Barclays boss: London’s ‘gravitational pull’ on finance will not wane after Brexit Brexit is unlikely to lead to a sudden decline in London’s status as one of the leading centres for the global capital markets, the boss of Barclays has predicted. The vote in June to leave the European Union sparked fears in the City that the UK will quit the single market, which could damage London’s position as an international hub for banking and investment. Despite those concerns, Jes Staley, the chief executive of Barclays, argued yesterday that while Brexit would lead to a great deal of uncertainty for the banking sector, it was unlikely to result in the City losing its “gravitational pull” in the capital markets overnight. – Daily Telegraph Brexit looks like a footnote compared to Trump win, says Barclays boss – City A.M. Unemployment drops to fresh 11-year low The unemployment rate stood at 4.8pc in the first full quarter following the Brexit vote, down from 4.9pc in the three months to June, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is the lowest rate since the quarter to September 2005. Economists expected the rate to remain unchanged. The ONS said the number of people in work continued to rise over the quarter, keeping the working age employment rate at a joint record high of 74.5pc. – Daily Telegraph The number of workers in the UK from eight eastern European Union countries increased following the referendum, official estimates suggest – BBC Theresa May tells Jeremy Corbyn she won’t spell out Brexit negotiation strategy Mr Corbyn said the government was in a “total shambles” over Brexit, telling MPs: “These are the most complex set of negotiations ever undertaken by this country. “The civil service has been cut down to its lowest level since the Second World War. The prime minister’s main focus ought to be, surely, coming up with a serious plan.” But Mrs May said setting out every detail of the UK’s negotiating strategy in advance to the other 27 EU member states would be the “best possible way of ensuring we got the worst result for this country”, adding: “That’s why we won’t do it.” – BBC Alex Salmond blasts Prime Minister for not spelling out UK’s Brexit negotiating position – Daily Express Most Britons want both single market access and immigration curbs Some 85 per cent of those who voted to leave the EU said they wanted to control immigration; as did 55 per cent of those who voted for Britain to remain. Around 12 per cent were undecided. At the same time the report found that more than nine in 10 people wanted Britain to have access to the European single market — regardless of how they voted… Forced to choose between the two priorities, voters questioned by NatCen opted by the narrowest of margins for immigration controls. Some 49 per cent thought freedom of movement for EU citizens should be kept if it enabled the UK to keep free trade — with 51 per cent opposed — roughly in line with how the public voted on June 23. – FT (£) What do voters want from Brexit? – Full report Detailed question tables Commentary from Professor John Curtice Michael Gove raises question of ‘quickie divorce’ for UK from EU… Michael Gove, the former cabinet minister and leading Brexit campaigner, has pressed experts on how the UK could achieve a “quickie divorce” with the EU regardless of the economic consequences, as he raised concerns that civil servants were over-complicating the process. The former justice secretary, who led the Vote Leave campaign with Boris Johnson, questioned why the UK cannot just leave the EU without having settled its future relationship with the bloc after having sorted out “housekeeping” related to outstanding payments. – The Guardian …as Liberal Democrats seek to force Government to publish white paper before triggering Article 50 Pro-remain Liberal Democrat peers believe they could insert extra clauses into even the most tightly worded Brexit bill to force Theresa May to tell parliament more about her negotiating plans before she triggers article 50… Constitutional experts have told the Lib Dems there is no obstacle to adding extra clauses to such legislation, which could force the government to publish a white paper detailing how it plans to approach talks with the other EU member-states – and even offer voters a second referendum. – The Guardian There are half a dozen Tory MPs willing to vote against Article 50, claims Tim Farron – The Independent Article 50 judge facing calls to stand aside from Brexit ruling Concerns have been raised that any involvement by [Supreme Court judge] Baroness Hale in a government appeal against a High Court ruling that Parliament needs to pass legislation to trigger Article 50 will be compromised because of her past comments which appear to be in favour of the EU. Baroness Hale has, according to Brexit campaigners, compromised her position over comments made on scrapping the Human Rights Act. In an interview she said that it would mean the UK would have to leave the EU and asked “is that a price worth paying?” Her words have been interpreted that she wants Britain to stay in the EU. And further concerns have been raised by a speech where she seemed to suggest that the government would need a complicated comprehensive bill to trigger Article 50 not just a one line bill to give it permission. – Daily Express Nicola Sturgeon says she’s looking at a ‘Norway-style’ EU plan for Scotland… First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that the Scottish Government is considering a Norway-style model for keeping Scotland in the European Union (EU) single market. She has told MSPs that the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and European Economic Area (EEA) models are being looked at as the government explores ways of preserving Scotland’s links with the EU. – The Scotsman …as it emerges she previously warned against such a proposal Nicola Sturgeon’s stance on Brexit is an “embarrassing mess”, it has been alleged after it emerged she unveiled a report three years ago that strongly warned against her latest plan to keep Scotland in the EU single market. The First Minister confirmed she is considering a Norway-style model to stay in the single market by pushing for Scotland to join the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and European Economic Area (EEA)… In further evidence of the disarray enveloping the SNP, the Telegraph can disclose the Scottish Government has published an in-depth analysis of the Norway plan that concluded this was not a “desirable option” from an economic or democratic perspective. – Daily Telegraph Boris Johnson accused of ‘insulting’ Italians over Brexit and prosecco… Carlo Calenda, a former Italian envoy to Brussels, said that the Foreign Secretary had told him that Italy would sell less prosecco if the European Union did not allow Britain to remain in the single market. “He basically said, ‘I don’t want free movement of people but I want the single market’,” Mr Calenda told Bloomberg Television. “I said, ‘no way.’ He said, ‘you’ll sell less prosecco’. I said, ‘OK, you’ll sell less fish and chips, but I’ll sell less prosecco to one country and you’ll sell less to 27 countries’. Putting things on this level is a bit insulting.” – Daily Telegraph …as leading Baltic politicians say EU shouldn’t punish UK in Brexit talks Latvia’s foreign minister said U.K. concerns about paying benefits to European Union nationals may be warranted, though that doesn’t mean loosening key EU demands in the coming Brexit negotiations. “I do not believe in punishing Britain,” Edgars Rinkevics said in an interview in Paris on Wednesday. “We can discuss some mechanisms on how to address concerns such as social security and taxes. These are legitimate concerns, but we can’t close borders.” “We need to find a solution that is affordable and acceptable to all,” added Linas Linkevicius, foreign minister of neighboring Baltic nation of Lithuania. – Bloomberg Britons may need to apply for online clearance to visit Europe post-Brexit British tourists could be required to register for a Europe-wide visa after 2020 following a European Union plan to introduce an American-style visa-waiver scheme. The proposals, which have been backed in the past by Britain, will require all non-EU citizens to pay 5 euros (£4.30) and fill out an online form to obtain clearance to travel within Europe’s 26-nation ID check-free area. – Daily Telegraph Brexit polls got it wrong because they underestimated the way ‘uneducated’ would vote Pollsters underestimated the strength of the Leave vote in the EU referendum because they failed to pick up the extent to which the less educated were prepared to back Brexit, a leading polling expert has said. Professor John Curtice – whose exit poll in the 2015 general election was the first to indicate an overall Conservative victory – said the way people voted in the referendum was different to the way they vote in general elections. – Daily Express Peter Foster: Theresa May does have a plan for Brexit – the question is whether Europe is big enough to embrace it There clearly is a Brexit plan being formulating in Downing Street even if the Prime Minister is resolutely refusing to say precisely how she will respond to the mountain of analysis that has been piling up on her desk since she took office. Officials charged with delivering the technical work on borders, customs, immigration and regulations are charged with having the preliminary work done by Christmas in order for a “political filter” to be applied in the New Year before Article 50 is triggered. “Political filter” is, of course, is a euphemism for an unholy row about where on the hard-soft spectrum Mrs May should pitch Brexit, but the broad parameters of the UK are increasingly deducible from what Mrs May has said thus far. – Peter Foster, Europe Editor of the Daily Telegraph (£) Andrew Lilico: Time for Britain to negotiate a trade deal with President Trump The UK can get an early trade deal with the US, but if we want it we’ll have to take it then. If we can’t take it then, Trump will move on to other things and it could be years – perhaps up to a decade – before the US will get around to wanting to agree a deal with us again. – Andrew Lilico for Reaction Orlando Smith: The British Overseas Territories can help make Brexit a success I am delighted with the way the UK government has welcomed us and the other Overseas Territories into the Brexit negotiations tent. Our objectives, namely to make Brexit as big a success as possible, are fully aligned. We have a good framework for moving forward and further assurances of our continued involvement in the process, including reconvening here in London in the spring ahead of the triggering of Article 50. – Premier of the British Virgin Islands, Orlando Smith in City A.M. Roger Scruton: National borders are the only sure guardians of democracy. The EU ignores them at its peril The European Union has refused to recognise the importance of borders and the territory defined by them. It has established a trans-national, bureaucratic form of legal order in which laws are not changed or adopted by popular sovereignty but imposed by official decree. – Roger Scruton for the Daily Telegraph (£) Telegraph: Theresa May should explain how she will seize the opportunity of Brexit on immigration Britain alone has the chance to create an immigration system that allows this country to admit and retain the best talent while meeting the public’s demand for controls. Mrs May should waste no time in setting out the principles that will underpin that system, including a clear statement about the status of EU nationals living here today. – Daily Telegraph editorial Times: Free movement of people should not be an article of faith among EU leaders Reforming it will aid Britain and help to stop the rise of the far right across Europe… Some have even interpreted recent comments by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, as a signal that she has softened her stance on the issue. She has not, but she should, and so should her colleagues. – The Times (£) editorial Brexit comment in brief Angela Merkel has finally admitted the truth about the EU’s freedom of movement: no one wants it any more – Asa Bennett in the Daily Telegraph (£) Yes, the principle of free movement is a ‘total myth’ – Leo McKinstry in the Daily Express Theresa May has backing of the sensible majority – Daily Express editorial At least we know Boris Johnson won’t put up with b*****ks in Brexit proceedings – Rod Liddle in The Sun Elites would be foolish to dismiss Brexit and Trump as the triumph of crude populism – Ed Amory in City A.M. The cruel tyranny of global government – John Redwood MP for Comment Central Even France’s politicians are promising EU reform now – Juliet Samuel in the Daily Telegraph (£) Bruised markets brace for third popular revolt of 2016 as Italy rattles eurozone – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard on the Daily Telegraph (£) Brexit news in brief Britain’s civil service ‘can absolutely’ deliver EU exit – Daily Express Canadian finance minister expects Britain to be part of EU trade deal – Reuters German minister: Don’t assume EU budget stays as flush post-Brexit – Politico High-street investors shrug off Brexit gloom – Property Week Mini boss downplays Brexit and Trump concerns – Autocar And finally…an SNP MSP has been ridiculed after blaming Brexit for smaller Toblerones and demanding the UK Government intervene to restore the bars to their original size Backbencher Colin Beattie lodged a parliamentary motion at Holyrood yesterday bemoaning Mondelez International’s controversial decision to widen the gaps between the triangular segments. Despite the firm insisting it had nothing to do with the vote to leave the EU, the Midlothian North and Musselburgh MSP claimed the move was “emblematic of the devastating consequences that Brexit could bring”… A Scottish Labour spokesman added: “This took us by surprise – the SNP’s whole mission is greater separation.” – Daily Express