Theresa May calls bluff of Europhile MPs by backing Labour’s motion today committing her to publishing a Brexit plan before triggering Article 50 Theresa May has dramatically announced that MPs will on Wednesday be given the opportunity to vote on her timetable for triggering Article 50 and formally beginning Brexit. Just over 24 hours after the Supreme Court began considering whether Parliament should be allowed a vote on Article 50, the Prime Minister formally amended a backbench motion on Brexit. MPs will be asked to back the Government’s plan to formally serve Article 50 by the end of March 2017. Mrs May also committed to revealing the official plan for Brexit before the process begins. – Daily Telegraph Labour – which initiated the debate – said it would back the timetable but had wanted scrutiny of Brexit plans. Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer put forward a motion to be debated on Wednesday, with support from some on the Conservative back benches. The party wanted to force the government to reveal its negotiating stance before formal talks with EU leaders get under way. Downing Street tabled an amendment agreeing to outline its strategy, in exchange for MP’s approval of the government’s timetable for triggering Article 50… Mr Starmer, who will lead the debate for Labour, called the amendment “a welcome and hugely significant climbdown from the government” and said his party would push for the Brexit plan to be published by January. – BBC May doubles-down on Brexit timetable with a challenge to Remainers – City A.M. Labour demands Brexit plan in January after Government climbdown – PoliticsHome Key to Brexit success lies in the terms, not the mechanics – Sir Keir Starmer for The Times (£) What does the Article 50 vote mean for Brexit and what happens next with Britain’s departure from the EU? – Daily Telegraph Has May backed down over Brexit news? – Laura Kuenssberg for the BBC Brexit. Ministers advance, proposing an Article 50 vote. And they retreat, conceding more scrutiny. Who is bluffing whom? – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome As they vote on Theresa May’s Article 50 amendment, MPs should know the people they serve will be watching – Daily Telegraph editorial Jacob Rees-Mogg: Adeptly, Theresa May manoeuvres around Labour’s sideshow towards a clean Brexit The Labour motion was designed to be so anodyne and say so little that Conservatives would be happy to support it. By broadly accepting it, the government shows it up for what it is, and has ensured it can successfully negotiate an essentially irrelevant motion that could have been painted as a rebellion. The government could have gathered the support to win a vote against the Labour motion – but to no purpose other than prevent the latter from going though. – Jacob Rees-Mogg MP for the Daily Telegraph (£) EU negotiator Michel Barnier says ‘time is short’ for reaching Brexit deal The UK will have to reach a Brexit deal by October 2018, according to the EU’s chief negotiator for Brexit. Michel Barnier told reporters that “time will be short” for negotiations because the proposed deal needed to be ratified as part of the two year process set to be triggered in March. He said the UK could not “cherry pick” on issues such as the single market. – BBC UK does not want to go beyond two years in Brexit talks – May’s spokesman – Reuters Michel Barnier plays hardball on Brexit – James Forsyth for The Spectator’s Coffee House blog Who is the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier? – New Statesman Cherry picking is not an option says Michel Barnier – Parliament Magazine Britain cannot ‘cherry pick’ Brexit, Angela Merkel tells cheering party conference – The Independent > WATCH via Brexit Central’s YouTube channel: Michel Barnier says negotiations will be over by October 2018 Theresa May says Britain wants a red, white and blue Brexit It has been rumoured that Chancellor Philip Hammond and Brexit Secretary David Davis favour a “grey Brexit” – opening Britain to limited aspects of the bloc….Other options that have been floated include a so-called ‘soft’ or ‘white’ Brexit, whereby the UK would stay in the single market, or a ‘hard’ or ‘black’ Brexit, where it would sever all ties. But on a visit to Bahrain today, Mrs May dismissed reports the Government was using such terms to define its future relationship with the EU. I’m interested in all these terms that have been identified, hard Brexit, soft Brexit, black Brexit, white Brexit, grey Brexit. Actually what we should be looking for is a red, white and blue Brexit.” – PoliticsHome ‘Red, white and blue Brexit’: explaining May’s bunting-draped vision – Dan Roberts for The Guardian What a red,white and blue Brexit actually means – Chris Roycroft-Davies for the Daily Express > WATCH via Brexit Central’s YouTube channel: Theresa May says we need a red, white and blue Brexit Article 50 Supreme Court challenge continues The second day of the Brexit legal challenge was dominated by the appearance of superstar legal eagle Lord Pannick, the QC who had pulled off the shock High Court victory for his client Gina Miller in the High Court. In the afternoon, the highly regarded silk took back control of the Supreme Court. A Pannick attack on the previous day and a half of legal argument aiming to overturn the High Court decision. The rights of Newfoundland lobster farmers in 1892, King James during the Case of Proclamations and Freddie Laker, all were marshalled in pursuit of his argument that “there is no prerogative power available in this case”. – Faisal Islam for Sky News Supreme Court due to hear Northern Ireland challenges – BBC Why it’s crucial that the judges who could decide the fate of Brexit ARE scrutinised – Iain Duncan Smith in the Daily Mail Stuck in a swanky temple to inertia and self regard – Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail The Article 50 court case could have been avoided – Michael Madden for City A.M. Sir Keir Starmer says it is difficult to see how the Nicola Sturgeon plan for a special Brexit deal for Scotland could work… Sir Keir Starmer yesterday expressed major doubts about whether Nicola Sturgeon’s plan for Scotland to stay in the EU single market if the rest of the UK comes out is possible and challenged her to “put meat on the bones”. Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union said Theresa May should take account of Scottish views over the terms of Brexit. But he repeatedly emphasised that the UK Government’s priority should be to negotiate a deal for the whole of the UK, including full access to the single market. – Daily Telegraph …as Ministers consider a deal to give Sturgeon a second independence referendum after Brexit… Ministers are considering doing a deal with Nicola Sturgeon that would give her the power to hold a second independence referendum — but only after Brexit… The Scottish government needs to strike an agreement with London, as it did in 2014, to put the question to voters again. Theresa May’s government is looking at making the timing of any second vote a “red line”. UK ministers would argue that the Brexit deal has to be secured first so that Scots know what they are deciding on in an independence referendum… However, it puts Ms Sturgeon in the unwelcome position of having to fight for independence after the UK has left the EU and therefore potentially without being able to play the card of continuing membership for Scotland. – The Times (£) …and the Scottish Labour leader calls for a new federal state to unite the UK after Brexit Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader, is to call for a radical reshaping of the UK into a federal state with Scotland taking control over fisheries, farming and social rights now covered by EU laws. In a speech in London, Dugdale will warn Theresa May, the prime minister, that the UK needs “a new political settlement” to prevent it splitting apart over Brexit, and to tackle an erratic and uneven distribution of power between its regions and nations. – The Guardian The UK needs a new Act of Union to prevent it breaking once and for all – Kezia Dugdale for The Guardian SNP support for Brexit as high as Labour, at over a third – The Scotsman Despite Brexit, London still ranks as top European city for tech London has been ranked as the leading destination in Europe for technology-based industries.The UK capital scored highest in a report by CBRE that analysed the characteristics of tech clusters and explored high-performing and emerging tech cities.Out of 35 cities across Europe, London beat stiff competition from Paris, Berlin, Munich and Madrid to top the index. – Information Age UK tech puts its top post-Brexit demands to government – City A.M. No-show Remainers helped deliver Brexit vote, claims new study About 19 percent of people who said in May that they backed “Remain” didn’t vote, compared with 11 percent who backed “Leave,” the National Centre for Social Research said on Wednesday. The findings, based on three studies with samples of between 3,000 and 30,000 people, also showed the disproportionate influence of people who don’t normally vote in elections. More than half, or 54 percent, of people who said they didn’t vote in the 2015 general election voted in the referendum, and 60 percent of those “new voters” backed “Leave,” according to the study. – Bloomberg Brexit vote: The breakdown – BBC Referendum first-time voters who helped swing it for Leave could be a game changer in British politics – Kirby Swales, Director of the Survey Research Centre, for the Daily Telegraph (£) Brendan O’Neill: A Eurosceptic union is forming across Europe Of all the barbs fired at us Brexiteers, the one that’s irritated me most is ‘Little Englander’. The suggestion is that pro-EU people are broad-minded Europhiles while Brexiteers are petty nationalists who want to dismantle the Chunnel and while away our days drinking tea and slagging off Germans. It couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, the most wonderful thing about Brexit — glorious, rebellious Brexit — is the new European unity it is forging. Far from giving an English two-fingered salute to the continent, the Brexit bug is helping bring the continent together, uniting peoples who’ve had a gutful of the technocrats. – Brendan O’Neill for The Spectator’s Coffee House blog Matthew Lynn: Sorry Remoaners. The British peso is on its way back But hold on. In the last couple of weeks, something very interesting has happened, even if few people have yet noticed. Sterling is back. It has recovered to $1.27 from a low of $1.18 to the dollar and it is back up to 1.19 against the euro, from a low of 1.09 back in October. Of course that may be a blip. Currency rates are notoriously volatile. But the pound is certainly no longer in freefall. And in fact, there are three reasons why it may be set for a sustained recovery. – Matthew Lynn for The Spectator’s Coffee House blog Dominic Sandbrook: Why the EU might not last beyond next year The EU elite have had warning after warning. They have known for years the euro was a calamitous mistake, that austerity was destroying the prospects of an entire generation from Athens to Alicante, that mass immigration was enormously unpopular. And they have known voters were outraged by their bungling of the Middle Eastern refugee crisis. Even now, it is not too late to change tack — but on they go, charging towards disaster. And when, at last, they find themselves contemplating the blackened ruins of their European project, they should not blame the voters. The only people they should blame are themselves. – Dominic Sandbrook in the Daily Mail Brexit comment in brief Petty retribution from over-promoted Cameron cronies is the last thing this country needs – The Sun Says Brexit case is a threat to democracy – John Redwood MP for Comment Central A small band of Remain useful idiots wrongly thinks Brexit won’t happen – Alex Deane for City A.M. One more step along the road to Brexit – Christian May for City A.M. Don’t forget farmers and potential of rural heartlands – Yorkshire Post editorial Parliament is sovereign only because it represents the people. Of course a referendum trumps it – Richard Ellis in the Daily Telegraph (£) Never mind Brexit trade deals for big business, it’s small businesses we need to be worried about – Barry Gardiner for The Independent How to be optimistic about a post-Brexit Britain – Chris Stokel-Walker for Bloomberg The euro is overdue a popular revolt – Douglas Carswell’s blog Where European democracy goes to die – Harry Cooper for Politico Renzi fell because he promised change, but only delivered politics as usual – Salvatore Murtas for ConservativeHome Brexit news in brief ‘We are leaving the single market’ – Government’s Brexit plans are clear, Oliver Letwin says – Daily Express Theresa May: Donald Trump is ‘very easy to talk to’ and committed to Britain – Evening Standard Hammond kicks off Brexit reassurance tour in South Africa – Reuters India joins Japanese calls for U.K. to work together on Brexit – Bloomberg Brexit Minister David Jones named Welsh Politician of the Year 2016 – WalesOnline What Brexit uncertainty? Wages will RISE ‘by 2.5 per cent next year’ – Daily Express Future of the European Arrest Warrant in question – EurActiv ‘Accept the rules’ Eurozone minister blasts Britain’s ATTITUDE towards Brexit negotiation – Daily Express Romanian politician praises Brexit and begs her countrymen living in UK to go home – Daily Express MEP Syed Kamall blasts ‘wealthy’ Brexit challengers for ‘trying to block will of the people’ – talkRadio Daniel Hannan: ‘There are crybabies on both sides of the Atlantic’ – National Review (video) Britain’s most influential historian Niall Ferguson says he made a mistake in backing the Remain campaign and says the EU ‘deserved’ the result – Daily Mail The polls did not get Brexit wrong: Only 41% had Remain leads – Political Betting Leadsom vows rural businesses will thrive in post-Brexit world – Yorkshire Post Brexit to boost pensions savings – City A.M.