Top story: Dodds wins Brecon and Radnorshire for Lib Dems
Hello, Warren Murray with a write-up to get you right up with the news.
Boris Johnson has suffered a major blow after the Tories were beaten by the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats in the Brecon and Radnorshire byelection. It cuts the Conservatives’ working majority in the Commons to just one. The Lib Dems’ Jane Dodds won 13,826 votes with the Conservatives taking 12,401 – a margin of 1,425 that overturned the Tories’ previous majority of more than 8,000. We are covering all the reaction live this morning.
In her acceptance speech, Dodds pledged: “My very first act as your MP when I arrive in Westminster will be to find Mr Boris Johnson, wherever he’s hiding, and tell him loud and clear: stop playing with the futures of our communities and rule out a no-deal Brexit.
“People are desperately crying out for a different kind of politics. There is no time for tribalism when our country is faced with a Boris Johnson government and the threat of a no-deal Brexit.” Labour received only 1,680 votes, just barely holding on to its deposit after being beaten into fourth place by the Brexit party (3,331). Ukip came last, behind even the Monster Raving Loony party.
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Dam emergency – Workers have been racing overnight to stop the Toddbrook dam in Derbyshire from bursting by dumping hundreds of tonnes of aggregate to divert water away from the wall, which has partly collapsed due to heavy rainfall. Parts of Whaley Bridge have been evacuated with up to 1,400 people spending the night in shelters. Police have closed railway lines in the area, East Midlands Trains has announced. Trains on the route between Liverpool Lime Street and Norwich are disrupted due to the predicted flooding. “Our trains are not able to run between Sheffield and Liverpool Lime Street and customers are advised to use alternative routes to travel.”
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Alzheimer’s test holds promise – A blood test that can detect signs of Alzheimer’s disease as much as 20 years before its onset has been developed. Scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis in Missouri believe it is 94% accurate while being much cheaper and simpler than a brain scan. The test measures levels of amyloid beta protein, a key indicator of Alzheimer’s, and combines it with analysis of age and genetic risk factors. Researchers say clumps of the protein begin to form in the brain up to two decades before the onset of the characteristic memory loss. However, the benefits of such testing would not be seen to their fullest extent until treatments to halt Alzheimer’s are developed.
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Crosby’s Facebook dark arts empire – The lobbying firm CTF Partners, run by Boris Johnson’s close ally Sir Lynton Crosby, has secretly built a network of unbranded “news” pages on Facebook for dozens of clients ranging from the Saudi government to major polluters. The Guardian can reveal, for example, that the company took millions from the Saudi Arabian government to burnish the reputation of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who has subsequently been implicated in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. CTF also specialises in fighting regulation by seeking to influence key politicians, with campaigns in support of coal power, tobacco, and against cyclists. The discoveries show up flaws in Facebook’s tools that are supposed to ensure political transparency. Meanwhile some current and former staff members have spoken about what they described as incidents of misogynistic bullying at CTF. One digital strategist, Sean Topham, gained a reputation for misogyny within the company, according to three former staff, who said he celebrated the fact a woman had been forced out of the office as a “confirmed kill”.
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No-deal crisis fears ratchet up – The UK is now less able to cope with a hard Brexit on 31 October than it was in the spring, a document circulating in Whitehall shows. The Cabinet Office has stiffened its language around “reasonable worst-case scenarios” to include medicine shortages; disruptions to the food supply chain and panic buying; demonstrations and civil disorder that would stretch the police thin; and the risk that low-income groups will be hit by price rises on food, fuel and utilities. In a further blow to government attempts to play down the risks of no-deal Brexit, Sky News says it has obtained an official document setting out the threats to borders, the economy, security, data, Northern Ireland and individuals. “Law and order challenges” in Northern Ireland, gaps in security and difficulty for Britons returning from abroad are among predictions. Today in our Johnson’s Promises series: will the new PM rise to the challenge of Britain’s housing crisis?
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Saudi women poised for travel freedom – Women in Saudi Arabia over the age of 21 will no longer need the permission of a male guardian to travel, according to local news reports. The policy, if confirmed, would put them on an equal footing with men in being able to apply for a passport and travel outside the country, without approval. They would also have the same right as men to register births and deaths. The Okaz newspaper did not say where it got the information but the country’s official gazette has reportedly foreshadowed amendments to travel rules, labour laws and civil status laws.
Today in Focus podcast: Water crisis driving migration to US
Nina Lakhani explores how drought and famine are fuelling the wave of migration from Central America to the US. Plus: Emma Graham-Harrison on China and the Hong Kong protests.
Lunchtime read: ‘The tyranny of the ideal woman’
“Most women believe themselves to be independent thinkers. Even glossy women’s magazines now model skepticism toward top-down narratives about how we should look, who and when we should marry, how we should live. But the psychological parasite of the ideal woman has evolved to survive in an ecosystem that pretends to resist her,” writes Jia Tolentino. “The work formerly carried out by makeup has been embedded directly into her face: her cheekbones or lips have been plumped up, or some lines have been filled in.
“The same is true of her body, which no longer requires the traditional enhancements of clothing or strategic underwear; it has been pre-shaped by exercise that ensures there is little to conceal or rearrange. If women start to resist an aesthetic, like the overapplication of Photoshop, the aesthetic just changes to suit us; the power of the ideal image never actually wanes. It is now easy enough to engage women’s skepticism toward ads and magazine covers, images produced by professionals. It is harder for us to suspect images produced by our peers, and nearly impossible to get us to suspect the images we produce of ourselves.”
Sport
Steve Smith shrugged off the boos on day one of the first Ashes Test to score a masterful comeback century that, combined with a series-threatening injury to Jimmy Anderson, leaves England battling for control of the opening match at Edgbaston. Charley Hull showed Rory McIlroy how to tee off at a home major on her way to a serene first-round 67 at the Women’s British Open. Zak Hardaker’s late drop goal ensured victory for Wigan in a thrilling Super League encounter at Hull to strengthen their play-off credentials.
Lewis Hamilton has praised what he describes as a uniquely open and honest atmosphere at his Mercedes team that has enabled them to move on after a poor performance at the German Grand Prix. Japan racing’s 19-year wait for its second Group One winner in Britain finally came to an end at Glorious Goodwood as Deirdre brought Frankie Dettori’s golden run to a temporary halt in the Nassau Stakes. Nicolas Pépé has completed his move to Arsenal for a club-record fee of €80m (£72m) plus add-ons, signing from Lille on a five-year contract. And Wales will be without one of their most experienced and influential forwards in the World Cup after their Lions No 8 Taulupe Faletau suffered a broken collarbone in training this week.
Business
The global financial markets have been blindsided by Donald Trump’s threat last night to impose 10% tariffs on just about all remaining Chinese imports to the US, sending shares and bond yields plunging. The escalation of the trade war follows the resumption of talks between the two sides this week and came minutes after White House officials said China was complying with requests that it should buy more US agricultural produce. In his tweets, Trump said Beijing was not doing enough. Chinese officials said his comments were “not constructive” with many observers saying the threat makes a trade deal much less likely. The Nikkei in Tokyo led the market falls, losing 2.7%. The FTSE100 is on course to shed 1.1% when the market opens in London this morning. The pound gave up some earlier gains to sit at $1.21 and €1.092.
The papers
The Guardian leads today with that exclusive story on CTF Partners – “Revealed: PM ally’s firm operated Facebook disinformation network”. The Mirror goes with the situation in Derbyshire, where a reservoir might burst: “Leave now”, as does the i: “Peak District town is evacuated”.
The FT reports: “Bank of England forecasts 33% chance of economy shrinking”, and the Telegraph has the same lead story, written with a particularly Telegraph spin: “Carney accused of reviving Project Fear”.
The Sun has an interview with the pilot on the plane in Madagascar from which a young British woman jumped to her death: “I had to let her go”. The Mail reports: “UK birth rate at 80-year low” (the Guardian’s version is here), the Times says: “Blood test can detect onset of Alzheimer’s” and the Express reports on a petition: “634,789 plead: save free TV licences, Boris!”
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