The Times

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After Prime Minister Theresa May met Italian PM Matteo Renzi on Wednesday, the Time reports that she has "has demanded a Brexit deal tailor-made for Britain, warning that she would not accept an agreement already 'on the shelf'.

"The prime minister appeared to play down the chances of Britain adopting the so-called Norway model that would keep it in the single market, but also force it to pay in to the EU budget and accept its free movement rules."

Mrs May is due to hold talks with the prime ministers of Slovakia and Poland later.

The former leader of Plaid Cymru has criticised his party for "deciding to lead the opposition" in the Welsh Assembly rather than working "positively with government".

In a series of tweets, Lord Elis-Thomas questioned why Plaid should "gang up with UKIP" in the assembly.

Current Plaid leader Leanne Wood did not seek a coalition with Labour after the May election but allowed Carwyn Jones to continue as first minister.

Plaid Cymru and Lord Elis-Thomas have been asked to comment.

The election left Labour short of a majority in the Senedd, and led to the drama of a deadlocked vote for first minister between Mr Jones and Ms Wood.

The Labour leader was re-appointed after a week of negotiations between the two parties resulted in agreement on a "compact" to allow joint working and consultation.

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Judges at the UK's highest court have ruled that the Scottish government's Named Person scheme is "unlawful".

Opponents of the scheme appealed to the Supreme Court in London after their case was dismissed by the Court of Session in Edinburgh last year.

Judges said the proposals breach rights to privacy and a family life under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The court has given the Scottish government 42 days to rectify the legislation.

The system would appoint a named person - usually a teacher or health visitor - for every child in Scotland.

The Scottish government contends that the system will help to protect young people and has accused opponents of misrepresenting the legislation, which was approved by 103 votes to nil by MSPs when it formed part of the Children and Young People Act in 2014.

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The number of Indians going to the UK for higher studies has fallen by about 50% in the past few years. Will the Brexit vote deter even more?

Holyrood is examining the implications of Brexit for the Scottish economy and businesses.

The Guardian

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"One of Jeremy Corbyn’s key allies has made a bold suggestion that Labour could form progressive alliances or electoral pacts with other parties across the left including the Greens, Liberal Democrats and SNP," according to the Guardian., external

The paper quotes shadow defence secretary Clive Lewis arguing: "I sit and listen to Caroline Lucas and seven or eight times out of 10, I listen and think: not sure about that bit but most of it I agree with. When the Tories jeer her, I want to stand up. Half the time when the SNP are speaking, I listen to what Mhairi Black or others are saying and think I agree with that. I listen to Tom Brake [a Lib Dem] and think I agree with what he says on that issue.

"There is a common set of themes and values and principles that we need to identify as progressives and then start to work out how can we work together not just to stop the Tories but to have better politics."

However, the Guardian also quotes a Labour colleague who strongly disagrees. Corbyn opponent Ian Austin said: "Labour plus Greens plus non-voters is still a mathematically impossible, self-indulgent fantasy."

BBC Parliament
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As the new Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, travels to Paris for talks with his French counterpart, BBC Parliament talks to a previous Conservative holder of the post.

Lord Carrington was Foreign Secretary at the outbreak of the Falklands War in 1982 and later served as Nato secretary general.

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Parents caring for their seriously ill child were told to return to work "immediately" or lose their courier delivery rounds, an MP has said.

The couple from Leicester were at the bedside of their son, six, who was on life-support after an emergency leg amputation. He later died.

Frank Field said he had written to Prime Minister Theresa May calling for an inquiry into Hermes UK.

In a statement, the courier company said it would investigate the case.

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Investment in the new nuclear plant to be built in Hinkley Point, Somerset, is set to get final approval later on Thursday.

The French utility, EDF - the company financing most of the £18bn project - is holding a board meeting at which it is expected to approve the investment.

Following that agreement, legally-binding contracts will be signed and construction work can begin.

It will be the UK's first new nuclear power plant in more than 20 years.

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Image source, ART CONAGHAN

Hidden payments totalling £30,000 to a Tory MP's general election campaign are being investigated by the police.

The BBC has established the money for David Mackintosh's Northampton South fighting fund, in three £10,000 donations, was disguised in terms of who made them.

The Electoral Commission has passed a file on the case to the police.

Mr Mackintosh, ex-leader of Northampton council, welcomed the investigation and "will co-operate fully with police".

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A judge will rule later on whether Labour's decision to allow Jeremy Corbyn to automatically stand for re-election as leader was lawful or not.

Labour donor and ex-parliamentary candidate Michael Foster is challenging Mr Corbyn's inclusion without having had to secure MPs' nominations.

Labour's NEC decided, by 18 votes to 14, that Mr Corbyn could stand without needing nomination by 51 MPs and MEPs.

Legal arguments were heard from both sides in the High Court on Tuesday.

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A summary of the day's main stories:

• Labour leadership hopeful Owen Smith says he would introduce a wealth tax on the richest 1% in society to fund the NHS and tackle inequality in Britain
• Mr Smith apologises for using "inappropriate language" during a campaign event in South Yorkshire after saying Labour should be "smashing" Theresa May "back on her heels" 
• Mrs May has said she retains an "open mind" about the UK's trading relationships after Brexit amid reports some cabinet colleagues want the UK to pull out of the EU's customs union
• Former French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier has been appointed by the European Commission to negotiate with Britain over Brexit
• The UK economy grew by 0.6% in the three months to the end of June, as economic growth accelerated in the run-up to the vote to leave the EU

Michel Barnier's appointment announced earlier was made by the European Commission, which does not make him the European Union’s chief negotiator on Brexit.

The exact shape of the future negotiations is still being decided, but the closest thing we have to definitive guidance is this paragraph from the statement following the informal meeting of the 27 EU leaders without the UK on the 29 June after the referendum vote:

“Once the notification has been received, the European Council will adopt guidelines for the negotiations of an agreement with the UK. In the further process the European Commission and the European Parliament will play their full role in accordance with the Treaties.”

This appears to suggest that the European Council - the heads of government of the member states - will lead the negotiations, at least in the initial stages, having been given a political position by the 27 leaders, and the Commission and Parliament will have a role to play “in the further process”.

The expectation in Brussels is that, as with any major piece of business within the European Union, the Council, Commission and Parliament will all have a role to play with various institutions taking the lead at different stages.