Top story: Brexit – where to start?
Good morning – it’s Warren Murray with the briefing today.
Things commenced on a jarring note and there are no doubt more crashing chords to come. On day one of the Brexit process, Theresa May was accused of “blackmail” after warning in her article-50-triggering letter that security cooperation between Britain and Europe is at stake.
Our editorial says May chose the right pitch in Westminster but lost it with a letter to the EU leadership that came across as “gunboat diplomacy”. Germany’s Angela Merkel has also rebuffed May by declaring Britain must decide exactly how it is going to leave before trade and other aspects of its future relationship with the EU can be decided.
David Cameron did his best to help things along. On a visit to Ukraine, he declared that he was right to hold the referendum on EU membership as the argument had been “poisoning British politics for years”.
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Ivanka job – The president’s daughter will become an official but unpaid employee of the US government in an attempt to address ethical and national security concerns about her role in her father’s administration. Bowing to criticism about doing the job in her “personal capacity”, Ivanka Trump said: “I will instead serve as an unpaid employee in the White House office, subject to all of the same rules as other federal employees.”
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s travel ban remains on hold indefinitely after a Hawaii judge overnight extended his restraining order, declaring that the president has put up a “neon sign flashing ‘Muslim ban, Muslim ban’”.
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Austerity bites – Chocolate bars could shrink by 20% as Public Health England tries to cut childhood obesity by having manufacturers remove 200,000 tonnes of sugar from snacks and meals. In the sights for being overly fattening are biscuits, breakfast cereals, cakes and pastries, chocolate, confectionery, ice cream, puddings, sweet spreads and yoghurts. Health campaigners say the measures need to be compulsory rather than voluntary if they are to have an effect, but PHE says it didn’t want to end up in court arguing over “whether a Jaffa cake is a biscuit”.
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Helicopter crash – A search continued on land after a helicopter went missing on its way to cross the Irish Sea with five people on board. The Twin Squirrel aircraft was believed to have left Milton Keynes on Wednesday en route to Dublin. It was said to be privately owned. Aerial searches had to be suspended overnight because of bad weather but mountain rescue teams were looking in the Snowdonia area of Wales.
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Heads Together – A campaign to get Britons talking about mental health has been launched by public figures including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
Alastair Campbell, Freddie Flintoff, the rapper Professor Green and Ruby Wax are among those who openly discuss how they lived through experiences such as depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, as part of the Heads Together initiative. Too many people are grappling with these issues alone when support is available, according to mental health charities, and putting discussion into the open can bring about a “tipping point” of public acceptance. “Simple conversations can change the direction of an entire life,” said Kate, William and Harry in a joint statement.
In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Hotlines in other countries can be found here
Lunchtime read: Dmitry Medvedev, on the bench and in the firing line
While Vladimir Putin gets the bare-chested horseback rides and the adulation as a global strongman, running Russia is a different experience for Dmitry Medvedev.
The prime minister was once seen, on his own side of Russian politics, as a possible successor to Putin; and on the other, a touchstone for a future more liberal system. But in the former sense he is now perceived as too weak, and in the latter, just as corrupt as the rest of the ruling elite. Moscow correspondent Shaun Walker examines how it all went wrong.
Sport
The Premier League has launched its biggest crackdown on piracy with a series of moves to combat illegal streaming.
Alexis Sánchez has spoken for the first time about his future at Arsenal but he only succeeded in raising more questions than answers, and the blinkered criticism of Wilfried Zaha’s decision to play for Ivory Coast has shown startling insularity, writes Barney Ronay.
In other sport, Jo Pavey has finally been awarded a 10,000m bronze medal for the 2007 world championships 10 years late and Marina Hyde writes that Team Sky’s slapdashery stuffs more mysteries in the metaphorical Jiffy bag.
Finally, confusion reigned at a press conference in the US when new Chicago Fire signing Bastian Schweinsteiger was asked if he could help his new MLS club to “World Cup gold”.
Business
Stock markets in Asia were mostly down again as Brexit developments and the Trump healthcare fiasco continued to affect confidence.
A Reuters report that policymakers at the European Central Bank were taken aback by market speculation they could be considering a rise in interest rates weakened the euro, so the pound edged up to €1.16. Sterling rose to $1.24 after dropping in the previous session.
The papers
Had your fill of Brexit? Too bad because it’s all over the fronts today.
The Sun goes for the jugular: “Your money or your lives” is the headline saying Theresa May has told the EU to allow free trade with the UK in return for our “world-beating” skill at fighting terror.
The FT is more sober in its take – a picture of Donald Tusk looking mournful as he holds onto the UK’s departure letter with the headline “Thank you and goodbye”.
The Mirror splash reads “Trading blows” with the paper highlighting that Angela Merkel has put the brakes on a quick trade deal with Britain, saying it has to “disentangle” itself from the EU first. The Mail pictures a grinning Nigel Farage with a pint and the headline “Cheers to a great British future”. It says the EU is “already wailing” about the UK’s threat on security. The Express says “No turning back on EU exit”.
The Times also goes with the security angle – “May threat to EU terror pact” – as does the Guardian’s lead: “EU warns: don’t blackmail us”.
The Telegraph may be hedging its bets by putting its headline in quotes: “A magnificent moment”. They can always blame the messenger if it turns out to be less than so.
Lastly, not a paper but a magazine. The New Statesman has its Brexit issue: “Wanted, an opposition” it reads. With a hard Brexit looming and a “collapsed” Labour party, “who will speak for liberal Britain?”.
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