Government suffers second Brexit defeat in the Lords over so-called “meaningful” parliamentary vote on the final deal… Theresa May was handed another blow to her plan to trigger Article 50 tonight after peers inflicted a second defeat on the Government’s Brexit bill. The House of Lords voted in favour of an amendment requiring Parliament to be given a “meaningful vote” on the Prime Minister’s final EU agreement.The Government suffered a heavy loss on the Labour-led proposal, which was tabled with Lib Dem and crossbench support, with the opposition winning by a majority of 98. A total of 366 peers voted in favour of the change to the EU (Notification of Withdrawal) bill – including 13 Tories – with 268 against in the largest Lords vote since 1831. – The Sun Gina Miller hails the House of Lords and claims Theresa May is delaying Brexit plans – Daily Express ‘That’s crazy diplomacy’: Tory MP attacks the House of Lords for wanting ‘Brexit veto’ – Daily Express Dear Lords, we had a meaningful vote on Brexit. It was called the EU referendum – Asa Bennett for the Daily Telegraph Now we’ll find out if Tory Remainers are willing to become a real political force – James Kirkup for the Daily Telegraph …but defeats attempt to make Brexit subject to a second referendum… The House of Lords has rejected calls for a second referendum on final Brexit deal after the Archbishop of Canterbury warned it would “deepen the bitterness” in the UK. Justin Welby said another vote would only add to the nation’s divisions, as the Lib Dem amendment is rejected by a majority of more than 200 peers. – The Sun …and also sees off a Lib Dem attempt to block the entire Article 50 Bill… The Lib Dems moved an amendment that the Bill “will not pass” back to the Commons at Third Reading, which, if successful, would have killed the Bill outright. This was defeated by 340 votes to 95. While the Liberal Democrat justification for moving the amendment was on the grounds that the Lords had failed to secure a second referendum on the final deal, this drew incredulity from both the Government and Labour front benches in the Lords, being generally dismissed as a thinly veiled attempt from the Lib Dem leader Lord Newby to derail Brexit altogether. – BrexitCentral Paddy Ashdown grilled ‘for using peerage he does not believe in’ to attack Brexit Bill – Daily Express The Liberal Democrats should learn to respect democracy, even if they don’t like the Brexit result – Daily Telegraph editorial …as David Davis insists the Commons will reverse the Lords amendments David Davis has accused peers of trying to “frustrate” the process of triggering Brexit, as he insisted the Government would overturn the latest Lords amendment to the Article 50 bill. The Brexit Secretary is confident that a potential Tory rebellion in the Commons will be headed off despite suffering a second Parliamentary defeat on Brexit in the space of a week. – Daily Telegraph Peers left laughing as Lib Dem claims EU will negotiate in ‘good faith’ over Brexit – Daily Express My fellow Lords must put aside their personal preferences for the sake of our democracy – Martin Callanan for The Daily Telegraph > On BrexitCentral: How peers voted in yesterday’s divisions on the Article 50 Bill Lord Heseltine sacked as government adviser over Brexit rebellion Conservative former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine has been sacked as a government adviser after rebelling over Brexit in the House of Lords. Lord Heseltine backed the demand for a parliamentary vote on the final deal to be written into Brexit legislation. Lord Heseltine learned hours later that he had been fired from five government advisory roles he had held. He said he accepted Number 10’s right to sack him but “sometimes there are issues which transcend party politics”. – BBC Heseltine, a long time Europhile, backed the House of Lords’ motion that legislation dictates parliament should have a vote on the final Brexit deal. He was relieved of five government advisory roles just hours after making his stand, and received the news from the chief whip via a phone call while having dinner with his wife. – City A.M. ‘He will be greatly missed’: Anna Soubry leads tributes to Heseltine – Daily Express Leading the busybodies, that vain old lion Heseltine – Quentin Letts for the Daily Mail Thatcher didn’t dare sack Heseltine. But now May has done so. – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome Philip Hammond prepares to deliver a Budget to prepare Britain for Brexit… Chancellor Philip Hammond is to use his first Budget on Wednesday to help prepare Britain for a “new chapter” in its history following the Brexit vote. In an “upbeat” speech, he is expected to say the economy has proved resilient since the referendum but admit that many families are “feeling the pinch”. Extra money is expected to be found for social care in England and to help firms facing steep business rate rises. – BBC …as Britain’s economic growth predictions are upgraded again by the OECD The OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development – said the UK would grow 0.4 per cent faster in 2017 than it previously expected. Last November it said it expected the UK to grow by 1.2 per cent – this is now up to 1.6 per cent. It said today that the pace of expansion was still below growth for 2016 – despite support from resilient household spending and fiscal stimulus following the Brexit vote. The gloomy OECD said: “UK growth is expected to ease further as rising inflation weighs on real incomes and consumption, and business investment weakens amidst uncertainty about the United Kingdom’s future trading relations with its partners.” – The Sun Downing Street bats away early election speculation, insisting the PM is fully focused on Brexit Theresa May will not call an early general election because she is fully focussed on carrying out the will of the people and pulling Britain out of the European Union, her Brexit minister said today. David Jones told reporters in Brussels the prime minister was not considering holding a snap vote even though she would likely win a thumping majority in the House of Commons. Commentators including former Tory leader William Hague have speculated the PM could be tempted to repeal the law creating fixed parliamentary terms so she can put Jeremy Corbyn to the sword. – Daily Express Big Four EU nations agree to pursue plans for “two-speed Europe”… Brussels is braced for an almighty power struggle between member states and eurocrats after the bloc’s big four last night agreed to pursue a new policy of allowing member states to pick and choose their level of commitment. Germany, France, Italy and Spain will lobby for a new “two-speed” Europe in which core countries can integrate their systems at breakneck speed whilst those who are more eurosceptic are allowed to hang fire. The system is designed to allow the more developed Western nations to press ahead with wide-reaching reforms, particularly to the euro, without dragging along less reluctant members. – Daily Express …as Tusk row threatens to overshadow this week’s EU summit A row over Poland’s bid to replace EU Council President Donald Tusk threatens to overshadow a summit this week that was meant to focus on post-Brexit unity. Most of the 28 European Union leaders had hoped to push through Polish ex-premier Tusk’s re-election with a minimum of fuss so they could concentrate on a host of challenges. But instead, the two-day summit starting on Thursday (9 March) risks being consumed by splits along old east-west lines as the Eurosceptic Polish government proposes a rival candidate, with support from Hungary. – Euractiv European Union ‘fears losing Britain’s counter-terrorism expertise’ post-Brexit Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol, said a number of EU nations wanted some assurance “British expertise and leadership is not lost” after the country triggers Article 50 because “the UK is a very important partner in the security field”. Following Brexit Mr Wainwright said the UK’s expertise in fighting terrorism, cybercrime, people smuggling and drug trafficking would remain highly valued by Europol. – Daily Express Clive Jacobs: Business teaches you how to negotiate: Here’s the Brexit advice I would give Theresa As an entrepreneur, I’m naturally optimistic. I’ve always seen the upside in the UK becoming an independent nation, which is why I supported Vote Leave during the referendum campaign. My business career has also taught me some valuable lessons on how to negotiate successfully. If the government is given space to negotiate our exit from the EU, without the sort of distraction or interference displayed by the House of Lords, I believe that the outcome can be beneficial for Britain and Europe. Here’s the advice I’d give Theresa May if I was working in Number 10. – Clive Jacobs for City A.M. Andrew Lilico: No, America’s trade deficit won’t scupper a US-UK trade deal – here’s why In the UK a lot of attention has focused on the second part of the Trump Trade Doctrine, “decrease the trade deficit”, because on UK official statistics, every year the US runs a rather large trade deficit with the UK — some £39 billion in 2015, up from £19 billion in 2005. This has led a number of UK journalists to be rather sceptical of the idea the US will accept a trade deal with the UK… A point that escaped almost everyone’s attention, however, is that although UK statistics say the US runs a deficit with the UK, on the official US data the US runs a surplus with us and has done every year since 2006! – Andrew Lilico for the Daily Telegraph Shehab Khan: No, Gina Miller – you are not doing the Labour Party’s job for them Approximately 37 per cent of Labour supporters voted to leave the EU in the referendum. On the flip side, the top four constituencies that supported remain were Labour seats. This is the paradox of the Labour supporter that Jeremy Corbyn has to try and pander to. Gina Miller, the businesswoman and philanthropist behind the Supreme Court case that forced Theresa May to seek parliamentary approval to trigger Article 50, has made a fictitious claim that she is doing the “job of the Opposition” and that it is a “disgrace”. Shehab Khan for The Independent Jeff Peel: Why Brexit is Northern Ireland’s Greatest Business Opportunity Brexit is a once in a lifetime opportunity to take advantage of a revitalised UK, our most important trading partner. The UK is our biggest trading partner by a vast margin – grossly more important than any EU market. In fact 86% of sales by Northern Ireland companies stay right here in the UK. And it is for this reason that Brexit is the biggest opportunity that Northern Ireland has ever had since its inception. Northern Ireland, in short, just got lucky. The UK is a huge market on Northern Ireland’s doorstep. It’s also a free market with no customs checks or borders. And it also happens to have at its heart the world’s largest financial trading centre in the City of London. – Jeff Peel on Slugger O’Toole Brexit in brief Despite her assurances, Theresa May doesn’t care about EU-based expats – Giles Tremlett for The Guardian Britain is the authentic nation in this battle – Melanie Phillips for The Times ‘Hard’ or ‘soft’, Peugeot sees mileage in Brexit – France 24 Euro judges shut off key visa avenue for refugees – Daily Express Chuka Umunna calls for May to secure a ‘soft free movement’ Brexit deal with EU – Daily Express What will happen to the European Health Insurance Card after Brexit? – Daily Telegraph