Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team EU split on Russia as Jean-Claude Juncker faces revolt for letter of congratulations to Putin… EU divisions over Russia were laid bare on Tuesday after Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament’s lead Brexit negotiator, attacked the bloc’s most senior official for congratulating Vladimir Putin on his election victory. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, tweeted a letter of congratulations just one day after the EU offered the UK its “unqualified support” over the Salisbury spy attack. But Mr Verhofstadt, also the leader of the liberal ALDE group, angrily responded: “This is no time for congratulations. We will always need dialogue with Russia, but closer ties must be conditional on respect for the rules based international order and fundamental values.” It also emerged that Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council and former prime minister of Poland, was unlikely to write a letter to Mr Putin, who he has been highly critical of in the past… Ashley Fox, the leader of Conservative MEPs in the European Parliament, whose constituency includes Salisbury, branded the letter “nauseating”… Sarah Wollaston MP, the Tory chair of the Commons health committee, called the letter “shameful” on Twitter. – Telegraph Trump and Juncker under fire for hailing Putin election victory – Guardian EU boss Jean-Claude Juncker congratulates Vladimir Putin on election win and fails to mention spy attack on Britain – The Sun Jean-Claude Juncker faces criticism for ‘nauseating’ letter to Vladimir Putin – The Times (£) Juncker’s gushing congratulations to Putin – Guido Fawkes Jeremy Corbyn says Putin should be handed sample of novichok poison and give his verdict on where it came from – The Sun The EU is aligning in favour of the Kremlin – Charles Bremner for The Times (£) …as Spain threatens to hold up Brexit transition deal over Gibraltar veto Spain was last night said to be demanding fresh assurances over its Gibraltar ‘veto’ as the Brexit transition deal became subject to a new round of last minute haggling on Tuesday, senior EU sources have revealed. The Spanish intervention came after a press conference on Monday in which David Davis, the Brexit secretary, said that the text of the transition deal “includes Gibraltar”, without making reference to the veto. EU sources said that Spain had been left “furious” by the remarks which they felt appeared to question the validity of a ‘veto’ handed to Spain last year by EU leaders… The UK and Gibraltar governments have both declared the veto to be ‘illegal’ and have threatened to contest its validity in the courts if it is used to hold up the Brexit negotiation. – Telegraph Spain refuses to back withdrawal deal over Gibraltar concerns – Guardian Spain holds back Brexit transition deal over Gibraltar – Politico Spain threatens to derail Brexit transition deal with fresh demands over Gibraltar – The Sun EU member states have ‘concerns’ about latest Brexit deal and may not endorse it – Independent EU chief Tusk says he is not sure all member states will welcome transition breakthrough at summit – Daily Mail Confusion as Article 32 ending free movement for British citizens vanishes from latest draft of transition agreement – Independent Michael Gove threatens EU with ‘consequences’ if they pillage UK waters during ‘sub-optimal’ Brexit transition Michael Gove has publicly criticised Theresa May’s transition deal after the UK leaves the European Union, setting out his “disappointment” with a “sub-optimal” agreement for British fishermen. The Environment Secretary threatened Brussels bureaucrats with “consequences” if they allow EU trawlers to overfish UK waters during the transition deal after he was confronted by furious Tory MPs in the House of Commons… Mr Gove – who led the Vote Leave campaign before the 2016 EU referendum – was said to be “furious” with the deal when he met with the Tory MPs and the party’s chief whip on Monday evening, hours after it emerged. – Telegraph Michael Gove shares fishing industry ‘disappointment’ – BBC News Michael Gove admits Brexit transition deal ‘sub-optimal’ for UK fishing industry – Sky News Michael Gove calms Tory rebellion brewing over fishing quotas – The Times (£) Gove tells Tory MPs to ‘keep eyes on prize’ in row over fishing waters – Guardian Tory fury as Michael Gove refuses to give promises over fish after Brexit – The Sun Tory MPs to fling fish from trawler on Thames in protest for fishermen ‘betrayed’ by Brexit deal – Telegraph (£) Our fishermen are being sold down the river by this Remainer-rife Government – Nigel Farage for the Telegraph (£) Have the Tories finally found a way to unite on Brexit? – Beth Rigby for Sky News Ruth Davidson must choose between the devil and the deep blue sea after the Brexit fisheries betrayal – Alan Cochrane for the Telegraph (£) Fishing and Brexit: still on the hook – Guardian editorial A grilling and battering from MPs – Patrick Kidd sketch for The Times (£) For cod’s sake! How Tories turned on Michael Gove over the Brexit fishing sell-out – Michael Deacon sketch for the Telegraph (£) Chief Whip’s SNP blunder – Steerpike > WATCH: Michael Gove expresses disappointment with transition deal on fishing Inflation at seven-month low as Brexit effect eases… The squeeze on households may be easing after official figures showed that inflation fell to a seven-month low in February. The consumer price index, which is the headline measure of inflation in Britain, fell to 2.7 per cent, down from 3 per cent in December and January, to reach the lowest rate since July last year… The impact from the sharp fall in the pound since the Brexit vote may also be starting to ease, economists said. “Many of the early 2017 price increases due to the depreciation of the pound have started to work through the system,” Phil Gooding, at the ONS, said… Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “It is increasingly likely that the UK is now past the peak of the recent spike in inflation, and price growth will ease further over the coming months.” – The Times (£) Inflation dips to 2.7% as impact of Brexit vote starts to fade – Guardian Pound eases after inflation arrives below forecasts in February – FT (£) …while official forecaster says cutting migration could boost economic growth Cutting migration after Brexit could boost growth by encouraging businesses to innovate, the Office for Budget Responsibility has said. Robert Chote, chairman of the independent forecaster, told the Treasury select committee there is a possibility lower migration from the EU could “trigger” companies to be “more productive” and deliver an economic uplift. This is because the associated higher labour costs could “encourage firms to innovate in ways that could increase their underlying productivity,” Mr Chote said. “That could have longer-lasting positive effects.” – Telegraph City tug of war continues as EU eyes ‘improved’ equivalence post-Brexit EU leaders have given financial services the nod in draft guidelines on the UK and EU’s relationship post-Brexit, backing a system Philip Hammond said he wasn’t keen on earlier this month. The Chancellor challenged the assertion that financial services cannot be part of a free trade agreement two weeks ago, adding that while he hadn’t ruled out an equivalence regime the EU’s version “would not work” and was not designed for major financial markets. A draft EU document seen by The Daily Telegraph states that while Britain should be given “appropriate access to financial services markets” in order to preserve financial stability, the City’s preferred mutual recognition model was not on the cards. – Telegraph City hits back against EU’s “improved equivalence” offer for financial services – City A.M. EU digs in over banks’ post-Brexit access, but divisions emerge – Bloomberg Brexit blow as EU backs equivalence mechanisms for financial services – The Times (£) ECB’s Brexit push for derivatives-clearing power gains momentum – Bloomberg Europe’s banks told to keep planning for full Brexit in 2019 by EU regulators despite transition deal – FT (£) Transition is welcome but challenges are still to be met – Omar Ali, head of UK financial services at EY, for the Telegraph (£) > Barnabas Reynolds on BrexitCentral today: Can the EU step up to a win-win Brexit outcome in financial services? US fintech investor Motive Partners chooses Canary Wharf as its European base US growth investor Motive Partners has chosen Canary Wharf as a home for its new European hub. The firm, which focuses on fintech investments and has already made two deals, said it was “essential” to have a base in London due to its status as a fintech capital. “You can’t claim to be an important investment management or private equity player in financial technology if you’re not at the epicentre, which is London,” said Motive’s Rob Heyvaert… Heyvaert believes the city will “absolutely” hold its own in the face of Brexit. “The talent is here, the banks are here – it’s a much harder job to shift that from one place to another,” he said. – City A.M. Philip Johnston: Britain and Ireland can sort out the border issue. They’ve resolved trickier problems in the past A Commons select committee last week said they had “no visibility of any technical solutions, anywhere in the world, beyond the aspirational, that would remove the need for physical infrastructure at the border”. But this does not mean it is impossible, just difficult and a matter of scale… Ideas include cross-border trusted trader schemes, small business exemptions and a variety of in-country checks and mutual recognition agreements that would cover most goods and animal traffic… Of course, an effective UK-EU border is needed to prevent goods crossing without paying tariffs or complying with regulations on product standards. But most of this can be done using new technology – bar code ID, satellites, automatic number plate recognition and all the other paraphernalia of modern life which does not constitute a “hard border” in anyone’s book. – Philip Johnston for the Telegraph (£) Border region ‘will be the biggest casualty’ of Brexit, with severe impact felt across EU, claims EU report – The Times (£) Ireland’s poorest most vulnerable to ‘hard Brexit’ – The Times (£) Angela Merkel says Ireland has her ‘full support’ on Brexit border issue – Telegraph (£) Coveney: border backtrack will kill deal – The Times (£) Arlene Foster says Irish Sea border would be ‘catastrophic’ (video) – Bloomberg Foster to Ireland: Cut out the Brexit ‘aggression’ – Bloomberg Ireland’s border is a problem it can’t afford to leave unsolved – Charles Grant for the Guardian Brexit talks approach the limit of easy concessions – FT editorial (£) The Times: Disunity over Russia indicates a pusillanimous European foreign policy Jean-Claude Juncker should know better. Perhaps the president of the European Commission wrote his letter of congratulations to Vladimir Putin after lunch… Angela Merkel didn’t mention Salisbury either. Although seemingly supportive of Britain last week, she appears now to regard these concerns as bygones. “With all my heart I congratulate you on your re-election as Russian president,” she wrote to Mr Putin, before adding that it was “vitally important” to “continue dialogue”. Of Britain’s significant EU allies, most of whom were firmly onside a week ago, only President Macron has so far remained robust… The UK remains one of the two foremost military powers in Europe and has intelligence capabilities that are unrivalled on the continent. It was Britain that spearheaded Russian sanctions over Crimea and Ukraine, argued most forcefully for sanctions against Syria and which secured EU backing for the Iranian nuclear deal. Without Britain in the room, the room itself will be considerably less formidable… Vacillation over Russia is an indication that in foreign policy terms the EU is unprepared for a future without Britain. – Times editorial (£) Jean-Claude Juncker congratulating Putin’s bent election win is sickening — because it’s a clear disregard for democracy – The Sun says Nato is the right vehicle for the Western response, not the EU – William Hague for the Telegraph (£) Lee Rotherham: The understandable anger of British fishermen There is clearly a battle going on within government. So when commentators wonder why fishermen are getting so much attention of late, the answer really is quite simple. Their cause is just, and addressing it is decades overdue. And when others also look agog at why trawlermen are still campaigning when the Brexit referendum was won, the answer isn’t complicated. It’s because successive governments have each in turn let them down in the past. Brexit is all about opportunity. That applies as much to international trade as it does to cutting red tape or, here, taking back control of the UK’s waters for the benefit of the UK’s fishermen. It is not enough to have a mandate: the Cabinet Office civil servants in the Oliver Robbins team also need clear instruction. If they don’t, and Whitehall continues along its traditional route of viewing our coastal communities as expendable in a way no other EU state does, the damage will be enduring. Our ailing fishing industry will drown. And both the credibility and the honour of the Conservative party will be sleeping with the fishes. – Dr Lee Rotherham for CapX Callum Crozier and Simon Clarke: Brexit can pave the way for a northern renaissance On leaving the EU, a bright future is ahead for the North of England, one very similar to our past as a manufacturing capital with global exports, on which the North of England literally paved the roads, laid the rails and built the foundations of the world. Now it’s time to use our ports in the same way. The North East is ideally placed to benefit from a free port in the post-Brexit era and to become the birthplace of the Great North Free Port. This is a key benefit of Brexit, leaving the EU and Customs Union. This is because we can establish free trade zones around our strong port infrastructure across the North – starting with Teesport. If successful, a Great North Free Port would almost immediately create 1,300 jobs directly and (conservatively) add tens of millions to the local economy. – Callum Crozier and Simon Clarke MP for CapX Comment in brief Six reasons to be optimistic about Brexit – Alice Thomson for The Times (£) The true cost of Customs Union membership – Ben Ramanauskas for CapX Let’s hear more of the moral case for Brexit – Ross Clark for the Spectator Post-Brexit Britain will be no place for fat lazy management – Brian Monteith for City A.M. Don’t tax patience of EU allies on data – John Walsh for The Times (£) Brexit is just fifth on the EU’s list of concerns – Tony Barber for the FT (£) News in brief Scottish politicians win latest court battle over whether UK can halt Brexit – Telegraph Theresa May urged to extend Brexit transition period in order to avoid ‘security crisis’ by Yvette Cooper’s Committee – The Sun Government hit with double Lords defeat on post-Brexit nuclear plans – PoliticsHome Labour is ‘on a journey’ towards a softer Brexit suggests Remain-backing MP – Mirror Two thirds of voters think Brussels will come out on top in Brexit negotiations – new poll – PoliticsHome