Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Theresa May in final effort to thwart a Tory rebellion on ‘meaningful vote’ amendment today… Ministers have privately appealed to Labour’s Brexiteer MPs to defy Jeremy Corbyn and help them to see off their own pro-European backbench rebellion on the government’s Brexit bill. Tory whips are said to have “given up” persuading up to a dozen of their own MPs not to vote in favour of an amendment that would give parliament a decisive say on what happens in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Instead they are concentrating their efforts on encouraging Labour MPs in Leave-voting areas to defy their own whip and vote with the government. One Labour source claimed that MPs were being promised that the Tories would “go easy” in future elections on those who supported them. – The Times (£) Commons set for Brexit vote showdown – BBC News Theresa May defiant as Brexit rebels fight on over bill – City A.M. Brexit Groundhog Day for Theresa May – Politico …as arch-rebel Dominic Grieve says he wants to delay Brexit if talks don’t produce a deal soon Chief Brexit rebel Dominic Grieve has admitted that he wants to delay Brexit if no deal with the EU is secured soon. The former Attorney General admitted that he wouldn’t mind pushing back our exit date if it meant that things would stay the same after we leave. He told Sky News yesterday: “If the need to delay Brexit by a few weeks, is in return going to enable you to take a plane to Rome on the day after we’ve gone, which at the moment if we have no deal at all, you won’t be able to go on holiday… “Then that might, I think, be a price worth paying.” – The Sun Dominic Grieve seeks ‘sensible compromise’ over MPs’ role – BBC News Rebel MP ‘in cold sweat’ over ‘no deal’ Brexit – Sky News Cabinet ministers unite with Brexiteers to demand Theresa May stares down Tory pro-EU rebels – The Sun Julian Smith Must Hold Firm Against Isolated Grieve – Guido Fawkes Theresa May cannot let Tory Remainers destroy Brexit – it’s her duty to defeat the rebellion – The Sun editorial Remainer rebels may pave way to hard Brexit – Daniel Finkelstein for The Times (£) > Hugh Bennett on BrexitCentral today: Dominic Grieve has been exposed under pressure as little more than a Brexit wrecker > Ashley Fox MEP on BrexitCentral today: Brussels is watching Westminster – hoping that MPs back the Lords and weaken the UK’s negotiating hand > WATCH on BrexitCentral’s YouTube channel: Is Dominic Grieve’s amendment REALLY not about “obstructing Brexit”? EU prepares call to speed up plans for no-deal… EU leaders are to call on member states, companies and organisations to step up preparations for a no-deal Brexit amid concerns that the UK has made “no substantial progress” on the Irish border, the biggest sticking point in the talks. Draft conclusions for a summit of EU leaders next week offer a stark, four-paragraph overview of negotiations that have largely stalled since March on the most important political issues. In an unwelcome warning for Theresa May, British prime minister, the summit text says contingency planning for a hard exit in March 2019 must be accelerated. – FT (£) EU set to step up preparations for ‘no deal’ Brexit – Sky News …as Michel Barnier tells Britain to get real over Brexit… Michel Barnier has told Britain to get realistic about the consequences of Brexit for UK-EU cooperation on crime and counter-terrorism including extradition and intelligence sharing. He ruled out Britain’s call to continue participating in the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) extradition system because it was underpinned by acceptance of the free movement of people, which Theresa May has pledged to end after Brexit. “We need more realism on what is and what is not possible,” the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator said in Vienna on Tuesday before warning that Britain would lose access to the bloc’s pooled criminal intelligence databases. – Telegraph (£) UK Intelligence chief hits back in row over security… The head of GCHQ made an unprecedented intervention in the dispute with Brussels over post-Brexit security by spelling out yesterday how British intelligence had saved European lives. Jeremy Fleming, director of the surveillance agency, revealed that Britain had supplied information that had helped to break up terrorist plots in four European countries over the past year. The spy chief pointedly added that Britain and the rest of Europe had benefited “from our work together on our collective security”, saying he was confident that this would continue after Britain left the bloc. – The Times (£) Theresa May should have the bottle to call out the EU’s intransigence on security – The Times editorial (£) …after Barnier says Britain must leave the European Arrest Warrant Britain will be forced to leave the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) deal after Brexit, the EU’s chief negotiator has said. The comments from Michel Barnier will deal a significant blow to the UK government, which hopes the arrangement will continue. Currently, the 28 EU member states can issue warrants for criminals across the continent without bureaucratic extradition negotiations between countries. But Mr Barnier said Britain would be forced to leave the EAW agreement because it is “linked to the free movement of people”. He added that Prime Minister Theresa May’s opposition to retaining the Charter of Fundamental Rights and allowing the European Court of Justice jurisdiction over UK law were also factors. – Sky News UK ‘cannot stay’ in European Arrest Warrant after Brexit – BBC News Barnier says UK to lose EU security perks after Brexit – Politico Brussels may make Brits get a visa to enter the EU – if we crash out without deal – The Sun Barnier: No access to EU police databases after Brexit – City A.M. Britain could access but not develop European GPS, Barnier says – Reuters GCHQ boss reveals Brit spies foiled four terror plots against Europe last year in warning shot to EU over Brexit security threats – The Sun Macron and Merkel put on united front as they move to resolve EU problems… Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron moved to tackle the European Union’s growing list of problems on Tuesday calling for a limited common Eurozone budget by 2021, a beefed-up border police force to deal with migrants and deeper defence co-operation. In a joint declaration in the German town of Meseberg, the French and German leaders also pledged to sign a new Elysee Treaty by the end of the year to strengthen the 1963 agreement that ended centuries of hostility between their two countries. But analysts warned that behind the carefully staged show of unity, deep differences remain between them over the future direction of Europe. – Telegraph (£) Merkel, Macron bridge differences on EU reform – Politico France and Germany strike deal on draft for eurozone integration – Telegraph (£) …as French Economy Minister claims the EU is ‘falling apart before our eyes’ French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday that Europe is in “a state of decomposition,” with countries trying to find “national solutions to problems that can only have European solutions.” Speaking ahead of a joint meeting of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and their governments, Le Maire also said Franco-German relations had reached a “moment of truth.” In an interview with France’s BFMTV, Le Maire painted a dramatic picture of the challenges facing the European Union. “Europe is in a state of decomposition, it’s falling apart before our eyes,” he said. “Immigration, financial risks … these are problems that can only have European solutions,” he said. But, Le Maire added, member countries are “closing in on themselves,” trying to find national solutions. – Politico Eurotunnel: Don’t buy border scaremongering Eurotunnel bosses are confident on the arrangements for the Anglo-French border after Brexit. A presentation for shareholders reveals Eurotunnel’s internal analysis which concludes the likely outcome of negotiations is: “An agreement with a time limited transition period for implementation of customs and animal and plant health controls. Technology will speed up border processing. – Guido Fawkes Guy Verhofstadt attacks EU27 over treatment of UK citizens in Brexit negotiations Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit chief, has attacked EU-27 countries for neglecting residency procedures for the more than a million British citizens living in the bloc. Mr Verhofstadt criticised the majority of the remaining 27 member states, which he accused of not making proper arrangements from the 1.24 million expat Britons in the EU. “I am far from happy concerning the treatment of UK citizens in the EU27,” the former prime minister of Belgian said in a speech in Vienna. – Telegraph (£) Exporter finds cunning but completely legal way to bypass tough EU import restrictions EU farmers are furious that Ukraine’s top poultry oligarch is evading tariffs and ramping up chicken exports by using an ingenious interpretation of Brussels’ trade deal with Kiev. Brussels uses high tariffs and restricted import quotas to shield EU farmers from too much competition from imported chicken breasts — one of the most valuable poultry cuts. But MHP, a company controlled by billionaire oligarch Yuriy Kosyuk that accounts for half of Ukraine’s chicken production, has seen a way to beat the EU’s defences. – Politico Matthew Elliott: Britain’s pro-Brexit business voices are being drowned out I regret closing down Business for Britain after the referendum. I set up the organisation after David Cameron’s Bloomberg Speech, to represent business leaders who supported the Prime Minister’s policy of renegotiation followed by a referendum, and subscribed to a policy of “Change, or Go”. We supported staying in a reformed EU, but should the negotiations prove unsuccessful, we advocated a managed departure. And when it became apparent that change wasn’t in the offing, we morphed into the Vote Leave campaign, to support Britain’s exit from the EU. And yet, Business for Britain was about so much more than that. Like this newspaper, its supporters had a fundamentally positive view about Britain’s place in the world. – Matthew Elliott for City A.M. Shanker Singham: How Britain should negotiate trade If the Government is to secure mutually beneficial trade arrangements with our European neighbours then it needs a change in approach. The timing and sequencing of trade negotiations is a subject that does not command much attention from commentators. Yet, many of the substantive discussions are in danger of becoming academic if this issue is not better understood. By contrast, the EU has shown a much stronger mastery of how the timing can be used to their advantage. – Shanker Singham for CommentCentral Daniel Finkelstein: Remainer rebels may pave way to hard Brexit I think that the more meaningful the parliamentary vote, the greater the chance we will leave without any deal and the more leverage will be handed to supporters of a hard Brexit. I think the conventional view — the “this prevents no deal and favours soft Brexit” view — makes three errors. It ignores the interests and powers of the other countries in the EU. It is naive about the position of the Labour Party. And it underestimates the strength and will of the supporters of a hard Brexit. Dominic Grieve, the Conservative MP leading the charge for the meaningful vote, is a person of integrity with whom I usually agree, advancing an idea it is hard not to sympathise with. But I think he is wrong about the practical consequences. – Daniel Finkelstein for The Times (£) Philip Johnston: We must let Theresa May get on with Brexit – and if she fails, then will come the reckoning If Mrs May cannot secure a deal, she will face a motion of no confidence: no need for a “meaningful vote” The computer company IBM has developed a robot that can debate with humans by sifting through journals, academic papers and newspaper articles to frame a coherent argument. We could have done with it in the Lords on Monday when the House discussed Brexit. A speech of epic pomposity from Viscount Hailsham, aka Douglas Hogg, managed to sway more than 350 peers behind an amendment designed to queer the pitch for the Government as it goes into the final stages of the Brexit negotiations. Coherence did not come into it, just withering disdain for anyone stupid enough to think leaving the European Union was anything other than what the noble viscount called “a national calamity”. – Philip Johnston for the Telegraph (£) In Brief My latest polling explores the tensions and controversies around the union and Northern Ireland’s border – Lord Ashcroft for ConservativeHome Why we will need a new development bank post-Brexit – Jeremy Lefroy MP for ConservativeHome UK must seek its fortunes beyond our nearest continental neighbours – Jon Ashmore for CapX We should be prepared to leave the EU with nothing – Tim Sullivan for ConservativeWoman Beware Remainer manipulation – R. T. Howard for Reaction The NHS spending announcement should be a medium-term winner for Ministers – James Frayne for ConservativeHome As a rootless ‘Citizen of the World’, why I back Brexit – Isabel Robeson for ConservativeWoman How much money do we save when we leave the EU? – John Redwood’s Diary Top Corbyn aide poses with ‘B******s to Brexit’ sticker – raising new questions on the Labour leader’s commitment to leaving the EU – The Sun Millions at financial risk over Brexit contract issue – City A.M. Poland-EU row rages on – Express Where now for the pound? – City A.M. City’s Brexit plans “impossible” says ex policy chief – City A.M.