Top story: PM pleads for compromise – from behind red lines
Good morning, I’m Warren Murray and it’s the “ideas on a postcard please” stage of Brexit.
Jeremy Corbyn has said he will not accept an offer to hold talks with Theresa May until she agrees to remove the threat of a no-deal Brexit. Downing Street has refused the demand. The Scottish National party’s leader in Westminster, Ian Blackford, met May last night, and the Liberal Democrat leader, Vince Cable, also accepted her invitation. Our live coverage is under way and will continue throughout another eventful day.
Corbyn’s no-confidence vote may have been defeated but the dust is far from settled. The PM is required to come to parliament by Monday with a “plan B” for exiting the EU. Outside Downing Street last night, the prime minister said: “I’m inviting MPs from all parties to come together to find a way forward, one that both delivers on the referendum and can command the support of parliament. This is now the time to put self-interest aside.” But she has rejected the key demand of Labour and some Tories of a permanent customs union, and proven reluctant to concede that article 50 should be extended. Our editorial argues that May needs to abandon her red lines if she truly seeks compromise.
More than 170 business leaders have thrown their weight behind the campaign for a second referendum. Larry Elliott, our economics editor, points out this morning that “the pound rose and all was calm on the stock market” after the events of Tuesday: “As far as the financial markets were concerned, the message was clear: the voting down by MPs of Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement means a delayed Brexit, a softer Brexit or perhaps no Brexit at all.” But he argues that while a “Brexit in name only” might mean less short-term pain, it would represent a squandered chance to fix a broken economic system.
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Future eaters – A science-based diet to tackle poor nutrition globally and steer our food habits away from damaging the environment has been devised. The “planetary health diet” calls for red meat and sugar consumption to be cut by half, while vegetables, fruit, pulses and nuts must double. Across the world 800 million people are hungry, 2 billion malnourished and 2 billion overweight or obese. International experts came up with the diet of 2,500 calories a day. It includes a beef burger and two servings of fish a week. Most protein comes from pulses and nuts; milk, cheese, butter and eggs are allowed in moderation; while half of each plate of food is vegetables and fruit and a third is wholegrain cereals. Meanwhile some food for thought from Tony Naylor: should meat-free dishes also be cheap? A pub company has been criticised over its £14 cauliflower “steak” – but one top chef explains: “It’s a lot cheaper to buy in pre-cut meats than vegetables you have to transform into something interesting. Anything that takes a long prep time, the price will reflect that.”
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Mental health risk of broken families – Parental break-ups are more likely to trigger anxiety and depression in children if they are aged at least seven, but appear to have no effect if they are younger, research suggests. “One possible reason for this is that children are more sensitive to relationship dynamics at this age,” said Professor Emla Fitzsimons, study co-author from University College London. The first British study of its kind looked at 6,245 children and young people. The researchers found those from poorer and wealthier backgrounds were equally likely to experience mental ill-health. Tom Madders from the charity YoungMinds said it was important to build children’s resilience from a young age and “teach them to learn about healthy relationships, both with others and themselves”.
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Step towards ‘space force’ – Donald Trump is to announce an expansion of space-based missile detection systems. The president is likely to present it as a justification for his new “space force” (about which Steve Carrell is making a Netflix comedy). The review cites a need to guard against incoming projectiles from “rogue states” such as Iran and North Korea. A White House official said it was not aimed at Russia and China – “they have very large, sophisticated arsenals and we are postured to rely on our [nuclear] deterrence” towards them. Stephen Young, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, said: “I am quite surprised that there is no terrible news there … [but] Russia will be upset because of the expansion of the system.” Trump is already involved in a row with Russia over nuclear weapons. The US is pulling out of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty because, Trump says, the Russians have violated it by developing a new missile system.
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House price corner – It’s that time again. The latest chartered surveyors’ figures show prices fell in December at the fastest rate in six years and the sales outlook is at its weakest in two decades as Brexit doom and gloom prevails. In December the Rics measure of prices dropped for the fourth month, deeper into negative territory, to -19% from -11%, marking the lowest reading since August 2012. Land Registry and ONS figures showed the average price of a property in the UK dipping 0.1% in November after declines of 0.4% in October and 0.3% in September. That left overall annual price growth at 2.8%, slightly up on the 2.7% recorded in October. Property values in London fell 1.2% month on month and dropped 0.7% on a year ago – the only region with an annual price decline. The West Midlands posted the strongest annual growth in house prices in November, up 4.6%, although prices fell 0.4% on the month, to £197,387.
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Trumped up – Fake editions of the Washington Post with a large headline announcing Donald Trump’s departure from the White House have been passed around in the US capital by a group of activists.
“Trickster activist collective” the Yes Men revealed they were behind the prank. Their previous stunts having included a satirical edition of the New York Times in 2008 with the headline “Iraq War Ends” and a phoney edition of the New York Post about climate change in New York City.
Today in Focus podcast: How Brexit unravelled
In a disastrous week for Theresa May’s Brexit agreement, her former director of strategy and the Guardian’s Daniel Boffey chart where it all went wrong. Plus: Polly Toynbee on what Labour should do next.
Lunchtime read: Time for a citizens’ assembly?
One led to radical change in Ireland’s view on abortion; another spurred Texas to get behind wind power. Canada holds them regularly. Could a group of ordinary people do for Brexit what Theresa May can’t? Gordon Brown has suggested a citizens’ assembly might resolve the Brexit crisis. Last month Damon Albarn, Rowan Williams and a number of other public figures wrote an open letter to the Guardian in support, and the idea now has the Guardian’s backing.
Professor James Fishkin, a political scientist at Stanford University, advocates it as “embarrassingly simple”: you put the country in a room and let them talk. The charity Involve ran a trial run about Brexit in October 2017 bringing together leave, remain and undecided voters. After two weekends they chose to leave with a trade deal and preferential access for EU citizens, but not free movement. If they couldn’t get such a deal, they wanted to remain in the single market, with free movement under tight controls. If an officially sanctioned assembly were to take place, “the outcome need not be binding”, writes Leo Benedictus, “but if a government chose to act against it, it would have to explain why. This way, politics could at last move forwards.”
Sport
Marcelo Bielsa has admitted Leeds United have spied on all their opponents this season but remains adamant no specific rules were broken and believes he is guilty of stupidity rather than cheating. Jess Varnish, the former Great Britain track cyclist, has lost her landmark employment case against British Cycling and UK Sport which had threatened to overhaul funding for Olympic athletes. Chelsea are close to securing the signing of Gonzalo Higuaín from Juventus after submitting a formal offer for the Argentina international.
The wickets tumbled on the second day of warm-up cricket in the West Indies and never more so than on the stroke of tea, when England’s Stuart Broad offered a reminder of his penchant for a burst by claiming his third hat-trick in the whites of England. The American doubles champion Bob Bryan, who is back on a tennis court five months after having a metal implant in his hip, says the surgeon who saved his career can do the same for Andy Murray. And England’s Six Nations rivals have been warned to brace themselves for a resurgent Manu Tuilagi when the tournament kicks off in just over a fortnight.
Business
Asian share markets have faltered amid the unease over China’s economic outlook. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan has fallen, along with the Nikkei. As Theresa May survived a vote of no confidence, the pound has been enjoying a moment’s peace – firm against the dollar and faring well against the euro, which hit a seven-week low. The Bank governor, Mark Carney, says the market reaction shows investors are expecting Brexit to be delayed. Sterling is trading at $1.287 and €1.130 at time of writing. The FTSE is forecast to open down.
The papers
Surprised, you will not be, that the front pages all lead with Brexit news. The Guardian says “May survives vote, but Britain remains in Brexit deadlock”, the FT has “May starts search for Brexit ideas after narrow confidence vote win” and the Telegraph says “Hammond tells business chiefs MPs will stop no-deal Brexit”. The Sun focuses on May’s invitation to Corbyn, with the headline: “Come on over to May place”.
The Mirror gives top billing to Corbyn’s response to May: “Ditch No Deal …. and then we’ll talk Brexit”. The Mail paints things quite differently, saying “Wrecker Corbyn slams door on Theresa”. The Times also lays the blame for lack of progress at the Labour leader’s feet with “Corbyn snubs Brexit talks”. The Express is angry at politicians from both sides, saying: “You’ve lost respect of the nation” and the i outlines some of the potential outcomes from this week’s failed Brexit vote, including “Softer Brexit”.
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