Top story: Skripals were probably poisoned at home – police
Hello – I’m Warren Murray and here is your summary of the news.
The highest levels of novichok have been found around Sergei and Yulia Skripal’s front door, suggesting they were poisoned at the exiled Russian spy’s Salisbury home.
Dean Haydon, the senior national coordinator for counterterrorism policing, said: “At this point in our investigation, we believe the Skripals first came into contact with the nerve agent from their front door. We are therefore focusing much of our efforts in and around their address … officers are likely be in the area for several weeks and months.”
Public health experts are assessing whether there is a long-term risks to the residents of Salisbury, which will receive a £1m support package from central government to help it recover. More than 130 people may have been exposed to the chemical weapon. After around 150 Russian officials were expelled from more than 25 countries, the UK government is considering further measures to punish Moscow including a ban on trading in Russian sovereign debt through London’s financial markets.
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Brexit warning to EU families – Thousands of EU citizens’ children living in Britain are at risk of losing their right to be in the country after Brexit, immigration experts have warned. Parents from EU countries are being urged to assess their situation and study the rules or risk their children falling victim to “hostile environment” measures in future years. A University of Birmingham projects warns of how these “Eurochildren” are made vulnerable by Brexit. Children born after their parents receive permanent residency in the post-Brexit system should not have problems, but “the damage done by Brexit to children born before that will have a legacy for future generations,” said Nando Sigona, one of the authors.
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‘Not in my name’ – Labour’s disputes panel chair, Christine Shawcroft, has resigned citing her “wrong and misguided” initial defence of a candidate who shared antisemitic Facebook posts. The party, meanwhile, is grappling with abuse of members who are accused of using Monday night’s demonstration against antisemitism as cover to attack Jeremy Corbyn. David Lammy, the Tottenham Labour MP, is facing a campaign by by some branch members to deselect him after he attended what they saw as an anti-Corbyn rally. The Labour leader, speaking to the Jewish News, decried the abuse of people who attended. “People have the right to speak out and the right to demonstrate … Any abuse that’s done is not done in my name.” Jewish leaders, though, say Corbyn is still not taking the lead in tackling antisemitism in Labour.
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Don’t know the ins and outs – Theresa May’s promised system of rigorous exit checks at UK borders is in disarray and officials literally don’t know whether hundreds of thousands of people are coming or going. No exit records exist for 600,000 people who should have left, while more than 201,000 are shown as leaving without ever having come in, according to a report by the chief borders inspector. David Bolt suggested the rollout of the exit checks programme had been left incomplete and it was “wishful thinking” to present it as the solution to illegal immigration. Yvette Cooper, the Labour chair of the Commons home affairs committee, called for the rollout programme to be reopened and for the home secretary to be “far more honest about what the programme is delivering and will deliver in the future”.
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‘Excuse after excuse’ – Nearly 100 households from the blocks of flats around Grenfell Tower are still in emergency and temporary accommodation more than nine months on from the disaster. In all, only 62 of the 204 displaced households in the tower and surrounds have been found somewhere permanent to live. The housing secretary, Sajid Javid, has admitted it is “unlikely” those remaining will get new permanent homes by 14 June, the one-year anniversary of the fire. “So much more needs to be done to get people moved into safe homes so they can rebuild their lives,” said Shahin Sadafi, chair of the survivors’ group Grenfell United. “We’ve heard excuse after excuse, now we just need some action.”
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Fast food hormone hazard – Eating out can raise the body’s level of phtalate, a chemical from plastic food packaging that has been linked to asthma, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes and fertility issues, a study has found. Phtalates interfere with the body’s hormones – pregnant women, children and teens are more vulnerable to their toxic effects. In the study, phtalate levels were up to 55% higher in adolescents eating burgers, sandwiches and the like from fast-food outlets or restaurants, compared with those eating at home. The study’s lead author, Dr Julia Varshavsky from the University of California at Berkeley, says future studies need to focus on how phtalates can be removed from the food supply.
Lunchtime read: New rules of the dinner party
The classic, formal dinner party is a thing of the past, but today’s casual cooking for friends has its own etiquette, writes the always entertaining Tony Naylor.
Arrive a bit later than your hosts specified – be on time and they’ll still be in the shower. Bring more booze than you need, but have your own chill bag – don’t try to cram your cans into the fridge. Don’t Instagram every plate of food. If hosting, feed any kids cheap, frozen pizza and chips – they won’t appreciate your haute cuisine. Have camping chairs ready for extras and “get the kitchen roll on the table. The age of the napkin (ring) is over.”
Sport
The costly fallout from Australia’s ball-tampering scandal has continued with the Test team’s naming rights sponsor Magellan pulling out of a major deal and a number of personal sponsors, including Sanitarium and Asics, ending associations with the players involved, Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. In breaking news, Warner has issued an apology for inflicting “a stain on the game”. England embark on their first Test at the picturesque Hagley Oval today with captain Joe Root desperate to avoid a full-blown winter of discontent following the Auckland debacle and the 4-0 Ashes rout.
Gareth Southgate has warned Dele Alli it will not be easy to win back his position in the England team because of the competition for places before the World Cup. The QC leading the Football Association’s independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in football is prepared to launch his own investigation into clubs at the centre of the scandal. Both Chelsea and Manchester City reached the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League.
Brad Barritt will lead Saracens in their Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster after displaying miraculous powers of recovery from a broken cheekbone, but the defending champions remain concerned about the fitness of Owen Farrell and will be without Billy Vunipola on Sunday.
Business
Asian stock markets have been mixed after losses on Wall Street as the tech sector is buffeted by the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal and other woes. Amazon slid on a report that Donald Trump might go after it with antitrust or competition law, while Tesla tumbled after Moody’s downgraded the electric car maker’s credit rating
The pound changed hands at $1.40 and €1.142 overnight.
The papers
John Worboys being kept in jail gets prominent coverage on the front pages this morning. The Guardian leads with the parole board chief being forced to quit over the now-quashed decision to release the black-cab rapist.
The Sun claims a double “Victory”: one for Worboys’ victims, one for itself. “Is parole system fit for purpose?” asks the Mail. The Telegraph says victims have condemned the justice minister’s “disgusting attempt to shift blame” by forcing the parole board chief out. The Times goes a different route: “600,000 foreign visitors lost in border shambles” (here’s our version of that story). The Mirror tells how a “jobless dad, 55” won £9m on the lotto a few weeks after splitting up from his partner and joked: “She must be gutted.” Over at the Express, a full-page photo of the white cliffs of Dover celebrates “ONE YEAR TO BREXIT” (caps theirs, not ours). The FT gets the pulse racing with: “Record mega-deal surge pushes global takeovers beyond £1.2tn”.
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