UK court: Issue before the court is a pure issue of law and is justifiable

First comments coming out from the UK High Court

• Issue before the court is a pure issue of law and is justifiable
• Government accepts that a withdrawal can't be conditional or withdrawn, so rights would inevitably be lost by withdrawal
• Normally treaty powers are a matter for the prerogative
• Government does not have the pregative power to give notice

UK's May says she's confident of winning the Brexit case appeal at Supreme Court

UK PM repeating her positive tones as she meets with Merkel and Juncker

• has told Merkel and Juncker the timetable for triggering Article 50 remained the same
• due to meet with Hollande and Tusk later today

The High Court Brexit ruling fallout continues

Today's UK press in full cry about the UK High Court's Brexit ruling 5 Nov

BBC reporting a swathe of reaction this morning

The opposition Labour Party has urged the government to come out and defend the three judges behind the controversial High Court ruling on the process of leaving the EU.

The Daily Mail branded them "Enemies of the people", while the Daily Express said the ruling had marked "the day democracy died".

Labour called the silence of Justice Secretary Liz Truss "embarrassing" and said she had "let down" the judiciary.

On Thursday, the court ruled Parliament should vote on triggering Article 50.

The judges found that the government could not start the formal process of leaving the EU - the triggering of Article 50 - by using the royal prerogative alone, and would need the backing of Parliament. That would require publishing legislation to be debated by the Commons and the Lords.

The debate/conjecture continues and was ever thus

Full Beeb coverage here  and Reuters here with plenty of background reading for the week-end

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UK press: Opposition party will try to block Brexit talks if no single mkt access

Jeremy Corbyn is leader of the UK Labour Party, he spoke with the Sunday Mirror

• UK access to Europe's single market
• No watering down of EU workplace rights
• Guarantees on safeguarding consumers and the environment
• Pledges on Britain picking up the tab for any EU capital investment lost by Brexit

Brexit minister Davis says Article 50 timeline remains the same

UK Supreme Court accepts Brexit appeal

Leaked memo says the UK government still has no overall Brexit plan

BBC and The Times both claim access to a leaked memo 15 Nov

• the government has no overall Brexit plan and a negotiating strategy may not be agreed by the cabinet for six months
• Whitehall is working on 500 Brexit-related projects and could need 30,000 extra staff
• there is still no common exit strategy "because of divisions within the cabinet"

The leaked Cabinet Office memo - written by an un-named consultant and entitled "Brexit Update" of 7 November - suggests it will take another six months before the government decides precisely what it wants to achieve from Brexit or agrees on its priorities.

A government spokesman said it "didn't recognise" the claims made in the memo.

According to The Times the memo says:

"Every department has developed a 'bottom-up' plan of what the impact of Brexit could be - and its plan to cope with the 'worst case'.

"Although necessary, this falls considerably short of having a 'government plan for Brexit' because it has no prioritisation and no link to the overall negotiation strategy."

Plenty of work to be done still but the government's main focus right now will be winning their Supreme Court appeal due to be heard from 5 Dec

Brexit details off the menu when meeting May says Merkel

Comments from Angela Merkel

• We accept that the British government has said that it will be invoking article 50 by end of March
• Won't be able to discuss Brexit in detail with May as she has not triggered art 50

May adding some comments too;

• Our work is on track on Brexit
• Stands ready to trigger art 50 next year
• We support EU actions to deal with the root cause of migration
• Agreed to keep up the pressure on Russia

Hammond says will get UK ready for Brexit challenge

Britain's first budget plan since the Brexit vote will seek to get the economy prepared for the challenges of leaving the European Union and help struggling families through tough times ahead, finance minister Philip Hammond said on Sunday.

But Hammond said that levels of public debt were "eye-wateringly" high and he would not announce a big increase in spending when he spells out the economic plans of Britain's new government on Wednesday.

"We've got to make sure that the prosperity that comes from seizing opportunities ahead is shared across the country and across the income distribution," he told BBC television.

He was echoing promises by Prime Minister Theresa May to work for "just managing" Britons, many of whom delivered the biggest political upset in generations in June by voting to leave the EU.

Earlier on Sunday, the Treasury said Hammond would announce 1.3 billion pounds ($1.60 billion) in new spending on roads as part of his plans to bolster the economy with two years of talks on leaving the EU due to begin early next year.

Hammond said an important part of the discussions would focus on transition arrangements for the period after Britain leaves the EU but will probably still be negotiating the terms of its new relationship with the bloc.

With Britain's economy facing a slowdown next year and in 2018 after the Brexit vote, Hammond has dropped the target of his predecessor George Osborne of turning Britain's budget deficit into a surplus by 2020.

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Brexit - Tony Blair comeback? Meets with George Osborne

• Its understood Blair has met with former chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne to discuss Britain's future relations with the EU (The Sunday Times reported)
• Blair's office said that Brexit would feature in what Mr Blair had to say in the future, with more details to come in the new year.