Events moved at breakneck speed this week in Britain’s Brexit race to the bottom. After prime minister Boris Johnson announced plans to prorogue parliament – effectively shutting down debate – for five weeks in the buildup to 31 October, rebel MPs attempted to launch a bill aimed at halting a no-deal Brexit. Johnson, in turn, said he would try to initiate a general election if the rebels succeeded. With Britain’s democratic institutions creaking at the seams, voices ranging from constitutional experts to west country market traders underline the polarised views in the no-longer United Kingdom.
Since 2016, the al-Hawl refugee camp has taken in around 10,000 Iraqis and Syrians fleeing from Islamic State. During the last days of Isis, however, the camp took in 64,000 women and children, most with links to the jihadist group. With only 400 guards to keep order, Bethan McKernan reports from inside the Syrian camp where Isis widows preserve the caliphate.
From cab drivers to delivery workers, technology has helped make it easier for employers to keep tabs on low-paid workers. But could that same technology enable an extraordinary fightback? Jack Shenker reports from London on the smartphone apps that are helping the worst-off workers to reorganise and resist.
A violent crime drama set in early 20th-century Birmingham may not sound like the stuff of a global TV sensation, but – largely thanks to the Netflix effect – Peaky Blinders has become just that. On our Culture pages, Stuart Jeffries explains how the show’s cult following is another sign of our discontented times.
Elsewhere, there’s a long read on the big con of air conditioning, a report from Sri Lanka’s battered tourist industry and a look at Amazon’s moves into the health services market.
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