Top story: Historic City of Chester and others face split
Hello, Warren Murray here admonishing you to draw near and give your attention.
Electoral officials have announced plans for the biggest shake-up of parliamentary constituencies in England in decades, with critics warning it would break up communities. Recommendations by the Boundary Commission include splitting geographical seats such as the Labour-held City of Chester, which dates to the 16th century. Keir Starmer’s London seat of Holborn and St Pancras would be rejigged as Kentish Town and Bloomsbury.
The aim is to make nearly every constituency’s voting population close to the average of just under 73,400. Labour is objecting that there is a leeway of just 5% above or below the average. The Boundary Commission will now embark on a series of consultations, which will see numerous local constituency parties and councils lobby for changes. The rejig is a UK-wide operation – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own boundary commissions, which are not due to report until at least next month. The last two such efforts were abandoned in disarray, in 2013 and 2018, when the plan had been to reduce the Commons to 600 seats.
Keeping the current total of 650 seats, the number in England will rise from 533 to 543, Scotland will lose two, down to 57, and Wales will plummet from 40 to 32. Northern Ireland will stay at 18. The south-east of England gains seven new seats, London two, the east of England and the south-west three each. There will be a drop of two in the north-east, north-west and West Midlands, and one fewer in the east Midlands. In London, out of 73 constituencies, only two would emerge the same as before.
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Health workers stressed into leaving – Burnout among NHS staff is prompting some to quit, causing medical blunders, putting patients’ safety at risk and worsening already high levels of vacancies, a committee of MPs has said. Figures due out on Thursday are expected to show that the number of people waiting for hospital treatment in England has exceeded 5 million for the first time. The MPs say workforce planning by the Department of Health and Social Care needs an urgent overhaul, recommending that the department perform annual audits setting out its workforce needs for the next five, 10 and 20 years.
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Windrush man died despairing – The Home Office classified as an illegal immigrant a man who had lived in the UK for more than 50 years and threatened him with arrest, prison and forcible removal in the final years of his life, the parliamentary ombudsman has found. Rupert Everett died in 2019, aged 74, without having received an apology or compensation. His daughters said he had been left terrified at the prospect of being forcibly returned to Jamaica, which he had visited only twice since leaving in 1962, aged 19.
The ombudsman, Rob Behrens, said Everett spent his last years “in severe depression and anxiety” because of the pursuit by authorities. A Home Office spokesperson said: “The victims of the Windrush scandal faced appalling treatment and we are determined to right these wrongs. We are considering the ombudsman’s findings and offer our sincere condolences to Mr Everett’s loved ones for their loss.”
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Jab age limit falls – Everyone aged 25 and over in England will be invited to get a coronavirus vaccine from today, Matt Hancock has announced, adding the government is “reassured” that jabs protect against the Delta variant. He said that out of 126 people admitted to hospital with Delta in the UK, 83 were unvaccinated, 28 had only had their first dose, while just three had received both doses. There had been a “clear breakage of the previously inexorable link” between cases and hospitalisations, Hancock said. But he faced pressure from Tory MPs over whether the final stage of unlocking, scheduled for 21 June, would go ahead as planned, and was criticised for the government’s handling of international travel restrictions.
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‘Butcher of Bosnia’ verdicts due – The former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladić, nicknamed the “butcher of Bosnia”, will hear judgment today on his appeal against convictions for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Twenty-six years after the Srebrenica massacre, Mladić, 78, will appear at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. Mladić appealed after being given a life sentence in 2017. The mothers of some of the 8,000 men and boys killed in the worst act of bloodshed on European soil since the second world war are expected to gather outside the courtroom as the verdict arrives.
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Trunk packed, check – Today’s long read tracks the story of Dumba, an elephant who has spent her life performing in circuses around Europe, but in recent years has become the subject of an animal rights campaign to have her freed.
When her owners, circus family the Kludskys, found themselves caught between the demands of activists and local authorities, they stocked up her trailer with hay, loaded her in and nosed their truck out of the gate of their property outside Barcelona – and an unusual European odyssey began.
Today in Focus podcast: Ultra-risky?
After 21 competitors died during a 100km mountain race in Gansu province, the Chinese government last week suspended all extreme sports. But those who love ultrarunning insist it can be safe – and has changed how they see the world. What keeps them coming back?
Lunchtime read: ‘A career change saved my life’
Chronic stress at work can lead to listlessness, fatigue, burnout, and a much higher risk of stroke and heart disease. But there are ways to save yourself before it’s too late. Meet people who have made a change.
Sport
Chris Silverwood has said he is braced to deal with any criticism should Craig Overton emerge as the player who replaces the suspended Ollie Robinson in England’s team for the second Test against New Zealand. Boris Johnson and the sports minister, Oliver Dowden, have both criticised the ECB’s decision to suspend the bowler from international cricket while it conducts an investigation into historic offensive tweets. But the prime minister refused to condemn those who booed England footballers taking a knee, as a row over the anti-racism gesture threatens to overshadow the start of Euro 2020. England manager Gareth Southgate has been spinning plates and is now desperately seeking clarity after the fog of recent friendlies took hold, writes David Hytner.
Naomi Osaka has officially withdrawn from the bett1open grass court tournament next week in Berlin, an event she had intended to compete in as a warm-up before Wimbledon. At Roland Garros, Novak Djokovic saved a break point to win in the fourth round of the French Open as Rafael Nadal won after trailing early on. Kyle Sinckler has urged Warren Gatland to “put me on the field” after earning a British & Irish Lions reprieve with the Bristol and England prop determined to prove he deserves his place in the squad following his late call-up. And Damian de Allende and RG Snyman, who were named last weekend in the South Africa squad to face the British & Irish Lions this summer, are among four Munster players to have sustained burns in a fire pit accident.
Business
Stocks have edged lower in the Asia-Pacific region after a mixed finish on Wall Street, as investors weighed the risks of inflation against signs the recovery from the pandemic is gaining momentum. Benchmarks fell in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai and were flat in Seoul. The FTSE is trending flat to down a couple of points before it opens. A pound is worth $1.416 or €1.162 at time of writing.
The papers
The Guardian print edition leads today with “Johnson facing humiliation over foreign aid cuts before G7 summit”. On Tuesday, senior figures including Theresa May are expected to line up to condemn the cuts in an hours-long emergency debate. Johnson appears on a collision course with his own MPs, with No 10 suggesting it will defy an order by the Speaker to bring a vote on the cuts.
The Times splashes with a consequential prediction: “Lockdown lifting set to be delayed by fortnight”. Its front also has Keira Knightley saying every woman she knows has been harassed – same goes for the Metro though its lead story is “NHStress” as in NHS stress, about that committee report which we cover here. “Vaccines winning variant battle” proclaims the i, and the Mirror says “Virus jabs – we are on the home straight”. Everyone aged 25 and over in England will be invited to get a coronavirus vaccine from Tuesday. The Express reports “Alzheimer’s drug brings fresh hope” – no one can resist a good news story right now, but they may be taking it a bit far since there are question marks over whether aducanumab actually works.
“Europe threatens sausage trade war” – a nicely confected story hook from those silly sausages at the Telegraph, about the Northern Ireland protocol (the accompanying Telegraph column by the European Commission president does not appear to mention sausages). The Mail’s lead story is “Monster who killed our girls must never be freed”, about Colin Pitchfork who has been cleared for release on parole after 33 years. The Financial Times reports “G7 eyes tax on Amazon by tapping lucrative cloud computing divisions”. The Sun’s lead is “Harry takes 5 months orf”, calling it an “earache break for world”.
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