Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Theresa May concedes customs partnership plan is ‘dead’ after Cabinet ministers turn on her… Theresa May has conceded that her plans for a customs partnership with the EU are “dead” after senior Cabinet ministers turned on her during a crunch Brexit meeting… The Prime Minister was said to have been “shocked” at the strength of opposition to her idea during a meeting of the Cabinet’s 11-strong Brexit sub-committee… Downing Street was accused of trying to “rig” the outcome of the meeting by initially claiming that Julian Smith, the Chief Whip who sits around the table at the meetings, was a twelfth member of the committee, meaning there was no overall majority for either side. But Number 10 later conceded Mr Smith is not a voting member of the committee, meaning those in favour of a customs partnership were in a minority… It came after an influential group of 60 Tory MPs threatened to withdraw their support for the Government unless the customs partnership idea was dropped. – Telegraph …as Sajid Javid’s vote proves crucial in tipping the balance against the customs partnership… Sajid Javid last night sank Theresa May’s Brexit customs plans by siding with Leavers in the Cabinet… He declared he was “the new kid on the block” as he shredded her customs partnership proposal at a three-hour meeting of her Brexit committee. The ex-Remain supporter tipped the balance of the 11- strong team — leaving Mrs May “visibly shocked to have lost the room” according to one insider… Cabinet Brexiteers David Davis, Boris Johnson, Liam Fox and Michael Gove favour a “Max Fac” proposal where smart cameras and pre- registration are used to monitor goods crossing the Irish border. They won the crucial backing of Mr Javid and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, who also had “grave concerns” about Mrs May’s solution… Downing Street suggested the PM had also been backed in the meeting by Chief Whip Julian Smith. But angry Brexiteers left her red-faced by pointing out that the Tory enforcer was not even on the exit planning team. – The Sun …with May instructing officials to draw up “revised proposals” instead With six of the 11 members of the Brexit sub-committee opposing the so-called hybrid model — under which the government could collect tariffs on behalf of the EU — Mrs May had to ask officials to draw up “revised proposals”. Downing Street sources disputed Brexiteer claims that the hybrid model was “dead” but acknowledged that chances of a consensus were low. They stressed the need to find a compromise to unlock trade talks with the EU before a summit next month. Asked how long officials had to craft a solution, a senior government figure said “days, not weeks”. – The Times (£) Sajid Javid delivers fatal blow as Theresa May’s Brexit customs plan rejected – The Times (£) Tory ministers revolt against May on idea of ‘customs partnership’ – FT (£) Cabinet sub-committee moves against customs partnership – Guido Fawkes May warned she could trigger leadership challenge or another snap election if she bungles Brexit customs plan – The Sun Read in full: Brexit memo that spells out why Eurosceptic Tories say a customs partnership is unworkable – Telegraph (£) Why do Conservative Eurosceptics fear a ‘customs partnership’? – FT (£) May’s Customs Partnership takes a hammering at Brexit cabinet meeting – Katy Balls for the Spectator May plays for time over Irish border – Oliver Wright for The Times (£) Theresa May’s existential customs crisis – Tom McTague and Charlie Cooper for Politico Theresa May cannot solve her customs union conundrum – she does not have a Commons majority for either of her solutions – Sebastian Payne for the FT (£) Theresa May shouldn’t be shocked her customs union fudge was rejected by her own Cabinet – The Sun says Cabinet rows over a customs union are the proxy for a more profound ideological battle that Theresa May is desperately trying to defer – Guardian editorial The government is torn between two options for customs after Brexit. While it is right to leave the customs union, it may need more time to resolve practicalities – Times leader (£) Peers defeat Government for tenth time on EU Withdrawal Bill over Northern Ireland The House of Lords have dealt a tenth defeat to the Government on flagship Brexit legislation after ministers were warned they are “playing with fire” in Northern Ireland. Peers voted by 309 to 242, majority 67, in support of an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill championed by former Conservative Party chairman Lord Patten… Among 19 Tory rebels who helped defeat the Government on the amendment were ex-deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine and former ministers Lord Willetts, Viscount Hailsham and Baroness Altmann. – Sky News How ‘robust’ will the PM be on peers’ Brexit vote? – Express editorial House of Lords is undermining our departure from EU – Tim Newark for the Express Why the Lords are right to apply the brakes on a train-crash Brexit – Lord Bilimoria for the Guardian I’ve changed my mind about the House of Lords as it’s taking a stand on Brexit – Jess Phillips MP for the Guardian > WATCH: Highlights from Lords Northern Ireland Brexit debate > READ on BrexitCentral: How the House of Lords voted on amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill at Report Stage David Lidington appeals to Nicola Sturgeon to help deliver orderly Brexit Theresa May’s deputy has appealed to SNP ministers to work with the Government to deliver an orderly Brexit despite there appearing to be little prospect of a deal on what happens to powers repatriated from Brussels. David Lidington, the Cabinet Office Minister, urged the Scottish Government to reconsider its decision to reject a deal he has agreed with the Welsh over which powers are immediately devolved under the EU Withdrawal Bill. Speaking ahead of discussions in London [yesterday] afternoon, Mike Russell, the SNP’s Brexit Minister, reiterated his demand that the Nationalists be given an effective veto over whether the UK internal market survives Brexit. – Telegraph (£) Arch-Remainer George Osborne tells Nick Clegg Brexit is now inevitable George Osborne last night claimed there is no way to stop Brexit – but predicted the Tories could stay in the single market. The ex-Chancellor said “I don’t think you can stop Brexit” as he spoke to former Coalition partner and ex-deputy PM Nick Clegg. He said: “I don’t think you can have a second Referendum. Much as I regret all that, the country made a decision. “But I think you can create a much better outcome that is much closer to the reality of that vote.” – The Sun EU fury as Brussels demands bigger budget to plug Brexit blackhole European Union governments have reacted furiously to demands from Brussels for yet more money to plug the blackhole in EU finances left by Brexit. In plans for the first EU budget after Britain leaves, the European Commission on Wednesday demanded an increase in spending commitments to £1.13 trillion over seven years from 2021. The current budget is about £955 billion. Leaders from richer EU countries reacted with disbelief to the plans by the EU’s civil service to increase spending despite the estimated loss of up to £13.2 billion a year from Britain… The spending plans include a £616 million birthday giveaway in free train tickets for 18-year-olds to travel round the EU and feel more European. Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the commission, dismissed the leaders’ anger. “It is normal that prime ministers, without knowing the intricate details of our proposals react in such a way, they always do,” he said at a Brussels press conference. – Telegraph EU unveils plans to boost post-Brexit budget to €1.25tn – FT (£) Dutch PM Rutte furious at Juncker’s EU budget plan – Express Wealthier EU states attack Brussels plan to end rebates – FT (£) Brussels threatens to cut off cash for eastern autocrats – The Times (£) The Sun: Theresa May shouldn’t be shocked her customs union fudge was rejected by her own Cabinet Theresa May May should not be shocked that her customs union fudge was rejected by her Cabinet. It would be a disaster. And while it is embarrassing the Government still has no settled position, at least it didn’t pick the wrong one. A clean break from any customs union is unassailably logical. To leave the EU, as the referendum result demands, we must liberate ourselves entirely from its control and strike our own trade deals. Were it not for the Remainer rebels she fears, and the EU’s cynical ramping up of the Irish border issue, the PM would back the technological solution Boris Johnson and others proposed. Her best bet is to do it — and challenge the Remainers to defeat it and potentially destroy their own Government. Once the EU knows any customs union is dead in the water, the border problem will be sorted in no time. We have no faith the PM’s aides can now conjure up some new compromise that ensures the “Global Britain” she promised. And further paralysis will be fatal. – The Sun says James Forsyth: Theresa May has been trapped by her enemies and her friends The House of Commons is becoming less biddable on Brexit. Tory MPs who a few months ago had effectively given up on trying to substantially soften Brexit are now preparing to do just that. Their aim is to defeat the government on the issue of ‘a customs union’ with the EU after we leave. I understand that when the whips have tried to talk these rebels round, they have received short shrift. Julian Smith, the chief whip, has warned cabinet colleagues that he doesn’t have the votes to defeat a customs union amendment… At the time of the December deal, May’s political team gave Brexiteers various assurances about what the agreement committed the UK to. These assurances haven’t held up. Ministers don’t believe they were deliberately misled. Rather, they think that No. 10 is being moulded like playdough by the civil service, which is guiding May towards its preferred outcome. Hence the concern about the influence of Olly Robbins, the PM’s chief Europe adviser, who is telling ministers what the EU will and won’t accept. They are beginning to wonder whether his advice is truly impartial — or simply a summary of the kind of deal the civil service wants. As one well-connected Brexiteer warns, May ‘is asking people to take a lot on trust from him’. – James Forsyth for the Spectator Anand Menon: Why would Labour clarify its stance on Brexit? Ambiguity is working Labour policy on Brexit has been driven as much – indeed more – by short-term politics as by concerns about the nature or depth of the future trading relationship between the UK and the EU. Consequently, the positions the party has adopted have generally consisted of soundbites designed to give the impression of distance from the government’s stance. Jeremy Corbyn’s oft-repeated line that Labour wants “tariff-free access to the single market” sounds good to many of those with better things to do than study single markets, while being utterly devoid of meaning. Labour’s “six tests for Brexit” set out by Keir Starmer, not least his call for the maintenance of the “exact same benefits” of the single market, is as politically savvy as it is divorced from reality. Nowhere is it specified how Labour would pull off this trick. Recent policy shifts over potential membership of a customs union should be interpreted in the same political light. The Labour leadership saw the prospect of inflicting a humiliating defeat on the government. And this defeat on a customs union is now likely, sooner or later, on an amendment to the trade bill after the local elections. – Anand Menon for the Guardian Labour is getting away with ignorance and dishonesty in the customs union debate – Ben Kelly for Reaction Charlie Cooper and David M. Herszenhorn: The other dispute holding up Brexit talks While all eyes are on the Irish border stalemate, there’s another Brexit issue where the U.K. and the EU are miles apart: governance. It is fundamental to the U.K.’s post-Brexit future and key to how disputes arising from the agreement itself will be dealt with once an exit deal has been agreed and put into force. In EU parlance, “governance” encompasses the agreed rules and institutions that will be called on to arbitrate when the two sides come into conflict… “We haven’t agreed yet a way to govern the withdrawal agreement, full stop,” an EU official said. Davis, speaking at the Lords committee in Westminster, summed up why the issue remains intractable — “because of the wish on one side to have the European Court [of Justice] involved and our wish to have it impartial.” – Charlie Cooper and David M. Herszenhorn for Politico FT: Europe is better off with the UK in a space race The UK is Europe’s biggest spender on defence. For decades it has been a vital partner for the continent in matters of security. It makes little sense either for Europe or Britain to jeopardise this relationship. That is what could happen if Brussels presses ahead with plans to freeze the UK out of Galileo… In doing so, Brussels has managed to alienate even the most EU friendly members of the British cabinet. Thus Philip Hammond, the chancellor, told cabinet colleagues last week that, if the EU goes ahead with plans to block British companies from taking part in sensitive parts of Galileo, the UK would retaliate. Whitehall is already looking at ways to prevent the transfer of technology and expertise from the UK to the EU… Britain and France’s deep and productive co-operation is the most important defence alliance in Europe… The economic and security rationale for this co-operation will remain as strong in the aftermath of Brexit. So there is no reason for Brussels to suggest that the UK will become a less trustworthy and reliable partner. – FT editorial (£) Comment in brief Only Theresa May can decide Theresa May’s Brexit vision – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) The GDPR chaos is a reminder of how taking back control will allow us to make better laws – Daniel Stafford for ConservativeHome Brexit may be ahead of its time, but the EU won’t catch up in time to help Theresa May – Paul McGrade for the Telegraph (£) Jacob Rees-Mogg’s critics are missing the point – Ross Clark for the Spectator The Conservatives will be divided long after we leave the EU – Nick Timothy for the Telegraph (£) It’s time May called the bluff of the Brexiteers – Iain Martin for The Times (£) A customs union with the EU would prevent a full Brexit – Get Britain Out Believe it or not, the best Brexit deal still does involve leaving the customs union – Hamish McRae for the Independent Brexit represents a golden opportunity for UK ports – Robert Bates for Get Britain Out News in brief Wizz Air’s Brexit contingency plans take off as it secures UK licence – City A.M. Ski instructors fear avalanche of red tape after Brexit – Telegraph Windrush bodes ill for citizens’ post-Brexit rights, says Italy – Guardian And finally… Tory MP Peter Bone vows to erect statue honouring “Brexit Queen” Theresa May after she delivers Brexit Theresa May has hailed as the “Brexit Queen” today by a Tory MP who vowed to put up a statue of her in his town when she delivers our EU exit. Brexiteer Peter Bone praised the Prime Minister’s decision to follow through with leaving the bloc, and promised his constituents would cheer her on. He told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions today that should she wish, she would be “carried shoulder high through the streets to the echoing of cheering crowds” if she came to visit his area after Brexit. The MP for Wellingborough said he would show her “the site where a statue to the Brexit Queen will be erected”, to which Mrs May replied: “How can I refuse?” – The Sun