Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson backs Jacob Rees-Mogg after he warned Theresa May she faces Tory revolt over Brexit… Boris Johnson has publicly backed the MP who warned Theresa May of a rebellion if she failed to deliver on her Brexit promises as a fresh Tory row over Europe took hold. The Foreign Secretary said the Eurosceptic MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who told the Prime Minister that she could face the collapse of her Government if she concedes too much ground to Brussels, “wants the best for our country”… It has also emerged that Mrs May signed up to a European Council document that allows for Britain to keep its MEPs – and remain in the European Union – if Britain’s withdrawal from the EU is delayed beyond March 2019. Mr Johnson’s intervention came after Mr Rees-Mogg had suggested in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph that Mrs May’s Government could collapse if she did not deliver the Brexit “she herself has promised”. – Telegraph (£) Boris Johnson defends Jacob Rees-Mogg as Brexit infighting intensifies – Sky News Jacob Rees-Mogg faces backlash from pro-Remain Tories after warning to Theresa May – Sky News Ignore false alarms, we are seizing our chance to be free and taking control of our future – Jacob Rees-Mogg for The Sun No more lecturing and pontificating: let’s get behind the PM – Simon Hoare MP for The Times (£) Rees-Mogg, Brexit and the ghost of Peel – James Blitz for the FT (£) If Tory Remainers want Brexit harmony, shouting down Jacob Rees-Mogg won’t deliver it – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Brexit is coming – splitting the party over the deal now would just play into the EU’s hands – Lord Hague for the Telegraph (£) Theresa May and Brexiteers must stop senior Cabinet Remainers from neutering Brexit – The Sun says …as May faces Cabinet backlash over Brexit ‘third way’ and is accused of ‘treating ministers like idiots’… Theresa May is facing a furious backlash from her Cabinet over her new “magic” third way on Britain’s post-Brexit customs arrangements amid accusations that she is treating her ministers like “idiots”… The Telegraph understands that Cabinet ministers including David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, knew nothing about the existence of the new proposal until it was briefed to the press over the weekend. Eurosceptic ministers are understood to be “deeply cynical” about the new plan amid concerns that the Prime Minister is trying to “bounce” her Cabinet… “It looks like a deliberate attempt by No 10 to force through its own agenda,” a Cabinet source said. “Downing Street is treating the Cabinet like idiots. It feels like they’re trying to bounce us into the Customs Partnership by calling it something else.” … It is thought that ministers will not be given sight of the proposal until Thursday, the day before the Chequers meeting. – Telegraph (£) The atmosphere at Westminster last night was so febrile that it was described by one senior Tory as “a bit end of days” as No 10 arranged face-to-face talks with senior ministers before their meeting at Chequers on Friday. Another said: “It feels like the wild west. A lot of ministers have been slapped down for failing to observe cabinet responsibility and yet No 10 are the worst offenders. We are all being kept in the dark.”… Downing Street sources said that a “third way” model was under preparation. However, senior ministers complain that they have seen no sign of it, provoking allegations of bad faith… Some officials made clear that they saw it as primarily a “rebranding” exercise of the [customs partnership] plan, which Mr Johnson and others thought they had defeated. One said that the final version, which is still being worked on, could only involve the change of “a comma here and a phrase there”. – The Times (£) Theresa May keeps cabinet in dark over customs plan for Brexit – FT (£) Number 10’s new customs plan doesn’t fully exist, sources insist – Spectator Downing Street claims Brexit customs plan will offer ‘best of both worlds’ – BBC News Tory differences over UK’s post-Brexit future spill into the open – Guardian Theresa May makes emotional plea to stop feuding Tories from destroying Brexit and her government with their infighting – The Sun Balancing act May must perform to create a clear Brexit plan – Heather Stewart for the Guardian Chequers could see checkmate on Brexit – Faisal Islam for Sky News London’s Brexit time bomb is about to blow – Tom McTague for Politico Why Europe is planning to shoot down Theresa May’s ‘third way’ and make Chequers a bloodbath – Peter Foster for the Telegraph (£) …with David Davis embroiled in battle with the civil service amidst Eurosceptic backlash over May’s ‘surrender’ plan… In a concession to unlock stalled talks with Brussels, the PM is also expected to propose to her Cabinet that they voluntarily agree to align rules and standards on goods with the EU’s, but diverge on services. The No10 announcement sparked uproar among senior ministers who were not aware of the new plan, including the Brexit Secretary himself David Davis. Mr Davis went to see the PM for an explanation, only to be told it was far from finished. It also emerged last night that David Davis was last night locked in a furious row with civil servants over the findings of the three-strong Cabinet working group set up to hammer out the problems with “Max Fac”. Whitehall sources said the Brexit Secretary was “threatening to refuse to sign off the conclusions” amid claims it was too negative and mandarins had misrepresented what Ministers had agreed about the high tech border plan… Former Tory leader Iain Duncan-Smith said: “Staying in the customs union or single market for goods basically means surrender… It’s not negotiation – it’s a capitulation.” – The Sun May’s ‘victory through capitulation’ tactic is the biggest threat to Brexit – Andrew Lilico for Reaction Cabinet Brexiteers silent as Robbins rubs out red lines – Guido Fawkes It’s time for the Cabinet to find a Brexit backbone – Stephen Pollard for the Express …as May ducks out of Brexit customs questions in Parliament Theresa May refused yesterday to rule out binding Britain to the European Union’s single market or setting common customs tariffs with Brussels as she sidestepped attempts by MPs to pin down her Brexit strategy. Attempting to hold her increasingly fractious MPs together, the prime minister pledged to deliver a deal that was good for business while not violating her red lines. Amid pointed, and at times hostile, questioning from her own backbenchers in the Commons, however, Mrs May sidestepped key questions on customs, regulation and transition before the crucial cabinet meeting at Chequers on Thursday. Asked by the veteran Brexiteer Sir Bill Cash whether she could reject “preposterous” reports that the government might consider “some form of legal re-entry” into the single market Mrs May only ruled out formal membership of the European Economic Area… When asked by Jacob Rees-Mogg whether she would confirm that Britain would leave the EU’s customs union at the end of the transition period and no longer be tied to setting the same tariff rates on goods as those set by the European Union, Mrs May said that the UK would be leaving but declined to answer the second part of his question. She also sidestepped a question from the Labour MP Pat McFadden on whether she would be prepared to extend the transition period. – The Times (£) Theresa May: Ireland border only outstanding Brexit withdrawal issue – Politico Two years on, Tory MPs are still asking Theresa May whether Brexit will ever actually happen – Michael Deacon for the Telegraph (£) A betrayal of the people is no laughing matter – Express editorial > WATCH: Highlights of Theresa May’s European Council Statement to Parliament and questions from MPs > WATCH: Jacob Rees-Mogg challenges May over leaving the Customs Union and the Common External Tariff > WATCH: Simon Clarke says Norway-style Brexit would not deliver what his constituents voted for Nicky Morgan demands impact analysis from Treasury and Bank of England ahead of final Brexit vote MPs have called for the Treasury, Bank of England, and a City watchdog to produce Brexit impact analyses before parliament votes on the final deal. Tory MP and chairman of the Treasury Select Committee Nicky Morgan has written to Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, calling for a detailed analysis to be “published in good time before Parliament comes to make its key decisions”… A Treasury spokesman said Mr Hammond would send a reply to Ms Morgan shortly. Ms Morgan wrote separately to the head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Andrew Bailey and Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney. A spokesman at the Bank said Mr Carney, would respond to the request in the next few weeks. – Telegraph Theresa May asks Treasury for Brexit analysis – Sky News Nicky Morgan demands advice from Bank of England on ‘economic damage’ before Brexit vote – Express David Cameron ‘personally requested Obama’s back of the queue Brexit warning’ A former key aide to Barack Obama has confirmed David Cameron personally asked the US president to warn Britain would be “back of the queue” for a post-Brexit trade deal. Ben Rhodes, an ex-White House adviser, admitted Mr Obama’s dramatic intervention in the EU referendum campaign came at the personal request of the former prime minister. In April 2016, two months before the Brexit vote, the former president used a visit to London to caution the UK would not be a priority for a trade deal with America if British voters chose to quit the EU. Mr Obama warned: “The UK is going to be in the back of the queue.” At the time, the remarks were furiously rejected by Brexit campaigners, who suspected co-ordination between 10 Downing Street and the Obama camp. They pointed to the president’s choice of the word “queue”, rather than the typically American usage of “line”, as evidence of British involvement in scripting Mr Obama’s comments. Mr Rhodes, who recently released a memoir of his time working for Mr Obama, has now revealed that was the case. – Sky News Cameron asked Obama to say UK would be “at back of the queue” – Guido Fawkes Barack Obama warned UK would go to ‘back of the queue’ for trade deal after request from David Cameron – Telegraph Bang to rights: Craig Oliver claimed No.10 didn’t write Obama’s ‘back of queue’ line – Guido Fawkes EU students get post-Brexit fees promise EU students at universities in England, Wales and Scotland will continue to be treated the same as home students in the first intake after Brexit. Education Secretary Damian Hinds says EU students starting in autumn 2019 will pay the same tuition fees as English students and their access to support will be unchanged. This status will last for the duration of their degree courses. Mr Hinds said he wanted to provide “clarity and certainty”… It might also be seen as a conciliatory gesture, ahead of negotiations in which the UK’s universities hope to maintain access to a share of 100bn euros (£89bn) of EU research funding… So far there is no long-term decision or reciprocal deal on how UK students in the EU, or EU students in the UK, will be treated post-Brexit. – BBC News Global Britain educates the world – Get Britain Out’s Stephen Mitchell for the ConservativeOnline Merkel survives crisis but gives ground on migration Angela Merkel defused the crisis in her government last night, reaching a face-saving compromise with Horst Seehofer, the interior minister, to curb illegal migration into Germany. The deal agreed after a last-ditch meeting in Berlin calls for special transit zones on the German border with Austria where asylum seekers already registered in other EU countries will be held before being sent back… Last night’s deal followed a day of frantic talks and speculation that her government might collapse just three months after it was formed. Had Mr Seehofer taken unilateral action she would have had to dismiss him, which would probably have led to the break-up of the 70-year parliamentary alliance between the CDU and its Bavarian sister party CSU, depriving her of a government majority. – The Times (£) EU begins legal case against Poland for ‘undermining judicial independence’ – Express Compulsory Danish: One of Europe’s most homogeneous societies says migrants must integrate – Times leader (£) The EU is storing up problems for the future – Kai Weiss for CapX The Sun: Theresa May and Brexiteers must stop senior Cabinet Remainers from neutering Brexit It is incredible to watch Europhile Tories savage Jacob Rees-Mogg simply for insisting that Theresa May should keep the promises she has repeatedly made. Of course she must. The future of her Government and our democracy hinge on it. Yet her top aide Oliver Robbins reportedly intends on Friday to demand that the Cabinet signs off what amounts to a betrayal of the referendum vote. His strategy, to stay in the EU’s single market for goods, already looks fatal to regaining full control of immigration, freeing ourselves from the sway of the European Court of Justice and striking our own trade deals. And that’s before Brussels formally rejects it, as it will. Michel Barnier will then demand full single market membership, with free movement, and kill our ambition to trade independently too. What will Mrs May do then? … Will the PM ever say enough is enough and honour her “red lines”? Or will she cross more of them? How is Robbins’ plan Brexit? It’s not. Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, David Davis and Liam Fox must not stand for it. Nor must sensible Cabinet Remainers. Voters are not dumb. They will smell a sellout instantly. It would be a national calamity — suicidal for the PM, her Government and party. – The Sun says Express: A betrayal of the people is no laughing matter Prime Minister Theresa May says her statement that “Brexit means Brexit” has attracted some “jocularity”. If she means we see our politicians as a bunch of jokers over their handling of our departure from the EU then she might be right. But things are deadly serious… A betrayal of what the country voted for in the EU referendum is unthinkable yet there are worrying signs that such a result is on the cards… [The Cabinet]’s crunch summit planned for Chequers on Friday has to come up with the right answers. For all our sakes. – Express editorial William Hague: Brexit is coming – splitting the party over the deal now would just play into the EU’s hands First of all, the time for agreeing a policy together is long overdue. Continued division is now worse than any of the options causing it. It is allowing the European Commission to sit back, make zero concessions and prepare to impose its own terms on the UK in the absence of any alternative proposals. This is meant to be a government negotiating a momentous international agreement not a debating society that has forgotten to impose a time limit on speeches… Fourth and most crucially, everyone threatening Theresa May with chaos, revolt, resignations, and a leadership election if she doesn’t do as they wish needs to think carefully about what might be the consequences of their actions. A vote of no confidence in the leadership called on this issue would in all probability rally the sensible middle to the Prime Minister. Even if it didn’t, any new incumbent would face exactly the same negotiating choices and arithmetic in parliament. – William Hague for the Telegraph (£) Howard Shore: Our leaders should offer businesses a practical Brexit While the views of Airbus, BMW, and the like, should be taken seriously, they should not be taken as being representative of British business. The tone of debate sometimes suggests all British businesses are regularly trading with the EU, when only 6pc (including SMEs of all sizes) export there, accounting for 12pc of GDP… Britain can only have an independent trade policy if we are not members of the customs union, but this has been presented as an acceptable outcome by the CBI and others. Decoupling the UK from the protectionist EU trade bloc was a key reason why 17.4m people voted to leave, so this clearly isn’t a suitable solution. Moreover, many business leaders were concerned by the EU’s direction of economic travel, with increasing levels of regulation strangling enterprise, and higher taxation reducing the incentive to invest. The final deal cannot involve staying in the single market in all but name. Without the free-market, free-trading influence of the UK, the EU looks set to travel even further in the wrong direction, so we need to find a mechanism to facilitate trade in goods and services without leaving us as a rule-taker. – Howard Shore for the Telegraph (£) Nusrat Zar and Mark Smyth: Judges won’t get dragged into political squabbling over Brexit British courts have little tolerance for the use of judicial review for overtly political purposes around Brexit, as demonstrated by two recent judgments. The hearings are part of a trend of claimants seeking to change the course of the UK’s departure from the EU or to shape negotiations through legal challenges. But the judicial response has been to reject applications brought for overtly political purposes or perceived as “vanity litigation”, rather than as a genuine challenge to the legality of the decision. In the Webster case handed down last month (R (on the application of Elizabeth Webster) v Secretary of State for Exiting the EU), the claimant sought to challenge aspects of the Brexit negotiations by alleging that the UK had failed to make a valid decision to withdraw from the EU. The court rejected the application as being totally without merit and, unusually, awarded costs against the claimant. The court concluded that “put bluntly, the debate which the claimant seeks to promote belongs firmly in the political arena, not the courts”. – Nusrat Zar and Mark Smyth for The Times (£) Court to hear Brexit challenge by 97-year-old WW2 veteran – Guardian Tibor Fischer: From Germany to Italy, Europe is rebelling against those sanctimonious freeloaders in Brussels – and I’m delighted As Angela Merkel lurches from one acrimonious negotiation to another to steady her government and the EU, one thing should be borne in mind: the great lie of the Remain camp is that “Europe” in some way means those sanctimonious freeloaders gathered in Brussels. More and more, what we are seeing is Europe itself fighting back against the EU – and the control, homogeneity, and finger-wagging it thrives on… Instead of seeking greater control, the EU and its acolytes in the member states, hooked on “European” solutions to every problem, should listen to Europe, and back off. The flowers and the fruit should move freely, but to steal from Voltaire, everyone should be left to cultivate their garden, and their garden gate, as they see fit. – Tibor Fischer for the Telegraph (£) Comment in brief Australian optimism points the way to a global Brexit future – Rob Edgar for City A.M. More money on defence post-Brexit is a vital national investment – James Rogers for the Telegraph (£) Labour can’t escape its share of the blame for Home Office dysfunction – Telegraph editorial (£) Be thankful for the Brexit deadline: on everything else May procrastinates – Isabel Hardman for the Guardian Remain’s ‘Project Fear’ lies should fool no one – Get Britain Out’s Joshua King for the Commentator The story behind Andrew RT Davies’ ousting as Welsh Conservative leader – Martin Shipton for WalesOnline Welsh Conservative leader was forced out for supporting Brexit – Joshua King for Get Britain Out How the World Cup saw off Trump and Brexit to win the news in June – Will Clothier for The Times (£) News in brief Financial services hiring and investment up – Guido Fawkes Italian agricultural association admits no deal Brexit would devastate economies across EU – Express Brexit ‘will reduce supply of medicines’ in Ireland – The Times (£) Len McCluskey: Unite will back new EU referendum if members want one – BBC News Unite boss Len McCluskey reveals union could back referendum on final Brexit deal – Sky News Red Len’s mixed messages – Guido Fawkes Britain moves big into Brussels – Politico EU shipping plastic waste to Asia for marine disposal – Guido Fawkes BCC and City of London urge government to come together and deliver on Brexit – City A.M. British Chambers of Commerce loses patience over Brexit trade deal talks – The Times (£) Guy Verhofstadt tells Home Secretary Sajid Javid to waive £65 ‘settled status’ fee for EU citizens – The Sun MEPs to send UK complaint over post-Brexit plans for EU citizens – Politico Pro-Republican business chiefs demand Trump reverses tariffs – The Times (£) Barclays moving up to 50 investment bankers to Frankfurt ahead of Brexit – Telegraph Remoaner MP puts out ads hinting that Gareth Southgate would support a second EU referendum – The Sun