EU threatens to take UK to International Court of Justice if it refuses to pay £50bn divorce bill The EU will take Britain to the International Court of Justice if it tries to walk away without paying an estimated £50bn ‘divorce bill’, a leak of its negotiating strategy says. The draft plan – obtained by a Dutch newspaper – threatens a long legal battle at The Hague to grab back what the EU regards as the UK’s liabilities for its 43-year membership. “In that case it is: see you in The Hague!” it quotes an EU official – in response to Theresa May’s threat to leave with “no deal” if the Brexit talks cut up rough.The threat follows growing pressure on the Prime Minister from some Conservative MPs to simply walk away if the EU insists on imposing the huge exit fee. Government lawyers have backed a report from a House of Lords committee which argued Britain could legally leave without paying up, if it accepts no withdrawal agreement. – Independent Tory MPs tell Theresa May to stand firm against EU threat to take Britain to the International Court over £50bn Brexit ‘divorce bill’ – Independent Donald Tusk says he wants the ‘least painful’ Brexit possible Mr Tusk has declared that the 27 continuing member states will meet on April 29 to discuss their ‘red lines’ for the talks. The discussions will then begin in earnest after the French elections are decided in early May. Theresa May pledged today to write a ‘bold new chapter’ for the UK, saying she is looking forward to the ‘historic’ moment when she triggers Article 50 next week. But there are already signs that the two sides are on collision course with Cabinet ministers insisting the UK should not be asked to pay more than £3billion as a break-up settlement. – Daily Mail Theresa May “ready to slap tariffs” on goods from the EU as she plans new law to take back control of trade policy Theresa May will show EU leaders that Britain is ready to slap tariffs on their imports by including a new law to take back control of trade policy in this year’s Queen’s Speech, The Sun can reveal. The trade bill will coincide with the start of Brexit negotiations with Brussels early this summer. And it will send a firm message to European leaders that the Prime Minister is not bluffing with her threat to walk away from talks without a new UK-EU trade deal. Brussels currently negotiates trade deals and collects tariffs on behalf of Britain but the new law will transfer that power back to Westminster. International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox has told MPs that the trade bill will be included in the Queen’s Speech in May. – The Sun Pro-Brexit ministers ‘relaxed about leaving EU without trade deal’ – The Guardian Early deals “ready to go” after Article 50 The government is ready to announce a series of early deals with the EU in the first few weeks and months after Article 50 is triggered. Government figures say they have been holding ‘informal’ talks with EU countries, in particular Germany, over a number of agreements that aim to show goodwill at the beginning of the negotiations and the potential for a mutually beneficial Brexit. This is at odds with the EU’s public line that there has been no negotiation before notification. A government source says: “There are deals ready to go. The Germans have agreed to them, but we can’t do it before Article 50”. – Guido Fawkes A quick agreement on EU nationals in the UK can pave the way for a good Brexit deal – Ryan Shorthouse and Sunder Katwala for The Daily Telegraph EU announces date for first ‘Brexit’ summit EU leaders will meet to discuss their Brexit battle plans on 29 April, European Council President Donald Tusk has announced. Setting the date for the remaining 27 members of the bloc to discuss their negotiating strategy, Mr Tusk said the process of “divorcing” the UK must be the “least painful for the EU”.His announcement comes after Theresa May confirmed she would trigger Article 50, officially notifying the EU of the UK’s intention to leave, on 29 March. – Sky News Brexit study shows Britons want free trade as well as immigration control Many Britons are taking an ambitious approach to the sort of Brexit they want, with significant majorities seeking both a tough approach to EU migration and continued free trade with Europe, a study has found. The research from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) said more than two-thirds of participants overall wanted to see arrivals from the EU treated under the same rules as people coming from non-EU nations. However, it discovered 88% of people also wanted free trade with the EU post-Brexit, while more than 60% supported the continuation of passporting for banks, allowing barrier-free financial transactions and transfers. – The Guardian Some 68% of voters say Brexit must curb EU immigration – Daily Mail Stop bias against Brexit or face fine, BBC warned The BBC will face sanctions and fines from its new regulator unless it ends its Brexit bias, a former Culture Secretary and architect of the Royal Charter has warned. John Whittingdale, a Conservative MP, said that he is concerned that the corporation is “constantly looking for negatives and highlighting the challenges” of Brexit. He warned that if the corporation’s negative coverage persists MPs could “escalate” their complaints to Ofcom, which takes over regulation of the BBC in a fortnight. – The Daily Telegraph New BBC watchdog could launch probe into anti-Brexit bias – Daily Mail BBC hits back at claim of Brexit bias – The Times (£) Gina Miller says that Westminster will inherit EU’s “place to blame” title after Brexit The Remain-voting investment fund manager, who successfully challenged the Government in the courts over Brexit, also said that tribalism could grow across Britain. “If you no longer have Brussels to blame, then Westminster takes its place,” she told an audience at London’s Advertising Week Europe. “Is there then a possibility that we will see the tribalism that is happening, that all of the nationalism then becomes more localised and now becomes community-based so suddenly Manchester decides they are Mancunians and they become very much that tribe? Could we see it coming down to that level? I think we can.” – IBTimes Just three MPs attend debate celebrating 60th anniversary of the EU Just three MPs spoke in a poorly-attended debate held to mark the signing of the Treaty of Rome. On Saturday, top eurocrats will mark the 60th anniversary of the agreement between six founding countries to create the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the EU. But there appeared to be little enthusiasm in Parliament yesterday morning for the bloc’s upcoming celebrations in the wake of last summer’s Brexit vote. – Daily Express Liam Halligan: Jean-Claude Juncker thinks he has Britain over a barrel. Au contraire, mon ami: we’ll be just fine without you America’s EU exports totalled over a quarter of a trillion dollars last year, from outside the single market. Chinese, Japanese and Australian firms similarly enjoy access by meeting EU regulatory standards and, where necessary, paying low tariffs – and ours can do the same. Britain’s EU trade can continue even if we do no deal. Outside the customs union, too, we can cut our own trade deals with the 85 per cent of the world economy beyond the EU, while enjoying lower import prices once we don’t have to pay Brussels’ common external tariff. The UK is in a strong position. A free-trade agreement would be preferable, but we can trade happily with the EU on the same basis as other leading economies. Anyway, we already trade far more with the rest of the world – largely under WTO rules. – Liam Halligan for The Daily Telegraph Roger Boyes: Erdogan threatens a summer of chaos for the EU There is a hysterical undercurrent to today’s Turkey, a touch of King Lear about Erdogan himself and a lick of black Dario Fo-style farce about the behaviour of his followers. A Turkish farmers’ association said it would respond to the recent Dutch deportation of one of Ankara’s cabinet ministers by expelling 40 Holstein Friesian cows. One farmer even chose to slaughter his Dutch cow in protest at the Hague’s supposed neo-Nazi high-handedness. The film The Chief may be crude propaganda but it does at least recall why Erdogan was once rated by the West: he was a moderniser, someone who wanted to redress the balance between Islam and Kemalist secularism. We were so sure that Erdogan had got that balance right that we held up his brand of political Islam as being a desirable destination for the rebels of the Arab Spring. – Roger Boyes for The Times (£) Marcus Fysh MP: The prospects are good for post-Brexit trade It is in the interests of both the UK and the EU to achieve a fully negotiated preferential trade agreement or binding framework for such between them within the UK’s two-year Article 50 withdrawal process, and I urge national governments across the EU to ensure that this happens. Were this not achieved it would be a major missed opportunity and a blow for the credibility of the EU. However, the view that the alternative is “no deal” which would be “deeply damaging” to the UK, as has been mentioned by some in the House of Commons and elsewhere, is in my view not supported by the evidence. – Marcus Fysh MP for ConservativeHome Brexit comment in brief May needs expert ministers who are also storytellers – Alex Morton for ConservativeHome May can’t please everyone in Brexit talks – John Curtice for The Times (£) Rising inflation is no reason to panic – Daily Telegraph editorial To please Brexit zealots, the Government is getting the negotiation seriously wrong – Edward Bickham for ConservativeHome Why post-Brexit Britain needs more companies like Amazon – Jeremy Warner for The Daily Telegraph Tintin is an EU hero – but is Captain Haddock on Britain’s side? – William Cook for The Spectator Coffee House The Russian Stalinist who invented Europe – Jacopo Barigazzi for Politico Brexit news in brief Brexit Act won’t be printed for posterity on vellum – Daily Mail Boris Johnson to avoid diplomatic spy row during US visit – BBC Theresa May urged to stand up for BBC after ‘Trump style’ claims of Brexit bias from her own MPs – Independent Goldman Sachs to move hundreds of staff out of London due to Brexit – The Guardian Brexit banks set to avoid lengthy euro zone entry test – Daily Mail Dutch Parliament report says strong trade ties with Britain essential after Brexit – Daily Mail