Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Theresa May lacks ‘enthusiasm’ for Brexit and plans for a customs partnership are ‘completely cretinous’, says Jacob Rees-Mogg Theresa May lacks “enthusiasm” for Brexit, Jacob Rees Mogg has said, as he accused the Prime Minister of a “betrayal of good sense” over her “cretinous” plans for a customs partnership with the European Union. The leading Eurosceptic Tory MP also warned that staying in the partnership would mean a return of duty free trade on cross-channel ferries could not happen because the UK would effectively still be in the customs union. Mr Rees-Mogg also said that peers are “playing with fire” by passing amendments which he said were attempts to overturn Brexit. – Telegraph (£) May’s ‘customs partnership’ idea cretinous, says Rees-Mogg – BBC News Rees-Mogg: I agree with Barnier on UK’s ‘cretinous’ customs plan – Politico Mogg says Remainer Lords risk ‘burning down their house’ over Brexit – The Sun Dodds warns against the “annexation” of Northern Ireland – ConservativeHome EU commissioner: At least it’s not Jacob Rees-Mogg at the negotiating table – Steerpike for The Spectator Theresa May should not wait for Tory rebels to decide her customs union plan – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Michel Barnier demands Britain set out next plans for Brexit or negotiations stop… Britain must give Brussels a clear Brexit blueprint to allow negotiations to move forward, according to the European Union chief leading the exit talks. All those involved “know where the EU stands” but “more clarity” is still needed from the UK, Michel Barnier said. In a speech in Hannover he said it was up to the Government to come up with its vision for the future that either finalised or changed the UK’s red lines. “It is now up to the UK to come up with its vision for the future, which should confirm the UK’s red lines or adapt them,” he said. “Once we have more clarity from the UK, we will prepare a political declaration on the framework for the future relationship to accompany the withdrawal agreement in the autumn.” – Express Barnier tells Theresa May to ‘adapt’ red lines to get good trade deal – Evening Standard …while Downing Street suggests May will hold back Brexit bill until trade deal is agreed Theresa May will hold back most of Britain’s Brexit divorce cheque until the full details of a new trade deal are thrashed out, No 10 sources have revealed. The tough negotiating position emerged as Downing Street dismissed a warning by the boss of Whitehall’s spending watchdog. Auditor General Sir Amyas Morse said the UK will be legally obliged to pay the full £39 billion bill even if no new trade agreement is reached.The National Audit Office’s boss told MPs that the withdrawal agreement will become a binding treaty once it is passed by Parliament. Asked if he believed the jumbo sum was conditional on a trade deal, Sir Amyas told the Commons Treasury Committee: “No, that’s not my understanding. – The Sun UK liable for ‘divorce bill’ even with no Brexit trade deal – NAO chief – Guardian Welsh and UK governments agree Brexit Bill deal – but SNP-run Holyrood refuses to cooperate The UK and Welsh governments have reached agreement over a long-running Brexit “power-grab” row. Agreement on changes to the UK Government EU (Withdrawal) Bill follows months of discussions. Wales’ Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford said the deal means powers in areas “currently devolved remain devolved”. But the Scottish Government has rejected the latest offer, saying under the latest proposal the Scottish Parliament’s “hands would be tied”. The row centred on what would happen after the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union to 64 powers in devolved areas, such as agriculture support and food labelling. The powers are currently operated by EU officials in Brussels. – BBC News No Scots Brexit powers deal despite UK-Welsh agreement – BBC News Sturgeon’s Nats ‘block Brexit deal in desperate bid for a new vote on independence’ – The Sun Brexit Secretary David Davis visits Irish border David Davis has made a short visit to the Irish border – his first as Brexit secretary. He visited a number of places on the Northern Ireland side of the border. They included an autism centre in Middletown and former customs posts in the same village. Mr Davis was accompanied by the chief executive of Co-Operation Ireland, Peter Sheridan, during the two-hour visit.”I showed him the way the border snakes back and forth. I think he was trying to get a feel for the place and the issues the border throws up,” Mr Sheridan said. “I think he was generally appreciative – he spent time and he wanted to see what I meant when I say the way it meanders. – BBC News David Davis ‘sorry’ for failing to tell local Sinn Fein MP of surprise visit – BBC News UK seeks to reassure EU over Windrush Caribbean migrant scandal… The U.K.’s Home Office held a briefing for EU diplomats in London Friday at which it admitted failures in how it had dealt with the immigration status of Caribbean migrants and reassured them the same would not happen to EU27 citizens post Brexit. Some members of the so-called Windrush generation — named after the Empire Windrush which brought the first group of migrants en masse from former colonies in the Caribbean — say they have struggled to access health care, lost their jobs or been threatened with deportation because of demands for paperwork they cannot provide. Many arrived in the U.K. as far back as the 1940s and have lived in the U.K. ever since. – Politico May and Boris in Cabinet clash over immigration amnesty – James Forsyth for The Spectator Boris Johnson and Theresa May clash over amnesty for Windrush generation – The Times (£) Immigration crisis laid bare as 27,000 illegal immigrants arrested in Britain over four years – The Sun Give EU citizens British citizenship now to avoid another Windrush disaster – Ben Kelly for Reaction Windrush is no excuse to abandon the immigration battle – Kathy Gyngell for ConservativeWoman …but MEPs are not satisfied with UK’s post-Brexit system for registering EU nationals MEPs briefed by U.K. officials in Brussels on how Britain will deal with the immigration status of EU27 citizens who wish to remain in the country after Brexit say they still need guarantees that the system will be smooth, fair and easy to use. A group of U.K. officials leading the work within the Home Office spoke to the Brexit Steering Group, which meets privately at least once a week to coordinate the European Parliament’s cross-party response to Brexit. Also at the meeting were representatives of NGO the3million, which advocates for the rights of EU citizens living in the U.K. – Politico App for EU citizens to get UK residency after Brexit won’t work on Apple phones, admits Home Office – Telegraph (£) Bespoke Brexit deal ‘achievable’ and not cherry picking, City watchdog argues… The head of the City watchdog has attempted to keep bankers’ Brexit hopes alive hours after a top European Commissioner shot down plans for a so-called mutual recognition deal. Andrew Bailey, head of the Financial Conduct Authority, told the City on Tuesday that the mutual recognition model that finance firms want was in fact “the opposite” of cherry picking and remains a possibility. “Now is the time for the UK and EU authorities to come together and work on the solutions to reduce the risks to financial stability that Brexit could pose,” he urged. “Financial stability is far too important to engage in a standoff. – Telegraph (£) …after Brussels shoots down plan for City to access EU markets Britain’s hopes for a bespoke deal to let the City of London access the EU, and companies across the Channel to access finance in the UK, has taken a blow as a top European Commissioner warned that Brussels wants to keep an unusually tight hold over banking regulation. Valdis Dombrovskis, the top official for financial services, told a City audience that he wants Britain to use the more generic ‘equivalence’ rules, which give Brussels more control – a system rejected by the UK Government. Under equivalence rules, the EU could potentially give the UK just 30 days’ notice before pulling the plug on the agreement. – Telegraph (£) Employer pessimism decreases as City firms look to hire – City A.M. Britain to rival EU’s Galileo space project by sending own satellite navigation system into space Britain is considering launching a rival satellite navigation system to the EU’s Galileo project after being shut out of key elements of the programme, it has been reported. The move comes amid a deepening row with Brussels over whether Britain can continue to be trusted with Europe’s most sensitive security information in the wake of the Brexit vote. Business Secretary Greg Clark was said to be taking legal advice on whether the Government can recoup the the 1.4 billion euro (£1.2 billion) it has invested in the programme since 2003 after being blocked from the most sensitive elements. – Telegraph (£) Big farms set to pay the price as EU eyes subsidy cuts EU Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger said Monday that Brussels plans to cut its payments to Europe’s biggest farms in the next budget cycle in order to reduce the bloc’s lavish agricultural subsidies by 6 percent. Brussels is due to make a proposal for the EU’s 2021-2027 budget framework on May 2, and cutbacks are seen as inevitable because Britain will no longer be contributing funds. Agricultural spending is one of the most obvious targets for cost cutting because the Common Agricultural Policy represents almost 40 percent of the EU budget, or some €59 billion each year. – Politico Victoria Hewson: How to prepare to leave the Customs Union Reaching a deal with the EU27 and co-operating with partner authorities in member states are vitally important, but for now we have focused on things that the UK Government can do unilaterally. The measures we recommend are all available under existing EU customs regulations that will generally be carried into UK law by the Taxation (Cross Border Trade) Bill that is currently going through Parliament. This means there would be no need to rewrite existing laws or depart from practices accepted by the EU (although ACITA members have lots of suggestions for reforms to customs legislation that will be open to the UK outside of the customs union). – Victoria Hewson for ConservativeHome Pieter Cleppe: Tackling the myths about Brexit and the Customs Union Wild theories are doing the rounds about whether Britain should or should not join a permanent customs union with the EU after Brexit. Unsurprisingly, Remain supporters have leapt at the idea as a way to soften Brexit… If Britain were to remain in a customs union with the EU, there wouldn’t be any tariffs charged on goods travelling across the Irish border. But, given that Britain would have left the single market. there would be divergence in terms of regulation. As a result, goods would be subject to checks at the border. (That is one of the reasons why there are checks on the border with the EU and Turkey, which has a partial customs union with the EU. – Pieter Cleppe for CapX Staying shackled to the EU, as the CBI wants, would be a national humiliation – Marcus Fysh for the Telegraph (£) Kathy Gyngell: Windrush is no excuse to abandon the immigration battle I am no conspiracy theorist, but you could be forgiven for thinking that Windrush was a scandal waiting to happen which Sir Humphrey was fully aware of and needed – to embarrass and shame his Minister and the PM into giving up any notion of immigration control. If you were thinking that, Amber Rudd’s vow to change the culture of the Home Office, which made the Times splash yesterday, would prove your point. Duly and publicly shamed Ms Rudd has been. – Kathy Gyngell for ConservativeWoman Comment in Brief Britain must crack down on illegal migrants — by taking complete control of our borders – The Sun editorial The collapse of Project Fear shows we had nothing to be afraid of – John Caudwell for Reaction When will the chancellor tell us the full cost of Brexit? – Meg Hillier for the Times (£) We’re more trustworthy after Brexit – honestly! – Nick Booth for ConservativeWoman Shipping can sail past Brexit but UK must keep spending – Margareta Pagano for the Evening Standard News in Brief Europe stakes its claim as the default diversifier to UK portfolios – City A.M. City spouses block Brexodus – Politico Small firms hedge bets as Brexit deadline looms – The Times (£) “Grave concerns” over Business Department’s Brexit plans – City A.M. Gove accused of going behind PM’s back to secure Brexit changes – The Times (£) Vital computer systems required for Brexit in 11 months’ time ‘are not in place’ – The Sun