Theresa May to return to Brussels on Saturday for more talks after an inconclusive meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker… Theresa May’s attempts to finalise her Brexit deal with Brussels failed on Wednesday, casting doubt over whether a special EU leaders’ summit to sign off the text will go ahead this weekend. Mrs May unexpectedly announced she will return to Brussels on Saturday for meetings with Jean-Claude Juncker because there are “further issues that need resolution”. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, had previously made it clear that she will pull the plug on Sunday’s summit if a text of the deal is not ready on Thursday, suggesting the meeting could now be off. Mrs May’s teatime meeting with Mr Juncker was meant to be the last time she saw the President of the European Commission before attending Sunday’s summit to rubber-stamp the deal with the other 27 EU leaders. But she said: “I now plan to return for further meetings, including with President Juncker, on Saturday to discuss how we can bring to a conclusion this process and bring it to a conclusion in the interests for all our people.- Telegraph (£) Brexit deal hangs by a thread as Theresa May leaves Brussels with no breakthrough and admits she needs more talks with EU – The Sun May faces another last-ditch dash to Brussels as EU leaders threaten to cancel summit amid fears disputes over Gibraltar and fishing – Daily Mail …as Germany threatens to snub Sunday’s summit to sign off the deal unless EU countries end their infighting Germany has warned EU ambassadors that Angela Merkel will pull out of the Brexit summit to sign off Theresa May’s deal unless the bloc ends its infighting over the terms of the future UK-EU trade deal. The threat was made on Tuesday night, ahead of a pivotal meeting in Brussels between Mrs May and Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, this afternoon. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is also expected to attend for an “afternoon tea” that aims to resolve the final barriers preventing the deal, which requires ratification by Westminster and the European Parliament, being signed. The Brexit deal is in two parts; the withdrawal agreement, which is the divorce treaty, and the political declaration, which sets the boundaries for future trade negotiations to begin after Brexit. Brussels sources said that Germany, the most influential member state, has set a deadline of Thursday for the political declaration to be finalised. That would give time for senior advisers to EU leaders to scrutinise the agreement before meeting on Friday ahead of the set piece summit on Sunday. – Telegraph (£) Merkel threatens boycott as EU divisions put Brexit summit at risk – The Times (£) Gibraltar spat holds up Brexit – Politico Brexit ‘No Deal’ accord may be needed, says Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar… Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar signaled temporary arrangements may be needed to avoid chaos should the U.K. crash out of the European Union without a deal. Such an accord may have to cover customs and regulations to keep the Irish border free of infrastructure, he told lawmakers in Dublin on Wednesday. He said he expects a meeting of EU leaders to endorse the current Brexit deal on Sunday, and it isn’t inevitable that U.K, Prime Minister Theresa May will fail to get that deal through parliament. Northern Ireland’s status is a key sticking point in Brexit talks, with the focus on avoiding border checkpoints returning once the U.K. exits the bloc. – Bloomberg …as the Irish Parliament overwhelmingly backs the Brexit divorce deal Ireland’s parliament overwhelmingly backed the divorce deal struck last week by Brexit negotiators, with all major parties supporting the draft agreement that the government says achieves all its key priorities. Although a vote was not legally necessary – ratification is only needed in the European Parliament and, far tricker, the British parliament – Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar wanted to show that politicians from all sides supported his position. As fewer than 10 members of the 158 in parliament stood up against the motion, the speaker of the house declared it carried. The draft divorce deal for Britain’s exit from the European Union is set to be approved by EU leaders on Sunday, alongside a political declaration on future trade, with the arduous task then falling to Prime Minister Theresa May to win over a majority of sceptical British lawmakers. – Telegraph (£) Jeremy Hunt told Theresa May her Brexit deal was a ‘Turkey trap’, leaked Cabinet notes reveal Jeremy Hunt has warned Theresa May that her Brexit deal could put Britain into a “Turkey trap” and will be voted down by Parliament unless it is changed, The Telegraph can disclose. The Foreign Secretary warned the Prime Minister that she risked consigning the nation to a fate similar to Turkey, which has been stuck in negotiations over its status with the EU for 31 years. He is one of six Cabinet ministers who have raised serious concerns about the scale of the Tory rebellion over Brexit, with Mr Hunt suggesting that 66 Tory MPs could vote against it. Also criticising the deal was Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, who said it could leave the UK unable to strike free trade deals after Brexit. The Telegraph can provide a detailed account of last week’s Cabinet meeting which led to the resignation of two ministers and took Mrs May’s premiership to the brink. The account has been verified by more than a dozen ministers and government sources. – Telegraph (£) What each member of the Cabinet said about Theresa May’s Brexit deal at key meeting – Telegraph (£) Leaked Cabinet document shows Hunt branded May’s Brexit deal a ‘Turkey trap’ – Express No Brexit is more likely than no‑deal, claims Amber Rudd… MPs will block a no-deal Brexit if Theresa May’s deal is voted down, Amber Rudd has warned. Despite the prime minister’s repeated claims that opposing her withdrawal agreement would cause the UK to crash out of the European Union without any deal at all, the new work and pensions secretary suggested that it was more likely that there would be no Brexit at all. “If it doesn’t get through, anything could happen,” Ms Rudd told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “The Brexiteers may lose their Brexit. It is my view that the House of Commons will stop no-deal. There is not a majority in the House of Commons to allow that to take place.” Her comments will be seized upon by Europhile MPs as evidence that they can vote down Mrs May’s deal in an effort to force a second Brexit referendum without risking accidentally causing a no-deal Brexit. Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, also suggested that no Brexit was more likely than a no-deal Brexit, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “If my colleagues don’t sign up to this in parliament, we’re in grave danger of not leaving at all”. – The Times (£) Amber Rudd says parliament will stop a ‘no deal’ Brexit happening – Sky News …while Theresa May threatens prospect of ‘no Brexit at all’ if deal is voted down… Theresa May has urged MPs to back her plans or face the prospect of “no Brexit at all” before heading to Brussels for talks with Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission. Tory MPs lined up to demand the prime minister renegotiate parts of her Brexit deal during a fiery prime minister’s questions session, where Ms May sought to sell the plan to her divided party. Earlier, senior Tories including Amber Rudd and Damian Collins opened the door to a new referendum, as the prime ministers hopes of securing a parliamentary majority appeared to fade. It also comes amid suggestions from Brussels that a summit to sign off on the draft withdrawal agreement on Sunday could be called off unless progress is made on finalising a political declaration on future relations. – Independent …which Philip Hammond suggests would be ‘politically chaotic’ The Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has reiterated his belief that the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan is the only viable option for the country. He told ITV’s Peston: “It’s clear that if the deal is not approved by Parliament we will have a politically chaotic situation. And, we don’t know what the outcome of that will be.” The Chancellor also committed to publishing economic reports on Brexit using staying in the European Union as the baseline for comparison. When questioned by ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston on whether it would be embarrassing to do so if it shows that staying in the EU is the most prosperous, Mr Hammond said: “This isn’t only about economics – I am the Chancellor so I look at the economic aspects of Brexit as being very high importance but I accept there are political and constitutional questions that people want to pursue in this debate.” – ITV News We’ll build our own satellite system, defiant Theresa May tells EU Theresa May is resisting efforts to keep Britain in parts of the EU’s Galileo satellite programme in a late reversal of negotiating positions. In one of the divorce’s most bitter wrangles, Brussels said that Britain should lose access to the €10 billion mission to develop a global positioning system. It insisted it would not be able to use its encrypted military grade signal, vital for applications such as missile guidance systems, after Brexit. British space companies also faced being blocked from contracts worth hundreds of millions. Because Britain would be a so-called third country after leaving it could not share in the development or use of secret technology under EU law, Brussels argued. In August Mrs May announced that the government was spending almost £100 million on an 18-month study to develop the UK’s own version of Galileo after it lost patience with what ministers insisted was Brussels’ “theology”. Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, pointedly cited Galileo as an exemplar of the fruits of European co-operation in the annual state of the union address the next month. – Telegraph (£) Labour open to compromise on May’s Brexit deal, implies John McDonnell… John McDonnell has suggested that Labour could sign up to large parts of Theresa May’s Brexit plan, saying they are realists and know they cannot “run in at the last minute and get it all”. The shadow chancellor told Newsnight on BBC Two that Labour is all but certain not to support the prime minister’s deal if she concludes one on Sunday. However, he went out of his way to downplay the scale of the change needed to get its support and suggested that the party accepted the need for compromises. Labour wants to keep Britain in a customs union, leave the single market but maintain a “strong single market relationship”, end free movement and change state aid rules. Mr McDonnell said: “We’re not talking about starting from scratch. We’re talking about finalising a deal, that’s the first thing. The second thing is, someone’s got to bring this country back together again. We think we can do it and compromises have got to be made.” He repeated that Labour could not support a no-deal Brexit. – The Times (£) …as the party discusses plot to take power without an election amidst Brexit chaos… The Labour leader’s right-hand man said the Queen would have a “duty” to make Mr Corbyn Prime Minister if Theresa May’s Brexit struggles continue. The Shadow Chancellor said: “The test is whether or not Government is losing consistent votes on the issue of the deal itself. “If it is, it is demonstrating as a minority government it hasn’t got the will of House – a majority in the House. The normal process is the opposition party should be offered the opportunity to see if it can form a Government.” He added: “If it’s minority Government and they can’t attain a majority in Parliament, usually it is the duty of the Monarch to make the offer to the opposition the opportunity to form a Government.” Speaking at a Reuters event in London Mr McDonnell said Labour wants to see a General Election – but admitted it’s unlikely without the consent of the Tories. Instead he revealed the party’s plan to cobble together a shaky coalition to replace Mrs May in case her deal gets shot down by the Commons. – The Sun Queen has ‘duty’ to make Jeremy Corbyn PM if Theresa May’s Brexit deal fails, says John McDonnell – Huffington Post John McDonnell claims Queen could ask Labour to form government – FT (£) …while a Labour frontbencher backs calls for a second referendum… A new referendum on Brexit inched closer today as a Cabinet member and a senior Labour shadow minister broke ranks to prevent a chaotic no-deal departure from the European Union. Writing exclusively in the Evening Standard, Labour’s shadow culture minister Steve Reed raced ahead of Jeremy Corbyn’s policy by wholeheartedly backing a vote giving the public a final say. On the government side, Amber Rudd, the new Work and Pensions Secretary, knocked down the Prime Minister’s claim that Britain could crash out of the EU without a deal. She said “there isn’t a majority in the House of Commons” for a no-deal departure, sending a strong signal that she and other senior Tories would back a fresh referendum if Theresa May’s package of compromises is voted down. The interventions by influential frontbenchers reflect growing support for what campaigners call a People’s Vote to let the public choose whether to go ahead with Brexit. – Evening Standard Steve Reed MP: We must let the country take back control — and decide with People’s Vote – Evening Standard …and pro-EU MPs wrangle over when to strike for a second Brexit vote Pro-EU MPs are wrangling over the best time to table a Commons vote on a second Brexit referendum with a growing split over whether to wait until after Theresa May’s deal has been rejected. Some Europhile MPs want to force a vote in early December just before the “meaningful vote” on the prime minister’s Brexit deal. Chris Leslie, a former Labour shadow chancellor, said it would be “inconceivable” that an amendment for a second referendum would not be put down then. Sarah Wollaston, one of nine Conservative MPs who want a second referendum, is expected to put down an amendment calling for the public to be given a chance to vote to stay in the EU. But other MPs believe this would never get enough support in the Commons and would be seen by voters as an attempt to block Brexit. They want to wait until after Mrs May’s withdrawal agreement is voted down — which currently looks likely — or even after a vote of no confidence in the government. “There’s only a narrow window of opportunity,” said one MP. – FT (£) UK still won’t be able to boot out rapists and murderers under Theresa May’s hated Brexit deal Britain will continue to be unable to kick out murderers and rapists after Brexit, it has been revealed. Theresa May’s draft Brexit deal confirms that Britain will be forced to accept EU nationals with criminal backgrounds for at least the next two years – and possibly even longer… Jayne Adye, director of the grassroots campaign group Get Britain Out told The Sun Online she was “deeply outraged” by the latest revelations. She said: “So, what’s the point of our Home Office imposing rules and regulations to try and protect us – especially when we have a seriously depleted police force – when the PM’s Deal will seriously impose even more stress on our police and fill our already overcrowded jails. – The Sun Nicola Sturgeon must ‘nail down’ Spanish over Scottish EU entry, says former SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon must “nail down” the Spanish government in case it revives its historic opposition to Scotland joining the EU as an independent country, the SNP’s former deputy leader has said. Jim Sillars warned that an assurance by Josep Borrell, the Spanish foreign minister, that his government would not veto a Scottish application may have been a “casual remark”. He said the stance may be reversed again when Mr Borrell leaves office and warned the SNP against “being used as a temporary disruptive force within the UK by EU states who have their own agenda on Brexit.” In a letter to the Telegraph, he argued that Ms Sturgeon should write formally to the Spanish prime minister and leader of the opposition “seeking a firm assurance” over the issue. Mr Sillars said that “governments and policies change” and Spain’s “perceived state interest” at the time Scotland becomes independence would determine its final stance. – Telegraph (£) ‘No evidence’ Brexit was influenced by Cambridge Analytica scandal, says Facebook Brexit was not influenced by the Cambridge Analytica scandal as no UK users’ data was harvested by the consultancy firm, Facebook has claimed. The social media company is appealing the £500,000 fine imposed on it by the UK watchdog last month after it estimated up to one million UK citizens had been affected by the breach. In a statement released today, Facebook said the Information Commissioner Office’s (ICO) own investigation had “found no evidence” UK users’ data involved in the initial breach was then used in political campaigns. The ICO has said that it stands by its fine, but would not be commenting further as the matter was going to appeal. – Telegraph (£) South Korea strives to beat Japan and China to UK trade deal South Korea is striving to beat Asian rivals Japan and China to a free trade deal with the U.K., once the nation leaves the European Union. The trade ministry in Seoul hosted a hearing Wednesday to discuss the economic benefits of a post-Brexit deal with the U.K., South Korea’s second-largest trade partner in the EU. “It is important who can strike a better deal [with the UK] more quickly,” said Park Chun-il, a director at Korea International Trade Association. “l think the government is moving timely to be prepared in advance.” Companies from both countries are expected to benefit from any such deal, including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor from the South Korean side, and Dyson and Diageo from the U.K. – Nikkei Asian Review Martin Howe: The legal verdict on May’s Brexit deal – it’s not bad, it’s atrocious The most important point about the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement is that, once it is ratified, the United Kingdom will have no legal route out of it unless the EU agrees to let us out and replace it with another agreement. This makes it unique among trade treaties (including the EU’s), which always contain clauses allowing each party to withdraw on notice. Politicians who claim that this is just a bad treaty — one we can get out of later — are being ignorant or disingenuous… At present, the EU treaties give us the right to withdraw on two years’ notice — a right we are currently exercising. But this new deal would lock us in with no right to leave at all, and destroy any benefits of the freedom of action which Brexit should give us. It would not let us forge our own trade policy with other parts of the world. It would not make our economy more competitive. It would not give us back control of our laws. This is not a bad deal. It is an atrocious deal. – Martin Howe QC for The Spectator Nick Timothy: Remainers can’t handle the truth about the EU MPs pressing for a second referendum seem not to have contemplated the possibility that the country might vote, once again, to leave the European Union. Nor have they given much thought to how a narrow Remain victory, following, as it would, a vote to Leave which was never implemented, could be legitimate. They certainly appear not to care about the effects of another divisive campaign on the public’s confidence in democracy, and on the social cohesion of a country in which Leave voters are already dismissed as thick, racist, or too old to have a stake in the future. Never mind the fact that the biggest cheerleaders for a second referendum were among the first to demand the original vote. In 2008, the Lib Dems notoriously demanded “a real vote on Britain’s membership of the European Union”. In 2011, when Tory MPs rebelled to demand an In/Out referendum, among their number was Dr Sarah Wollaston. Joining her were Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, and John McDonnell, the most senior Labour politician to flirt with a second referendum. – Nick Timothy for the Telegraph (£) Andrea Jenkyns: The public will discard us, and rightly so, if Brexit is thwarted Needless to say, I am opposed to remaining in the European Union, and Brexit must not be stopped. A huge majority of my colleagues – 544 MPs – voted in favour of the European Union Referendum Bill, 17.4 million people voted to leave the EU, 494 MPs voted to trigger Article 50 and 60 per cent of my constituents voted to leave. There can be no doubt that the British people and their representatives in the House of Commons think that Brexit should go ahead. We made a promise; now let us stick to that promise. The referendum question said nothing about the possibility that we would have a so-called People’s Vote. The referendum on June 23, 2016, was the People’s Vote: it gave the British people the opportunity finally to have a say on our future relationship with the EU. The people spoke, and we have to listen. The referendum question said: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?” That language was approved by the independent Electoral Commission. The question was clear, and the people voted to leave the European Union by a sizeable margin. – Andrea Jenkyns MP for the Yorkshire Post Lee Rotherham: Amber Rudd is wrong to assume that Parliament would leap in to magically stop a No Deal The best way to sell a bad deal is for no one to read the small print. But while that may have worked for Mephistopheles, that approach has not worked on MPs since John Major’s day. Even more problematic for those retailing the Brexit transitional agreement, the work has been under critical scrutiny for months. But those 600-odd pages are not the only option in play. Amber Rudd is wrong to suggest that Parliament would leap in to magically stop a No Deal scenario. No Deal is very much in play. But it also forms only half of the story. The Parliamentary maths will not be encouraging for the Government. The DUP is openly unhappy at the real prospect of being sundered from its biggest Single Market and Customs Union – that of the United Kingdom. The discontent on the Conservative backbenches, and indeed sotto voce on the frontbenches, has been widely covered. But in all this, the key swing element is Labour. – Telegraph (£) Steve Reed: We must let the country take back control — and decide with People’s Vote Take back control is a powerful rallying cry for people in this country who, after years of austerity, feel more disconnected than ever from those in power who have badly let them down. The wealthy elite who sold their false vision of Brexit on the back of imaginary dividends and undeliverable promises have further eroded trust in our political process. It’s quite clear from my constituents and people I talk to across Britain that nobody voted for this chaos. The false prophets of Leave said Brexit would be easy, would provide extra money for the NHS and make us all better off. But nobody voted to be poorer, to lose their job, or for the ever-deepening austerity Brexit will bring. Labour campaigned to remain. We respect the referendum result. But we have always been clear we would hold the Government to account for their promises. We won’t support a deal at any price especially if it’s bad for jobs and living standards. That’s why we set six tests for the deal — and the Prime Minister promised she would meet them. Instead, she’s failed every test. Her proposal satisfies no one. It fails to provide certainty for business investment and leaves our trading arrangements unresolved. It will allow employment rights to fall behind our neighbours. It weakens environmental protections. And it threatens to leave us with fewer options for supporting British jobs and businesses than we already have as an EU member. – Steve Reed MP for the Evening Standard Asa Bennett: Amber Rudd has shown how messy the Government’s Brexit deal pitch to MPs really is Amber Rudd is supposed to be a safe pair of hands, making it little surprise that Theresa May would draft her back into government as soon as a vacancy opened up (thanks to Esther McVey). But the lines she needs to take on Brexit continue to evade her grasp. The Government wants Remainers and Brexiteers alike to put aside their concerns in order to back the deal it presents to avoid what would be their worst nightmares happening. As the Prime Minister put it last week: “We can choose to leave with no deal. We can risk no Brexit at all. Or we can choose to unite and support the best deal that can be negotiated. This deal.” But the new Work and Pensions Secretary freely rubbished the key threat Mrs May is trying to dangle in front of Remainers to stop them from voting down her deal, telling the Today programme this morning that “it is my view that parliament, the House of Commons, will stop no deal” because “there isn’t a majority… [of MPs]… to allow that to take place”. If so, what reason would Remainers have to vote for the deal if the choice was Brexit under a deal, or not at all? The so-called People’s Vote campaign has seized on her remarks as proof that today is “the day that no deal dies”. – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Larry Elliott: We overdo our respect for the EU. Britain can flourish outside it The unwarranted gloom about the UK and the exaggerated respect for the EU are not new. Many of those who now say that Britain must stay as closely aligned to the EU as possible predicted disaster when the pound left the exchange rate mechanism in 1992; prophesied a decade later that Britain would rue the day that Gordon Brown gave the single currency a wide berth; and said with the utmost confidence in 2016 that a vote for Brexit would lead to an immediate and deep recession and a massive increase in unemployment. None of these things happened. On the other hand, the predictions made by those who thought the single currency was one of the daftest ideas of all time have come true. The euro, it was said, would lead to economic divergence not convergence between member states, be run along monetarist lines, entrench high levels of unemployment and leave Europe in the growth slow lane. The rise of populism across Europe, which is being documented by the Guardian this week, has everything to do with the failure of Europe’s flagship project. – Larry Elliott for the Guardian Tom Harris: People’s Vote campaigners don’t care that a second referendum would destroy trust in politics In the period between the end of the Second World War and 2010, there was only one national referendum held in the UK, in 1975, on the subject of whether or not we should leave the then European Economic Community. Since 2010 we have had only two more – the first, in 2011, on electoral reform, and the second, in 2016, on whether we should leave or remain in the EU. That is not a particularly high number of referendums for a nation to hold in a time span stretching over 70 years. And it is significant that in, every case, those referendums were held solely to get the governing party out of a political mess. Harold Wilson knew Labour was divided on the issue of the EEC and a referendum was the least difficult way to make a decision without splitting his party. David Cameron was forced by his coalition partners to hold a referendum on changing the electoral system for the House of Commons – a proposal that he personally opposed and campaigned against. – Tom Harris for the Telegraph (£) Pieter Cleppe: The Brexit deal needs to be renegotiated. Here’s how The draft Withdrawal Agreement, negotiated between the EU and Theresa May’s government, hasn’t exactly been welcomed with great enthusiasm in the UK. It has been savaged by many Brexiteers and Remainers, deploying both serious and less-than-serious arguments. But the Prime Minister is sticking to it, at least as long as she can also reach a deal on the non-binding declaration on the future relationship. When the deal is voted on in the House of Commons, the maths don’t look good for the Prime Minister. She can rely on Conservative payrollers and loyalists as well as the odd Lib Dem that is already secure. That leaves her at least 84 MPs short, according to a Bloomberg analysis. In a rosier scenario, the 25 Labour Brexiteers and Labour MPs who represent pro-Brexit districts may be convinced. But pro-EU Tory and Labour MPs, the DUP, a sizeable chunk of Tory Brexiteers, Corbyn loyalists, the SNP, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru and Greens are all likely to reject the deal. Among the British public, at least according to one poll, one third of those who have an opinion on the matter are in favour of the deal, with two thirds against. In other words, it will take nothing short of political magic for Theresa May to deliver the approval she needs to reach a final agreement with the EU. A second vote might work, but it would be risky. – Pieter Cleppe for CapX Allister Heath: The coup against Brexit will push voters into the arms of extremists like Corbyn There is still a chance that democracy will prevail. But if the Government gets its way and Brexit is rendered meaningless as a result of Theresa May’s calamitous deal, or it is halted entirely, which she insists is now the only alternative, there be will just one winner: Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader can’t lose. As a lifelong Eurosceptic, he would privately love to leave the EU, which he sees as constraining his proto-communist fantasies. If, instead, Brexit is thwarted, the political class will be engulfed by a crisis greater even than that following the Suez, Profumo or expenses scandals. The Government would have committed a constitutional monstrosity, shattering the bond of trust that underpins healthy indirect democracies. The obvious way in which Corbyn would benefit is if the Government collapses, followed by an election. But if it hobbles on, a thwarting of Brexit would give Corbyn an even greater long-term boost by decisively shifting the national mood. To use jargon fashionable in the corporate world, voting for Corbyn – or for any extremist, revolutionary party – would have become “de-risked”. – Allister Heath for the Telegraph (£) Matthew Elliott: This Thanksgiving, be grateful for the political freedom to campaign Whenever I have been invited to Thanksgiving dinners, one of my favourite traditions is when everyone sitting around the table mentions something which they are grateful for in their lives. People often mention something personal – their family and friends – but sometimes they also talk about the bigger picture. So as we reflect this year, one thing I think we should all be grateful for in the UK and North America is the freedom we have to campaign for our beliefs. The luxury of this freedom was brought home to me at two conferences I contributed to in recent weeks – a Future Leaders Connect retreat organised by the British Council in Cambridge, and then the Atlas Network’s Liberty Forum in New York. Both meetings included campaigners, community organisers, and policy leaders from across the world. I enjoy mentoring young campaigners from different countries and from all points on the political spectrum, because I strongly believe that policy advocacy provides an essential means of changing the world – sometimes more influential even than political office. But when I speak to these young leaders, I am always reminded of the freedom we have to campaign compared to other countries, which do not enjoy the rule of law, freedom of association, a free media, and all the other tenets of an open political system. – Matthew Elliott for City A.M. Brexit in Brief The European states unhappy with some aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement – Jacob Osborne for Open Europe Does Jeremy Corbyn really believe in his fantasy version of Brexit? – Michael Deacon for the Telegraph (£) I never thought I’d say it, but there could be an upside to Brexit – Matthew D’Ancona for the Evening Standard Corbyn’s Brexit vanishing act won’t work – Jenni Russell for The Times (£) Gibraltar is ours as long as citizens vote to be British and the Spanish ‘have no greater claim than they do on Portugal’ after Brexit – Rod Liddle for The Sun May’s legacy: her Brexit deal could crush the Tories – James Forsyth for The Spectator Will they, won’t they and then how will they? – Laura Kuenssberg for BBC News The Northern Ireland Protocol is neither a “backstop” nor temporary – Lawyers for Britain The real Brexit bill: Northern Ireland – Politico Dowty to open new UK headquarters in 2019 – Flight Global Scotland’s farmers urge Nicola Sturgeon to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal – Telegraph (£) The EU is more worried about Italy than Brexit – Bloomberg Here are all the Tory MPs who have indicated so far that they won’t vote for Theresa May’s Brexit deal – Buzzfeed News