Top story: CTF queried over political and corporate work
Hello, it’s Warren Murray helping you lift yourself up by the bootstraps this Tuesday morning.
Sir Lynton Crosby’s company CTF Partners is under investigation for potential illegal lobbying over its employees’ work for senior Conservatives including Boris Johnson. CTF staff members worked closely with Tory MPs – including some current ministers – to undermine Theresa May’s Brexit deal, while several senior employees took leave to run Johnson’s Tory leadership campaign.
The Guardian has exposed CTF’s work on campaigns for the Saudi Arabian government, major fossil fuel producers, anti-cycling campaigners, tobacco firms and sugary drinks producers. Now the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists has used, for only the fourth time, its powers to formally demand CTF Partners provide detailed evidence that the aims of such clients did not influence staff’s unpaid work with politicians including the PM. Crosby’s company has denied claims it could have broken the law, insisting senior employees’ decision to volunteer on Johnson’s Tory leadership campaign was unconnected with their day jobs. But the investigation could be an incentive for Downing Street to keep Johnson away from his longtime political adviser Crosby. There are reports the pair have fallen out, with Johnson turning instead to his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, and his own partner, Carrie Symonds.
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Trump isolated amid Syria chaos – The Turkish defence ministry has declared “all preparations for a possible military operation into north-eastern Syria are completed”, as Donald Trump faces a political backlash from close Republican allies after his decision to withdraw forces from the countries’ border. The president is accused of betraying Kurdish fighters who led the defeat of Isis and leaving them to face a potential Turkish invasion alone. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have said the fate of tens of thousands of suspected Islamic State fighters and their families in its custody is uncertain. It is unclear if Turkey would take custody of them. In Washington the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, said: “A precipitous withdrawal of US forces from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran and the Assad regime. And it would increase the risk that Isis and other terrorist groups regroup.” The Republican senator and Trump loyalist Lindsey Graham said: “This decision to abandon our Kurdish allies and turn Syria over to Russia, Iran and Turkey will put every radical Islamist on steroids. Shot in the arm to the bad guys. Devastating for the good guys.”
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Brexit debt warning – Emergency tax cuts and higher public spending needed to offset a no-deal Brexit would send government debt to its highest level in more than half a century and could end up forcing a new wave of austerity cuts even as the government moves to increases funding for healthcare, schools and police, according to Britain’s leading experts on the public finances. In a warning to Boris Johnson as his Brexit plan faces stiff opposition at home and abroad, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said government borrowing was already set to more than double in 2020, hard Brexit or not. Leaked EU papers obtained by the Guardian show how Brussels cut Boris Johnson’s Irish border plan to pieces, point by point. This morning Amelia Gentleman tells the story of EU citizens in the UK, some of whom have been residents for 50 years but are now struggling to complete requirements to be allowed to stay.
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Rebellion far from extinguished – About 280 people have been arrested after Extinction Rebellion protesters descended on London to begin a two-week blockade. They included Sarah Lasenby, an 81-year-old retired social worker from Oxford, and Phil Kingston, 83, who was arrested at the Treasury for spray-painting “Life, not death for my grandchildren” in red.
Outside the MoD, activists attached themselves to cars before being removed by police using buzzsaws. Officers removed a man who had attached himself to a tipi frame on Westminster Bridge, while others who had glued themselves to scaffolding in Trafalgar Square were taken away. Boris Johnson derided the protesters as “uncooperative crusties” who should stop blocking the streets of the capital with their “heaving hemp-smelling bivouacs”. At the launch of a Telegraph editor’s book about Margaret Thatcher, the PM reportedly taunted protesters that his predecessor had cared about greenhouse gases before they did.
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Celebration and grief – A touring replica of Captain James Cook’s Endeavour has docked in Gisborne 250 years after the British navigator landed in New Zealand and named the cove he first sighted Poverty Bay. At least one town has banned the ship from docking amid outcry – nine Māori lost their lives in the first encounter with Cook and his men, and eventually the Māori people lost their sovereignty. Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand PM, said: “There are things that need to be talked about when we talk about the 250th anniversary. Never before has the story fully been told of the loss of life when Cook arrived. This is the chance to talk about the reality of New Zealand’s history, to acknowledge it, to be open about it. That might attract some protests but that is all part of the conversation.”
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What she’s not having – “I just wasn’t going to get there and it was easier to end it that way.” “Sometimes the guy seems so fragile, he’s just asking how you’re feeling constantly and you can tell he’s not going to stop until you finish.” The Guardian asked five women why they have faked orgasms, and whether it is a feminist issue. We would like to hear your stories as well.
Today in Focus podcast: The children shot dead in St Louis
Guardian US correspondent Amanda Holpuch discusses her recent trip to the Missouri city where 13 black children have been fatally shot since April. And: Polly Toynbee attends the first day of the Extinction Rebellion protests.
Lunchtime read: History’s black heroes you might not know
This year, as every year, the focus of Black History Month will fall on pivotal and well-documented figures such as Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. But there are others whose often radical work is frequently forgotten. In an effort to honour at least some of them, we asked black historians and cultural figures to nominate their own heroes and watershed events.
Sport
Rarely, if ever, have England been involved in a Rugby World Cup fixture which their opponents would secretly prefer to lose but that could be the case when they play France this weekend. Phil Neville has said he does not “feel vulnerable” in his position as manager despite England’s defeat to Brazil on Saturday meaning that his side have now gone five games without a win.
Manchester United’s crisis is not of Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s making and the problems at United run deeper than the dugout, writes Paul Wilson. Dario Gradi has officially ended his long and chequered career in football after nearly three years of being suspended from his role at Crewe Alexandra, amid continuing questions about his conduct as a work colleague of two of the sport’s worst paedophiles. The UK Athletics performance director, Neil Black, is considering his position in the wake of Alberto Salazar’s four-year ban for doping offences.
Business
Asian shares have inched up with Chinese stocks making modest gains after a week-long holiday. Investors remained cautious over US-China trade talks after Donald Trump said a quick trade deal was unlikely. On Wall Street the S&P 500 lost 0.45% on Monday, unable to sustain gains made after positive tweets and news headlines about the trade talks. The pound has been trading around $1.229 and €1.120 overnight while the FTSE should be ticking higher at the open.
The papers
The story of the wife of a US diplomat who “fled” the UK after a car crash that led to the death of Harry Dunn, a 19-year-old motorcyclist, leads on several front pages today. The i has: “Drop immunity for wife of US diplomat who fled UK, says PM”, the Mail quotes Dunn’s mother: “Face justice for my son”, the Mirror says: “US envoy wife has driving conviction” and the Times reports: “US accused of betrayal in diplomat row”.
In news of the Brexit negotiations, the Guardian says: “No-deal Brexit would raise public debt to 50-year high, Johnson told”, the FT has: “Customs paperwork set to cost business £15bn in no-deal Brexit”, and the Express reports: “Boris: It’s no deal if you won’t talk to us”.
The Telegraph has a report on disorders caused by gaming and social media: “Web giants ‘cashing in’ on misery of children” and the Sun reports on a sighting of a humpback whale off Essex, after it swam up the Thames, with a stellar headline: “The only whale is Essex!” Top marks.
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