Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Bloomberg opens £1bn European HQ in London… despite saying Brexit is “stupidest thing any country has done” besides Trump Michael Bloomberg expects his financial information company to hire thousands of workers after opening its new European headquarters in the City of London. The chief executive said yesterday that Bloomberg was not concerned about “shifts in the political winds” as he unveiled the London office, near the Mansion House. The building, said to have cost £1 billion, can hold up to 8,000 people. Bloomberg presently has 4,000 employees in London. “We built for a lot of growth and we will grow slowly,” Mr Bloomberg said. Asked whether this would mean thousands more staff, he replied: “We expect that to happen. I think this is where people want to be.” – The Times (£) Michael Bloomberg: Brexit is stupidest thing any country has done besides Trump – Guardian ‘No-dealers’ have no friends in Brussels says Juncker Theresa May yesterday issued a fresh threat to walk away from the talks with no deal unless a trade deal is agreed by the summer. Earlier, a humiliating leak from Brussels suggested she had “begged” EU leaders for help. Mr Juncker told MEPs today: “The commission is not negotiating in a hostile mood. We want a deal. Those who don’t want a deal, the ‘no-dealers’, they have no friends in the commission… We want a fair deal with Britain and we will have a fair deal with Britain,” the president of the European Commission, who has denied being behind the leak, said. – Telegraph (£) The EU is acting tough on Brexit once again. Britain must be prepared to walk away – Telegraph editorial (£) WTO prep key to Brexit talks – John Redwood MP for CommentCentral The ‘Deal or No Deal’ debate is a false dichotomy – Dr Lee Rotherham for ConservativeHome UK likely to end up with Canadian-style deal says Barnier The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has warned that Britain can expect a trade deal little better than the one the EU struck with Canada – and even that would take years to negotiate, despite Theresa May’s claims to the contrary over Britain’s future after Brexit. Barnier said he could envision a short transition period being agreed between the EU and the UK before March 2019 to ease the UK’s exit from the bloc, but it would require the British government accepting the continuation of EU law and the jurisdiction of the European court of justice. – Guardian Michel Barnier is lining up to succeed President Juncker. Brexit will decide if he makes it – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Brexit can still be reversed, says Donald Tusk… Donald Tusk warned yesterday that withdrawal negotiations could collapse in the coming weeks before a deadline for agreement by a European Union summit in December. The president of the European Council said that talks faced their greatest challenge over the issue of trade and the possibility of a “no-deal” outcome but he added that he still held out hope that there would be “no Brexit”. Mr Tusk told MEPs at the European parliament in Strasbourg: “Ahead of us is still the toughest stress test. If we fail it, the negotiations will end in our defeat. “We must keep our unity regardless of the direction of the talks. The EU will be able to rise to every scenario as long as we are not divided. It is in fact up to London how this will end — with a good deal, no deal or no Brexit.” – The Times (£) …as he claims EU will face ‘defeat’ over Brexit if they fail to stay united The EU will be “defeated” in Brexit negotiations unless it maintains absolute unity, European Council president Donald Tusk has said. The ex-Polish prime minister told the European Parliament the UK’s departure was the EU’s “toughest stress test” and it must not be divided at any costs. “If we fail it then the negotiations will end in our defeat,” he told MEPs. But one German MEP said the EU’s stance was “illogical, dangerous and unfair” and UKIP accused the EU of “extortion”. The UK is due to leave the European Union at the end of March 2019 and until Mr Tusk’s comments both sides have sought to avoid talking about victory, defeat and winners and losers in the negotiations. – BBC Spend £1bn on ‘no deal’ Brexit planning says Tory MP The government should set aside at least £1bn in next month’s Budget in case no deal can be agreed on Brexit, a Conservative MP says. Charlie Elphicke said it was in the “national interest” for the cash to be spent on upgrading infrastructure like customs systems and borders. This would “insure” against “things going wrong at the last minute” in the Brexit talks, he told MPs. The government said it was spending £250m on Brexit preparations. This includes the no-deal scenario, Brexit Minister Steve Baker said. – BBC Regional EU leaders worried funds will collapse after Brexit European Union leaders are desperate for Britain to remain part of the bloc as its huge budget contributions will be sorely missed. Politicians from across Europe have begun to panic as they have realised they will be €70billion short once the UK leaves the EU. Regional leaders met in Helsinki for the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPRM), where they questioned the impact of Brexit on the EU budget. Come March 2019, when Brexit is finalised, the EU’s €1trillion budget will be severely depleted, which could be bad news for for some of the smaller regions of the member countries. The 160 regional presidents gathered in Finland have expressed concerns about what the budget reduction could mean for them. – Express Brexit makes UK one of world’s best-value travel destinations Brexit has turned the UK into one of the world’s best-value travel destinations thanks to the weak pound, according to Lonely Planet. The current exchange rate is “good news” for holidaymakers visiting London after sterling nosedived against the euro and dollar amid uncertainty surrounding Britain’s departure from the EU, the travel publisher said. Lonely Planet ranked the UK seventh on its list of best value destinations, saying the “key reason” for its position is the weakening of the pound, it was revealed on Tuesday. – Evening Standard Foreign aid to be spent on helping to secure post-Brexit trade deals Foreign aid will be spent in Britain’s “national interest” to boost post-Brexit trade, the International Development Secretary has vowed. Priti Patel said leaving the EU would allow the Government to reclaim billions of pounds of annual aid funding that is currently diverted via Brussels. It could then be used, not only for “humanitarian” work, but also for “prosperity Britain post-Brexit, on trade and economic development,” she told the Commons International Development Committee. – Independent My priority is to make sure aid money is spent wisely – Priti Patel for the Express Vince Cable: Why the government should seek an exit from Brexit We are approaching the half way point in the three-year journey from the Brexit referendum to Brexit. We are only a little clearer than we were at the beginning as to where or, indeed, whether the journey will end. What have become clearer, however, are some of the self-serving fallacies that have energised the Brexiteers up to this point. First, it is now obvious the negotiations are complex and difficult. It was going to be a breeze: remember? – Vince Cable for The Times (£) Andrew Lilico: New Zealand is taking the initiative on trade — Brexit Britain should respond in kind Following its recent General Election, New Zealand has seen a change of government. After a number of years of a National-led coalition (National is the main centre-right party), the new government is a coalition between Labour (the main centre-left party) and New Zealand First, a party that is largely the personal political vehicle of the colourful, charismatic and controversial Winston Peters – who will now become NZ’s Foreign Affairs minister. Overnight, the new Coalition Agreement has been released. One of its provisions is to “initiate Closer Commonwealth Economic Relations” (CCER). – Andrew Lilico for the Telegraph (£) Roger Boyes: Juncker is blind to the splintering of the EU The last time that Europe smelled such weakness in Britain was when Charles de Gaulle was bidding high for the hegemony of the continent and blocking our path to a common market. Even that formidable Gallic “Non!” pales beside Jean-Claude Juncker’s policy of calculated snub as he tries to bully and fluster the prime minister into a Brexit deal that satisfies EU taxpayers but leaves her government flapping in the wind. A less small-minded head of the European Commission would have woken up by now to the real dangers facing the union. – Roger Boyes for The Times (£) Philip Johnston: The EU may abhor separatism, but its imperial structure encourages it The crisis in Spain over Catalonia’s bid for independence is about to come to a head, with a stand-off between Barcelona and Madrid threatening to tear the country apart. The imposition of direct rule by the central government of Mariano Rajoy could precipitate a declaration of independence by Catalonia as early as Thursday.Three weeks ago, a referendum deemed illegal by Madrid showed 90 per cent in favour of secession on a turnout of 43 per cent. Were the Catalans to declare independence, it would be the first time an EU state has lost part of its territory and Spain would be the first Eurozone member to crack apart. – Philip Johnston for the Telegraph (£) Brexit Comment in Brief Austria and Czech elections will change Visegrad dynamics – Wojciech Przybylski for EUObserver The EU must stop playing games over Brexit – Jayne Adye for Reaction The Czech Republic could be the next country to leave the EU – Philip Sime for The Spectator Arbitration could resolve Brexit talks deadlock – Hugo Dixon for The Times (£) The EU imprisons some civil servants – John Redwood’s Diary Brexit News in Brief Tory MP attacked for requesting Brexit university syllabus – The Times (£) MPs quiz Facebook over Russian-linked Brexit news – BBC German finance minister ‘reduced Europe to rubble’ – Telegraph Podcast: Jonathan Isaby’s Brexit analysis – UK in a Changing Europe David Davis accused by Cabinet colleagues of ‘delaying Brexit bill’ – Telegraph (£) Hammond tries to calm business jitters over Brexit transition – The Times (£) EU global deals threaten to wreck Brexit transition hopes – The Times (£) Brexit ‘more complex than first moon landing’, says academic study – Guardian Migration plan lets Polish plumbers stay for two years – The Times (£) And finally… fight Brexit by ringing your granny, urge Remain activists Eurosceptics of a certain age might want to start screening calls from their children and grandchildren. Young people will be urged to persuade older relatives to oppose Brexit in a campaign by Remain activists. The initiative is inspired by the Ring Your Granny strategy credited with building intergenerational support for same-sex marriage in Ireland before a referendum in 2015. Organisers hope that mobilising Remain-supporting millennials against relatives who voted Leave could build resistance to a hard Brexit. – The Times (£)