• Cross-party group holds back on push for UK second referendum – A cross-party group of MPs have decided to hold back on their push for a second referendum in the UK, blaming Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn for failing to get behind their campaign. Sarah Wollaston, a Conservative, said that she had decided not to draw up an amendment calling for a “people’s vote”. It means that MPs are unlikely to vote on Tuesday on whether or not to have another referendum. Ms Wollaston appeared on Thursday with five other MPs — Chuka Umunna, Mike Gapes, Chris Leslie, Luciana Berger (all Labour) and Philip Lee (Conservative) — to announce her decision. The matter had threatened to cause a split in the People’s Vote campaign, whose central team has urged patience while other Brexit options are exhausted. (FT)
  • Amber Rudd says she is committed to avoiding no deal – Cabinet Minister Amber Rudd has told the BBC she is “committed to making sure we avoid” a no deal Brexit and would not rule out resigning over it. The work and pensions secretary said she was “going to wait and see” whether the prime minister allowed MPs a free vote on potential options next week. Labour MP Yvette Cooper has tabled an amendment to delay Brexit if no deal is reached by the end of February. MPs heavily rejected the deal Theresa May agreed with the EU last week. The UK is due to leave the EU at 23:00 GMT on 29 March and the prime minister has faced repeated calls to rule out the prospect of leaving without a deal, if no agreement can be reached. (BBC)
  • Airbus chief Tom Enders brands handling of Brexit a disgrace – The head of Airbus has launched a stinging attack on the government’s handling of the Brexit negotiations, branding it a “disgrace” that business could still not plan properly and warning that the aerospace group could pull out of the UK if there was no deal. The warning by Tom Enders came as Jaguar Land Rover said it would close all UK plants for two and a half weeks during April, while Ford warned of an $800m bill this year from additional Brexit-related costs. It also emerged that several of Britain’s largest manufacturers, including Airbus, aero-engine group Rolls-Royce, Ford and JLR, had discussed a joint letter warning about the consequences of Britain crashing out of the EU on March 29. In a highly unusual intervention, business minister Richard Harrington also said a hard Brexit would be a “disaster for business”, adding: “I am very happy to be public about it and very happy if the prime minister decides I am not the right person [to be business minister as a result].” (FT)
  • Union bosses fail to sway May on ruling out no-deal Brexit – Union leaders came away empty-handed after pleading with the prime minister to abandon her threat of no-deal Brexit during a meeting at Downing Street on Thursday morning. Four senior figures from the union movement held successive one-on-one talks with Theresa May at Number 10, each lasting about half an hour. The meetings were a striking moment given the hitherto negligible engagement between the Conservative prime minister and union leaders. But Frances O’Grady, head of the Trades Union Congress, said the prime minister had failed to give sufficient guarantees on jobs or workers’ rights: “Tweaks aren’t enough — we need substantial change to the whole deal.” Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison — another visitor — asked the prime minister for guarantees that British labour laws would shift in line with future EU laws. Mrs May only replied that she would “consider” future EU changes to workers legislation. (FT)
  • Austrian premier Kurz calls on UK to defer Brexit date – Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, has encouraged Britain to seek an extension to its EU membership beyond March 29 — rather than risk crashing out of the EU without a deal. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Kurz said that his first preference would be for the UK parliament to ratify the withdrawal agreement, negotiated between the UK government and the EU. But he added that if this was not possible — “we should have the courage to defer the date of Brexit.” He said that this possibility had been discussed with the British government and that “the offer is on the table” — but noted that the EU cannot defer Brexit unilaterally. The offer has to be accepted by the UK. Mr Kurz added that it would be very difficult to keep the UK inside the EU beyond the European parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for May. But he also suggested that it might be possible, if this were to happen to “find a flexible solution” that stretched beyond May. (FT)
  • Philip Hammond urges business leaders to accept Brexit result – Philip Hammond has told business leaders they need to accept the result of Britain’s EU referendum and warned that a failure to implement it would damage the country’s political stability. The chancellor told increasingly restless business leaders that he was working for a deal that safeguarded the economy, and said he understood their frustration but companies had to accept that changes were coming – such as an end to the free movement of people and business models built on a supply of cheap labour. “We need to get the politics right,” Hammond said at a Confederation of British Industry (CBI) lunch in Davos. “Even from the narrowest interpretation of business interests, it would be a pyrrhic victory to meet the needs of the economy, but by shattering the broad economic consensus behind our country’s political and economic system.” Hammond said a promise had been made to voters in 2016 that they were choosing a more prosperous future. “Not leaving would be a betrayal, but leaving without a deal would also be a betrayal.” (The Guardian)
  • Bill published detailing Irish preparations for no-deal Brexit – The Irish Government has published the general scheme of the bumper piece of legislation that will be needed to prepare Ireland for the consequences of the UK crashing out of the European Union without a deal at the end of March. It covers areas such as the single electricity market, education supports, taxation, financial services, transport safety and regulation, amendments to EU regulations, social welfare provisions, as well as the areas of extradition and immigration. The General Scheme of the Miscellaneous Provisions (Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 29 March 2019) Omnibus Bill has 17 parts which are focused on the broad theme of protecting the citizen, and supporting the economy, enterprise and jobs. While a Government statement said the ratification of the Brexit withdrawal agreement was still its “preferred outcome”, it added: “This publication is the next step in a series of measures that the Government is taking, both nationally and in conjunction with the EU, in preparation for the possibility that the UK fails to agree a deal for their departure from the European Union on 29 March.” (The Irish Times)
  • UK called upon to clarify its future relationship with EU – The European Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group has called on the UK to clarify its position in the coming days. It reiterated that the backstop provisions in the Withdrawal Agreement are non-negotiable, and that the assembly won’t consent to the Withdrawal Agreement without a soft border and a safeguard of the integrity of the Single Market. (MLex)