Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Theresa May says the EU should respond to her Florence speech in the same spirit as she delivered it… European Union negotiators should respond to British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Florence speech on Brexit last week in the same spirit in order to create momentum in the ongoing talks, May told the EU’s Donald Tusk on Tuesday. – Reuters …but Donald Tusk says the Brexit negotiations are not ready for the second phase… Sufficient progress has not yet been made in Brexit talks to allow negotiations to move to the next phase of discussing the future relationship including trade, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Tuesday. After a meeting in Downing Street with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Tusk said he welcomed a new constructive and realistic tone from the government, adding that “this shows that the philosophy of having a cake and eating it is finally coming at an end – at least I hope so.” – Reuters Donald Tusk warns Theresa May she has not done enough to break the Brexit deadlock – Telegraph Donald Tusk: ‘Philosophy’ of UK having Brexit ‘cake and eating it, is at an end’ – ITV News > On BrexitCentral’s YouTube: Donald Tusk remarks in Downing Street …while Brussels claims that Theresa May ‘took dictation’ from them before Florence on financial obligations Theresa May “took dictation” from the European Commission when she agreed to pay a Brexit divorce bill in her keynote Florence speech, senior sources in Brussels and EU capitals have claimed. The Daily Telegraph understands that Mrs May included a specific pledge to “honour commitments” made during Britain’s EU membership following high-level consultations in Brussels, Berlin and other major EU capitals. Oliver Robbins, the Prime Minister’s most senior Brexit official, discussed parts of the speech with his counterparts in the EU including a promise that the UK will continue to pay €10bn-a-year to Brussels in the two years after Brexit. – Telegraph (£) Theresa May must make urgent preparations for leaving the EU without deal, says Iain Duncan Smith Theresa May must make urgent preparations to leave the EU without a deal and set Brussels a December deadline for resolving a deadlock in trade talks, a former Conservative leader has warned. Iain Duncan Smith, who until now has been loyal to Theresa May’s Brexit plan, said that Cabinet ministers need to “throw resources” at planning for the no-deal scenario and “up the pace dramatically”. – Telegraph (£) Britain faces the soaring cost of Brussels pensions Britain is fighting a £10 billion demand to fund the rising pensions bill for retired Eurocrats after Brexit. European Union accounts, seen by The Times before their publication tomorrow, reveal that the cost of pensions liabilities for EU officials rose by 5.4 per cent last year to €67.2 billion (£59 billion). The figure has more than doubled in the past decade. – Times (£) The EU’s total liabilities grew to 234.8 billion euros ($277 billion) in 2016 from 226.1 billion euros in 2015, according to a document detailing the bloc’s accounts seen by Bloomberg. Britain’s share of this would run between 18.7 billion euros and 35 billion euros, depending on how the two sides agree to calculate the U.K.’s obligations. That would probably come on top of the approximately 20 billion euros the U.K. has indicated it would be willing to pay to plug the hole in the EU’s budget for two years after it leaves in 2019. – Bloomberg Brexit transition turns into ‘big call’ for EU27 – FT (£) Boris Johnson and Liam Fox to speak at the launch of Dan Hannan’s Institute for Free Trade today Boris Johnson will host the launch of a think tank which is pushing for a hard Brexit at a Foreign Office event in the latest test of cabinet unity. Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, will also speak at the launch of the Institute for Free Trade in the map room in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office this evening. The reception will not be open to the media. The think tank says it wants to change policy by calling for Britain to abandon European product standards, even though this could jeopardise a softer Brexit. – Times (£) Using Brexit to make free trade deals will help us cut prices, boost growth and help world trade – Daniel Hannan MEP for The Sun > Daniel Hannan on BrexitCentral today: We have a unique opportunity to write a new trade policy from scratch – which is why I’ve launched the Institute for Free Trade Emmanuel Macron says Britain could return to a ‘reformed, simplified’ EU… Britain could return to a multi-speed European Union once it has undergone sweeping reforms, Emmanuel Macron, the French president has suggested. Calling for a more effective, less bureaucratic EU, Mr Macron said: “In a few years, if it so wishes, Britain could regain its place (in the EU).” – Telegraph …while calling for even more centralisation and integration France’s President last night launched a startling bid to centralise power in the Eurozone – with his own party running the show. Emmanuel Macron set out his borderless vision that would merge the finances, intelligence, law and order, border control and defence of countries that use the Euro… He also wishes to set up a Europe-wide asylum policy and a “rapid reaction response” as an EU military force. And he suggested a raft of cross-border taxes to pay for it all. – The Sun Jeremy Corbyn risks reopening Labour’s Brexit wounds by hailing the ‘positives’ from leaving EU… Jeremy Corbyn has risked reopening Labour’s Brexit wounds by arguing there will be “positives” from leaving the European Union. The Labour leader also played down the prospect of the party offering a further referendum on any Brexit deal, after London Mayor Sadiq Khan suggested it might. The comments came as a former Labour adviser attacked “the delusional thinking” at the top of the party about Brexit, putting it on a par with the Conservative approach. – Independent > On BrexitCentral today: Labour MP insists that Jeremy Corbyn “has not changed” in his hostility to the EU …as senior Tories accuse Labour of changing their position on Brexit a staggering 101 times Senior Tories accused Labour of changing their position a staggering 101 times on Brexit since the country voted to quit the EU. MP James Cleverly demanded flip-flopping Labour chiefs tell voters where they stand on the issue. He blasted: “Labour now have more positions on Brexit than the Kamasutra. “The British people deserve to know where they stand, once and for all.” Fellow MP Suella Fernandes said 15 months after the EU referendum nobody was any clearer where Labour stood on Brexit. She added: “This indecision and division tells us one thing: Labour’s top team have no plan for Brexit and are unfit to govern. “They are more focused on frustrating Brexit than making a success of it.” It came as senior Labour figures opened the door to a second Brexit referendum on Monday. – The Sun Labour frontbencher calls for Northern Ireland to stay in the EU Labour’s Owen Smith claimed Northern Ireland should stay in the EU and people could become Irish to resolve difficulties over Brexit, it emerged today. The shadow Northern Ireland Secretary made the extraordinary intervention on the fringes of the Labour conference last night. – Daily Mail Scottish Labour leadership hopefuls reject new Brexit vote The two candidates vying to be replace Kezia Dugdale as Scottish Labour leader have rejected her call for a second EU referendum. Anas Sarwar and Richard Leonard made their views on the issue clear at a campaign hustings at the party’s annual UK conference in Brighton. Leonard also accused the former leader of trying to blame Jeremy Corbyn for Brexit instead of David Cameron. – STV UK embarks on Brexit diplomacy tour of Europe While the fourth round of Brexit talks is ongoing in Brussels, Britain has launched a diplomatic “charm offensive” across several EU countries. While the move is officially aimed at explaining Theresa’s May speech in Florence last week — and, in Liam Fox’s case, promoting trade — diplomats in Brussels and in several EU capitals expressed concern that the Brits are seeking to bypass the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and Brussels, and win backing from nation states. European leaders will decide at October’s European Council summit whether Brexit talks can progress to the next phase. – Politico Ministers ramp up ‘divide and conquer’ Brexit charm offensive – Evening Standard London crowned top global city – despite Brexit challenges… London has topped the list on a new index that claims to be the most comprehensive international city ranking yet, with research showing the capital is in the best possible shape to meet the challenges of Brexit. After sifting through dozens of the most robust city indices and benchmarks – 44 in total – researchers at professional services firm JLL crowned London the best of just seven Established World Cities. – City A.M. …as WEF says that UK economy is at its most competitive for a decade Britain is more competitive as an economy on the world stage than at any time in the past decade, according to an influential index. The World Economic Forum said that the UK’s overall “competitiveness” score had increased from 5.49 to 5.50 out of 7, reaching the highest level since the Swiss think tank has been running the global index in 2007. A spokesman for the forum said that the improvement in the economy’s score suggested that the decision to leave the EU had not had a material impact on the UK’s competitiveness so far. – Times (£) Brits report record levels of life satisfaction Forget worries of Brexit cliff edges and the world going to war on a Trump tweet – we’re actually a pretty happy bunch, it turns out. Happiness levels have ticked up across the UK, according to official figures on the nation’s wellbeing. And anxiety levels remain the same, based on data for the year to the end of March from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which indicates that satisfaction with life overall is on the rise – despite a year that many would describe as a total dumpster fire. – City A.M. Brexit no deterrent as Italians and Greeks still seek jobs in UK No matter what Brexit might have in store for foreigners, the U.K. remains a powerful magnet for youth from Italy and Greece looking for a job and a better future. It’s less so for their peers in Spain and Portugal. That’s according to the latest data on the U.K. national insurance number from the London-based Office for National Statistics and may reflect the different pace of economic recovery from the last decade’s slump across the euro region. – Bloomberg Bank of England braced for 130 licence applications before Brexit The Bank of England expects 130 financial firms from across Europe to apply for licences to continue operating in Britain after Brexit, its Deputy Governor Sam Woods said. As head of the Prudential Regulation Authority, Woods said that he will also have to decide by Christmas if branches of European Union financial firms in London must convert to subsidiaries and be directly supervised by the PRA. – Reuters Dyson plans to launch electric car in 2020, hiring hundreds of people in the UK Dyson has unveiled plans to develop and build its own electric car by 2020, gatecrashing the existing market and promising to hire hundreds of people in the UK. Sir James Dyson confirmed the long-rumoured plans, promising to invest £2bn of the company’s money to build a “radical” motor from scratch over the next few years. – Telegraph Brexiteers have ‘spat’ in the face of Europeans, suggests David Attenborough Sir David Attenborough has suggested that Brexiteers “spat” in the face of Europeans and that the EU referendum was an “an abrogation of parliamentary democracy”. The veteran broadcaster and naturalist also criticised Michael Gove’s claim in the run up to the referendum that people have “had enough of experts”. He said the comments were “of someone who doesn’t understand what they are saying”. – Telegraph Telegraph: Theresa May must show we are ready for No Deal The problem is that Britain’s Brexit position seems all too characterised by waiting and hoping. How much better it would be if, by preparing logistically, bureaucratically and economically, Mrs May was able convincingly to argue that her country could live with “No Deal”. Instead, while she declares when forced that we would walk away if necessary, few of the preparations needed to do so – at our borders, say – are made. – Telegraph View Andrew Lilico: Time is running out: we need to start preparing for No Deal We should wait a few more weeks – perhaps another five or six – after setting a public deadline for the date at which we will start active preparations for a no deal scenario. It’s only reasonable and sensible to tell the EU they’re running out of time if they truly want a deal, and to give them one last chance. – Andrew Lilico for Reaction (£) Richard Tice: Brussels cannot be allowed to boss Britain around — it’s time we showed how ready we are to walk away The government should have then produced a credible plan B showing how no deal was fine as a base case, by moving towards World Trade Organisation trading rules in March 2019. The minority of business people who trade with the EU would have recognised that they needed to plan for this; indeed the smart ones have rightly already begun doing so as a contingency. – Richard Tice for the Telegraph (£) Henry Newman: The EU needs to cut out the amateur dramatics over Brexit and prepare to talk trade President Donald Tusk today visited Prime Minister May at Downing Street. In the confusing multi-presidential structure of the EU, Mr Tusk is the president of the body representing heads of government and states. It is that body – the European Council – which will, at its meeting in late October, determine whether the UK has made “sufficient progress” in Brexit negotiations to be allowed to start talking about trade and the future. Don’t hold your breath. – Henry Newman for the Telegraph (£) The Sun says: The Government needs to start acting like equals – and not beggars to the EU It’s time our Government stopped playing the EU’s childish games. It’s time they stopped hanging on every sly utterance from Michel Barnier and Donald Tusk. We are acting like beggars instead of equal partners in a negotiation crucial to Brussels as well as us. These smirking Eurocrats are playing us for fools, refusing to discuss even the possibility of a free trade deal, endlessly demanding “more clarity” when we have repeatedly now been crystal clear. Even Ireland’s PM joins in, ignoring how our billions bailed out his nation. The EU is dragging this out hoping that at the 11th hour we will take whatever crumbs they throw us. Enough. To redress the balance we need to make certain we will thrive with NO deal. That is only possible by beginning meticulous preparations now. – The Sun says Asa Bennett: Labour would fall apart if it actually had to take charge of the Brexit talks Only the most zealous shadow cabinet member would have suggested last year that Labour was on its way into power under Jeremy Corbyn – but now everyone in Brighton is getting in on the act. John McDonnell spoke yesterday about what “a Corbyn Labour Government” would do, Emily Thornberry hailed Mr Corbyn as ” this country’s next Prime Minister”, while Sadiq Khan predicted that Labour would “win” the next election under “king” Corbyn – a big change from last year’s view that it would be “extremely unlikely”. The sea air seems to have left them all a bit giddy. – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Richard Angell: What is Labour’s position on Brexit? It’s time Corbyn told us Labour’s new establishment have used the stitch and fix at this conference might have revealed all we need to know – and the Labour leader’s creative fudge during the election now leaves a rather bitter aftertaste. Currently, the coalition is being held together by their shared loyalty to the Labour leader. That has allowed him the benefit of the doubt – for now. But the decisions required to show that the party really is a government-in-waiting cannot be dodged. Eventually Corbyn will need to show which side of the divide he is on. – Richard Angell for the Guardian Daniel Hannan: Why are Kurdish and Catalan independence OK, but not British independence? The EU won’t give up on political integration. It refused to allow David Cameron to retrieve even a single competence, and thereby ensured that he lost the Brexit referendum. In a world where power is becoming decentralised, devolved and diffused, Brussels remains dogmatically attached to the federalism that Jean-Claude Juncker preached last week. That difference of vision explains why it is in everyone’s interest for Britain to replace its current deal with something looser and friendlier. After Brexit, on the same principle, we should pass the powers we have recovered from Brussels downwards and outwards, to local authorities or, better yet, to individual citizens. That, though, is another story. – Daniel Hannan MEP for IBTimes Brexit in brief Subsidise that: The EU energy grants lining Berlin’s pockets – Diane James MEP for City A.M. The Brexit ghost is haunting party conferences – George Magnus for Prospect Magazine Expensive London property will ‘bounce back in price once Brexit is decided’ – Telegraph Brexit has UK wheat industry wooing world’s biggest buyer – Bloomberg Diamond says Brexit ‘net positive’ as Ermotti sees Europe doomed – Bloomberg