Top story: Keir Starmer out in front as deadline approaches
Good morning and welcome to this Monday briefing with Alison Rourke.
The final candidates for the Labour leadership contest will be known today with contenders needing to garner 22 nominations by 2.30pm to go into the next round. Keir Starmer is well out in front on 68. Jess Phillips (22), Lisa Nandy (24) and Rebecca Long-Bailey (26) are also over the threshold, but the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry (10) is among those struggling to gain enough support. Clive Lewis, the shadow treasury minister, is trailing further behind on just four nominations.
The hopefuls will make their final behind-the-scenes pitches to colleagues today to try to get over the line. On the weekend Starmer denounced the “free-market model” as a failure and backed higher taxes on the wealthiest to pay for better public services. Phillips has pledged to have a cabinet that is “at least 50% women” and says she would bring back Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves, both of whom left under Corbyn. Nandy will call for the party to reconnect with its heartland voters, in her first speech of the campaign today in east London. Long-Bailey has played down descriptions of her as “Corbyn’s candidate”. She says she wants to abolish the House of Lords and would not stand in the way of another Scottish referendum on independence.
The deputy leadership field is headed by Angela Rayner, who has 72 nominations. Ian Murray – the party’s only MP in Scotland – is also in the running with 30 nominations. Those who qualify in the two contests then need to get the nominations of 33 local constituency parties or three Labour affiliates – including at least two trade unions – to enter the final postal ballot of party members and registered supporters.
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Sandringham summit – The Queen will meet face to face with princes Charles, William and Harry today over the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s bombshell announcement last week that they will step back as senior royals. The meeting comes after international applications suggested that Prince Harry and his wife were seeking to register the “Sussex Royal” brand as a global trademark for a range of items and activities including clothing, stationery and the running of “emotional support groups”. On the weekend, William expressed his sadness over tensions with his brother, reportedly telling a friend: “I’ve put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can’t do that any more; we’re separate entities.”
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Iran protests – Teargas has been used to break up a second day of anti-government protests in Tehran, with anger mounting over the official denials that the Ukrainian passenger plane was accidentally shot down. Demonstrators shouted: “They tell us the lie that it is America, but our enemy is right here.” London meanwhile has denounced the brief arrest of its ambassador in Tehran on Saturday as a “violation of international law”. The protests threaten to tip Iran’s regime into crisis just as it was riding a wave of nationalist sentiment after the killing of top general Qassem Suleimani. Canada’s Justin Trudeau meanwhile has vowed he will pursue “justice and accountability” for the victims, at a vigil for those killed. His comments came as the US defence secretary, Mark Esper contradicted President Trump’s claims that Iran had planned attacks on four US embassies. Asked if there had been a specific or tangible threat, Esper said: “I didn’t see one with regard to four embassies.”
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Thailand dementia care – British families are sending elderly relatives abroad because suitable care can’t be found at home. Researchers visiting private care homes in Chiang Mai have found eight homes where guests from the UK are living thousands of miles away from home. “Thailand already has a long history of medical tourism and it’s now setting itself up as an international hub for dementia care,” said Dr Caleb Johnston, a senior lecturer in human geography at Newcastle University. There are an estimated 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK.
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Brexit border checks – The Irish border could yet upset Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, with predictions it will be “almost impossible” to put systems in place to manage the border the end of this year. Failure to comply with the withdrawal agreement could result in the European commission bringing infringement proceedings, according to the Institute for Government. The PM remains adamant that there will be no checks or new reporting systems on trade crossing the Irish sea, despite Ireland and the EU insisting that those would have to be in place to protect the Irish border. On Monday the PM will visit Belfast, where he and Irish PM Leo Varadkar will hold talks with the DUP first minister, Arlene Foster, and Sinn Féin deputy first minister, Michelle O’Neill at Stormont to demonstrate their support for the new power-sharing government.
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No regrets – The vast majority of women who have abortions do not regret their actions, according to a new study. A study of 667 women in 21 US states found that 95% of women believed they had made the right decision. The study’s lead author, Corinne Rocca, University of California at San Francisco, criticised claims that women needed to be protected from the “emotional harm” of having an abortion: “There was no evidence ever to say that was actually true.”
Today in Focus podcast: Why did Paul Blackburn spend 25 years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit?
Paul Blackburn spent a quarter of a century in prison after being found guilty of a terrible crime. But after his conviction was quashed, he has tried in vain to get an apology for what he went through. Plus: Zoe Williams on an extraordinary year for Greggs.
Lunchtime read: Brian Cox: ‘I was touched up by Princess Margaret’
The Succession actor Brian Cox has been the toast of Hollywood since his win for Best Actor in a TV series at the Golden Globes. At 73, he tells Hadley Freeman that he’s “surprised I’m still standing”, let alone winning awards. But he says his character in the show, Logan Roy, has caught the public’s attention in a way that feels new to him. “It’s astonishing how much audiences love Logan’s cruelty,” he says.
“I think it’s a reflection of the state we’re in. All of our moral certainties have gone by the wayside with the elections, with the Etonian twit in the UK and the pink Pinocchio in the White House.” He tells Freeman of his “square” life until 50, when he first tried cannabis, and of when he was 23 and “touched up” by the Queen’s younger sister. “She started to run her fingers down the inside of my shirt. And I went: Uh oh! What do you do when you’re being touched up by a royal?”
Sport
Pep Guardiola said he was honoured to witness Sergio Agüero make history, as the Argentinian scored three goals to help Manchester City to a 6-1 victory over Aston Villa and establish himself as the most prolific overseas goalscorer since the formation of the Premier League. Rafael Nadal says there is no room in tennis for both the Davis Cup and the new ATP Cup, and has urged administrators to create one “big world team cup competition” in their place. Serena Williams won her first title since the 2017 Australian Open at the Auckland Classic and said she would donate all her prize money to Australian bushfire relief funds. Wayne Warren won an all-Welsh final to become the oldest BDO world champion with a 7-4 victory over Jim Williams at the O2 Arena. Liverpool are undefeated in 38 league games and have a return of 61 points from a possible 63 since the beginning of the season, yet Jürgen Klopp believes there is “still more to come” from his team. And the Kansas City Chiefs are back in the AFC championship game after a remarkable 24-point comeback against the Houston Texans.
Business
The government fightback against the next recession should include pumping as much as £50bn into green projects, in a move that would help reboot the economy and tackle the climate emergency, according to the left-leaning thinktank New Economics Foundation. In the event of a recession, it said the government should spend at least 2% of gross domestic product (GDP), or around £30bn, to decarbonise the economy, by investing in renewable energy projects, planting trees, transport infrastructure, electric vehicles, and retrofitting homes with new insulation. For a larger economic shock, as much as 3% of GDP, or around £50bn, could be spent.
The pound is buying €1.171 and $1.304.
The papers
The Guardian leads on Iran with “Public fury grows in Iran over shooting down of jet”. The FT also gives prominence to the Iran story with “Qatar calls for calm as anger unsettles Iran”.
The remaining papers all splash on the meeting between senior royals at Sandringham today. The Telegraph has “Fears Harry will tell all if his plans are thwarted”. “Not so fast, Harry!” says the Daily Mail. “Harry in turmoil over cutting his royal links” says the Times. The Sun bills “Royal Soap Oprah” as an exclusive, claiming the Sussexes may threaten a “tell-all” interview if they don’t get what they want. The Mirror also splashes on “Palace fears Meghan tell-all interview”. The Express has “Queen to tell Harry true cost of freedom”.
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