Top story: ‘We need a deal’ say carmakers
Hello on a Tuesday morning. I’m Warren Murray – let’s get you clued up.
Britain’s carmakers are being left unprepared for Brexit, their trade body has said. “We need a deal. If we have no deal, there is no transition, there is no implementation period, that would kick in less than eight months away,” said Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Asked if there were any potential Brexit benefits for the £82bn British automotive industry and its 186,000 employees, Hawes said: “Not that we can see.”
Britain exports most of the cars it makes, with more than half of those going to the EU. But British buyers also get 69% of their new cars from the continent. Hawes said this highlighted the inter-dependency: “We now look to negotiators on both sides to recognise the needs of the whole European automotive industry … any disruption risks undermining one of our most valuable economic assets.”
Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn could face a challenge to his Brexit policy as more than 150 constituency Labour parties, and some unions, line up to support a second referendum on the final deal. “There’s been a very definite shift internally over the last few weeks in support of a public vote,” said one shadow cabinet member.
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Aid abuse response damned – MPs have blasted charities for “complacency verging on complicity” in dealing with sexual abuse across the sector. The international development committee (IDC) says the UN has also failed to show sustained leadership on an issue that was known about in 2002. Pauline Latham, a Tory member of the committee, said it heard evidence of “rape, sex for food, calling people prostitutes when they’re actually desperate women who need to feed their families, or young girls who are trafficked”. Stephen Twigg, the Labour chair of the committee, said: “This is 16 years of failure by the entire international system of governments, the UN and the aid sector.”
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Navy brought bomber to UK – The Manchester Arena bomber, Salman Abedi, had been rescued by the Royal Navy from the civil war in Libya three years earlier, it has emerged. Abedi – who killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande pop concert in May 2017 – was 19 when he boarded the HMS Enterprise in Tripoli in August 2014 as one of more than 100 stranded British citizens. Abedi was being monitored by security services when he travelled to Libya, but his case was closed a month before his rescue.
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Going to the wall – Donald Trump has again threatened to shut down the US government if Congress will not fund his border wall. “I would certainly be willing to close it [the government] down to get it done,” said the president, at a White House press conference with the Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte. Trump also offered an olive branch to Iran despite recent fighting words: “I would meet with Iran if they wanted to meet … No preconditions.” His secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, then reeled off a list of preconditions.
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Guardians raise pen for Gunn – The stars of Guardians on the Galaxy have signed an open letter calling for the reinstatement of director James Gunn, who was fired by Disney over offensive tweets from his past. Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper and others wrote: “We’ve been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories surrounding him.
“We hope Americans from across the political spectrum can ease up on the character assassinations and stop weaponising mob mentality.” Gunn’s sacking, after rightwing conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich circulated the tweets, has drawn criticism across the entertainment industry.
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Big waste of energy – Nuclear waste could be permanently buried under national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty under government plans backed by a committee of MPs. Fifty years of nuclear power in the UK has generated 750,000 cubic metres of waste but the nation has still not developed a permanent disposal solution. The MPs argue that finding the safest site is paramount and national parks should not be excluded. The Green party MP Caroline Lucas called the idea “outrageous”, saying the quandary of what to do with radioactive waste showed Britain should stop building nuclear power stations.
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Pulled into line – New Zealand’s roads department will update its signage from “Linemen” to “Line Crew” after receiving a letter from a Zoe Carew, 7, who pointed out that “women can be line-workers too”. Roads boss Fergus Gammie wrote back to Zoe congratulating her for taking action. “Line Crew” would be used in future, he said – her suggestion of “Line-workers” was too long to fit.
Lunchtime read: ‘No one spoke about this case’
Earlier this year the remains of a teenage girl were found near Hotel House – a crumbling building largely occupied by recent immigrants in Porto Recanati, a small seaside town on Italy’s Adriatic coast.
Many Italians regard Hotel House as a den of drugs and violence: when officers found the bones of Bangladesh-born Cameyi Mossamet, they were actually searching for stashes of drugs and money. It had been eight years since she went missing. Did prejudice hamper the search for her killer?
Sport
Swaths of empty seats could prove a troubling backdrop during the opening exchanges of England’s first Test against India, with Edgbaston reporting low ticket sales for what is meant to be the highlight of the cricketing summer.
Geraint Thomas has been hailed “Le Prince de Galles” and “Le cyclist next door” by French papers after winning his first Tour de France. But, as the 32-year-old arrived back in Britain following a heavy night of celebrations, there were growing calls for Team Sky’s dominance to be curbed.
Eddie Jones has been warned by the Rugby Football Union that England are expected to reverse their recent slump by delivering a successful campaign in November’s autumn internationals. Negotiations for Tyson Fury to challenge the WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder, in December have begun, according to the British boxer, with the fight possibly taking place in the US. And Stradivarius is widely expected to take one more step towards a £1m bonus when he runs in today’s Goodwood Cup, the highlight race on the opening day of Glorious Goodwood.
Business
Growth in China’s huge manufacturing sector has slowed in the past month, giving the first concrete evidence that the world’s second-largest economy is feeling the impact of the embryonic trade war with the US. In Japan the central bank stopped short of rowing back from its policy of ultra-low rates, giving a boost to the Nikkei.
In the UK, the FTSE100 is expected to open flat and the pound is till under huge pressure – it’s buying $1.312 and €1.121.
The papers
“Aid charities failing to tackle endemic sexual abuse, say MPs” is the Guardian’s splash today. The Telegraph’s front-page headline is “Rail boss: our trains are the envy of Europe”. The Mirror has “Fortnite made me a suicidal drug addict” while the Mail reports on a “Sickening act of betrayal” – the Manchester suicide bomber had been rescued by the navy from Libya three years before his attack.
The Sun reports “Police protect sick pic yob gang” – it’s about teenagers accused of an attack on a vulnerable woman getting police protection for fear of vigilantes. Several papers have Brexit on their fronts, including the Times (“UK warns Brussels of tit-for-tat over Brexit”), the FT (“Barnier warms to May’s Brexit plan after clarification over City”) and the Express (“How dare he insult 17m Brexit voters” – a story about Lord Mandelson accusing some Brexiters of hating foreigners). Finally the i goes with “End-of-life ruling is welcome by families” – it also has an amusing headline on its picture story about Jeremy Hunt’s gaffe during his visit to China when he said his Chinese wife was Japanese: “The foreign secretary misplaces his wife.”
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