IMF admits it was wrong on Brexit pessimism The International Monetary Fund has predicted the UK will be the fastest growing of the G7 leading industrial countries this year and accepted that its prediction of a post-Brexit-vote financial crash has proved to be overly pessimistic. – The Guardian The IMF now expects the UK economy will grow by 1.8pc this year – that’s above its earlier forecast of 1.7pc (which it issued in July) and puts the UK on track to be the fastest growing G7 economy this year. – Daily Telegraph Not for the first time, the IMF has become captive to “group think” and powerful establishment forces – Jeremy Warner in the Daily Telegraph IMF left shamefaced after peak pessimism over Brexit vote – Larry Elliott in The Guardian The Brexit bounce continues – Ross Clark for The Spectator’s Coffee House blog Theresa May to accuse politicians of sneering at Brexit voters In a withering attack at the Conservative conference on Wednesday, the prime minister will say: “Just listen to the way a lot of politicians and commentators talk about the public. They find their patriotism distasteful, their concerns about immigration parochial, their views about crime illiberal, their attachment to their job security inconvenient. They find the fact that more than 17 million people voted to leave the European Union simply bewildering.” – The Guardian Tough-talking Theresa May warns EU they will face a brave new Britain – Daily Express Britain has no regrets about Brexit. But Theresa May might – Matthew Goodwin in the FT (£) Pro-Remain ministers will share blame if Brexit goes wrong says David Davis Mr Davis described it as “conspiracy stuff” to suggest that the elevation of him, Mr Johnson and Dr Fox was an attempt to place responsibility for making a success of life outside the European Union onto those who had advocated Brexit. He added: “If it goes wrong, the whole government will be blamed. If it goes right there will be much more than enough credit to go round, and if it goes wrong there will be plenty of blame to go round. But I don’t worry about all that.” – PoliticsHome The Morning Star reports on Monday night’s BrexitCentral rally Brexit is a route to deregulation for business, welfare “reform” and lower taxes, according to the panel at one of the largest fringe meetings at the Conservatives’ conference. Businessman John Longworth and MEP Dan Hannan made the claims at Monday night’s meeting organised by Brexit Central, a pro-Leave website. Mr Longworth told the delegates that the main advantage of leaving the EU wasn’t about trade or immigration, it was the chance to deregulate business… Dan Hannan MEP, one of the most prominent Leave campaigners in Conservative ranks, said that Brexit would allow Britain to “make the domestic reforms which would make the UK a country the whole world wants to do business with.” – Morning Star Hannan tells BrexitCentral rally that Leave campaign axed cheaper food price pledge over focus group doubts – International Business Times Brexit business chief John Longworth backs ‘sunset clause’ on all EU regulation at BrexitCentral event – PoliticsHome FTSE 100 soars as pound slides London’s leading share index closed up 1.3% at 7,074.34 – just short of its record high of 7,103.98. However, the pound fell to $1.2737 at one point – its lowest level against the US dollar since 1985. Sterling has fallen for the past two days as traders study the Conservative Party conference for Brexit details. – BBC Hamish McRae: How can the FTSE be up and the pound down? There is a simple two-part answer to this. One half is that a weak currency is good for most companies because in the short-run most of them will make more profits from exports. The other half is to observe that share prices are expressed in sterling, and that if you adjust for the fall in the pound, shares are barely up at all since the Brexit vote. – Daily Mail Theresa May dismisses pound’s 31-year low: ‘Currencies go up and down’ – The Independent Theresa May insists UK economy can withstand Brexit turbulence – BBC Sterling is sliding as Hammond is hampered by Brexit uncertainty – James Quinn in the Daily Telegraph Weak post-Brexit vote growth forecast likely to be wrong, says Bank MPC member Michael Saunders – The Guardian David Davis defends UK right to hold trade talks… The Haltemprice and Howden MP made clear International Trade Secretary Liam Fox will be seeking to put deals in place that can come into effect the moment Britain’s departure is confirmed. EU members are not allowed to have their own deals with other countries but it remains a grey area over the extent to which Britain can hold talks before Brexit. – Yorkshire Post EU parliament’s chief negotiator rules out advance talks – The Guardian Brussels will gang up on UK just like it did Greece says Prime Minister of Malta – The Times (£) Liam Fox describes EU citizens’ post-Brexit rights as negotiating ‘card’ – PoliticsHome Former Australian PM Tony Abbott says Brexit means freedom – International Business Times …as he rules out separate Brexit deal on work visas for London David Davis has ruled out a separate Brexit deal for London and the City, delivering a blow to Sadiq Khan’s hopes of introducing a work visas for the UK capital after the country splits with the EU. “We assess every single concern people raise and try to find the simplest and most secure answer to it,” he said. “That, of course, will be different for financial services, than it will be for motor car manufacturers….I’ve used this phrase before and I will keep using it again: ‘We were given a national instruction and we will interpret it in the national interest’.” – International Business Times Banks will get ‘no special treatment’ when UK leaves EU – The Independent Holyrood to get sweeping new powers from Brexit – Daily Express Scottish nationalist fury at ‘arrogant’ May government – Politico Prime Minister will ‘fully engage’ with the Welsh Government over Brexit negotiations – ITV Ukip leader Diane James stands down after just 18 days “I have been in discussion with party officers about the role. It has become clear that I do not have sufficient authority, nor the full support of all my MEP colleagues and party officers to implement changes I believe necessary and upon which I based my campaign,” James said in a statement. – City A.M. Verhofstadt: Brexit immigration controls risk destroying single market and EU The European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator warned that agreeing to British demands for access to the single market while introducing tougher immigration controls risked destroying the EU… Verhofstadt, the leader of the liberal ALDE group in the European Parliament, said that tariff-free single market access would only be possible if the freedom of movement of people was accepted. – EurActiv Pat McFadden MP: Hard Brexit is not about the evidence – it’s immigration first, economic interests second What is [Theresa May’s] economic assessment of the stance she adopted this week? Where is the evidence that the position Mrs May set out on Sunday will be better for British jobs, trade or investment? What will be the impact of leaving the single market and customs union on manufacturing with its international supply chains? Or services industries reliant on common cross-border standards? Or the UK’s world-leading creative industries which thrive on talent from many countries? And why, in the midst of all the speeches about free trade, is the government so set on turning its back on the huge free trade area of which we are already a member? – Pat McFadden MP for The Times RedBox Julian Thompson: A first victory against the witch-hunt of members of our armed forces by taxpayer-funded lawyers Under the Lisbon Treaty, the [European Convention on Human Rights] was obligatory for EU members. Indeed, Brexit offers a series of advantages for our armed forces. For EU membership carries with it inalienable risks to the United Kingdom as a sovereign nation state, threatens our privileged associations with the US and our key intelligence partners, saps our national security (thanks to the erosion of continental border controls), and erodes Nato. – Julian Thompson for the Daily Telegraph European human rights laws have undermined British forces says Michael Fallon – International Business Times Scott Sumner: What I got wrong, and what is still uncertain on Brexit Brexit is a really important natural experiment, which the entire profession should watch closely. The impact of Brexit on the real economy will take years to determine, as it will not actually occur until at least 2019. The impact of Brexit uncertainty will be clear much sooner–probably within another 4 to 8 months. By then we will know whether “uncertainty theories” of the business cycle can be safely tossed into the trash bin, or can live for another day. After all, it’s very unlikely that we’ll ever again see such a big uncertainty shock from the supply side. – Scott Sumner on the Library of Economics and Liberty blog Roger Boyes: You can’t trust the people with democracy Most democratic governments that deploy referendums do so out of weakness. In doing so they fool themselves that the wisdom of the people must inevitably support their world view. That’s how Juan Manuel Santos and David Cameron ended up in the same leaky canoe without a paddle. The Brexit referendum was a way of pacifying the Conservative Party. Cameron failed to grasp the potency of a national vote that fused mild dissatisfaction with the EU and the seeming inability of the government to get a grip on immigration or shield British jobs from a global slowdown. – Roger Boyes for The Times (£) Brexit comment in brief Rudd stops worrying and learns to love Brexit – Harry Phibbs on ConservativeHome Whether Brexit ends up being Soft, Hard or middling, we need to cut taxes now – Tim Hames in the Daily Telegraph Hammond sounds a note of caution amid the Brexit euphoria – George Trefgarne on CapX How plausible is William Hague’s ‘Goldilocks’ strategy for Brexit – Karl McDonald for the i newspaper Are Conservative members bored of Brexit? – BBC Brexit news in brief Spain wants UK to foot healthcare bill for British citizens – Euractiv Tough new immigration reforms that can be brought in before Brexit, Amber Rudd promises – Daily Mail Firms must list foreign workers: plan to shame companies that turn down British staff – The Times (£) Cain Hoy shrugs off Brexit to lend £78m for London luxury flats scheme – Evening Standard David Davis suggests he backs blue passport campaign – The Independent UK selling homegrown tea to China as export demand surges after EU referendum – The Sun What does Brexit mean for Cyprus? – Prospect European Parliament wants ‘ambassador’ schools to shape young EU minds – Politico.eu Germany and France bend single market rules – so why can’t Britain control immigration? – New Statesman Jacob Rees-Mogg wants a “hard white” Brexit “with a runny yolk” – Huffington Post And finally, Welsh Tory leader vows to make a success of… breakfast – Metro