Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Theresa May to hold talks with Jean-Claude Juncker on future UK-EU relations this afternoon… Theresa May will travel to Brussels on Wednesday for Brexit talks with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. Downing Street said the meeting was part of the “ongoing negotiations over the future framework” agreement with the EU. It is understood the talks are set to focus on future long-term relations between the UK and EU, rather than on the withdrawal deal that Mrs May unveiled last week. The move follows a stormy few days for Mrs May, which have seen the DUP deliver a warning shot across Government bows after accusing the Prime Minister of breaking fundamental promises on Brexit. May heads to Brussels on Wednesday for Brexit talks – Reuters Theresa May to hold Brexit talks with Jean-Claude Juncker on future relations with EU – ITV News May heading to Brussels amid scramble to finalise Brexit deal – BBC News …with the Government Chief Whip reportedly telling her not to come back empty-handed A Tory source said Julian Smith has privately told the Prime Minister the deal risks being voted down unless she can extract new concessions in the final days of talks. The deal is due to be signed off by EU leaders at a crunch Brussels summit on Sunday. The source said: ‘The chief whip’s view is that fear of no deal will not be enough to win this one. ‘The numbers are terrible and he needs something sufficiently different from what people currently think they are voting for in order to get this through.’ Some allies of the Prime Minister believe that the fear of no deal will ultimately persuade MPs to reluctantly back her Brexit proposals when Parliament holds a ‘meaningful vote’ next month. But Mr Smith is said to be concerned that opposition to the deal is hardening. Some 53 Eurosceptic MPs have now signed up to the ‘Stand up for Brexit’ campaign which commits them to voting down any deal based on Mrs May’s Chequers proposals. – MailOnline The Prime Minister revives the idea of a ‘MaxFac’ solution for the Irish border… Theresa May has agreed to look again at Brexiteer demands to try to find a technical solution to the Irish border question that would avoid the need for a backstop. Downing Street said today that it “made sense” to see if new technology could be used to eliminate the need for physical checks between the north and south of Ireland. It followed a meeting between the prime minister and Conservative Brexiteers in Downing Street yesterday at which they asked her to look again at the so-called maximum facilitation model, under which they insist Britain would not need to be tied to a UK-wide customs backstop. No 10 refused to comment today on how many officials were working on the plan or to what extent it had been discussed with the European Commission. A Downing Street source said a technical solution to the Irish border question could be an alternative to either the UK-wide temporary customs arrangement or extending transition. – The Times (£) …which Cabinet Brexiteers are demanding as an alternative to the Irish backstop… All members of the so-called ‘Gang of five’ appear to have climbed down from their previous demands for a unilateral break clause to the backstop. Now new proposals have been made that could give Brexiteers a way of backing May’s deal. BuzzFeed News understands that in meetings with the prime minister this week it was suggested the UK could seek to add a schedule to the withdrawal agreement providing clarification on the means by which the UK could leave the backstop — the insurance policy to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. One condition could include the development of the Brexiteers’ favoured “Maximum Facilitation” plan for a technological solution to the Irish border. At Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, ministers were told “alternative arrangements” such as MaxFac could present a way out of the backstop. Downing Street hopes this, plus language in the political declaration on the future relationship, will provide a fig leaf that convinces Brexiteers a Canada-style free trade agreement is still on the table, giving them a political ladder to climb down and vote for May’s deal. An official close to one cabinet Brexiteer told BuzzFeed News there were “good vibes” from today’s meeting. – BuzzFeed News …but Dublin insists the Brexit deal text is not open for renegotiation Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has told the Dáil the Brexit withdrawal agreement is “not going to be reopened”. Mr Coveney said it was not a draft and was not open for renegotiation. He told Fianna Fáil Brexit spokeswoman Lisa Chambers that the only document that would change was the political declaration about the future relationship between the EU and the UK. But he stressed that even if EU leaders backed the agreement at their meeting in Brussels on Sunday, and if it was backed by a majority of MPs at Westminster, they had at least two to three years of negotiations ahead on the future relationship. The Brexit agreement is sensitive and difficult, he said. “It’s a compromise on both sides.” – Irish Times ‘Brit-bashing’ Taoiseach Varadkar has undone good relations work I helped build, says DUP’s Sammy Wilson… Sammy Wilson accused “Brit-bashing” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of harming good relations he helped forge between the Belfast and Dublin administrations while he was a minister in the Northern Ireland Executive. Mr Wilson said the party’s objections had nothing to do with the agreement. He said EU negotiators had instead used it as a way to extract concessions over the course of the talks. “I worked in the Northern Ireland Assembly as finance minister and as environment minister for six years, working with Dublin administrations and working well with Dublin administrations and setting up good relationships,” he said. “And all of that good work has been undone by the Brit-bashing Taoiseach that we have now in the Republic.”- Belfast Telegraph …as he insists the DUP is focused on changing the Brexit deal… The Prime Minister argues the people of Northern Ireland were at the forefront of her negotiations with the EU and the “future was bright”. Mr Wilson said that was “certainly not the case” describing how one former Cabinet minister felt fighting against the deal was more important than his own career when he decided to quit the government. “There is considerable opposition within her own government, considerable concern, to the agreement,” he added. “The agreement leaves Northern Ireland in a position where forever we would be subject to the EU making rules about our economy which we would have no say over or no ability to amend even if they were damaging to our economy and put a border down the Irish Sea separating us from the GB market which is our biggest market. “It doesn’t matter how she interprets it, that what’s in black and white in the deal. And of course she is not going to say she broke her promised to the people of Northern Ireland or she broke her manifesto promises to the people of the UK. Which she has done and the reason she had so much turmoil in her own party.” – Belfast Telegraph …while the party orders its MPs to ignore the pact to vote with the Government… The Democratic Unionist Party ordered its MPs to ignore its agreement to vote with the Conservative party on Tuesday night, as it withdrew support for Budget votes for the second day running. In another blow to Theresa May’s authority, the party’s 10 MPs abstained from a series of votes on the Finance Bill, forcing the Government to cave in the face of defeat. The move, which risks rendering the confidence and supply agreement null and void, came as senior DUP figures said they would not be swayed by threats to withdraw funding earmarked for Northern Ireland. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, party insiders warned they would bring down Mrs May’s Brexit deal unless the “Irish backstop goes”, adding that the “whole raison d’etre” was to protect the Union. – Telegraph (£) DUP refuses to support May’s Brexit deal for second day in row – Guardian …as both Boris Johnson and Philip Hammond prepare to attend the DUP conference this weekend Despite the fallout over the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement it is understood that Arlene Foster’s party were hoping that a senior cabinet member, possibly Mr. Hammond, would also attend the annual event in Belfast. Mr. Hammond is expected to address DUP members in a speech on Friday night while Mr. Johnson will attend Saturday’s conference when Mrs. Foster will make her address. The annual conference will be of particular interest particularly as relations between Number 10 and Mrs. Foster’s party have soured in recent days over the withdrawal agreement. – The Impartial Reporter Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson declares war on EU leaders’ calls for a European army to rival Nato Speaking about the prospect of a European army, Gavin Williamson told the Daily Mail: ‘You can absolutely rest assured that Britain will never become part of a European army on my watch. ‘It is an absolutely crazy idea. Nato has delivered European security for the last 70 years and we should feel very proud of it. Should we undermine that by forming a separate military force? Absolutely not. To begin discussing a new EU army is dangerous and undermines the security that Nato underwrites.’ He added: ‘Before Europe starts seriously planning its own army it should adequately fund the military that has protected its borders from aggression for 70 years. Two per cent of GDP should not be beyond the wit of those who have accumulated great wealth through the protection of Nato, primarily under the leadership of the US and UK.’ – Daily Mail Theresa May tells Nicola Sturgeon her Brexit deal is good for Scotland and its fishermen… Theresa May has told Nicola Sturgeon that her Brexit deal is the best that could be negotiated and in the interests of the entire United Kingdom. The Prime Minister said it would not only give Scottish businesses the “clarity and certainty” they needed, but see the UK take back control of its coastal waters and boost the fishing industry. She also insisted during a 30-minute meeting at Westminster that the draft withdrawal agreement was the best that could be negotiated, after the First Minister spent the day seeking to build a coalition against it. A Downing Street source said SNP plans only made a no-deal Brexit more likely. Ms Sturgeon has described Mrs May’s deal as a false choice and insists there is a potential majority in the Commons for a change of direction that would see the UK remain in the single market and customs union. – Telegraph (£) …but Sturgeon urges Tory Remainers to help build ‘soft’ Brexit coalition… Conservative remainer MPs have a “role to play” in building a coalition to drive a soft Brexit through the Commons, Nicola Sturgeon has said as opposition parties seek to find common ground with unhappy Tory backbenchers. In comments which gave the first indication of a Labour-SNP alliance, the Scottish National party leader suggested opposition parties would look at the Norway model, proposed by senior Tory backbenchers including former ministers Nick Boles, Nicky Morgan and George Freeman. “In terms of the softer remain element of the Conservatives, I think they have a role to play in putting that majority together,” Sturgeon told reporters after meeting Jeremy Corbyn and Vince Cable in the wake of last week’s Brexit chaos. She also met the prime minister. – Guardian …while Sir Keir Starmer says Labour will work with other parties to block no-deal Brexit The Shadow Brexit Secretary said no deal “is not an option” if the Commons votes down the withdrawal agreement struck between Theresa May and Brussels. He told a meeting of Labour MPs and peers that a range of Parliamentary devices could be used to prevent a no-deal scenario, which many experts have said would cause economic chaos. “If Theresa May’s deal fails to command the support of Parliament, then we will not stand back and allow her to take this country off a cliff. No deal is not an option. Labour will not countenance no deal – and nor would many of the Prime Minister’s own MPs. “It would be politically unsustainable for any government to deliver a no deal without the consent of Parliament. There will be opportunities to make the majority against no deal heard. Motions will be tabled, amendments will be pressed and a no confidence vote can be triggered.- PoliticsHome Calls for Lib Dem MP Stephen Lloyd to lose party whip over support for Brexit deal The Eastbourne MP is facing pressure from leading party activists after he pledged to support the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal when it is put before Parliament next month. Dozens of Liberal Democrat members, including serving councillors and parliamentary candidates, have signed an open letter calling for Mr Lloyd to lose the whip over his opposition to the party’s calls for a second Brexit referendum. He told PoliticsHome: “I campaigned and publicly debated for Remain during the 2016 referendum, and still believe that remaining within the European Union is in the best interests of our nation. “I also made a promise during the campaign that I would not support calls for a second referendum, and would support the final negotiated deal the Prime Minister brings back to the Commons. And as my constituency Eastbourne knows, when I give my word to the town I keep it.” Liberal Democrat MPs are set to meet on Tuesday to thrash out their formal response to Mrs May’s deal with the party expected to vote against the plan when it comes to Parliament in December. – PoliticsHome Lib Dem MP who vowed to vote for Theresa May’s Brexit deal faces calls to have whip withdrawn – Independent Spain’s Prime Minister Sánchez threatens to oppose Brexit deal over Gibraltar… Spain maintains a claim to the peninsula, ceded to the British crown under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. It wants to ensure that future EU talks with the UK do not cover Gibraltar. “As things stand today if there are no changes regarding Gibraltar, Spain will vote no on Brexit,” said Mr Sánchez. Throughout the Brexit negotiations, Spain – along with Ireland and Cyprus – has conducted separate talks with the UK about specific border issues. Mr Sánchez added his weight to those remarks on Tuesday at a forum in Madrid, emphasising that any future negotiations on Gibraltar had to be bilateral. “As a country we cannot assume that whatever happens in the future with Gibraltar would be negotiated by the UK and EU – it will have to be negotiated between Spain and the UK,” he said. – BBC News …while the Spanish foreign minister predicts the break-up of Brexit Britain Brexit could split apart the United Kingdom, according to Spain, as Madrid dropped its historic opposition to Scotland joining the EU as an independent country. Josep Borrell, the Spanish foreign minister, was accused of trying to stoke Scottish nationalism as he said he was worried for the future of the Union. Madrid also repeated its threats to sink the Brexit deal unless it won concessions over Gibraltar, before Theresa May heads to Brussels on Wednesday for a meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker which will present one of the last opportunities for her to improve the deal on offer. Mr Borrell said: “I am very much [more] worried about the unity of the United Kingdom than the unity of the Kingdom of Spain. I think the United Kingdom will split apart before the Kingdom of Spain.” – Telegraph (£) Oust Theresa May now or she will cling on, warns Jacob Rees‑Mogg… In Westminster this morning Mr Rees-Mogg tried to turn the conversation away from his European Research Group’s (ERG) failure to secure 48 letters of no confidence in the prime minister and back towards the substance of her deal, launching a pamphlet aimed at “exploding the myths of leaving the customs union”. But he mostly faced questions about the prime minister’s future, and used them to warn his colleagues that if they do not oust Mrs May soon she will soldier on to the next election. “You speak to Tory MPs and find Tory MPs who say they are really keen that Theresa May should lead us into the next general election,” he said. “Basically, if there is a vote of confidence it is not just for a year. Getting the 48 letters has shown to be quite difficult, so the idea that in a year you just repeat the process and then she would go at that point I don’t think that is realistic. – The Times (£) Brexiteers like ‘Dad’s Army’ battling to submit enough letters of no confidence, Jacob Rees-Mogg says – Telegraph (£) Now’s the time to get rid of Theresa May – Politico …although poll suggests voters have rallied behind May as the coup attempt stalls An attempted coup by Tory Brexiteers against Theresa May appears to have backfired, with voters giving the prime minister their strongest backing since last year’s election. A week ago 33 per cent of voters backed Mrs May staying in her post and 47 per cent wanted her to go, a YouGov poll for The Times showed. Now 46 per cent say that she should stay and 34 per cent want her to stand down. The poll of 1,647 adults was taken on Monday and Tuesday. The shift will hearten Downing Street as it prepares to sell Mrs May’s Brexit deal to voters after a final negotiation that will end with a summit in Brussels on Sunday. – The Times (£) Theresa May enjoys popularity surge in wake of botched Brexiteer coup – PoliticsHome Supreme Court rejects Government bid to stop ECJ hearing Brexit reversal case Scottish politicians who are opposed to Britain exiting the European Union want the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to clarify whether London can withdraw its notification to leave without permission from the EU’s other member states. In a final attempt to prevent the referral, the British government asked the Supreme Court whether it would hear an appeal but on Tuesday, three of the country’s top judges rejected the application.The government had argued that whether or not Britain could reverse the decision was immaterial, since ministers had no intention of doing so. The anti-Brexit petitioners are hoping the ECJ will rule that Britain has a legal unilateral option of staying in the EU, the world’s biggest trading bloc, once the final outcome of divorce negotiations are known. – Reuters With Mark Carney warning of a 1970s-style shock, firms ready for no-deal Brexit Carney, who angered many Brexit campaigners by warning of the hit to economic growth from the decision to leave the EU, was also keen to illustrate the risks if the deal were voted down in parliament. “This would be a very unusual situation … It is very rare to see a large negative supply shock in an advanced economy. You would have to stretch back at least in our analysis until the 1970s to find analogies.” Welcoming the transitional period in the draft deal with the EU, he also said there were limits to what the central bank could do in the event of a Brexit shock to the economy, both in terms of a fall in demand and ensuring lending by banks. Earlier, the BoE said it would fulfill a request from parliament’s Treasury Committee to provide analysis of how the draft Brexit divorce deal “will affect the Bank’s ability to deliver its statutory remits for monetary and financial stability, including in a ‘no deal, no transition’ scenario”. – Reuters Mark Carney backs Theresa May’s Brexit deal – Guardian Brexit fears fail to dent EasyJet bookings Fears of Brexit disruption have failed to deter passengers from booking flights next summer with EasyJet. Bookings were “promising” and slightly ahead of summer this year, with half its seats sold for the first half of 2019, the airline said. Pre-tax profits soared 41% to £578m for the year to 30 September. Chief executive Johan Lundgren said the airline had been preparing for Brexit for the past two years by considering “every possible scenario”. He was adamant that flights would continue operating in April even if there was a no-deal scenario. EasyJet plans to increase capacity by about 10% for the 2019 financial year. – BBC News Theresa May: ‘The draft Brexit deal keeps us safe, protects jobs, businesses and also preserves the Union’ Throughout the Brexit process I have kept the prosperity and security of Northern Ireland, and our entire United Kingdom, at the front of my mind. The draft deal published last week protects jobs and businesses, keeps us safe, and preserves the integrity of our Union, whilst respecting the result of the referendum. This is a decisive step in the process of leaving the EU. Negotiators from both sides are now working tirelessly to fill in the detail of our long term future relationship with the EU before I meet the leaders of the other 27 countries in Brussels on Sunday to finalise the deal. The challenge of Brexit has always been to continue our deep trading links and security cooperation with the EU in our new relationship, whilst freeing us to take advantage of the opportunities, such as an independent trade policy. This deal strikes that balance, and puts Northern Ireland in a fantastic position for the future. Northern Ireland’s constitutional status as part of the United Kingdom is guaranteed, with the Belfast Agreement and the consent principle enshrined in this deal. – Theresa May MP for the Belfast Telegraph Dominic Raab: We must be willing to walk away with no deal – taking our £39bn with us Last week, I resigned as Brexit Secretary because I could not in good conscience support the proposed deal between the UK and the EU. There is still time to stand up to the bullying tactics from Brussels. But we must change course, or the flame of optimism and opportunity that sparked Brexit will be snuffed out. There is still time to salvage the negotiations, by making a best final offer that addresses these failings. To be taken seriously, we must be willing to walk away – taking our £39 billion with us. That means being honest with the public. No deal does involve some risk of short-term disruption, which we can manage or mitigate. But the deal on the table would inflict long-term damage – from which we would struggle to recover – and stifle the opportunities that Brexit offers. This is a historic struggle for the heart and soul of our country – between those who believe that managed decline is all we have left, and those of us who believe that this country’s best days lie ahead. Buried beneath the rafts of technical detail, it is a struggle between hope and fear. – Dominic Raab MP for the Telegraph (£) Peter Lilley: Fears about leaving the Customs Union are a mix of imaginary and exaggerated The highly unpopular provisions in the Prime Minister’s draft Withdrawal Agreement that could keep the UK indefinitely in the EU Customs Union are driven not just by a pointless attempt to avoid a hard border between the UK and EU in Ireland, but by fears that they will impose costs, cause delays, disrupt supply chains and undermine economic growth. Those fears are unnecessary, for many of the problems ascribed to leaving the EU’s Customs Union are imaginary and most of the rest are exaggerated. It is natural that businesses contemplate the worst possible consequences in the event of the UK leaving without an agreement – due to lack of preparation combined with hostile non-cooperation by the EU. Sadly, some commentators present these scenarios as if they represent what would be a permanent situation post-Brexit, when most such problems are not merely unlikely but, if they happen at all, essentially temporary. – Lord Lilley for ConservativeHome Justine Greening: Parliament is gridlocked. Only the people can solve the Brexit crisis No 10 has turned up the noise on the spin machine selling its “blind Brexit” deal, but that won’t change the simple fact that it’s playing a tune no one likes. This deal is the worst of all worlds. Taking EU rules without having a say and risking the break-up of the UK is not what people voted for. We need to face facts. Parliament is gridlocked. There is no majority among MPs for the prime minister’s deal in parliament or for leaving with no deal. No matter how determined any one group is, the numbers just don’t add up. The time for facing up to this problem is now long overdue. Voters deserve better than to have further crucial weeks lost through MPs who are already fixed in their positions arguing. I don’t want a replay of the first referendum, because it’s no longer a binary choice. We shouldn’t pretend there are two options when actually there are three. – Justine Greening MP for the Guardian Damian Collins: Why I will not be supporting the proposed EU withdrawal agreement I will not be supporting the agreement proposed last week by the Prime Minister, for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. My concerns are that it does not deliver the Brexit that people voted for, and that it could leave the UK locked into a relationship with the EU that would be worse than our current terms of membership. I do not accept the Prime Minister’s argument that this is the best we can do, and that we should go with it, or run the risk of a chaotic hard Brexit in March next year. The terms of this agreement have not yet been finalised with the leaders of the other EU member states, and in every European negotiation there is the opportunity for discussion and amendment right up until the final moment before the deal must be done. Given we are not due to leave for another four months, I believe that there is still time to get this right. – Damian Collins MP’s blog Kate Hoey: Government has capitulated and backstop will split NI from the UK The bottom line for me, as someone who loves my country and who campaigned to leave in order to allow us to take back control of our laws, borders and trade, is the way Northern Ireland is being treated. Quite simply, Northern Ireland to all intents and purposes becomes separated in many ways from the rest of the United Kingdom. The backstop arrangements look like they were written by the Irish government — we cannot leave unilaterally and we could be trapped there for ever and, even if the rest of the UK is freed, Northern Ireland stays in, with the Republic of Ireland effectively representing Northern Ireland in the EU. The people of the UK, in the largest ever democratic vote, decided to Leave the EU, not leave a little and stay a little. They have been sold out by a powerful elite who never wanted us to leave and by a Prime Minister who has capitulated to every whim of Brussels. This deal is not worth a penny, never mind £39bn. – Kate Hoey MP for the Belfast Telegraph Gisela Stuart: The Government wants us to trust it on Brexit, but it’s given us no reason to do so The Government says it wants to avoid the backstop coming into effect and that means agreeing a deal on the future relationship quickly. And here is our problem. Downing Street promises we will take back control of our laws, borders, money and trade – but these promises rest on a declaration that is both vague and non-binding. What we are giving is enshrined in a 585-page, legally binding treaty. What we are hoping for in exchange is sketched in a seven-page political document. Leave voters no longer believe that Downing Street can keep its word, and no longer trust the EU to negotiate in good faith. The next stage of negotiations are full of risk that what we were promised will disappear. Downing Street is asking the country to sign up to a process that requires a leap of faith. And yet faith and trust are precisely what No 10 appears no longer to command. How ironic that the Government itself has become the major obstacle to democracy. – Gisela Stuart for the Telegraph (£) Henry Newman: Here’s what it would take to make Theresa May’s Brexit deal work When the prime minister meets EU leaders she should level with them and admit that the domestic reaction to the deal has been worse than she expected. At cabinet last week, her chief whip told ministers the DUP would abstain and predicted the deal would pass the Commons. That no longer seems plausible at this point, with dozens of Conservatives lined up to vote it down. So Theresa May should tell the assembled dignitaries that the deal is a dead duck, unless there can be limited but substantive changes to the withdrawal agreement and a significant development of the political declaration. EU leaders will be loath to reopen the deal. But if they refuse they need to think carefully about the consequences. By the time the deal is rejected by parliament at its first vote, her space for manoeuvre may be even less. There’s no point securing a deal that works perfectly in Brussels theory, but doesn’t survive contact with Westminster politics – after all, that would be to repeat the mistakes of David Cameron’s renegotiation. – Henry Newman for the Guardian Asa Bennett: France and Spain want to renegotiate the Brexit deal — so why can’t we, Mrs May? It is only natural for those involved in a negotiation to want to keep pushing for more concessions until the very last minute before the deal is signed. That is even preached by Donald Trump, who once boasted that he aims high and then just keeps “pushing and pushing to get what I’m after”. With Spain and the rest of the EU27 still demanding more from the deal, Mrs May should not stop fighting the UK’s corner. Making out that the deal is set in stone while the EU tries to rewrite it in their favour would be a dereliction of duty. As keen as the Prime Minister might be to pocket her draft deal so she can get on with selling it, if she doesn’t keep pressing her case, she will end up with a worse version agreed for her to sell. – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) David Shiels: Technological solutions. A greater role for the Assembly. How May could yet win over the DUP It is not a happy time for the relationship between the Conservative Party and the DUP. There remains, of course, a possibility that the DUP’s opposition will see off the backstop, either now by helping to defeat the Withdrawal Agreement in Parliament or at a later date, during the negotiations on the future relationship. Although the party is unhappy with things as they stand, its persistence has at least ensured that some of the more objectionable aspects of the EU’s February proposal have been removed. There may yet be some way that the Government can secure further assurances for Northern Ireland, either in terms of beefed-up commitments to find a technological solution for the border, or by securing a role for the Northern Ireland Assembly as a democratic lock on the backstop. For the DUP, there remains the ‘nuclear option’ of triggering a confidence vote in the Government, or coming as near as they can to doing so in order to persuade Conservative MPs to change their leader. – Dr David Shiels for ConservativeHome Anne McElvoy: As the Euro-show rolls on, where do we now fit in with our neighbours? Emotionally, many Europeans fret about Brexit and would like to see it undone. More urgently, their preoccupations are different — strong federalists (in the EU sense) would rather we got on with it, the better to double down on a “core Europe”. I do not think the EU has treated Britain wisely in the run-up to the referendum when it denied David Cameron a solid negotiating position — and a multi-tier Europe would have been a better outcome than the present mess. But now that that path is closed off, we are going to have to figure out some way of co-existence that is not the scratchy mood of ire, resentment and reliance on a Brussels bureaucrat as arbitrator. – Anne McElvoy for the Evening Standard Peter Foster: Spain wants ‘wins’ out of Brexit leverage on Gibraltar Ever since the day in April 2017 when the European Union granted Spain a veto over how the Brexit divorce deal should apply to Gibraltar, a political time-bomb was placed directly under the negotiations. The veto means that London and Madrid, in consultation with Gibraltar, must agree separately how and if the Brexit deal should apply to the Rock. If anyone had any doubts that Spain would use their veto, they only needed to look at the issue of Gibraltar airport which is currently blocked from Europe’s ‘Open Skies’ because Spain has refused to allow it to be covered by EU law. Since Theresa May has repeatedly been clear that she will not leave any part of the “UK family” behind – a pledge she repeated again on Monday – the veto applies effectively to the entire Brexit deal, if she wants progress that includes Gibraltar. – Peter Foster for the Telegraph (£) Jon Tonge: Theresa May needs to be frank about just who is going to be in control in Northern Ireland Now the PM tells us she will ensure there will be ‘no divergence between Northern Ireland and Great Britain’. As EU Single Market rules will prevail in Northern Ireland, her only choice as UK Prime Minister will be to follow those rules for part of ‘her’ Kingdom. Those EU rules will probably be fine and sensible, so who cares – not businesses probably – but she does need to be frank about who is in control. The Prime Minister also claims this arrangement is “expressly temporary, with a mechanism by which it can be terminated”. In the same way that life is temporary and will eventually be terminated, yes. But its average length is 81 years – and you wouldn’t bet on the UK-EU Commission agreeing that the backstop can be safely removed much shy of that. And the PM knows full well that the ‘mechanism’ by which transitional arrangements are terminated has dual controls. She cannot act alone – Jon Tonge for the Belfast Telegraph John Flack: The EU’s ‘barmy army’ is a fantasy no more — and only federalists will cheer that Twice during last week’s European Parliament debate with Angela Merkel, I felt as if an icy hand had gripped my heart. The first was when I heard the Chancellor call for creation of “real, true” EU army. The second was when I saw our own country’s Euro-fanatic Labour MEPs give her a standing ovation. What a divisive scheme from the leader of a country whose security and restored unity is truly guaranteed by Nato. What a shameful response from MEPs who have always wanted Britain locked fast into a federalist Europe of “ever deeper union'” – instead of a truly global Britain that reaches out to the world. The same instinct that leaves them desperate for ever more centralisation also sees them on their feet cheering for Angie Merkel’s Barmy Army. We really need only one clear, unchallenged system for guaranteeing the defence of the free nations. That system already exists, It has worked for 60 years, It works now. It is called Nato. – John Flack MEP for the Telegraph (£) Andrew Gimson: May’s Brexit deal helps to show that British politicians are more honourable and efficient than is claimed British public life includes a wonderful tradition of abuse, upheld at its finest by our caricaturists. The presumption of incompetence which we attach to our politicians is a valuable safeguard against disappointment, and against respecting them too much. A free people needs, if anything, to err on the side of disrespecting its leaders too much. But there has been a tendency, since the start of the 20th century, to suppose that because Britain’s power has declined in relative terms (a development which was inevitable, once our competitors industrialised), our politicians must also have declined in quality, and must have become, in fact, totally useless. That is unfair. They are, in general, no more useless than they ever were, and many of the public services for which they are responsible work rather well. We wait each winter for a crisis in the NHS, and perhaps this year we shall get one, but in most respects that service has become better. – Andrew Gimson for ConservativeHome Anthony Browne: It may take two heaves to achieve a proper Brexit. But accepting the deal – for now – is the best way to get there From local radio to national broadsheets, from Brexiteers to Remoaners, the critics of the withdrawal agreement have been as articulate as they have been passionate. There are many concerns, and I suspect the Prime Minister shares some. But even those wanting the hardest of Brexits should hold their nose, and support the agreement. They are far more likely that way to get what they want than by bringing it down. Their understandable fury at the prospect of becoming a “vassal state” is blinding them to the ugly political mood in the UK, how that will fundamentally change after Brexit – and that the agreement can be rewritten later. If the deal is rejected, it brings the current political chaos to a new fever pitch. Uncertainty about what happens when we leave the EU is likely to be compounded by a bitter leadership battle that risks tearing the Conservative Party apart. It won’t be easy, but it is doable. It may take two heaves to achieve a full Brexit. But that is much preferable to pushing the country to the abyss, which will jeopardise the Conservative Party, the economy and Brexit itself. – Anthony Browne for ConservativeHome Clive Crook: May’s Brexit deal has a fatal defect Last week Theresa May unveiled her draft agreement with the European Union on the terms of Britain’s exit. The reaction was exactly as expected. Remainers despaired because the deal is so much worse than staying in the union — which is true, of course. Leavers despaired because the deal is Brexit in name only — which is also true… This is no longer a flawed but defensible compromise. It’s a capitulation… If Europe wins and the deal goes through, its victory will turn to ashes in short order. The EU will have converted a potential friend and partner (the world’s fifth biggest economy and a valuable military and intelligence-gathering ally) into a humiliated subordinate, primed for vengeance. That situation is certain to end badly — for both sides. – Clive Crook for Bloomberg Graham Gudgin and Alexander Downer: Fear of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit is like Millennium Bug hysterics While wild threats will of course feature as bargaining gambits, one would expect EU pragmatism to avoid hugely provocative and inflammatory actions which are easily avoided by hastily agreed side deals. To do these, French President Emmanuel Macron is taking on extra powers. The Irish foreign minister has said that, “if it looked as though Britain were heading towards a no-deal departure from the European Union then direct discussions on how to avoid a hard border would be required”. Like the Millennium Bug, ‘no deal’ lodges itself in the mind as a fear of the unknown. Our current political predicament means that we need to quickly unpack the dangers and provide a rational assessment of the risks. We have some good bargaining chips for a new negotiation. Let’s use them in the national interest to avoid this unsatisfactory Withdrawal Agreement. – Graham Gudgin and Alexander Downer for the News Letter Brexit in Brief Who thought that Brexit would reduce political system in UK to rubble? – Chris Moncrieff for the Belfast Telegraph Fewer than 48 letters, more than 53 signatures – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome How the Conservative-DUP pact works – and what would happen if Arlene Foster pulled the plug – Daniel Capurro for the Telegraph (£) DUP unlikely to be swayed by May’s charm offensive – Belfast Telegraph editorial It’s beginning to look a lot like a Brexit conspiracy – Allison Pearson for the Telegraph (£)