Top story: Bid to ram bill through parliament
Good morning – Warren Murray on another day when too much news is barely enough.
Boris Johnson will make a final bid today to force Brexit through by the 31 October “do or die” deadline. The prime minister will ask MPs to back him in two crucial votes – on the withdrawal agreement bill (WAB), enshrining the deal he struck in Brussels last week, and on his plan to ram it through the House of Commons by the end of Thursday. Johnson has already been forced to send a letter to Brussels asking for an extension. But if the government can force its Brexit bill through parliament in time, the UK could in theory still leave the EU by Thursday of next week.
With the backing of some Labour rebels and the Tories who supported Oliver Letwin’s amendment at the weekend, Johnson is expected to win the vote on his bill known as the second reading, signalling MPs’ approval for it to proceed in principle. But Downing Street is braced for potential defeat on the so-called “programme motion” setting out the timetable to get the bill through. If that motion falls, the government has little chance of “getting Brexit done”, as Johnson puts it, by 31 October. And MPs from across the house are likely to table a string of amendments seeking to tweak the Brexit deal, including to force the government to negotiate a customs union with the EU27 and to subject it to a “people’s vote”. Johnson and key ministers have insisted they could not live with a customs union – if such an amendment passed, the PM would face the choice of accepting it or making a fresh bid for a general election.
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Trudeau’s minor triumph – Justin Trudeau has won a second term as Canada’s prime minister after the country’s federal election, but his narrow victory means he will lead a minority government that will be forced to depend on other parties to govern. At last count the Liberals were leading or victorious in 146 out of 304 electoral districts, having needed to win 170 seats to remain in majority government. The overall result laid bare the deep divisions in the country: not a single Liberal was elected in the western Prairie provinces, which the Conservatives swept. But overall it marked a clear defeat for the Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, whose campaign pledges to quash carbon pricing legislation and cut taxes failed to resonate with voters.
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Climate risk to sea life – Ocean acidification caused by the climate crisis could lead to the mass extinction of marine life, fossil evidence shows. Scientists say it is a warning that humanity is risking potential “ecological collapse” in the oceans. Carbon emissions from the burning of coal, oil and gas are absorbed by the ocean and make it more acidic. Researchers analysed seashells from sediment laid down after a giant meteorite hit the Earth 66m years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs and three-quarters of marine species. They found the pH dropped by 0.25 units or more in the centuries after the strike – acidic enough to dissolve the chalky shells of many species. Researchers estimate the pH of the ocean will drop by 0.4 units by the end of this century if carbon emissions are not stopped, or by 0.15 units if global temperature rise is limited to 2C. “If 0.25 was enough to precipitate a mass extinction, we should be worried,” said Michael Henehan, from the GFZ German research centre for geosciences in Potsdam.
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Party murder suspect held – A man aged 21 was arrested last night on suspicion of the targeted murders of two 17-year-old boys and the attempted murders of two other males at a house party in Milton Keynes on Saturday. Police have said the 15 to 20 people attending a birthday party, believed to have been held by a girl who lived in the house, were all known to each other. The attackers arrived at the house uninvited, armed and wearing face coverings. The 21-year-old suspect was not named by Thames Valley police and remains in custody. Police, including forensics officers, are expected to remain on the scene for days yet and have increased patrols in the local area. Formal identification of both victims and a Home Office postmortem examination are expected to take place today.
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Troll campaigns shut down – Facebook says it has taken down four new foreign interference operations originating from Iran and Russia, including one targeting the US 2020 presidential election. One operation that appeared to emanate from the Internet Research Agency – the Russian troll outfit – adopted various political identities such as pro-Donald Trump, anti-police violence, pro-Bernie Sanders, LGBTQ, feminist, pro-police and pro-Confederate. It used 50 Instagram accounts and one Facebook account with about 246,000 followers to publish nearly 75,000 posts aimed at sowing division. Both “progressive” and “conservative” fake accounts attacked Biden, the favourite to win the Democratic nomination and run against Donald Trump. Despite taking measures to prevent foreign electoral interference, Mark Zuckerberg has refused to ban politicians from telling lies in their Facebook ads.
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Cars go green – Number plates with green backgrounds will be issued for electric cars under government plans to encourage drivers to buy zero-emission vehicles. It is hoped the new licence plates will make the least polluting cars easily identifiable and help their drivers benefit from incentives such as free parking or access to clean air zones. The government has said it wants to ban the sale of fossil-fuelled cars excluding hybrids after 2040. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has said he will push for a 2035 deadline instead. Hybrids and electric cars were included in a green number plate scheme in Ontario, Canada, introduced almost a decade ago and allowing drivers to use lanes otherwise reserved for high-occupancy vehicles.
Today in Focus podcast: End of the road for remainers?
Jonathan Freedland joins Anushka Asthana to discuss how the pro-EU movement has grown in numbers and developed its own political identity based around opposing Brexit. Also today: Denise Phelan on the decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland.
Lunchtime read: The real David Attenborough
He is the most beloved figure in Britain, and, at 93, a global superstar. His films long shied away from discussing humanity’s impact on the planet. Now they are sounding the alarm – but is it too late?
Sport
Steve Hansen and Eddie Jones are showing respect ahead of the Rugby World Cup semi-final – and confidence they can overcome each other to advance to the decider. In the tournament’s other semi-final, fly-half Dan Biggar has urged his Wales teammates to “change the rest of our lives” and beat South Africa. Australia’s Rugby World Cup flops have returned home beaten and bowed, but refusing to blame outgoing coach Michael Cheika for their failure in Japan. Lys Mousset marked his first league start for Sheffield United by scoring the goal that sent the Blades into the top half of the Premier League table and intensified doubts about Arsenal’s direction of travel. A landmark study has revealed a link between football and dementia – with ex-players three and a half times more likely to suffer from neurological diseases. Finally, Andy Murray will return to the Davis Cup for the first time since 2016 after beating Stan Wawrinka in the European final.
Business
Asian share markets have made guarded gains amid cheery chatter about the chance of a China-US trade deal, while investors were sanguine yet another vote on Brexit would still avert a hard exit. A holiday in Tokyo kept turnover light and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added a modest 0.3%. Futures for Japan’s Nikkei were trading at 22,760, compared with Monday’s index close at 22,548. South Korean stocks rose 0.9% and Shanghai blue chips were flat. The pound is worth $1.297 and €1.164 while the FTSE is looking flat ahead of market open in London.
The papers
The front pages are divided between Brexit and Prince Harry this morning. On Brexit there’s a mixture of fury and high drama. “Out of order!” shouts the Express, as it begs the Speaker to “listen to the 17.4m who voted for Brexit”. The Telegraph has: “PM may axe deal as Bercow blocks vote”. The i says there’s “Fury at PM’s plan to force through high-speed Brexit”, while the Guardian splashes with “Johnson in final push to ram through Brexit deal”.
The Times devotes a surprisingly small amount of space to parliament’s tussle: “Crucial day for Brexit as Commons votes on Johnson’s timetable”. It saves its splash for “Population to hit 70m in a decade”. The FT also demotes Brexit, into third place, with “No 10 confident in securing Brexit bill win as MPs bridle at lack of scrutiny”. The paper saves its splash for “Moscow spy unit hacked Iran’s hackers to launch cyber attacks”.
The tabloids focus on Prince Harry, after his recent TV tell-all: “William’s fears for troubled Harry” is the Mail’s splash. The Sun has “Wills: My fears for fragile Harry”. The Mirror has “William’s fears for Harry”, but its splash is reserved for “Football’s dementia timebomb”, which says players are three times more likely to die from the disease than those the same age in the rest of the population.
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