Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Cabinet to discuss preparations for ‘no-deal’ Brexit this morning The U.K. Cabinet will discuss preparations for leaving the European Union without a deal at their weekly meeting on Tuesday, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said. Brexit Secretary David Davis will lead the discussion “looking at Brexit preparations for all contingencies, that does obviously include ‘no deal,’” the spokesperson told journalists at a briefing in Westminster Monday… May has been under mounting pressure to make preparations to walk away if the U.K. is unable to secure a favorable deal, including from senior Conservative donors this weekend. – Politico David Davis to reveal how a ‘No Deal’ Brexit would work for 58 different industries – Daily Mail Brexit impact reports on 58 industries to stay secret as Government says it must carry out policymaking in “safe space” – FT (£) Ministers at war with HMRC bosses over claims post-Brexit customs system will take five years – The Sun EU ‘no-deal’ is a ‘horror show’, claims TUC boss Frances O’Grady – Express > Julian Jessop on BrexitCentral today: A ‘bare bones’ Brexit where we trade with the EU under WTO rules is no Hallowe’en nightmare Britain presses for ‘continuous’ talks to break Brexit impasse, as Germany plays hardball In Brussels Tuesday, U.K. and EU negotiators will thrash out a format for the next round of Brexit talks ahead of a December meeting of the European Council, when EU leaders will decide if “sufficient progress” has been made to warrant moving to the next stage… The U.K. has proposed one “single open-ended” set of talks to replace the formal, one-round-per-month set-up preferred by Brussels, officials familiar with the process said. Other options put forward include a less formal, rolling format under which David Davis and the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier would be called into Brussels whenever a political decision was needed… Senior U.K. government officials in Westminster stressed that they had been pushing for a more flexible negotiating format for months, to no avail. – Politico Senior UK sources said the idea of continuous talks would help to “clear the thicket” of the issues between the sides and reduce the tension created by the current three-day negotiating rounds capped by “awkward” press conferences that highlighted a lack of progress… Underlying the British proposal is an acceptance by both sides that there is very little left to discuss on a technical level on the three dossiers – citizens’ rights, money and Northern Ireland – on which the EU says “sufficient progress” must be made before they start phase two of the negotiation. “There really isn’t much left to discuss at this stage,” said one senior EU official close to the talks… Officials on both sides confirmed to The Telegraph that, despite some warm words from EU leaders at the October 19-20 summit, the fundamentals of the stand-off over EU demands for some €60bn financial settlement remain unchanged. – Peter Foster for the Telegraph (£) UK demands more frequent Brexit talks to force progress – Bloomberg UK to step up diplomatic efforts to win over sceptical European leaders – Bloomberg Backlash after Michel Barnier meets with top Remainers Clegg, Clarke and Adonis in Brussels Nick Clegg, Ken Clarke and Lord Adonis, three of Britain’s leading Europhile politicians, were today accused of trying to undermine Brexit after meeting with Michel Barnier, the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator… Mr Barnier insists that Britain can only conduct Brexit negotiations through him rather than with the individual governments of the remaining 27 EU member states. He has been criticised of playing “divide and rule” by holding official meetings with British political leaders, who are not part of the government. Mr Barnier has met Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer twice, as well as Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones… The European Commission insisted it was not holding back channel Brexit talks behind Theresa May’s back. – Telegraph (£) ‘Attempt to undermine Britain’: Fury as trio of top europhiles meet EU negotiator Barnier – Express EU denies parallel Brexit negotiations over top Remainers’ trip to Brussels – Sky News Eurosceptics fight back against ‘Remainer coup’ and demand meeting with Barnier – Express Nigel Farage asks to meet Michel Barnier to talk Brexit after Remainer meeting – Politico Clegg, Clarke and Adonis launch a desperate last bid to beat Brexit – Telegraph editorial (£) Government reportedly concedes Brexit deal will only be legal after a vote of MPs A Brexit agreement with the EU would need to be enshrined in law and be subject to scrutiny and a vote by MPs and peers, ministers have conceded. Until now Theresa May and David Davis, the Brexit secretary, have insisted that parliament will only be given a “take it or leave it” vote on the overall deal, without the need for primary legislation. But behind the scenes ministers have accepted that their stance is untenable and the government will have to implement key elements of the withdrawal agreement directly into British law. The concession, which could be announced as early as next month, raises the prospect of a lengthy and divisive parliamentary showdown on the eve of Brexit. It could also hand MPs the power to unpick key elements of the deal by trying to amend the legislation. – The Times (£) Airline bosses dismiss claim ‘no deal’ Brexit will ground flights The boss of British Airways has dismissed claims – including from Chancellor Philip Hammond – that flights could be grounded if Britain leaves the EU without a divorce deal. Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways’ parent company IAG, expressed confidence an agreement on air travel will be reached even if there is a “no deal” Brexit. Speaking to MPs on the House of Commons Transport Committee, Mr Walsh said: “The prospect of there being no flying between the UK and Europe, I don’t agree with at all because it goes well beyond that. I think this would bring the whole of Europe to a standstill.” The airline chief insisted there are “technical ways of addressing any scenario” over Britain’s exit from the EU. His view was backed up by easyJet’s UK director Sophie Dekkers and Heathrow Airport boss John Holland-Kaye, who also gave evidence to the committee. – Sky News BA boss insists there’s no chance Brexit will stop flights between Britain and the EU even without a trade deal – The Sun BA boss Walsh says flights with EU unlikely to be grounded in ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario – Telegraph Open skies to continue after Brexit, vows transport secretary Chris Grayling – Independent HSBC is latest bank to downgrade Brexit exodus warning HSBC has become the latest bank to change its warning of a Brexit exodus as it signalled that the number of jobs to leave London might be fewer than first thought. The UK-based lender’s finance director Iain Mackay said the total “may be less than 1,000 employees”, the number it has previously been suggesting would need to be transferred to Paris. It comes days after the head of Swiss bank UBS said its “worst case scenario” of having to shift 1,000 jobs out of London was looking unlikely… Meanwhile, another banking boss, Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, was also sounding a more emollient tone about the UK during a visit to London. – Sky News HSBC says it will wait as long as possible before moving jobs out of UK – Guardian Goldman Sachs CEO ‘hopes’ to fill new London HQ with staff post-Brexit – Independent Bank of England claims 75,000 finance jobs could be lost in event of ‘no deal’ – City A.M. Quick deal on Brexit vital, warn chiefs of HSBC and Goldman Sachs – The Times (£) UK still global dealmakers’ favourite place to invest in Europe “despite Brexit”, finds study If Brexit is bad for British business, global dealmakers are not paying attention. The UK is still their favourite place in Europe to invest, according to a survey by Ernst & Young. Business executives from around the world ranked Britain third behind the United States and China as the top investment destination, ahead of Germany and France, the New York-based consultancy said in its Global Capital Confidence Barometer report. “Doing deals is in the DNA of UK companies,” said Steve Krouskos, EY’s global vice chair of transaction advisory services. “The UK is home to the most important assets sought by dealmakers — technology, talent and intellectual property — so it always has been and always will be a major player.” – Independent Professional job availability rises 7% as employers look to smooth Brexit transition Employers are looking for skilled workers to smooth the transition out of the European Union, pushing the number of professional jobs available in the UK up 7pc in the last three months. According to recruitment firm Robert Walters, job volume growth was strongest in supply chain accounting and procurement roles, where the number of jobs available compared to last year was 15pc and 13pc higher respectively. This was driven by the need to work out new ways of trading with overseas firms in light of changes to Britain’s trade agreements, the firm said. – Telegraph John Humphrys admits Brexit stunned “out of touch” BBC bosses John Humphrys has admitted that the BBC is out of touch with the population, recalling how bosses were ‘absolutely stunned’ on the morning of the Brexit referendum result. The veteran broadcaster said he suspected that the reaction to the vote within the BBC’s headquarters was markedly different from the feeling ‘in a cafe round the corner’. And he conceded that it was evidence that those at the top of the organisation do sometimes ‘lose touch’ with the general public. – Daily Mail Asa Bennett: The EU elite needs to break out of its Remainer bubble to actually understand Brexit Given the complexity of the process, you might think the EU top brass could better spend their time reaching out to Brexiteers, at least so they can understand what the British want out of the process. Instead, they are happier to rub shoulders with people who agree with them already… [I]t is concerning when those in power comfort themselves by surrounding themselves with yes men, rather than trying to get to grips with a new issue. If Monsieur Barnier wants to understand how to reach a deal Theresa May would be able to sell to Brexit voters, people like Nick Clegg would not give him an accurate picture of that. Tory, or Ukip, figures could do that, but then he might hear some things he won’t like about his bosses… The European elite need to widen their social circle sharpish, as their Remain-centric bubble is not helping them face the future. Messrs Clegg, Clarke and Adonis are experienced politicians. But their thoughts on Brexit are unrepresentative of mainstream public opinion and will simply embolden ideologues in Brussels. – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) James Arnell: We must be willing to be radical with tariffs and trade to be Ready on Day One for Brexit If we cannot secure an acceptable free trade agreement with the EU before 2019, most observers have suggested that we move to a WTO tariff regime… We should reduce tariffs as much as possible, while maintaining leverage over trade partners to bring them to the table for wider FTA discussions… Specifically with regard to the EU, we should retain tariffs in those sectors which cause significant pressure on individual EU states, in order to encourage the EU to agree a FTA with the UK in due course… I would propose that we radically overhaul our import tariff regime to coincide with Brexit in 2019. I propose that the UK suspends tariffs on many WTO chapters, and charges tariffs on imports on just 23 of the 99 chapters… The UK would “lose” tariff income (as compared to a standard WTO tariff deployment) of £2.8 billion on EU imports and £2.3 billion on non-EU imports. This would reduce frictional costs of trade (as compared to a standard WTO tariff deployment) by £5.1 billion. This benefit would be felt by UK importers and consumers. – James Arnell for ConservativeHome Henry Newman: For the talks to progress, May should show Brussels the colour of our money Given that the decision on “sufficient progress” is political, the UK needs to play the politics carefully. The EU was never going to green light the UK switching to parallel talks at the first opportunity, so there was little point giving further details earlier on the money – a key UK negotiating card. To get the UK over the line in December, May will need to put more on the table. DExEU people are whispering “48” as the upper end of the UK’s potential liability. But that level of commitment or specificity is not necessarily required at this stage. Instead, the Government needs to provide detail about what the Prime Minister has already committed and to show movement on other areas. And if there are some particularly difficult areas, the UK could consider offering to put them to arbitration – long-grassing the issue politically. – Henry Newman for ConservativeHome Brexit comment in brief We want our money back from the European Investment Bank – Diane James MEP for City A.M. Britain must be bold to grow its own way post-Brexit – David Barling for the Telegraph (£) Why it would be wrong to blame a rate hike on Brexit – Julian Jessop for the IEA Remaining in the ECHR is a cost of leaving the EU – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome The Mail’s ‘Brexit bias’ witch-hunt is wrong, but raises uncomfortable home truths – Lee Jones for LSE Brexit Spare us the half-baked theories on Brexit bigots – Melanie Phillips for The Times (£) Catalonia crisis hits home in Belgium – Laurens Cerulus for Politico Spain’s crisis is the next challenge for the EU – Gideon Rachman for the FT (£) Visegrád 4 cools on Europe, and each other – Matthew Karnitschnig for Politico Brexit news in brief Confidential report reveals European Parliament struggling to handle harassment cases – Politico EU rebuffs Catalan leaders as they are accused of rebellion – The Times (£) Hammond vows not to break fiscal rules to fund new spending – FT (£) Deadline extended for Northern Ireland powersharing deal – ITV News DUP calls on UK government to impose budget on Northern Ireland – FT (£)