Top story: ‘Utterly appalled at this dreadful news’
Hello, Warren Murray helping you get up to speed quickly.
Investigators have found human remains in Ashford, Kent during the search for missing woman Sarah Everard, while a policeman in custody on suspicion of her murder has been named as PC Wayne Couzens, 48. Couzens is in the elite parliamentary and diplomatic protection command. He was arrested on Tuesday at his home in Deal, Kent. The Metropolitan police commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, said: “The news today that it was a Metropolitan police officer who was arrested on suspicion of Sarah’s murder has sent shockwaves and anger through the public and through the Met. I speak on behalf of all my colleagues when I say that we are utterly appalled at this dreadful, dreadful news. Our job is to patrol the streets and to protect people.”
On Wednesday officers searched locations in London, where Everard, 33, disappeared on the night of 3 March, as well as Deal, and woodland near Ashford including an abandoned paintball centre. Couzens had been arrested on Tuesday night on suspicion of kidnapping, alongside a woman in her 30s suspected of aiding an offender. Both remain in custody. In a statement, the Met said: “Today, Wednesday 10 March, [Couzens] has been further arrested on suspicion of murder and a separate allegation of indecent exposure. The man is a serving Metropolitan police officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command.”
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said: “I know how shocked and worried Londoners are by Sarah’s disappearance and the developments in the case. Londoners will continue to see more police officers on our streets continuing their investigation and carrying out reassurance patrols in the area where Sarah went missing a week ago.” The Women’s Equality party said an outside police force should be brought in, given the case involves a Met officer. The force has referred the case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which said: “Following assessment we determined that both conduct referrals relating to the kidnap/murder and indecent exposure should remain under local investigation by the force. We have also received a mandatory referral in relation to the actions of police after Sarah was reported missing. This is still being assessed to determine what further action may be required from us.”
* * *
‘Barely scraping by’ after Brexit – The manufacturing trade group Make UK has found in a survey of more than 200 leading industrial companies that 74% are facing delays with EU imports and exports amid continuing disruption caused by Brexit and the pandemic. More than half of companies said they were suffering from increased costs, while more than a third had lost out on sales, and fear of continued disruption was costing them future business. Catherine Bedford, founder of Dashel, which makes carbon fibre and recycled cycle helmets, said the disruption was killing her business. “Thanks to Brexit, we’ve gone from profitable to barely scraping by,” she said. Make UK says ministers urgently needed to “get back around the table” with EU leaders to solve problems.
* * *
GMB staff complained over Morgan – Multiple staff on Good Morning Britain made complaints to senior managers about Piers Morgan’s comments on the Duchess of Sussex before he quit, the Guardian understands. There were 41,000 complaints to the regulator Ofcom over remarks on Monday that cast doubt on Meghan’s statement she had been denied help with mental health issues. Her representatives also complained on her behalf to Ofcom. The former BBC presenter Andrew Neil has said he wants to talk to Morgan about a role on the soon-to-launch right-leaning channel GB News, but he would not want “any shouting or ranting or raving” on there. The Society of Editors’ chief has resigned after a letter in its name, denying there was racism in UK press coverage of Meghan, led to boycotts of the National Press Awards, which the society organises.
* * *
LGBT advisers quit – Two of the government’s LGBT advisers have resigned. Jayne Ozanne, a member of the LGBT+ advisory panel, accused ministers of creating a “hostile environment” for LGBT people and claimed the equalities ministers Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch were “ignorant” on key issues. James Morton, who has been a manager at the Scottish Trans Alliance, handed in his resignation from the same panel. There is frustration at the government’s delay in outlawing conversion practices. Badenoch has told MPs “we are committed to ending conversion therapy in the UK”, but speaking to ITV News, Ozanne said: “I do not believe this Tory government, sadly, have the best wishes of the LGBT community at heart … Instead we seem to have a Trump-esque mode of operation where they’re listening to the rightwing evangelicals and those frankly who want to take us back.” Labour accuses the government of having “prevaricated” on banning conversion practices “for far too long”, claiming it reveals “a pattern of behaviour which seeks to dismiss the real impact of the discrimination experienced by so many”.
* * *
Snapshot in passing – People in England will be able to check at home if they have bowel cancer by swallowing a tiny capsule containing miniature cameras, avoiding the need for a hospital procedure that will not be described here. Pictures transmitted from inside the body to a belt recorder are checked by doctors for signs of disease.
The capsule is about the size of a cod liver oil tablet – after the job is done it leaves the body in a predictable manner. It is part of an NHS effort to have more diagnosis and treatment of illness done at home.
* * *
Change of underpants – Marks & Spencer is to sell rival lingerie brands for the first time, but only on its website, as part of an initiative to boost sales. The retailer, which already accounts for just under a third of UK underwear sales, is to introduce selected items from Sloggi and Triumph alongside eight other new clothing labels online. “About time, too,” writes Nils Pratley. “M&S has tortured itself and its customers over the years with its attempts to develop in-house brands. Only three can be said to have worked: Autograph, Per Una and Goodmove. It would have been better to import partnership-style thinking 20 years ago.”
Today in Focus podcast: Can Johnson lead climate fight?
Later this year, Boris Johnson’s government will host COP26 in Glasgow – possibly one of the last opportunities for the world to avert global climate catastrophe. Guardian environment journalist Fiona Harvey examines whether the UK government is equipped to lead the world in the crisis.
Lunchtime read: Take bad sex seriously
“Women know that their sexual desire can remove protection from them and can be invoked as proof that violence wasn’t, in fact, violence (she wanted it).” Consent has been portrayed as the cure for all the ills of our sexual culture. But what if the injunction to “know what you want” is another form of coercion?
Sport
Mohamed Salah insisted Liverpool’s players must “leave the pressure off the field” after helping ease their Premier League woes by reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League. At the Parc Des Princes, Lionel Messi scored a brilliant goal and missed a penalty as Barcelona failed to overturn a first-leg deficit against Paris Saint-Germain to exit the competition. England’s icy stance on Alex Hales may have started to thaw but the message from Eoin Morgan is that breaking into his World Cup squad this year will be difficult given the abundance of top-order options. Saracens could face a battle to hang on to their England stars if they fail to secure an immediate return to the Premiership, with several senior players believed to have release clauses in their contracts.
Pep Guardiola was scathing about VAR’s decision not to award a penalty after Southampton’s Alex McCarthy clearly brought down Phil Foden during Manchester City’s 5-2 victory. Thomas Bach has been re-elected as president of the International Olympic Committee by 93 votes to one after a series of lavish tributes from IOC members. Thirteen months since last winning a professional tennis match, Roger Federer has defeated Britain’s Dan Evans 7-6 (8), 3-6, 7-5 at the Qatar Open. The Equality and Human Rights Commission will be asked to investigate racism in English cricket following disturbing revelations from black and Asian players and umpires. Rugby league’s Women’s Super League will return next month after an absence of more than 18 months in a major boost to England’s home World Cup chances. And Olympic swimming champion Klete Keller has pleaded not guilty to seven charges over the invasion of the US Capitol by a pro-Donald Trump mob in January.
Business
Stocks have climbed in Asia after a key measure of inflation in the US came in lower than expected, easing worries that price pressures could push interest rates higher. Shares rose in Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong but edged lower in Sydney. The Labor Department reported US consumer prices rose 0.4% in February led by a jump in gasoline prices. But core inflation, excluding food and energy, posted a much smaller 0.1% gain, easing fears inflation might surge. The pound is worth $1.393 and €1.168 at time of writing while the FTSE should open about 0.3% higher on current trends.
The papers
“Human remains discovered in hunt for missing Sarah Everard” – the Guardian’s page-width splash headline today. The Express says “VIP protection cop held in murder probe” while the Mail says “Armed cop held on Sarah murder”.
“Sarah: grim find as cop is arrested” – that’s the Metro, while the Times seeks to offer reassurance: “Police insist women safe as remains discovered”. “Yard officer arrested on suspicion of murder” says the Telegraph while the Sun on this occasion adopts a distinctly muted tone: “PC held for murder as body found”.
The Mirror says “Your priorities are all wrong Boris” as it lists test and trace, an Irish Sea tunnel or bridge – and Dominic Cummings – as things the PM has wasted money on, while nurses only get a 1% pay rise. The i hails “10 million vaccine jabs boost for UK”. Both those front pages point to Sarah Everard coverage inside. The FT says “Biden’s historic $1.9tn stimulus package crosses the finishing line”, which you can read about here.
Sign up
The Guardian Morning Briefing is delivered to thousands of inboxes bright and early every weekday. If you are not already receiving it by email, you can sign up here.
For more news: www.theguardian.com
