Top story: ‘People in the room want to land a deal’
Hello, Warren Murray here, giving you joy this Monday morning.
A major breakthrough has been made in Brexit negotiations on the rights of European fleets to fish in UK waters, EU sources told the Guardian last night. They said the two sides had all but finalised terms on access for EU boats to the UK’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone, with a transition period understood to be between five and seven years. The talks now appear to hinge on the Franco-German demand of a “ratchet clause” requiring the UK to follow EU environmental, social and labour standards as they develop or face tariffs on British exports.
The talks resumed in Brussels on Sunday after Boris Johnson and Ursula Von der Leyen, the European commission president, agreed during a phone call that a deal still seemed possible. Raoul Ruparel, Theresa May’s special adviser on Europe during the first round of Brexit negotiations, said: “At this stage, the people in the room are united in the aim of wanting to land a deal and the difficulties tend to be with people outside the room. That makes the atmosphere slightly, slightly more positive for everyone.” But as Heather Stewart writes: “At some point over the next 48 hours or so the talking will have to stop. The British prime minister must then make the momentous decision about whether to walk away or not. Even the most dedicated Brexit-watchers are reluctant to call it.”
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Giuliani tests positive – A result the Republicans are not contesting: Rudy Giuliani has caught coronavirus. The lawyer leading Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his election defeat is, at 76 years of age, at high risk of complications but has been travelling frequently and often appeared without a mask. Giuliani’s son, Andrew – who has also had coronavirus – wrote online that his father was “resting, getting great care and feeling well”. He was reportedly in a Washington hospital. The World Health Organization is to discuss today the feasibility of deliberately infecting young volunteers to hasten vaccine development. The “human challenge trials” have the potential to yield results more quickly than conventional vaccine field trials in which researchers must wait for participants to get infected in the real world. Stay up to date at our global coronavirus live blog.
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Met sued for ‘ghoulish’ identity theft – The relatives of dead children whose identities were stolen by undercover police officers have launched legal action against the Met for trauma. The children included a boy who died at birth, a five-year-old killed in a plane crash, a severely disabled boy who died at the age of six and a teenager who drowned at sea. In a tactic that was used routinely for more than three decades, at least 42 undercover officers created fake personas based on the details of dead children. The tactic was described by MPs as “ghoulish and disrespectful” after it was first exposed by the Guardian in 2013.
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Covid deepens inequalities – Some of England’s most ethnically diverse areas have suffered up to four times more coronavirus infection than mostly white neighbourhoods a few miles away, a Guardian analysis reveals. A study of 10 worst-hit council areas found huge disparities, with densely packed BAME communities bearing the brunt. One in 10 people in the Blackburn suburb of Bastwell have so far tested positive. Zohar Mahaldar, a fishmonger in Bastwell, says he has to shoo people out of the shop for not wearing a mask. “They think if it’s Allah’s will, he will protect them. But I say to them: ‘Allah also gave you a brain.’”
More broadly, Covid has deepened inequalities between the north and south of England, with little sign of the government’s “levelling up” agenda becoming a reality, a thinktank has warned in an urgent “wake-up call” to Boris Johnson. The north is experiencing levels of unemployment not seen since 1994, with areas put under the strictest tier 3 restrictions among the worst affected, IPPR North says in its annual health-check of the economy of the north of England. It says the government’s “one size fits all” approach to compensating affected areas takes no account of the fact the UK entered the global pandemic with deep, growing divides between and within England’s regions caused by decades of centralisation and 10 years of austerity.
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‘Rethink dealings with China’ – Taiwan’s foreign minister has called for countries to rethink business ties with China and conduct intelligence-sharing as part of resisting expansionism and preventing an invasion of his country. Joseph Wu told the Guardian’s Helen Davidson that China’s activities in the South China and East China seas, its border skirmishes with India and its crackdown on Hong Kong were evidence of Beijing seeking to “expand its authoritarian order”, and that Taiwan was its next target.
China’s Communist party government considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province liable to be annexed by force if necessary. Analysts have pointed to China’s regional military buildup and growing belligerence under the leadership of Xi Jinping, as well as deepening hostilities with the US. “I’m sure you see that Japan, the United States, India and now Australia, [as well as] many other countries, including in the European Union, are now saying: hey, maybe this is the time for us to rethink the strategy for dealing with China.”
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Not Bridget Jones’s Darcy – Despite rumours, Keir Starmer was not the inspiration for Mark Darcy, the lawyer who battled with Daniel Cleaver for Bridget Jones’s heart, the author of the books has revealed. In the Radio Times, Helen Fielding said of Starmer: “Well, I think he’s fantastic. But no, I’ve never met him. They are very similar, though. He’s so good and decent and intelligent, but so buttoned-up.
“I always want to say: ‘Come on, Keir, loosen your tie, ruffle up your hair.’ He doesn’t think of himself as sexy, but he’s really sexy.”
Today in Focus podcast: Rise of the ‘chumocracy’
Investigations into how lucrative Covid-related government contracts were awarded have raised serious questions about cronyism. The Guardian’s Felicity Lawrence and David Pegg investigate.
Lunchtime read: No laughing matter
In a normal year Malvern Theatres would now be in final rehearsals for its annual pantomime, which this year was due to be Peter Pan. But for the first time in two decades, the main 880-seat auditorium in the Worcestershire spa town’s theatre will not be echoing to the sound of hundreds of children shouting “he’s behind you”.
Uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and accompanying restrictions prompted Malvern Theatres’ chief executive, Nic Lloyd, to decide back in May to cancel the year’s box office highlight. From a financial point of view it was a difficult call – and one that will not only have an impact on the venue. For all their fun, pantos are a serious business for theatres and for many of the businesses around them – guaranteeing packed houses over several weeks, often supporting venues for the rest of the year, and generating more than £60m in annual revenue for Britain’s theatres.
Sport
An extra‑time “golden” penalty from Owen Farrell earned England a 22-19 over France and the Autumn Nations Cup trophy, and allowed them to dodge a chastening defeat to opponents lacking two dozen of their best players. The most lethal double act in the Premier League was at it again, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min combining to give Tottenham a 2-0 lead over Arsenal by half-time and the platform for a comfortable return to the top of the table. Liverpool beat Wolves 4-0 at Anfield in front of 2,000 fans, with a Nélson Semedo own goal following efforts from Mohamed Salah, Georginio Wijnaldum and Joël Matip.
In the Women’s Super League, Alex Morgan scored from the penalty spot as Tottenham beat Brighton 3-1 at the Hive to give Rehanne Skinner victory in her first match as manager. Australia captain Sam Kerr enjoyed one of her best matches since moving to England as her hat-trick saw Chelsea beat West Ham 3-2. England’s tour of South Africa lurched back into crisis on Sunday when the first one-day international was cancelled and two members of Eoin Morgan’s touring party tested positive for Covid-19.
Business
The first all-electric car charging forecourt will open in Braintree in Essex today, offering to power electric cars with 100% renewable energy in 20 minutes. It is the first of 100 forecourts planned by the company Gridserve over the next five years. Stocks in London are due to open flat this morning after markets fell in Asia overnight. The pound is on $1.342 and €1.106.
The papers
The Guardian leads today with “Breakthrough on fishing rights as Brexit talks hang in balance” – and space is also given to condemnation of the cabinet minister George Eustice, who, after Millwall fans booed players for taking a knee, treated it as an opportunity to criticise the Black Lives Matter movement. The Telegraph says “Brexit talks on knife edge as EU backs down over fishing” while the Times has “Merkel and Macron in final bid for Brexit deal”.
“Bullish Boris ready to walk away”, says the Mail, and the Express evinces a similar sentiment with “PM: No deal if we can’t take back control”. The Metro calls Britain’s chief negotiator “Frosty the no-man” and says there is a “Brexit deal deadlock”.
Others go with vaccine news: “Vaccines land in UK for V day” says the i, while the Sun puts two themes of the week into a test tube, shakes it and comes up with “Vaxit”. The Mirror calls it the “Day hope arrived”. The FT leads with “Trade talks poised on knife edge as Brexit brinkmanship persists”.
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