Legal challenge on triggering of Article 50 commences today One of the most important legal cases in Britain’s constitutional history will get underway at the High Court [today]. Three of the most senior judges in the UK will rule whether the government is legally required to pass an act of parliament before triggering Article 50 and formally starting Britain’s divorce from the European Union. – Business Insider UK According to documents published this summer, ministers believe the use of prerogative powers once held by the Sovereign but now residing in the executive to enact the referendum result is “constitutionally proper and consistent with domestic law”.For the courts to require Parliament to pass legislation to implement the outcome of the referendum would be an “impermissible” intrusion on its proceedings. – BBC News The case will be heard over three days at the High Court, but given its constitutional importance will almost certainly move to the Supreme Court before the end of the year. If judges decide there must be a vote in Parliament then the possibility of MPs defying the result of the referendum is raised. The majority of MPs campaigned to stay in the EU and they could vote to block the very start of the process which the majority of constituents backed. – Sky News …as David Davis warns Parliament must not be allowed to ‘thwart’ leaving EU… Parliament must not be allowed to “thwart” Britain’s exit from the European Union, David Davis said on Wednesday amid a growing rebellion from Conservatives who backed the failed Remain campaign. Mr Davis, the Brexit secretary, warned of a “blame Brexit festival” as he rejected demands from a cross-party coalition of MPs that backbenchers are allowed to vote on the terms of Britain’s exit from the EU. – Daily Telegraph Why is the government so resistant to letting Parliament vote on Article 50? …Brexiteers’ deepest fear is that Remainers may yet manage to overturn the referendum result. Mr Davis argued that the 17.4m voters who backed Leave constituted the largest mandate in British history. And he said that MPs who demanded a vote were confusing accountability, which the government promises to observe through many questions and debates, with micromanagement of negotiations best carried out in secret. – The Economist We must have a say on Brexit strategy, Tory rebels demand – The Times (£) Christian May: MPs should debate Brexit, not frustrate it – City.A.M. Tories on the brink of civil war at Brexit debate – The Spectator’s Coffee House blog David Davis slaps down fellow minister over green or white paper suggestion for March – PoliticsHome Ed Miliband has begun his quixotic campaign to get the House of Commons to stop Brexit – Business Insider UK Will Brexit help Nick Clegg go from political Judas to comeback kid? – New Statesman The opposition day debate on Article 50 as it happened – BBC liveblog …and Theresa May hits back at Corbyn’s ‘Shambolic Tory Brexit’ attack The Prime Minister again signalled she would force Britain out of the trading bloc in a bid to slash net migration. Jeremy Corbyn accused the Government of having ‘no answers’ as it prepares to trigger Article 50 , the formal mechanism for leaving the bloc, before the end of March. The Labour leader said the PM offered ‘no strategy for negotiating Brexit and offers no clarity, no transparency and no chance of scrutiny of the process for developing a strategy’. – Daily Mirror Responding to Mr Corbyn’s doom-laden comments on Brexit during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon, Theresa May said: “Unlike the Right Honourable Gentleman I’m optimistic about the prospects of this country once we leave the EU. I’m optimistic about the trade deals that other countries now actively are coming to us to say they want to do with the UK.And I’m optimistic about how we will be able to ensure our economy grows outside of the EU. But I have to say to the Right Honourable Gentleman on this issue, Labour didn’t want a referendum on this issue, we gave them, the Conservatives gave them a referendum. Labour didn’t like the result, we are listening to the British people and delivering on that result.” – Daily Express I’m siding with Britons who voted for Brexit, says Theresa – Daily Mail At PMQs, Jeremy Corbyn finally tried to hold Theresa May to account for her Brexit negotiations – and failed miserably – John Rentoul in the Independent Theresa May called for ministers to get Commons mandate before EU talks – PoliticsHome Tesco pulls Marmite from online store amid Brexit price row with Unilever One of Britain’s biggest supermarkets is running low on everyday household items after Tesco refused to bow to demands from a major conglomerate to raise prices in the wake of the Brexit vote. Tesco is locked in a standoff with Unilever, which owns brands including PG Tips, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Persil, after the company demanded price rises of 10 per cent, blaming the falling value of the pound. – Daily Telegraph Critics claim the world’s largest consumer goods manufacturer, which makes an estimated £2billion profit a year, is ‘using Brexit as an excuse to raise prices’ after it proposed a 10 per cent rise on its products. The firm, which heavily campaigned against Brexit in the lead-up to the EU referendum, claims it has been forced to increase prices as a result of the falling value of sterling post Brexit. – Daily Mail Marmite is 100% British Sourced and Produced – Guido Fawkes The full list of products pulled in Brexit price row – The Star FT suggests UK faces ‘Brexit divorce bill’ of up to €20billion… Britain is facing a divorce bill from the EU for as much as €20bn, according to a Financial Times analysis that shows the bloc’s shared budget is emerging as one of the biggest political obstacles to a Brexit deal. More than €300bn of shared payment liabilities will need to be settled in the divorce reckoning, according to EU accounts. It is a legacy of joint financial obligations stretching back decades — from pension pledges and multi-annual contracts to commitments to fund infrastructure projects — that Brussels will insist the UK must honour. – FT (£) UK looking at ways to cut cost of leaving EU customs union – Politico …as MLex reminds us of the cost of EU membership in these final couple of years Before UK and EU officials get down to the detailed work of unpicking laws and drafting the transitional measures to govern Brexit, they may first have to deal with 40 billion euros the UK should pay into EU coffers to serve out its time as a full EU member. The money is expected to become a negotiating chip with UK officials under pressure to curtail payments to a club it will no longer be a member of. – MLex Stop moaning and back ‘global Britain’, urge City heavyweights British businesses should stop hiding and instead travel the world promoting “Brand Britain” as “cheerleaders of open markets”, according to former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King… He was joined by Sir Michael Rake, the chairman of BT and Worldpay, who said that the global reaction to the Brexit vote is one of shock, and so British firms should take the lead in restoring the country’s image. – Daily Telegraph Nicola Sturgeon pledges to lead all-party fight against Brexit Opening her party’s autumn conference in Glasgow, she will claim the right wing of the Conservative Party is now in the ascendancy and seeking to hijack the referendum result. “Brexit has become Tory Brexit,” she will say. “They are using it as licence for the xenophobia that has long lain under the surface – but which is now in full view. They are holding it up as cover for a hard Brexit that they have no mandate for – but which they are determined to impose, regardless of the ruinous consequences.” – Sky News Nicola Sturgeon accuses Tory Right wing of using Brexit as ‘licence for xenophobia’ – Daily Telegraph Nicola Sturgeon to reach out to other parties to fight hard Brexit – The Guardian Fiona Hyslop MSP: Brexit “democratically unacceptable” for Scots – The Scotsman Sir Keir Starmer MP: Only a Commons vote will give a consensus on leaving the EU To demand that parliament has a role and a vote on the terms of any proposed EU exit is not, as some have suggested, an attempt to frustrate or delay the process. Instead, it is central to ensuring that parliamentary sovereignty — a principle the Leave campaign made much of during the referendum — is now exercised on this crucial issue. – Sir Keir Starmer MP in The Times (£) Justin Protts: A warning to those who want the government to reveal its Brexit blueprint The more the UK government reveals, the more the EU will have to push back and make it look like an EU win. This has the potential to damage not only the UK’s economy but the entire EU’s. The current posturing on both sides is necessary to allow the EU and UK to portray the outcome as a win while still maintaining positive trade relations. The last thing anyone in the UK or EU should want is to force the EU to come down harder than necessary. – Justin Protts of Civitas Theresa Villiers MP: We can strike a free trade deal with the EU that maintains financial services passporting A bespoke UK model, going well beyond what FTAs have thus far delivered for financial services would break new ground, but I believe it would be achievable. There has, after all, never been a situation like this, where two jurisdictions have heavily interconnected financial markets, large volumes of cross border trade, and virtually identical regulatory rules and systems. – Theresa Villiers MP for ConservativeHome Graeme Leach: Brexit will be unequivocally good for the UK economy in both the short and long term The most recent EU analysis of the Single Market suggests a positive impact of around 2 per cent of EU GDP. However, these estimates exclude any negative effects from regulation, which is a significant omission given the application of many across the whole economy. Also, pan-EU figures are less applicable to the UK economy, because it trades less with the rest of the EU than many other countries, and the UK economy is more service orientated. – Graeme Leach in City A.M. Allister Heath: Brexit has revealed that Britain is two countries, both getting it wrong. Theresa May needs a Plan B May is an enviable position: she enjoys huge backing from the public. But the UK’s establishment is increasingly and dangerously alienated from Middle England. To ensure that the UK’s economy does as well as possible over the next few years, the Prime Minister must now focus her efforts on reassuring corporate Britain. – Allister Heath in the Daily Telegraph Ian King: Sterling has become a political basket case If anyone was in any doubt that sterling is now one of the world’s most politicised currencies, its fortunes directly related to what sense the markets can get about the UK’s Brexit negotiations, the pound’s latest 24 hours should disabuse them. – Sky News Brexit pound slump is good for the UK economy, says Wetherspoons owner – The Independent Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: If Europe insists on a hard Brexit, so be it Personally, I have been in favour of a “soft Brexit” that preserves unfettered access to the single market and passporting rights for the City, but not at any political cost – and certainly not if it means submitting to the European Court, which so cynically struck down our treaty opt-out on the Charter in a grab for sweeping jurisdiction. But what has caused me to harden my view – somewhat – is the open intimidation by a number of EU political leaders. – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Daily Telegraph Brexit comment in brief Theresa May’s “hard Brexit” will be softer than it looks – George Eaton in the New Statesman Labour has scored a point on Brexit, but is it ready to argue about what it actually means? – Tom Harris for the Daily Telegraph Why Britain must leave the Single Market – Paul Goodman on ConservativeHome Inflation, not Brexit, should be worrying our policy makers – Bill Emmott for CapX How to reduce the uncertainties of Brexit. – John Redwood’s Diary Britain voted for change – now we must defend working people while the Tories duck questions on Brexit – Len McCluskey for LabourList The Brexit vote pushes Europe to redefine itself – Manuel Valls in the FT (£) Brexit means whatever the EU says it means – Joris Luyendijk in the Guardian Stephen Kinnock: Remain was too focused on David Cameron rather than ordinary people – Business Insider UK Brexit News in Brief How the Tories’ foreign workers list policy unravelled before their eyes – Daily Mirror Eurosceptics demand an investigation the BBC’s ‘stream of negativity’ – Daily Mail Brexit and the BBC’s duty of impartiality – Daily Mail Comment Bank of England warns: EU cannot replace the City – City A.M. Passporting negotiations will be ‘painstaking’ and both sides could lose out – The Independent Will Brexit butcher the banking system? – The Spectator Relax, Brexit doesn’t mean the death of the City of London – Will Martin for Business Insider UK Gibraltar wants special arrangement in Brexit treaty – EurActiv Climate advisers pour cold water on idea of high-powered kettles in Brexit Britain – Daily Telegraph Brexit bonanza ahead say fishermen after EU boats’ catch is revealed – The Herald