Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Commons to debate Lords amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill next Tuesday… The EU Withdrawal Bill will return to the House of Commons for a series of crunch votes on 12 June, it has been announced. The legislation suffered 15 defeats in the House of Lords, which will now be debated by MPs. Numbers are tight with the Tories needing the support of the Democratic Unionist Party for a majority. Conservative MPs have been told to be on site “at all times” during the day of the votes. The prime minister’s spokesman confirmed there were Lords amendments the government thinks are unacceptable and will be seeking to overturn. The legislation is a key part of the government’s strategy for leaving the EU following 2016’s vote in favour of Brexit. It involves transposing EU law into UK law to ensure a smooth transition on Brexit day. – BBC News Theresa May finally sets a date for confrontation with Remain rebels – Daily Mail MPs to vote on amended Brexit Bill next week – Sky News Theresa May has a week to head off Tory rebellion over EU customs union – The Times (£) Tory Remainer rebels risk a life sentence of orders from Brussels – The Sun editorial Can the EU withdrawal bill survive its return to the Commons? – James Forsyth for The Spectator ….as Sadiq Khan urges Labour MPs to ‘be brave’ in opposing Brexit… The Brexit revolt in Labour’s ranks escalated further today as London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged MPs to defy Jeremy Corbyn and vote for close ties to the UK. Labour’s most senior elected official said the party’s MPs should be ‘brave’ when controversial Lords amendments to flagship EU legislation return to the Commons. Mr Khan said the series of votes – due next Tuesday – will ‘define’ today’s generation of MPs. Labour leader Mr Corbyn will order his MPs to vote against peers’ plans to keep Britain inside the European Economic Area (EEA) – seen by Brexiteers as tantamount to staying in the EU single market. – Daily Mail Sadiq Khan’s Brexit stance isn’t ‘brave’ – Brendan O’Neill for The Spectator …while other Remainers moan that the Government is only providing one day to debate the changes Best for Britain supporter and Labour MP David Lammy said: “This shows total contempt of Parliament to try and railroad 15 amendments through Parliament in just a single session. “This piece of legislation will have huge consequences for the future of our country for generations to come. “There is no shortage of parliamentary time – the government has hardly put any substantive legislation before parliament since the General Election because their mandate is shot to pieces and the Cabinet is divided over Brexit.” – City A.M. Fury after PM reveals plan to hold 15 crunch Commons votes on Brexit in a single day – as Lords threaten to defy elected MPs again – The Sun Liam Fox hopes Brexit will reverse US steel tariffs Liam Fox has said he hopes the UK will be exempt from US steel tariffs post-Brexit after the PM told Donald Trump they were “unjustified”. The international trade secretary told MPs he was “disappointed” with the US president’s decision to impose steel and aluminium tariffs on imports from the EU, which came into force on Friday. US companies buying EU steel will now have to pay a 25% tax, while aluminium has a 10% tariff after Mr Trump cited national security interests. The EU, Canada and Mexico had previously been granted exemptions after the announcement in March. Speaking to the House of Commons on Monday Dr Fox said he hoped once the UK left the EU “we’ll have no problems with a UK exemption”.- Sky News May to Trump: Steel tariffs ‘deeply disappointing’ – City A.M. No 10 stands by ‘tens of thousands’ migration target The government remains “absolutely” committed to reducing net migration to the tens of thousands, Downing Street insisted today, after Sajid Javid promised to review major parts of Theresa May’s immigration policy. Yesterday Mr Javid, the new home secretary, admitted that there was a “perception problem” with including students in net migration figures, promised to “take a fresh look” at the cap on skilled workers given visas and appeared reluctant to endorse the policy of bringing annual net migration below 100,000. – The Times (£) Theresa May expected to lift visa cap for doctors from outside the EU within weeks – Telegraph (£) Arlene Foster denies threat to Theresa May over Brexit Arlene Foster has denied threatening the British prime minister over Brexit, insisting she does not think Theresa May would consider a deal that would treat Northern Ireland differently. Comments by the Democratic Unionist Party leader at the weekend about the party’s “red line” on customs arrangements post-Brexit were interpreted by some as a veiled threat to pull the plug on the confidence and supply deal with the Tories. Mrs Foster said she was simply reiterating the DUP’s position that Northern Ireland must be treated the same as the rest of the UK in the exit deal. – The Times (£) No ‘no-deal’ Brexit Armageddon, promises Downing Street… There will be no “Armageddon” if Britain fails to agree a Brexit deal with the European Union, Downing Street has insisted. Whitehall officials are reported to have drawn up three different scenarios in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement with Brussels. According to The Sunday Times, these include mild and severe scenarios of no deal, while a further scenario is known as “Armageddon”. Under this, Britain would run short of medicines, food and fuel within two weeks of Brexit taking effect. Addressing the claims, Theresa May’s official spokesman said such projections were “completely false”. – Sky News From no petrol to empty supermarket shelves and killer squirrels, Project Fear’s post-Brexit scaremongering is silly – Daniel Hannan for The Sun …after City big guns meet the Prime Minister The bosses of some of the biggest firms in the City and beyond descended on Downing Street yesterday, as pressure builds on the government to act quickly on Brexit. Tesco boss Dave Lewis, L&G Investment Management’s head of personal investing Dame Helena Morrissey, Standard Life Aberdeen’s chair Sir Gerry Grimstone and BT Group chief executive Gavin Patterson are among the baker’s dozen of business leaders who met with the Prime Minister. Others included GlaxoSmithKline chief Emma Walmsley, LandSec boss Robert Noel, Balfour Beatty’s Leo Quinn and BAE Systems’ chairman Sir Roger Carr attended. – City A.M. EU officials say UK is to blame for breakdown in talks after their five-day timetable was rejected by British negotiators Brussels has accused British negotiators of cutting short this week’s crucial Brexit negotiations. EU officials said they wanted a full five days of talks in a bid to break the deadlock, but that their timetable was rejected by the UK.They claimed Brit negotiators insisted on fewer meetings, with no Cabinet agreement on vital issues including customs and the Irish border in sight. But UK officials rejected their version of events and said the two sides had agreed on a “full agenda” that was the best use of their time. The row over scheduling came as Germany’s top Brexit official warned there is now likely to be no real progress at this month’s summit.EU negotiators said the issues discussed this week will once more be highly technical when what is needed is a political breakthrough. – The Sun EU won’t risk terror threat to make security stance, says Sajid Javid Home Secretary Sajid Javid has rubbished Brussels’ threat to limit security cooperation with the UK after Brexit, saying it could increase the chances of a terror attack on the continent. Speaking this morning the recently-promoted Cabinet minister said member states were against the European Commission’s stance, adding he was “confident” a deal could be secured. “The European Union is not speaking with one voice on this,” he said, dismissing the suggestion put forward in recent weeks as just a negotiating position. – City A.M. The EU cannot afford for Britain’s spies and police to go it alone – Telegraph editorial (£) Javid gives Gove a run for first place in our Cabinet League Table. May is back in negative territory. – Mark Wallace for ConservativeHome Dover MP blasts Government over poor Brexit planning The pro-Brexit MP for Dover has blasted the government for failing to plan and invest in borders and ports sufficiently to avoid the chaotic outcomes of a hard Brexit as reported this weekend. Charlie Elphicke told City A.M. that while predictions of armageddon were simply “project fear mark two”, government departments including the Treasury and Home Office had not put enough work into preparing for all scenarios. “We had an emphatic vote in Dover to leave. The job of government now is to deliver on the result,” he said. – City A.M. Tory MP lays into top mandarin over comments on post-Brexit future A senior Tory MP has criticised the head of the Diplomatic Service for belittling Britain’s status in the world. Sir Simon McDonald, who is responsible for Britain’s worldwide network of embassies and consulates, “wound up” Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely after he dismissed Britain as just a “medium sized nation” which needs the help of others to get its foreign policy objectives. The senior Whitehall mandarin told an Institute for Government event: “One fact that will not change is that we are a medium sized country and most of what we want to do on the international stage we can only achieve with partners.” And in what appeared to be a coded attack on Brexit, he also bemoaned the “hard work” that Brexit will make for the Foreign Office. – Express Virgin Hyperloop One to go live in UK within 10 years, despite Brexit London is set to be getting its own Virgin Hyperloop One system between the capital and major UK cities within the next ten years, pending regulatory approvals, but Brexit and HS2 have been its biggest delays, City A.M. has learned.Two Hyperloop London destinations that are in the works are routes to Manchester and Edinburgh, the durations of which are estimated to take 25 and 48 minutes respectively. The capital is an important focus for the Hyperloop team, due to its high commuter numbers and deeply congested road and railway infrastructure. – City A.M. Italians fall out of love with the EU – but will they ever leave? Italians’ faith in Brussels has plunged in recent years, but a majority want to remain in the Eurozone and the European Union, a new poll has shown. Asked whether they still had faith in the EU, 56 per cent said no while only 34 per cent said yes, with 10 per cent undecided or not giving an opinion. Italians’ level of faith in EU institutions has dropped by almost half in just seven years, from an index of 70 out of 100 in 2011, to 38 points now. – Telegraph (£) Italy’s League party angrily dismisses Soros suggestions it is funded by Kremlin – Telegraph (£) With Italy in chaos, is the Eurozone on the verge of another crisis? – Katherine Denham for City A.M. James Forsyth: Can the EU withdrawal bill survive its return to the Commons? Put June 12th in your diary, for that’s when the EU withdrawal bill will return to the House of Commons. Julian Smith, the chief whip, has written to Tory MPs telling them, ‘There will be a number of divisions that day’ as the government attempts to overturn the Lords’ amendments to the bill.Smith’s letter includes a pointed reference to the Tory manifesto, which included a commitment to leave the customs union. This is designed to remind potential Tory rebels that they’d be breaking with the manifesto on which they were elected if they vote for the customs union amendment.But it’ll take more than this to get the government through these votes.- James Forsyth for The Spectator Sir Richard Dearlove: An Open Letter to Emmanuel Macron Despite the divergent approaches of France and the United Kingdom towards membership of the EU, and our sharp differences concerning its political future, we have always maintained excellent bilateral relations on many subjects. I am thinking in particular of our cooperation in defence matters, and in intelligence and security (my own special field) – cooperation that speaks for itself. There is no other example of two European countries that have worked more closely together on these highly sensitive issues, which demand an especially high level of mutual confidence, which is manifest every day. Great Britain has never had a long Continental alliance. France should not therefore be surprised that a significant majority of British citizens has chosen to leave the European Union. The European crisis, which you have described so acutely, has doubtless influenced their decision. – Sir Richard Dearlove for Briefings for Brexit Brendan O’Neill: Sadiq Khan’s Brexit stance isn’t ‘brave’ It’s always good to remind Sadiq Khan that Brexit is more popular in London than he is. Khan loves to play the role of Mayor of Remainia, the political figurehead of this oh-so-clever capital city that can see through the folly of Brexit that those strange inhabitants of Essex, the North and Wales voted for. And yet while it’s true Londoners voted Remain by 59.9 per cent to 40.1 per cent, the fact is more of us voted for Brexit than we did for Khan: 1,513,232 Londoners want to leave the EU, which is 200,000 more than the 1,310,143 who wanted Khan as mayor.- Brendan O’Neill for The Spectator Comment in Brief I’m not scared of the Brexit ‘apocalypse’ – bring on the zombies and roving biker gangs – Tom Harris for the Telegraph (£) Could a messy Brexit elevate Jeremy Hunt to the top? – James Kirkup for The Spectator When is a Hard Border Not a Hard Border by Martin Davison – Martin Davison for Briefings for Brexit Brexiteers play the blame game as they run out of solutions – Jonathan Powell for The Times (£) The EU Withdrawal Bill – John Redwood’s Diary Bank mergers alone won’t rescue the eurozone – Matthew Lynn for the Telegraph (£) Bernard-Henri Lévy is an enemy to the pro-European cause- Denis MacShane for Reaction The Franco-British Relationship: Past, Present, Future by Robert Tombs – Robert Tombs for Briefings for Brexit Brexit is unnecessary. We have a plan to build a modern Britain – Will Hutton and Andrew Adonis for the Guardian Liam Fox needs to cut red tape and give firms a lift or exports will sink – Juliet Samuel for the Telegraph (£) ‘Air of desperation’ as government seeks an Irish border solution – Owen Polley for Reaction News in Brief EU fails on migration (yet again) – Politico Tory MP says Germany should pay up their Second World War bills before we dish out £40bn for Brexit divorce – The Sun May delays blueprint for future EU ties until after June summit – FT (£) Theresa May rejects calls to let in more skilled migrants as she faces down ministers calling for a softer line – The Sun Liam Fox’s International Trade Department slammed for poor Brexit preparations by UK maritime sector – The Sun