Theresa May to insist the best days are yet to come for Brexit Britain in conference speech today… Theresa May will insist that Britain’s “best days lie ahead” as she seeks to rally her divided party and country today before the final weeks of Brexit talks. The prime minister will offer a “future full of promise” as she outlines an upbeat vision in her speech at the Conservative Party conference. With the European Commission due to give its final verdict on her Chequers proposals a week today, Mrs May will appeal to her party to seize “this moment of opportunity”… Downing Street is braced for the formal response to Chequers from Brussels next Wednesday. Mrs May has said that an outright rejection will force Britain into a “no deal” exit. However, cabinet colleagues believe that she can exploit EU unease to soften the bloc’s stance on Ireland and open the door to a Canada-style deal. – The Times (£) …after which an intense week of frantic Brexit diplomacy gets underway Britain and the European Union will begin a frantic week of diplomacy on Wednesday aimed at thrashing out the final shape of the Brexit deal. Negotiations have effectively been on hold as Prime Minister Theresa May navigates the political perils of her Conservative Party’s annual conference. When the Tory gathering wraps up on Wednesday, both sides will get back to work, with the goal of signing the deal in mid-November. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab is planning to visit Brussels next week and expects progress on the thorny issue of the Irish border, according to a senior official who declined to be named. Diplomats in Brussels said they expect the contours of the exit agreement to emerge by the middle of next week. May’s team also expects a more detailed response from the EU to her proposal for a future trade accord within days, the official said. – Bloomberg Boris Johnson repeats his call for the Government to ‘chuck Chequers’ in his speech on the conference fringe Leaving the EU on the terms of the Chequers plan would be a “mistake” and would be the “perfect” way for the UK to return to the EU, Boris Johnson has said in an eagerly-anticipated speech at the Tory conference in which he told the audience to “chuck Chequers”. The former foreign secretary said currently the UK did not appear to be “taking back control” but was instead “forfeiting control” to Brussels, which was a “constitutional outrage” and that if the Chequers plan was agreed on, the UK would be “paraded in manacles” in front of the EU. He added that the Prime Minister’s Brexit blueprint showed that the “UK was unable, ultimately to take back control”, and we would be “humiliated” if we left the EU on its terms and ended up “half-in, half-out”. – ITV News > Yesterday on BrexitCentral: Boris Johnson’s speech to Conservative Party Conference Jacob Rees-Mogg issues another attack on May’s Chequers plan Jacob Rees-Mogg attacked Theresa May’s Brexit plan on the eve of her Conservative Conference speech, as he claimed “Chequers is not Brexit” on BBC Newsnight. The leading Brexiteer was interviewed by Emily Maitlis and discussed Boris Johnson’s address to a fringe event at the party’s annual conference and also gave insight on whether he would like to see a change in Prime Minister. Mr Rees-Mogg stated he agrees with what Mr Johnson said during his speech when he attacked Mrs May’s Brexit negotiation plan, demanding she “chuck Chequers”. The powerful backbencher said: “He’s using the power of his personality to promote a proper Brexit. A clean Brexit. “And that is the right thing for him to be doing.” – Express Alternative Brexit conference shows threat to UK PM May from party rebels – Reuters Arlene Foster says the DUP ‘won’t accept’ post-Brexit Irish Sea checks… The DUP will not support a Brexit deal which could lead to any new checks on goods coming into NI from elsewhere in the UK, its leader has emphasised. “We cannot have either a customs border or a regulatory border down the Irish Sea,” said Arlene Foster. “That would make us separate from the UK.” There has been speculation the UK could agree to regulatory checks at Irish Sea ports as part of a backstop deal. Both sides have agreed the need for a backstop but not how it should operate.It would apply if the Irish border cannot be kept as frictionless as it is now in the context of a wider deal. – BBC News …after Dominic Raab appeared to suggest such regulatory checks were under consideration The government is looking at how regulatory checks are carried out in an attempt to break the deadlock over the backstop in the EU negotiations, Dominic Raab has said… He was asked about reports that the government was preparing a compromise which would involve regulatory checks being carried out on goods moving between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. In response, the Brexit secretary said the government would look at how regulatory checks could be used as part of a solution to move the Brexit talks forward. – BBC News Priti Patel accuses Tony Blair of trying to ‘subvert democracy’ Priti Patel has launched a scathing attack on former Prime Minister Tony Blair for attempting to “subvert the will of the public” by repeatedly calling for a second Brexit referendum. The MP for Witham ridiculed attempts by prominent Remainers to “package up” a second Brexit referendum as a so-called People’s Vote. Speaking on LBC, Ms Patel said: “The great proponents of a second referendum, a People’s Vote, are the likes of Tony Blair, Lord Mandelson, the very individuals that denied the British public a referendum at the time of the infamous Lisbon Treaty. “Having promised the British people a referendum, they said no, there was a lot of lecturing there – ‘we know best’.“Of course, they’re now out there trying to subvert the will of the public and democracy by putting out those ideas all over again.” – Express Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin ambushed by anti-Brexit protesters at Tory Conference Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin was ambushed by anti-Brexit protesters on his way to Conservative Party Conference today. The pub chain mogul was posing for photographs on Birmingham’s Broad Street, near the entrance to the annual Tory gathering. Mr Martin, an ardent Brexiteer, arrived at the conference yesterday, with a ‘ Brexit Battle Bus’, serving the pub chain’s new range of exclusively non-EU drinks. But arriving at the conference centre this morning, he was blindsided by a mock funeral procession – marking the “death of Brexit”, complete with a coffin and pall bearers. – Mirror /*COMMENT*/ Brian Monteith: Slippery May could pay for Brexit skulduggery It is not, as has been said, “One foot in the EU and one foot out” but both feet firmly in – and dancing a merry jig. Needless to say Theresa May, not someone known for listening to others, is resisting the calls to abandon her Chequers plan that delivers a Brexit in Name Only. If there is to be a climbdown it can only come later, but she is mistaken if she thinks that getting through the conference will get her past the worst. While some MPs are so let down and demoralised by the prime minister’s open skulduggery and slipperiness – not afraid to say publicly she is now the problem if we want to achieve a good Brexit – many are taking a more polite stance. Jacob Rees Mogg is courtesy personified and whatever you think of Boris Johnson his calls for the PM to change direction are made without attacking her personally. If Theresa May has not relented within the next fortnight and compromises further I would be most surprised if other MPs do not bring forward a motion of no confidence. – Brian Monteith for the Scotsman Philip Johnston: Boris Johnson is a ‘man of the moment’, but his moment may, tragically, have passed The Conservatives had intended this week to be about life after Brexit but until the deed is done it is hard to move on. Mrs May will do her best to do so in her speech, focusing in particular on housing and quality of life – reprising, indeed, some of the themes Boris set out in his speech, which was deliberately pitched far beyond Brexit. He is at his best purveying his infectious optimism and rousing oratory. He is the personification of what politics is supposed to be about – persuasion, enthusiasm, vision – even if some question his application and attention to detail. He is a man the country might turn to in a crisis to lift the spirits and articulate a sense of patriotic defiance. But even if the next few weeks promise to be among the most turbulent in recent British history, the feeling here in Birmingham is that such an existential moment will be averted. If it is, and she gets Brexit over the line, Mrs May may still be at the helm when the Tories gather again a year from now. – Philip Johnston for the Telegraph (£) Telegraph: Britain may finally be taking back control of its borders A new migration policy for Britain after Brexit has been a long time coming but has finally taken shape. Theresa May, who as home secretary failed to bring the numbers down to the Government’s target below 100,000 net annually, now believes this can be done once free movement from the EU has ended…The Institute of Directors has urged the Government to prioritise a reciprocal preferential agreement with the EU on movement of people, something that may yet be included in the final stages of the negotiations. Without such an understanding, the opportunities for British people to work in Europe will also be restricted. But the important point is that this will be in UK control. Moreover, this is not an anti-immigration policy. As Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary and a second-generation immigrant, told the Tory conference, immigration has brought great benefits. This is about being able to decide for ourselves who is to come here. Mrs May promised control of the borders. We are seeing it delivered. – Telegraph editorial Charles Grant: Britain’s best Brexit hope is a revised Chequers plan A Brexit deal between the EU and the UK is more likely than not, because both sides really want one. But there is a serious chance of no deal, because of differences over the Irish “backstop”. That part of the withdrawal agreement would align Northern Ireland with EU rules on customs, manufactured goods and farm products, unless other arrangements precluded the need for border checks between the two parts of Ireland. Many EU governments assume that the UK will climb down and accept the backstop, rather than face the “cliff-edge” of no deal. But they may be wrong to assume that British politicians would take steps to avoid such an economically damaging outcome. Meanwhile, Theresa May and her ministers have annoyed the EU by appearing deaf to criticisms of their “ Chequers plan” — for a complex “facilitated customs arrangement” (FCA) and a common rule book for goods — and by dragging their feet over making new proposals. Unless both sides shift their positions, the cliff-edge will approach. – Charles Grant for the FT (£) John Redwood: “A once in a generation decision” The UK government sent every household a leaflet about the EU referendum. It has as its headline ” A once in a generation decision”. There was no mention of two votes or a second chance to decide. Nor do we need a second ballot. It said about the decision to stay or leave “This is your decision. The government will implement what you decide”. It also made clear the government strongly recommended staying in, and warned that we could not stay part of the single market whilst leaving the EU. Many of us voted Leave in good faith that if we won we would leave the EU and its single market, as we wished to do. – John Redwood’s Diary Tim Morris: Why Brexit could be a boom time for Britain’s ports Anyone who has followed the news over the past 18 months could be forgiven for thinking that, in our ongoing debate around Brexit, Dover is the only port currently operating within the UK. Its fate, it seems – and by implication, the fate of our other ports – is tied so closely to the outcome of our negotiations that if the right deal isn’t struck, every port in the country will become inert, with roads throughout the UK gridlocked with queues of lorries. Perhaps there’s something symbolic in this focus on Dover, our closest connection to the continent and, for many people, their route of holiday travel to Europe.- Tim Morris for The Spectator Comment in Brief That second referendum might just happen – Daniel Finkelstein for the Times (£) News in Brief Another UKIP MEP quits the party – BBC News Brexit: Government considers NI-GB regulatory checks – BBC News