Top story: PM rings grammar school changes
Theresa May will pave the way for a new generation of grammar schools on Wednesday, with Philip Hammond set to use his Budget announcement to plough £320m into creating 70,000 places in 140 new schools, which will be free to offer selective education.
The prime minister insisted it would guarantee more choice. “For too many children, a good school place remains out of reach, with their options determined by where they live or how much money their parents have,” she said.
Labour accused the government of “throwing more good money after bad” while the Liberal Democrats called it an unbelievable decision in the face of “devastating cuts to school budgets”.
The chancellor is expected on Wednesday to put aside tax revenues to help build a £60bn reserve to deal with Brexit-related uncertainty. He is also likely to react to a Conservative backlash over the government’s business rates changes by offering more transitional relief to companies and to put money towards plugging a massive funding gap for social care.
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Backpacker ordeal – A British backpacker has survived a two-month ordeal in which she was allegedly beaten, choked and raped in the Australian outback. The 22-year-old was found distressed and with serious injuries when police pulled over a four-wheel-drive in Queensland on Sunday. Her alleged attacker was found hiding in the back and has been remanded in custody. Police said the pair met in Cairns three months ago and agreed to go on a road trip.
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Kim Jong-nam crisis – North Korea has banned Malaysian citizens from leaving the country, and Malaysia has responded in kind, in an escalation of the row over the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother in Kuala Lumpur. Pyongyang said all Malaysians could not leave “until the incident that happened in Malaysia is properly solved”. Malaysia’s PM, Najib Razak, called it an “abhorrent act, effectively holding our citizens hostage”.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump said the nuclear threat posed by North Korea had entered a “new phase” after the regime test-launched four ballistic missiles towards Japan.
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Obamacare on notice – The Republican party has unveiled a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It shrinks the government’s role in healthcare, and could leave more Americans without insurance. The bill would eliminate the requirement for Americans to have insurance or risk a fine, and let insurers charge the elderly up to five times more than the young. It would require insurers to cover pre-existing conditions, but they could add a 30% surcharge if people are uninsured for too long.
Meanwhile, Ben Carson has told his housing and urban development staff that slaves were “immigrants” who imagined the US as a “land of dreams and opportunity”.
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University sexual harassment – Senior politicians, student leaders and equality campaigners have called for an urgent review of how universities handle allegations of sexual harassment by staff after a Guardian investigation revealed it was at “epidemic” levels in the UK. Within hours of publication, the research – the first in the UK to provide an insight into the scale of the problem – prompted a further 60 responses from Guardian readers sharing stories of harassment on campus. The National Union of Students said it would launch its own national survey into sexual misconduct by university staff towards students.
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Wait for the green woman – One Australian city has replaced male figures in pedestrian crossing lights with females in an effort to “reduce unconscious bias”. Melbourne rolled out the scheme on Tuesday and the response has been mixed, with some criticising it as lip service towards gender equality. The lord mayor, Robert Doyle, said: “Unfortunately, I think this sort of costly exercise is more likely to bring derision.”
Lunchtime read: the use and abuse of big data
Has a digital coup begun, George Monbiot asks. Is big data being used to create personalised political advertising, to bypass our rational minds and alter the way we vote? Either we own political technologies, or they will own us, he argues.
Sport
New cricket laws will be introduced later this year that include limitations on bat size and letting umpires send off players – just in time for the start of the Ashes series in November. Cycling’s Team Sky have closed ranks and backed Sir Dave Brailsford amid suggestions of growing rider unrest within the ranks. In football, Chelsea restored their 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win at West Ham, and the chairman of Kick It Out has criticised the Football Association’s planned reforms, branding them unfair and superficial.
Business
Business leaders have made a final plea to the chancellor before the Budget announcement, calling on him to reduce the impact of changes to commercial rates that could double the tax bill for some firms. The British Retail Consortium has written to Philip Hammond, saying the high street needs a “fundamental reform” of the tax, while a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce found business rates were the biggest concern for half of small firms.
The dollar steadied on Tuesday as investors widely expect the Fed to raise interest rates next week and wait for clues, including this week’s US job data.
The pound is buying $1.22 and is worth €1.15.
The papers
There are two main stories in town today: the return of grammar schools and Paul Burrell’s new romance.
The Telegraph leads on education and runs a column by Theresa May in which she reveals she is scrapping the ban on grammar schools and will spend £320m on 140 new free schools in an attempt to end the “brutal and unacceptable” truth of selection by income. The Mail takes a different tack, with the news that parents, charities and community groups will be given the right to set up grammar schools.
The Guardian also reports on the new generation of grammar schools, with teachers’ groups asking why the money isn’t going into existing state schools.
At the other end of the print media spectrum, The Sun and Daily Mirror both claim exclusives on the same subject: Paul Burrell – Princess Diana’s former butler – announcing that he is gay and is marrying his partner.
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