Top story: Rebellion back on after row over amendment
Hello – Warren Murray with the final briefing instalment of the week.
Angry Conservative rebels have renewed their campaign to amend the Brexit bill after Theresa May appeared to renege on the promise of “meaningful vote” for parliament. The Tory group led by Dominic Grieve cried foul after the government weakened the wording of what was supposed to be a compromise amendment.
“It is unacceptable. At the end of the process something was inexplicably changed, which had not been agreed,” said Grieve. Rebel peers will try to reinstate Grieve’s original text when the bill goes back to the House of Lords on Monday. The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, said: “Theresa May has gone back on her word and offered an amendment that takes the meaning out of the meaningful vote. Parliament cannot – and should not – accept it.”
Things don’t look like getting any easier for May after the Scottish National party – the third-biggest party in the Commons – vowed to wage a guerrilla campaign of disruption to proceedings “day by day, week by week”. The SNP accuses the government of trampling the rights of the Scottish parliament in the Brexit process.
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Lewisham East byelection – Janet Daby has held the south-east London seat for Labour but the party suffered a swing to the Liberal Democrats, who leapfrogged the Conservatives to come second. The Lib Dem leader, Vince Cable, campaigned with the party’s candidate, Lucy Salek, in a seat that voted heavily for remain in the EU referendum. In the end, the Lib Dems succeeded in reducing Labour’s majority from nearly 45% to 25.6% and pushed the Conservatives into third place.
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‘Hideous invasion of privacy’ – “Upskirting”, the taking of surreptitious, sexually intrusive photographs, is to become a specific criminal offence punishable by up to two years in prison. Those convicted might also be placed on the sex offenders register. The government has confirmed it will back a private member’s bill introduced by the Lib Dem MP Wera Hobhouse after a campaign by Gina Martin, who was voyeuristically photographed at a Hyde Park music festival.
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Universally discredited – The government’s much-delayed flagship welfare programme may end up costing more than what it replaces, cannot prove it helps more claimants into work and is unlikely to ever deliver value for money. This is the damning verdict of the National Audit Office on universal credit, which has cost £2bn so far to set up and run but is lagging six years behind schedule. An estimated 8 million people are expected to be on the benefit by the time it is fully rolled out in 2023 but only 850,000 are presently claiming it. The NAO report has prompted calls for the rollout to be halted until multiple design flaws are fixed.
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China tariff row – France’s presidential couple are under fire over lavish spending on dinner settings for the Élysée at the same times as Emmanuel Macron rails about the “crazy cost” of welfare. Estimates put the cost of the 900 dinner plates and matching side plates at between €50,000 and €500,000 depending on how it is calculated. They are being designed and crafted at the Manufacture de Sèvres, suppliers of fine china to the presidential palace since 1848.
World Cup 2018
On opening night in Moscow the World Cup turned a full-flush red, setting off like a train inside a periodically delirious Luzhniki Stadium. It all went off like a dream for the host nation and its team, though there was that unexpected appearance of Robbie Williams’s middle finger. “It barely feels like Moscow right now,” said one fan. “There are so many people smiling, everyone is talking to one another.”
Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate’s provisional plans for England’s opener include Harry Maguire favoured over Gary Cahill in the proposed starting XI, no place for Eric Dier in midfield and Ashley Young beating Danny Rose to the left wing-back role. Today we’ll be treated to a first glimpse of two of the game’s current finest: Mohamed Salah, the man who has managed the impossible in uniting Egypt, takes to the field against Uruguay at 1pm, while Cristiano Ronaldo will lead Portugal into an Iberian derby against Spain, in a 7pm kick off. Morocco and Iran will be in action, at 4pm. We will liveblog all three games and we’ve got all the buildup right here, right now.
Get our podcast and email – During the World Cup, the Football Weekly pod squad is going daily. Every day there is a game, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, special guests in the studio and Football Weekly regulars in Russia for insight and analysis. Also for the duration, the Fiver email becomes the World Cup Fiver. Subscribe to receive it each weekday.
Lunchtime read: How to spot the perfect art fake
It all started when police seized Venus, by the German Renaissance master Lucas Cranach the Elder, from a French gallery after a tip-off. One art historian places it among “the best old master fakes the world has ever seen.” Giuliano Ruffini, the collector who put it in the market, denies wrongdoing: “I am a collector, not an expert.”
Consider that $450m was paid for Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi in 2017 and it becomes clear that the incentive to be a proficient forger has soared; a single, expertly executed old master knockoff can finance a long, comfortable retirement. Forgeries have become so good – and so costly – that Sotheby’s has brought in its own in-house fraud-busting expert. Samanth Subramanian explores modern-day forgers’ sophisticated tricks and the increasingly difficult battle to catch them.
Sport
On a brutal opening day at the US Open, where stellar names did little to mask their frustrations, Rory McIlroy matched his worst single round score in a major championship. David Willey says Yorkshire threatened to rip up his contract over the 11th-hour move to the Indian Premier League at the start of the season. The governing bodies of 12 British sports have demanded an end to a funding policy that puts Olympic medals above all else. The former Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop has given up his fight to clear his name over a positive doping sample. And the Football Association has held secret talks with the other home nations about the possibility of a joint bid for the 2030 World Cup.
Business
Asian shares have wobbled as investors braced for US tariffs against China, while the euro flirted with two-week lows after the ECB indicated it would not raise interest rates for some time. Donald Trump has made up his mind to impose “pretty significant” tariffs and will unveil a list targeting $50bn of Chinese goods today, according to the administration. Beijing has warned it is ready to respond.
The pound traded at $1.325 and €1.145 overnight.
The papers
Plenty of variety on the front pages today. “Universal credit savaged by public spending watchdog,” says the Guardian about the National Audit Office report. The Telegraph splashes with “SNP vows to sabotage Brexit Bill”, the Times has “BBC stars protest over tax bills” and the Mail has “40% of GPs quit after 5 years”.
The Mirror splashes with “School begs for loo rolls” – the primary school in Theresa May’s constituency has also asked parents for pens and pencils after austerity cuts. “Hospital parking charges killed my dad” is the lead story in the Express, about a man said to have died hours after leaving a hospital car park because he didn’t have change for the machine. “Lord Legover”, crows the Sun about its story on an Olympic showjumper arrested for allegedly daubing insults on to the walls of the home of her former lover, a Tory lord.
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