David Davis says Europhile MPs intending to vote against Article 50 Bill are abusing the trust of the British people David Davis has accused Europhile MPs who are plotting to frustrate Theresa May’s plans for a clean Brexit of abusing trust of the British people. The Exiting the European Union secretary said that MPs who vote against triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty are showing that they do not “trust the people” after last summer’s European Union referendum….Speaking ahead of today’s debate, Mr Davis said that MPs were considering a “very simple question: do we trust the people or not?” in the debate. MPs will be urged by Mr Davis to respect the referendum result and pass straightforward legislation allowing formal negotiations to commence, without tying the Government’s hands. – Daily Telegraph Two days have been set aside for a debate on the bill’s second reading in the Commons, with pro-Remain MPs attempting to prevent it going ahead by tabling a series of wrecking amendments. Five amendments – two all-party, one from the Scottish National Party, one from Labour backbenchers and one from the Liberal Democrats – have been tabled by the bill’s opponents. – Sky News Conservative ministers and MPs ordered to remain in Commons amid fears of Remain ‘ambush vote’ on Article 50 – Daily Telegraph Brexit is now about how we leave EU concedes Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones – BBC Brexit bill set to pass without amendment as Tory rebels back off Theresa May’s Brexit bill is likely to pass through the Commons without major amendment next week, as Conservative rebels are backing away from supporting changes proposed by Labour or other opposition parties. A band of Tory MPs fighting against a hard Brexit are indicating they have been largely satisfied by the prime minister’s promise of a white paper, which they believe could be published as early as Thursday. Labour and the Liberal Democrats now believe there is very little chance of getting enough cross-party votes for amendments. They had hoped to win support on issues such as guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals, and a more meaningful vote at the end of the two-year negotiations or protections in the House of Commons. – The Guardian The Brexit Bill must pass without amendments, and on time – Daily Telegraph editorial Labour MPs want to force a vote to let Parliament decide if Britain leaves the single market Labour MPs are to try to force a vote giving Parliament the right to decide whether Britain should stay in the EU single market – and are demanding Theresa May delays triggering Article 50 until such a poll is held. In an amendment tabled to the Withdrawal from the European Bill, 10 Labour backbenchers, including a number of former shadow cabinet ministers, demand the Prime Minister holds off on formally beginning Brexit negotiations until Parliament “has determined whether the UK should also seek to withdraw from the European Economic Area” – the official name for the single market. Ms May has previously said she plans to take UK out of the single market, arguing that staying in “would mean not leaving the EU at all”. – The Independent Labour ‘needs collective view’ on Brexit says Dan Jarvis MP – BBC Mr Corbyn is stuck between a rock and a hard Brexit – Michael O’Sullivan for Labour Leave Blocking Brexit could spell the end for Labour – Jacob Furedi for Spiked Theresa May aiming to trigger Brexit at EU summit on 9th March The prime minister has so far been determined not to reveal the precise date when she plans to invoke the formal two-year mechanism for leaving the EU, saying only that she will begin Brexit by the end of March. However, the government told the House of Lords yesterday that it wants the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill approved on March 7. All 28 heads of government from EU member states will meet on March 9 at the two-day European Council summit in Malta, giving Mrs May an opportunity to invoke the clause. On March 8 Philip Hammond, the chancellor, will present his first budget. – The Times (£) City lobby group TheCityUK comes out fighting for global Brexit in dramatic u-turn The City’s top lobby group has performed a dramatic u-turn on Brexit, scrapping its previous campaign to remain in the EU and instead hailing the vote to leave as “unprecedented opportunity” for the UK to develop a powerful new set of trade and investment policies….The group declared: “TheCityUK is a strong believer in the potential opportunities that the UK’s departure from the European Union will offer.” It calls for a wholesale rethink of trade policy to focus on the services sectors which make up the bulk of the British economy, rather than the physical goods which are the focus of many trade negotiations. – Daily Telegraph Brexit will not mean hard Irish border vow May and her Irish counterpart Securing agreement on “seamless and frictionless” trade and travel across the border will be the shared key objective of Enda Kenny and Theresa May when formal Brexit negotiations begin. The taoiseach described talks with the British prime minister as frank and constructive after the pair held a 90-minute meeting at Government Buildings yesterday….Mrs May said it was her government’s “explicit objective” to ensure that full account was taken of the particular circumstances in Northern Ireland as it prepared for Brexit negotiations. “I am pleased that our EU partners have demonstrated a clear understanding of the acute need to find a solution for Northern Ireland and Ireland so that thousands of citizens can continue to move freely every day. I want the reciprocal rights both countries enjoy to continue.” – The Times (£) Sturgeon gives May deadline to sort Scotland Brexit compromise Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had given Theresa May until March to come up with a compromise plan for Scotland and Brexit… The British prime minister has set March as her own deadline for triggering Article 50, beginning two-years of negotiations to extract the UK from the 28-member bloc, after 41 years of membership. However, Scotland, which voted in the June 2016 referendum to remain in the EU, has still to “have its voice listened to”, according to Sturgeon, whose Scottish National Party runs a minority administration in Edinburgh. Sturgeon’s SNP holds its spring conference in March, a possible date for announcing such an independence bid. – EurActiv Sturgeon ‘to ditch bid for full EU status for independent Scotland’ – Daily Express My message to Theresa May on Brexit: live up to your promises to Scotland – Nicola Sturgeon for the SNP blog Will Brexit be a success? Academics devise tests to find out Britain’s exit from the EU must make the country more prosperous and fair, maintain an open economy and increase people’s democratic rights, a group of academics has urged in a list of four tests for making a success of Brexit. As Theresa May prepares for a parliamentary vote that is expected to sanction the triggering of the article 50 process to leave the EU, the thinktank The UK in a Changing Europe has set out criteria for uniting leave and remain supporters. Its report, entitled A Successful Brexit: Four Economic Tests, outlines a framework for judging whether Brexit has been successful, and that the group of academics feels should be guiding principles throughout talks to leave the EU. – The Guardian What would a successful Brexit look like? Here are four tests to measure it – Jonathan Portes for The Guardian Andrew Tyrie claims UK would face ‘train crash Brexit’ if it falls back on WTO rules The UK would face a “train crash Brexit” if it left the European Union without a trade deal and fell back on World Trade Organization rules, the chair of the influential House of Commons Treasury Committee warned Monday. Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie said even the prospect of falling back on WTO rules posed risks to the U.K.’s financial services sector. – Politico > Peter Lilley on BrexitCentral earlier this month: Even if the EU shuns a free trade deal with us and we move to WTO rules, we’ll still be better off EU leaders split over timing of trade negotiations Britain could be allowed to negotiate its split from Brussels and start talks about a trade agreement with the EU at the same time, the European parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator has suggested….[Guy Verhofstadt]’s comments appear to contradict the stance of Michel Barnier, the chief negotiator of the European Commission, who has insisted on a sequential approach in which the UK can open trade talks only after the terms of the exit have been agreed. Theresa May and her ministers have said that they want to conduct the two sets of negotiations in parallel. – The Times (£) Brexit is a golden opportunity for the EU says Verhofstadt – Politico Germany will not ease rules to lure bankers after Brexit Germany’s financial watchdog BaFin warned on Monday that it would not relax its rules in a bid to attract banks looking for a new home in the EU following the UK’s Brexit vote. Speaking after a meeting on Monday with representatives of around 25 banks from the US, UK, Japan and Australia, as well as the ECB and Germany’s Bundesbank, Peter Lutz, an official responsible for banking supervision at BaFin said that foreign banks were “welcome” in Germany. However, he added that there would be no “regulatory arbitrage”, stressing that banks would have to move appropriate numbers of managers and risk management staff to Germany in order to be eligible for a license. – FT (£) Global banks attend Brexit event in Frankfurt – RTE Government seeking top trade negotiator who will earn £160,000 per year The government’s chief trade negotiator will earn almost £10,000 more than the prime minister when they are installed in the role. The new appointment will be charged with negotiating deals around the world after Brexit. Critics have said the high wage – almost £10,000 more than the just over £150,000 earned by the prime minister – reveals the tough nature of the job ahead. – The Independent Daniel Hannan MEP: Where next for Brexit? We have a mandate to leave the EU, but it is not a mandate to sever all links. A post-EU Britain will not simply relate to the EU as a benign third country in the way that, say, Japan does. Just as Remain voters must accept that Britain voted to quit the EU, so Leave voters must accept that it did so only marginally. Implementing a 52-48 result will mean leaving the EU, but retaining some institutional links with it. The challenge now is to make Brexit a cordial and a mutually beneficial process, one that brings advantages to all sides. At the end of it, the EU will have lost a bad tenant and gained a good neighbour. – Daniel Hannan MEP for The Conservative Online Matthew Oakley: Who should Britain be targeting for trade deals? South Korea tops the 2017 Trade Prospects Index. The potential is clear: its imports of financial and business services rose by 23 per cent between 2009 and 2014, representing a good opportunity for Britain in a sector where we have a significant comparative advantage. In terms of ease, we have already seen South Korea making strong overtures to the UK Government in the wake of the referendum. It also has a successful Free Trade Agreement with the EU, which negotiations could be based on, and their last bilateral Free Trade Agreement (with Colombia, ratified in 2013) was agreed in 30 months. – Matthew Oakley for CapX Ian Davidson: How to solve the Brexit conundrum in Scotland? The most remarkable political success of last year, and the least recognised, was the amazingly successful Leave campaign in Scotland. Virtually the entire Scottish political, cultural and social elite campaigned for Remain. For example, every single Scottish MP and all bar a handful of the 129 MSPs were identified as Remain. Yet Leave, on a shoestring and hampered by the parallel campaign of Ukip, running a positive campaign about opportunities from Brexit, polled over a million votes, (1,018,322). Indeed Leave polled more votes than the SNP did in the Scottish Parliament election on the list (953,587), and only marginally fewer than the SNP got in the first past the post seats, (1,059,897 — when they had the boost of over 100,000 Green voters). – Former Labour MP Ian Davidson in the Morning Star Brexit in brief EU nationals living in Britain are not bargaining chips – Ben Kelly for Reaction A European green card can help the British economy after Brexit – Roger Casale for the FT (£) Few Lords wish to get into a fight with the British people by trying to block Article 50 – Lord Tebbit for the Daily Telegraph (£) Inflation in the UK is not special to UK – John Redwood’s Diary The UK economy has performed better than expected after the Brexit vote – CityWire