Theresa May reveals she will seek a transitional Brexit deal… Theresa May has announced for the first time that she hopes to negotiate a transitional deal after 2019, as she refused to guarantee that Parliament will have a vote on the final Brexit deal. The Prime Minister insisted that any transitional arrangement put in place after Britain leave the EU would not be an excuse to delay Brexit or extend the negotiation period. Businesses have been keen for a transitional arrangement to avoid a sudden “cliff edge” change in relationships after Brexit. Speaking to MPs on the Liaison Committee this afternoon she said there should be time for British and European economies to adjust and to deal with “simple practical matters” after Brexit. – Daily Telegraph (£) …whilst indicating that the Government is preparing for a “no deal” worst case scenario… The U.K. government is drawing up contingency plans in case no deal can be struck with the EU on Brexit, Theresa May said in a signal that she is prepared to make a “clean break” from the bloc if necessary. While insisting that she had “every expectation” that it would be possible to secure a “positive outcome” when Article 50 is triggered, the prime minister told MPs during an evidence session Tuesday that the government was looking at “all the options” with regard to the possible terms of Britain’s exit. – Politico > Hugh Bennett on BrexitCentral last week: Why the UK must be fully prepared to walk away with nothing to have any credibility in the negotiations to come …and promises to give a major speech on her Brexit plans in the new year… Theresa May has promised to set out her proposals for a “truly global Britain” in speech on Brexit in the new year. The prime minister also told MPs that Parliament would get a “proper opportunity” to discuss her plans before negotiations with the EU start. She “fully” expected that these talks would begin by the end of next March… She added: “It’s important that we understand the wider meaning of the referendum result and respond accordingly. It wasn’t just a vote to leave the EU, but to change the way the country works and the people for whom it works forever.” – BBC …but refuses to commit to giving MPs a vote on the final Brexit deal The Prime Minister was repeatedly asked whether the deal would be put to Parliament, as it will to the European Parliament, in her “end of term” appearance in front of the Liaison Committee. The furthest Mrs May would go was to say that Parliament would have “ample opportunity to comment on and discuss the aspects of the arrangements that we are putting in place”… She added: “There seems to be this idea that somehow we are not letting Parliament do anything. We have made statements to Parliament, we are having debates in Parliament, there will be the Great Repeal Bill, there is a whole variety of commitments we have given to Parliament. We will make sure that Parliament has the opportunity to discuss these matters as we go through the Negotiations.” – Sky News Theresa May is right to stop MPs blocking Brexit – Daily Express editorial Isabel Hardman: Theresa May answers her own questions as MPs try to grill her on Brexit ‘So… was that a yes or a no?’ A number of MPs on the Liaison Committee asked the Prime Minister that question during her evidence question today. They weren’t doing it to make a point: Theresa May spent most of the hour and a half stubbornly answering a set of questions that she had clearly decided in advance with lines also decided in advance, regardless of whether those questions were very close at all to the ones being asked in the Committee room. – Isabel Hardman for The Spectator’s Coffee House blog Nicola Sturgeon publishes plan calling for the UK to stay in the single market after Brexit… The Scottish government proposals have now been published in full in a paper called Scotland’s Place in Europe… The Scottish government has proposed the UK as a whole should stay in the single market by remaining “a party to the European Economic Area Agreement” and staying in the customs union. Ms Sturgeon said: “I accept that there is a mandate in England and Wales to take the UK out of the EU. However, I do not accept that there is a mandate to take any part of the UK out of the single market… It would be entirely democratically justifiable for the UK to remain within it.”… She said the “second strand” of the paper proposes ways in which Scotland could stay in the single market – through the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Economic Area (EEA) – even if the rest of the UK chooses to leave. – BBC At-a-glance: Scottish government’s post-Brexit plan – BBC Theresa May dismisses Nicola Sturgeon’s calls for special Brexit deal for Scotland – Daily Express Scotland has nothing to gain from staying in the single market – Matthew Lynn for The Spectator’s Coffee House blog The failing SNP has a nerve producing this ludicrous plan to stay in the EU single market – Iain Martin for Reaction Nicola Sturgeon’s Brexit plan is flawed – Hamish Macdonell for The Spectator’s Coffee House blog …as she is accused by Ruth Davidson of a “black and white” bid to break-up the UK Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said the plans amounted to “evidence-free assertions” that would lead to “a trade barrier at Berwick”. Labour counterpart Kezia Dugdale urged the SNP leader to rule out a second referendum on independence… Ms Davidson said: “Nicola Sturgeon talks about compromise, but written in black and white in her own report is her true intention – she wants independence in Europe. She has been using the Brexit issue to get to that point all along and the people of Scotland can see her manoeuvring for what it is. If she truly wants the best Brexit deal, she should be pulling together with other parts of the UK, not trying to split the country up.” – Press and Journal Is Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon deluded to think that Scotland can get a special Brexit deal? – Ruth Davidson MSP and Stephen Gethins MP for City A.M. Labour’s Kezia Dugdale says “We’ll look at Brexit paper but Sturgeon must rule out second vote on Scottish independence” – LabourList SNP’s EU proposals would mean de facto Scottish independence – Left Foot Forward Is this an ultimatum from Nicola Sturgeon or is she hoisting the white flag? – Alan Cochrane for the Daily Telegraph (£) Nicola Sturgeon thinks Brexit is her big chance for independence. Instead, it may be her undoing – Tom Harris for the Daily Telegraph (£) EU businesses want access to the UK market after Brexit… Access to the UK as part of the Single Market is the highest priority for European businesses in the upcoming Brexit negotiations, a new survey says. Single Market access is the most important factor for 29 per cent of EU businesses with UK operations, according to a poll of 700 business leaders by accountancy firm RSM… Anand Selvarajan, regional leader for Europe at RSM International, said: “It is vital, in this period of uncertainty, that businesses focus and prepare for the future based on the emerging facts and are not paralysed by the countless doomsday theories out there.” – City A.M. > Steve Love on BrexitCentral last week: The EU should be anxious about retaining access to the UK market – not the other way round …as the CBI publishes UK businesses’ list of demands over Brexit… U.K. companies submitted their Brexit wish list to Prime Minister Theresa May, with easy access to European Union labour and markets the key demands for many sectors… The CBI said a “whole economy approach” that leaves no industry behind is needed if Brexit is to be a success. With skills gaps cited as the biggest threat to labour-market competitiveness, maintaining the supply of foreign workers is a high priority for sectors including services, which accounts for about 80 percent of total jobs and output in the British economy… Meanwhile, the Institute of Economic Affairs, a think tank advocating free-market policies, urged the government not to make it harder for companies to access skilled labor. It also called the U.K.’s focus on boosting manufacturing a “fetishisation” that would not lift productivity. – Bloomberg Hedge funds set out demands for Brexit – and it includes migrant workers – Daily Express …while their monthly “health check” reveals UK Christmas shopping splurge Retailers have been enjoying their strongest sales growth in more than a year amid signs from Britain’s leading employers’ organisation of a pre-Christmas consumer spending spree. The latest health check of high street and online activity from the CBI found that sales so far in December beat expectations, were above average for the time of year, and led to retailers beefing up their orders to suppliers… Ben Jones, CBI principal economist, said: “It’s encouraging to see retailers reporting another month of healthy sales growth leading up to the festive season, which rounds off a fairly solid quarter… James Knightley, senior economist at ING, said the CBI suggested “consumer spending will again make a big contribution to 4Q GDP growth. It also again highlights the resilience of the UK economy despite the Brexit uncertainty.” – The Guardian Patrick Minford: Our best Brexit option is free trade around the world Since the referendum, vested interest after vested interest has lined up to claim that only a soft Brexit, which would effectively continue the status quo, will do for them… This is no surprise: at the core of the Brexit debate is the conflict between the interests of consumers and of the producers who will lose the protection given by the EU. The EU protects farmers and manufacturers through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the customs union; these set tariff and other trade barriers against the outside world. These policies work by raising prices inside the EU on food and manufactured products by around 20 per cent… Trade on its own is the biggest source of gains to our economy when we leave, provided we take advantage of our control of trade barriers to open up fully to free trade. – Professor Patrick Minford for The Times (£) Graeme Reid: Scientists need to wake up to the opportunities of Brexit It’s easy for UK researchers to focus on the downsides of leaving the EU. A House of Lords report [yesterday] calls for a more positive approach… Theresa May made sweeping changes when she was catapulted into Downing Street. New departments were created, and the government had acquired a fresh mission – navigating our way out of the EU. Science and research could easily have been squeezed out of a picture dominated by migration, trade and market access. In fact, the reverse is happening: the PM wrote in July that she wants “a positive outcome for science as we exit the EU”; and Philip Hammond followed this up in his autumn statement with a £4.7 billion increase in science and innovation investment. – Professor Graeme Reid for The Guardian Bold steps are needed to build on UK’s science success – House of Lords report > Phil Salway on BrexitCentral on Monday: The scientific community has nothing to fear from leaving the EU Daniel Finkelstein: How to get what we want from Brexit talks To begin with, viewing Brexit through the eyes of game theorists allows it to be seen as it properly should be — a game involving many players. When discussing whether Britain should remain in the single market or the customs union, we often make the mistake of regarding that choice as ours, when in fact it is an outcome dependent upon others. We also assume that as long as both sides want a reasonable outcome, then a reasonable outcome will result. This does not follow at all. It may be in the interests of both British and European businesses and even (though this is more doubtful) governments that a co-operative arrangement emerges, but this does not mean that one will. – Daniel Finkelstein for The Times (£) Brexit comment in brief Clear red lines, flexibility and the public’s support: we’re on our way to a rational Brexit – Tony Hockley for LSE As we prepare to leave the EU, remember change can be positive – Lloyd Dorfman for the Evening Standard A £50bn Brexit bill? They should pay us! – Daily Mail editorial Why we should all wish the PM a restful Christmas – Robert Peston for ITV The Brexit puzzle – Gavin Hewitt for the BBC Brexit is just the beginning – Douglas Carswell’s blog Five people who made the Brexit vote happen 3) Gisela Stuart – ConservativeHome 2016: A post-mortem of the year the UK’s “economic experts” failed – Ryan Bourne for City A.M. The EU is morally repulsive – John Redwood MP for Comment Central It’s nonsense to claim that Isis benefits from Brexit. But that won’t stop some people trying – Ross Clark for The Spectator’s Coffee House blog What might legal case over EU-Singapore trade deal mean for Brexit? – Aarti Shankar for Open Europe Six months after the Brexit referendum, where does Britain stand? – The Economist Brexit news in brief Goldman Sachs expects Britain to lose financial passporting rights after Brexit – Business Insider UK Deloitte apologises for Brexit memo in effort to make peace with No 10 – PA/Guardian In pro-EU Scotland, whisky makers cheer Brexit boon – AFP New European Movement boss Dorrell makes funding appeal for anti-Brexit campaign – PoliticsHome Diane James explains why she quit as UKIP leader after 18 days – BBC And finally… Golf carts, dodgems and mobility scooters may need car insurance after new EU ruling Fairground dodgems and children’s ride-on cars may require motor insurance for the first time under EU laws that the government has to implement. Full insurance could be required for all “vehicles”, including those that never leave private land, to comply with a new EU directive… The Department for Transport said it was legally obliged to consult on the changes despite being uncomfortable about the reforms, which would have “potentially costly consequences”… The government said that some vehicles that could be brought under the scope of motor insurance… includes “electrically assisted pedal cycles, construction vehicles, agricultural vehicles, Segways, ride-on lawnmowers, motor sports vehicles, mobility scooters, golf buggies, motorised ride-on children’s toys, fairground rides (eg dodgems), forklift trucks, dumper trucks, engineering plant and quad bikes”. – The Times (£)