Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris and Gove believe they are winning battle for divergence from EU after Brexit ‘war Cabinet’ meeting… Boris Johnson and Michael Gove believe they are winning the battle for a “divergent” withdrawal from the EU after Theresa May chaired a Brexit “war Cabinet” meeting of senior ministers. Mrs May told the 10-strong Cabinet Brexit subcommittee that the Government must “aim high” by bargaining hard for the best possible deal rather than accepting what the EU is currently prepared to offer. Mr Johnson and Mr Gove were joined by Liam Fox and Gavin Williamson in calling for Britain to retain the right to diverge from EU rules and regulations to make it easier to strike trade deals with third party countries and free the UK from EU red tape. – Telegraph (£) A source revealed that the prime minister argued strongly for the UK to maintain its calls for a “bespoke and ambitious” trade deal despite a suggestion from the EU’s lead negotiator, Michel Barnier, that such an option was not viable. They said May argued that the UK ought to be thinking less about conforming to European standards and more to international ones as it enters discussions about the future trading relationship. – Guardian May plans new Brexit speech as ministers urge her to aim high – The Times (£) …as EU claims there is ‘no way’ UK can have a bespoke trade deal Theresa May will face a Cabinet row over Brexit after the EU warned that there is “no way” that the Prime Minister will be able to strike a bespoke trade deal with Brussels. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said that Britain must “face the consequences” of Brexit and cannot “cherry pick” and still enjoy the benefits of the Single Market after Brexit. Allies of Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, and Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, said Mr Barnier’s significantly boosted their case for Britain to be free of EU regulations and laws after Brexit. – Telegraph (£) EU infighting over Poland poses threat to Theresa May’s Brexit talks – Telegraph (£) Second Brexit vote would be a betrayal, says Theresa May… A second referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union would be a “betrayal”, Theresa May warned MPs today. Speaking in the Commons, the prime minister said that the prospect of a second vote would not only result in a bad deal for the UK but would undermine trust in democracy. “The best way to get the worst deal would be to suggest that we agree to a second referendum,” she said. She added: “But it’s more than that, I think. It would actually be betraying the British people. This parliament gave them the vote and it is up to us to deliver on the result of that vote. – The Times (£) …while the PM condemns abuse of MPs over Brexit Theresa May has condemned abuse of MPs following last week’s Brexit vote. The prime minister said despite “strongly held views” on both sides of the Commons there was no place for threats of violence and intimidation. Several Conservative MPs have received abusive messages and tweets because of their views on Brexit. Speaker John Bercow said MPs were public servants doing what they thought to be right and were “never mutineers, traitors nor enemies of the people”. Two of the MPs who rebelled against the government last week, Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan, said they had contacted the police about threats they received. – BBC Remain-backing Bercow shows sympathy for Brexit rebels – BBC Brexiteers slam EU plan for transition period & demand quick split A powerful Brexit group has written to all members of the Cabinet warning them Britain needs to make a “clean break” with the European Union on 29 March 2019. Leave Means Leave, which is backed by more than 50 Tory MPs and MEPs, has attacked the EU plans for a two year transition period which would stop Britain from making its own rules and force it to accept free movement. The concerns have been raised after members of the public “inundated” the organisation with emails expressing anger about Theresa May’s divorce settlement with the EU and the proposals for a transition or implementation period. – Express > Today on BrexitCentral: Leave Means Leave say Break with EU red tape to secure Brexit bonus Brexit will harm Europe as well as Britain says Michel Barnier’s right-hand man Brexit will harm Brussels as well as Britain, Michel Barnier’s right-hand man admitted today as he demanded the UK swallow all new EU law passed during the two year transition phase. Their divorce red line came as top EU Commission aide Stefaan De Rynck declared, “For us I don’t think we will ever label Brexit a success… it is a mutual weakening of the two parties.” Speaking at the respected foreign affairs think-tank Chatham House, the advisor to the EU Brexit chief insisted their hard-line demands are designed to protect the future of the beloved European project. – The Sun Factories going at full pelt as cheap pound fuels boom British factories are ramping up production to cope with the biggest rise in demand since the “Lawson boom” of the late 1980s as the cheap pound and a global economic recovery creates a surge in new orders. A closely watched survey of manufacturing by the CBI shows that factories are reporting their strongest order books in the past three decades. It adds to evidence that the 12 per cent fall in the value of the pound since the Brexit vote has helped fuel a rise in demand for UK goods overseas. The survey said that manufacturers were reporting the sharpest increase in export orders over the past two months than at any time since 1995. – The Times (£) Majority of Britons think Brexit won’t worsen their career prospects Fewer than one in four Britons think that Brexit will have a negative impact on their job situation according to a poll. Asked whether Brexit would improve or worsen their prospects for career progression and pay increases, only 24 per cent felt there would be a negative effect. Although only five per cent of people felt their prospects would improve post-Brexit, the majority (55 per cent) felt it would have no impact at all. – Telegraph (£) Brexitcast with BrexitCentral’s Darren Grimes Radio 5’s popular Brexit podcast is turned into a live radio show, web stream and TV programme for a global audience. BrexitCentral’s Darren Grimes was on the panel – BBC > Watch on BrexitCentral’s Youtube Channel: Darren Grimes on the Brexit War Cabinet meeting Amber Rudd praises Tory rebel Anna Soubry for fighting her corner The home secretary has paid tribute to the leader of rebel Tory MPs fighting against Brexit. Amber Rudd praised Anna Soubry last night for standing up “to fight her case” and said she had enormous respect for the former minister. It was a marked rebuke to other Tory MPs who have criticised Ms Soubry for inflicting the first major parliamentary defeat of Theresa May’s Brexit plans. She also warned Ms Soubry’s Tory critics in the media to think “very carefully” about the language they used when making their case so as not to incite wider “abuse” of MPs. – The Times (£) Peter Kellner: Why we can’t trust recent polling showing a ten point lead for Remain Sorry, Remainers. The BMG poll for the Independent, which caused such a stir over the weekend, looks wrong. The Remain lead, which has hovered around 1-4 per cent in recent weeks, has NOT suddenly widened to ten points in the wake of the government’s embarrassing defeat last week in the House of Commons. Here are four reasons to be wary of BMG’s figures.First, they are mainly driven by a seemingly huge shift in people who did not vote in last year’s referendum. Sure, the Remain camp is being swelled by young adults who abstained last time or were not old enough to vote. – Peter Kellner for Prospect Owen Paterson: To make Brexit a success, we must break free from the over-taxed, over-regulated European model We are now told that UK could maintain “full alignment” with the rules of the Single Market and the Customs Union once we leave. To its advocates, this suggestion will allow for continued easy trade with Europe, but they miss the point. Of course exporters to any market have to meet its standards, but Single Market membership requires us to apply all its regulations to the whole domestic economy, potentially damaging our future ability to trade around the world. At present, only around 12 per cent of GDP is a result of exports to the EU, yet the other 88 per cent must still obey all its rules. – Owen Paterson MP for ConservativeHome Leo McKinstry: Forget the Remainer doom and gloom: the prospects for Brexit remain bright As a propaganda initiative, Project Fear turned out to be a dismal failure. The scaremongering of the anti-Brexit campaigners was neither politically effective nor economically true. Contrary to all the alarmism of the pro-EU brigade, the vote for Brexit has not resulted in meltdown. Unemployment continues to fall. Industrial output has soared. Only last week, an authoritative report showed that the City of London has expanded its global dominance this year, making a mockery of the dire warnings about “Brexodus.” – Leo McKinstry for the Telegraph (£) John Redwood: European Council: The Article 50 meeting – Guidelines There has been some confusion created by this slim document that came from the EU after the recent Council meeting. Some seem to think it was an agreed document with the UK, and that we should therefore take its positions as the likely outcome of the negotiations between the UK and the EU. It is, of course, just a statement of a bargaining position by the EU preparatory to the talks on transition and a future relationship. The UK’s opening position will I assume be rather different! That became clear in the Prime Minister’s response to questions on her Statement yesterday following the EU Council meeting. – John Redwood’s Diary Melanie Phillips: The EU is the engine room for extremism In the minds of many Remainers, those who want to leave the EU hate Europe and Europeans. The idea that one might love visiting Europe and like Europeans but nevertheless not want to be ruled by them is apparently incomprehensible. Britain is pulling up an existential drawbridge. The Brexiteers’ desire to open up the world is deemed a retreat into isolationism. Behind all this lies a curious paradox. While Brexiteers believe they are about to reclaim their political identity, these Remainers feel that they are about to lose theirs. Such people often say they feel not British but European. What, though, does that mean? There is no European-ness, no European nation, no European identity. The countries of Europe are all different. – Melanie Phillips for The Times (£) Brexit in brief The ghost of Social Chapter policies past haunts the forthcoming Brexit row about labour regulations Mark Wallace for ConservativeHome Ministers have a duty to provide Brexit clarity – Christian May for City A.M. The surge to the Right in Europe is nowhere near over. Austria is just its latest success – Matthew Goodwin for the Telegraph (£) Austria’s Sebastian Kurz should be praised for refusing to ignore the populists – William Cook for the Spectator EU and Mexico make big push for trade deal – Politico May warned on Irish ‘contradiction’ at heart of future EU deal – BBC