Brexit 1) May’s speech expected to please Eurosceptics
‘Theresa May will gamble this week by siding with Eurosceptics and signalling she is prepared to take Britain out of the single market and customs union. In her most significant Brexit speech since taking office, the Prime Minister will defy critics by indicating she is open to a clean break with the EU. The intervention, which follows immense pressure to reveal her Brexit plans, is designed to reassure the public and reveal what she wants from talks. However the speech risks exposing deep splits in the Tory Party over Europe as she finally details her vision for Britain’s future outside the EU. In her speech, Mrs May is expected to say that Britain must: Be prepared to leave the customs union to secure free trade deals across the world; Regain full control of its borders even if that means ending single market membership; No longer be bound by European Court of Justice rulings after Brexit, despite claims to the contrary; Unite after the “division” of the referendum by ditching the terms “Leaver” and “Remainer”.’ – Sunday Telegraph
- Prime Minister will ‘abandon’ single market, customs union, and ECJ – Independent on Sunday
- She’s ‘gone for the full works’ – The Sunday Times (£)
- Government is ‘prepared to accept’ clean break – Observer
- This risks ‘creating a void in the Conservative party’ – Mail on Sunday
- May’s ‘strategy for swift Brexit’ – The Sun on Sunday
- It’ll be a ‘hard-hitting speech’ – Sunday Express
- Morgan speaks out against it – Mail on Sunday
>Today: ToryDiary: No, no, no: May’s Maggie’s moment. No ECJ. No Single Market. No Customs Union. What her Europe speech this week will say
Brexit 2) Davis: We’ve been listening and planning
‘Last summer the people of the UK decided to leave the European Union. Parliament put that decision in their hands, granting a referendum that MPs backed by a margin of six to one. The House of Commons has also endorsed the government’s plan to trigger article 50, starting the formal process of negotiation over Britain’s exit, by March 31. So for all the heat and controversy of the past six months, no one here or in Europe should be in any doubt: the UK is going to leave the EU. The government led by Theresa May is determined to respect the outcome of the referendum, and negotiate an exit that works for the whole of the country. We’re ready for whatever outcome is decided by the Supreme Court on the process of triggering article 50, just as we’ll be ready for any outcome of the negotiation that follows.’ – The Sunday Times (£)
More comment:
- We’re taking back control, as promised – Dominic Raab, The Sun on Sunday
- May should rule out hard Brexit – Keir Starmer, Observer
- We’ll get sketch of best possible relationship – Hamish McRae, Independent on Sunday
- People should listen to Hague – Denis MacShane, Independent on Sunday
- May is ‘hopelessly conflicted’ – William Keegan, Observer
- Clean Brexit is the answer – Liam Halligan, Sunday Telegraph
Editorial:
- We will know a little more – The Sunday Times (£)
Brexit 3) Select committee asks for details from May by mid-February
‘Theresa May has been given a one-month deadline to finally end the secrecy surrounding her Brexit strategy, a hard-hitting report by MPs revealed today. Crucial issues including membership of the EU’s single market and customs union – and plans for a “transitional deal” – must be revealed by the middle of February, they say. The Prime Minister is also told to guarantee her promised Brexit plan is a fully fleshed-out White Paper, rather than a rumoured brief note.’ – Independent on Sunday
Brexit 4) Labour ‘to force’ for Commons vote in case of Government Supreme Court defeat
‘Labour will use the government’s expected defeat in the Supreme Court this month to force Theresa May to give MPs a vote over the final Brexit deal. The Telegraph has learnt that the party plans to table an amendment demanding MPs get a veto on the terms of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. Should the move not win enough votes among MPs, the party will use its position in the House of Lords to urge the Government to make the guarantee. Senior Labour figures believe that because the European Parliament must vote on the final Brexit agreement – expected in mid-2019 – the House of Commons should also have a say.’ – Sunday Telegraph
More Brexit
- Dutch PM’s trade-deal ultimatum to UK on tax avoidance – Independent on Sunday
- AC Grayling wants strike against Brexit – Independent on Sunday
- Lawson calls for ‘clean Brexit’ in think tank paper – Sunday Telegraph
- Bryant’s ‘kompromat’ claims include Three Brexiteers – Sunday Express
More Europe and world
- MEPs consider UBI – Independent on Sunday
- Train stop causes tensions in Kosovo – Sunday Telegraph
- Serbia ‘risks becoming a dumping ground’ – Observer
- Soames attacks Netanyahu government for Duncan threat – Mail on Sunday
>Yesterday: Andrew Lewer MEP in Comment: A new threat from the EU to free speech
Conservatives more trusted than Labour on NHS
‘More people believe Theresa May and the Conservatives would do a better job than Labour managing the NHS this winter despite many agreeing with the description of the health service facing a “humanitarian crisis”, a new poll suggests. The ComRes poll for The Independent comes as the Prime Minister faces calls to apologise after “scapegoating” GPs and warning they should offer extended opening hours, amid intensifying pressure on the NHS hospital services.’ – Independent on Sunday
- GPs refuse to take blame for A&E crisis – Sunday Telegraph
- Wollaston calls on May to apologise over GP criticism – Independent on Sunday
- Overstretched hospitals ‘cancelling urgent operations’ – Sunday Express
- Hospital’s ‘brilliant’ new approach to emergency care – Sunday Telegraph
- Corbyn wants public ownership of failing care homes – Sunday Express
Editorial:
- We must stop worshipping the NHS if we want to fix it – Mail on Sunday
Comment:
- I’ve never seen the NHS in such a bad state – Dan Poulter, The Sun on Sunday
- It needs change – Bob Kerslake, Observer
- My conspiracy theory take – Janet Daley, Sunday Telegraph
>Today: Phil Taylor in Comment: Why we mustn’t have a National Care Service
Tory MPs call for ban on critical infrastructure strikes
’Fifty Tory MPs are demanding that the Government brings in tougher strikes laws to ensure the “widespread misery” seen on Southern Rail can never be repeated. Writing to the Telegraph, the politicians claim that unions are using the “flimsy pretext” of safety concerns to cause “wide-scale disruption”. They want new legislation that bans strikes on “critical public infrastructure” such as train and bus services unless the action is proved “reasonable and proportionate” by a judge.’ – Sunday Telegraph
More Government
- Parliament to hold ‘fake news’ inquiry – Sunday Telegraph
- Rees-Mogg ‘ready take on’ Bryant to be next Speaker – Mail on Sunday
- Gove opposes move during Parliament renovations – The Sunday Times (£)
- Palace’s fire risk – Observer
Dozens of Labour MPs ‘ready to follow’ Tristram Hunt
‘Dozens of Labour MPs are ready to follow Tristram Hunt out of politics, one of the party’s leading moderates warned this weekend. Many are fed up with life “on the reserve bench of the reserve bench” under Jeremy Corbyn and are ready to resign, according to the former shadow cabinet minister who is playing a leading role in resisting the hard-left leadership. Moderates could set up their own party if they were deselected by Corbyn supporters, the senior MP warned: “Deselection is the point at which you will not just get people to leave and cause by-elections to get new jobs, you will get bitterness and determination to fight back.’ – The Sunday Times (£)
- Many are threatening to quit – Sunday Express
- Stoke will be a Brexit by-election. It’s bad timing for Corbyn – Observer
- McCluskey gives Corbyn ‘massive loan’ – The Sun on Sunday
- Creasy says Corbyn should watch sitcom – Mail on Sunday
Comment:
- This is the start of a pattern – Andrew Rawnsley, Observer
- There’s ‘no appetite’ for a leadership change at the moment – Adam Boulton, The Sunday Times (£)
- Corbyn isn’t and can’t be Trump – John Rentoul, Independent on Sunday
- If power is unrealistic, why wouldn’t Labour MPs quit? – Tom Harris, Sunday Telegraph
Trump plans summit with Putin
‘Donald Trump is planning to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin within weeks of becoming president — emulating Ronald Reagan’s Cold War deal-making in Reykjavik with Mikhail Gorbachev. Trump and his team have told British officials that their first foreign trip will be a meeting with the Russian leader, with the Icelandic capital in pole position to host the superpower talks as it did three decades ago. In a bid to reset western relations with the Kremlin, Trump will begin work on a deal limiting nuclear weapons.’ – The Sunday Times (£)
- It will happen before he meets May – Mail on Sunday
Editorials:
- Trump won’t be an ordinary President – The Sunday Times (£)
- This is not a normal moment – Observer
- He needs to learn from Martin Luther King – Rupert Cornwell, Independent on Sunday
Comment:
- Voters care most about Trump’s election pledges – Niall Ferguson, The Sunday Times (£)
- Trump will ‘respect’ May’s straight talk – Dan Hodges, Mail on Sunday
News in Brief
- Prince Charles writes children’s book on global warming – Mail on Sunday
- 100 on capsized migrant ship – Observer
- Deaf Iraqi child given deportation reprieve – The Sunday Times (£)
- Supreme Court expected to make it harder for Taliban to sue MoD – Sunday Telegraph
- Third of English and Welsh babies have foreign-born parent – The Sun on Sunday
- Criticism of ‘unnecessary’ storm panic – Sunday Express
- MEPs to vote on robots’ legal status – Independent on Sunday
- Daily Milk Polished off – Mail on Sunday