked as the EU’s chief negotiator – The Sun editorial > Hugh Bennett on BrexitCentral today: The EU reveals its true nature with its duplicitous manoeuvres on Northern Ireland > Watch on BrexitCentral’s Youtube Channel: Barnier on EU’s first draft of the withdrawal deal > Watch on BrexitCentral’s Youtube Channel: Rees-Mogg asks if Ireland will sacrifice its economy for EU integration > Watch on BrexitCentral’s Youtube Channel: David Scullion debates the Irish border …as Theresa May says no UK Prime Minister would accept it Prime Minister Theresa May has told the House of Commons that the draft legal text produced by the European Commission would “undermine the UK common market and threaten the constitutional integrity of the UK”. She also told MPs: “No UK Prime Minister could ever agree it.” May said she remains committed to avoiding a hard border in Ireland, although foreign secretary Boris Johnson yesterday appeared to propose hardening the border. In its draft treaty, published earlier today, the EU said it aimed to “create a common regulatory area on the island of Ireland in order to safeguard North-South cooperation, the all-island economy, and protect the 1998 Agreement”. – City A.M. Theresa May channels Michael Winner to mock Labour MPs during angry Brexit debate – The Sun > Watch on BrexitCentral’s Youtube Channel: May says No UK Prime Minister could ever agree to EU’s plan David Davis threatens not to pay EU divorce deal in Irish hard border dispute Britain will refuse to pay its multibillion-pound Brexit divorce bill until Brussels backs down on attempts to keep Northern Ireland subject to European Union rules, David Davis warned last night. In an uncompromising letter sent to Tory MPs, the Brexit secretary said that Britain would not finalise financial payments to the EU until “all the issues” of concern to Britain had been addressed. It came hours after the EU said that Northern Ireland should remain in the customs union to avoid a hard border with the Republic. – The Times (£) May and Tusk to discuss prospects for post-Brexit trade deal today Theresa May will meet EU Council President Donald Tusk in Downing Street later, as Brexit tensions ratchet up over the question of how to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. On Wednesday the Prime Minister warned the EU that a draft legal text proposing a ‘common regulatory area’ on the island of Ireland, which would in effect keep Northern Ireland in EU Customs Union, would risk the constitutional integrity of the UK. – Sky News Offer a free vote on the final deal, Sir John Major urges May Theresa May must give MPs a free vote on the terms of her Brexit deal and allow them the option of calling a second referendum, Sir John Major said yesterday, prompting accusation of hypocrisy by Brexiteers. The former Tory prime minister said that Mrs May’s demands for an EU trade deal were not realistic and that the risk of crashing out of the bloc without agreement was growing. The prime minister’s red lines were “so tilted to ultra-Brexit opinion” that they made it “impossible to reach a favourable trade outcome”, Sir John said. – The Times (£) Sir John Major’s interview with Laura Kuenssberg – BBC News Major hypocrisy – Steerpike for The Spectator John Major’s outrageous Brexit speech – Laura Perrins for ConservativeWoman Tony Blair to urge EU to ‘share the responsibility’ for stopping Brexit The EU must “share the responsibility” for finding a way to stop Brexit by agreeing to tighten immigration controls, Tony Blair will say. Speaking in Brussels, the former Prime Minister will urge EU leaders to recognise the Leave vote as a “wake-up call” – arguing reform would help persuade the British public to change its mind. Mr Blair will say Britain’s departure also “weakens Europe’s standing and power”, undermining the single market and creating “a competitive pole” across the English Channel. – Independent Remainers are trying to stop Brexit with a proxy war, say Boris’s allies Boris Johnson believes the Irish border is being used by Remainers to fight a “proxy war” to thwart Brexit as two former prime ministers raise the prospect of a second referendum. The Foreign Secretary fears “ultra-Remainers” in Parliament and Whitehall are among those taking part in the conspiracy as Theresa May prepares to make her third major Brexit speech on Friday. On the day that the Prime Minister vehemently rejected Brussels’ proposal for the EU Withdrawal Agreement, Sir John Major made an unprecedented attack on his fellow Conservative with a speech that accused her of “bad politics”. – Telegraph (£) Ruth Davidson accuses Boris Johnson of ‘casual disregard’ over Irish border – Telegraph (£) Rebel Tory MPs launch bid to prevent Government signing post-Brexit trade deals Rebel Tory MPs have launched an attempt to prevent the Government signing new trade deals after Brexit without Parliament’s approval. Fresh amendments tabled to a key Brexit bill would force ministers to give MPs and peers the power to amend or veto dozens of potential deals, amid fears ministers are planning to force them through without parliamentary scrutiny. The MPs, who are also seeking to force the Government to keep the UK in a customs union with the EU, believe they are likely to secure the support needed to pass the amendments, if opposition parties back them. – Independent Ministers ‘capitulate’ to EU over citizens’ rights during transition Ministers have been accused of a capitulation after abandoning attempts to stop EU citizens arriving during the transition from staying indefinitely. Theresa May had cheered Brexiteers in January when she declared there would be a “clear difference” for EU migrants who arrived after March 2019 and only those who arrived before could “continue their life” in the UK. It took ministers and businesses by surprise and was rejected by the EU, which warned it could jeopardise the transition period, which the government wants agreed in the March EU council. – The Times (£) Toyota to build new Auris model at Derbyshire factory in vote of confidence in UK Toyota will build the new model of its Auris car in the newly revamped factory in Burnaston in Derbyshire, in a major vote of confidence in the UK. The new model will start rolling off production lines before the end of this year. The factory typically made around 140,000 of the previous Auris models per year. It comes after the company invested more than £240m in new technology and systems to build the next generation of Toyota vehicles and make the plant more competitive. – Telegraph Dyson hoovers up £801m profit in Asian spending boom – Guardian > Watch on BrexitCentral’s Youtube Channel: Australian HC says ‘Your trade can be with anyone anywhere’ Peter Foster: Europe has weaponised the Ireland issue – now the fight really begins The publication of the European Union’s draft legal text on the EU-UK divorce deal gives the Brexit negotiation ratchet a very significant tweak. Brexit was always going to put the British constitutional settlement on the rack, and the text of the EU’s proposed ‘fallback’ solution to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland instantly – and entirely predictably – elicited agonised screaming in Belfast and Westminster. Butter wouldn’t melt in Michel Barnier’s mouth, but the EU’s political plan is perfectly clear – they are seeking to force Mrs May into making difficult decisions, and more specifically, into joining the EU’s customs union. Peter Foster for the – Telegraph (£) Stephen Booth: EU’s hardball tactics over Irish border issue risk pushing UK into corner in Brexit talks The UK Government could not possibly agree to this EU withdrawal text, which would effectively cede sovereignty over Northern Ireland to Brussels by default. The EU cannot simply disregard inconvenient political commitments agreed – by both sides – in December. Brussels now risks creating a serious political mess.The entire premise of avoiding a hard border is to avert potential political instability on the island of Ireland. How would the EU expect Unionists in Northern Ireland to react if the UK were to agree to this text? – Stephen Booth for Open Europe John Redwood: Shopping for an EU Agreement When I go shopping I do not put cash on the counter and then ask what the shop might have that I would like in return for my money. I ask to see the goods, enquire about the price and then decide whether to buy. I only produce the money when we have agreed the whole transaction, and as the shop releases the goods. The EU wants the UK to shop the wrong way round. They expect us to put up a lot of money without telling us what it buys, and then keeping us in the dark for too long about whether we might get anything for the cash. – John Redwood’s Diary Allister Heath: Do hard Remainers not see what stopping Brexit would do to our democracy? There are two kinds of political struggle. The conventional variety sees two sides taking it in turns to implement their ideas according to the swings of the ideological pendulum. Victories and defeats are accepted in good faith, and Tories and Labour, Republicans and Democrats, Right or Left alternate in the seats of power. Modern culture wars, the 21st‑century Western equivalent to religious strife, are a very different kind of political contest. They may still include the trappings of democracy – elections or referendums – but they are absolutist struggles, with many of the participants convinced that they are in a war between good and evil… Winners seek to crush their opponents, defeating them so badly that they can never recover. Losers no longer feel duty-bound to accept the result. Allister Heath for the Telegraph (£) Comment in Brief The Guardian is hypocritically stupid on Corbyn’s Brexit – Bruce Oliver Newsome for CommentCentral MPs are servants of the people and should never forget that – Ann Widdecombe for the Express Italians aren’t fascists. They’re angry about immigration – Nicholas Farrell for the Spectator News in Brief An apology to Christopher Chandler – Guardian Food prices ‘won’t change much’ after Brexit as minister dismisses tariff shock fears – Telegraph (£) Leo Varadkar hemmed in by own political borders – FT (£) UK car industry must be at the heart of Brexit negotiations, say MPs – Guardian