Top story: May suggests some Brexit breathing space
Good morning, and a happy Wednesday to you. Graham Russell here, bringing you today’s news.
In perhaps a telling acknowledgement of the scale of the task, Theresa May has signalled that free movement of EU citizens could continue post-Brexit. The PM didn’t like the term “transitional phase” but didn’t mind “implementation period” in reference to the need to give business and government time to adjust to an exit deal. One senior government figure told the Guardian the wording echoed the fact that “no one serious in Brussels or in the other key capitals” believed a trade deal would be finished in time.
The prime minister insisted during her Middle East trip she had a mandate to take back control of immigration but her language could provoke worry among eurosceptics.
Meanwhile, Liam Fox has raised a few eyebrows during his trade trip to the Philippines for saying Britain wanted to build a stronger relationship based on “shared values and shared interests”. He was greeted by Rodrigo Duterte, a president whose war on drugs has slaughtered thousands in extrajudicial killings. Duterte has even said he personally killed suspects.
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Syria gas attack – The UN security council is to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss a gas attack that has killed at least 60 people, including children, in northern Syria. The US, Britain and EU have blamed the Syrian government for the carnage, which survivors said was caused by a toxic substance dropped from warplanes. White House reaction to the attack highlights Donald Trump’s foreign policy vacuum, writes Julian Borger, with the incident met first by silence, then by criticism of Barack Obama. The Guardian view: Bashar al-Assad knows he acts with impunity.
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Politician, heal thy health service – People need to do their “common duty” and live healthily to avoid using the struggling NHS, a Lords select committee has suggested. The peers say: “The government should be clear with the public that access to the NHS involves patient responsibilities as well as patient rights.” They also blamed “the short-sightedness of successive governments” for leaving the NHS underfunded, understaffed and woefully unprepared.
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Egalité in action – It was long, chaotic, and featured a lot of people with no hope of winning, but Tuesday night’s French presidential debate did at least stick to the principle of egalité in letting all 11 candidates have their say. The favourite, Emmanuel Macron, clashed with Marine Le Pen over her proposal to scrap the euro and accused the Front National leader of repeating the lies of her father, party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. Despite the fireworks between the two frontrunners, hard-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon was the most convincing, according to a post-show snap poll.
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Engine of change – Car owners won’t be punished for taking Gordon Brown’s advice in 2001 and switching to diesel, Theresa May has said as London’s mayor announced a crackdown on vehicles contributing most to poor air quality. In 2001, Brown cut duty on low-sulphur diesel to help meet climate change targets but it turns out diesels emit an average of six times more nitrogen oxide in real-world driving.
A joint investigation by the Guardian and Greenpeace has found hundreds of thousands of children are being exposed to illegal levels of air pollution from diesel vehicles at schools and nurseries across England and Wales
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Livingstone suspension – Labour’s decision not to expel Ken Livingstone over his comments about Hitler and antisemitism have brought the party’s relations with the Jewish community to an “all-time low”, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews has said. Jonathan Arkush criticised the year-long suspension for the former London mayor’s “shameless, disgraceful and tendentious attempts to link Zionism to Nazism”. Britain’s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, said Labour had failed to show it was serious about tackling antisemitism.
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Ad nauseam – Pepsi has released an ad that echoes scenes from Black Lives Matter protests in the US, and suggests that giving the police a sugary drink would be the best option. Pepsi said the ad, featuring Kendall Jenner, was about “people from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of harmony”. Others said it was more an effort to profit from a civil rights struggle. As is often the case, Twitter memes said it best.
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Lunchtime read: A film-maker’s tale of torture in Sudan
Phil Cox recounts his horrifying 70-day ordeal in Sudan, after an investigation into war-ravaged Darfur for Channel 4 ended in a bounty being put on his head, with the journalist wanted dead or alive. After 16 days, he and his friend Daoud Hari were trapped in an ambush with lights and gunfire erupting around their vehicle. Then the beatings and the death threats began.
Sport
Manchester United needed a 94th-minute penalty to avoid defeat against Everton, again raising questions about the ponderous attack of José Mourinho’s side. They had to rely on a healthy dose of luck to fend off a classy and convincing team, much improved on their abject display in the Merseyside derby.
Rory McIlroy has changed his brand and model of fairway woods on the eve of the Masters in his quest to collect a grand slam of major championships. And 20 years after Tiger Woods’s Masters triumph, Andy Bull considers his legacy for black players.
The pressure is on the FA to take swift action in the wake of David Moyes telling a female BBC reporter she “might get a slap”. The Premier League manager’s comments reflected a “rampant sexism” in football and a cover-up culture reminiscent of the Adam Johnson case last year, domestic violence charities said.
Business
Asian stocks rose in early trading although there is still caution before the meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on Thursday. Meanwhile, Vince Cable writes about Liam Fox’s trip to the Philippines to rustle up post-Brexit trade: “When our trade minister is reduced to soliciting trade deals from a man whose main claim to fame is, allegedly, organising death squads, you understand how desperate the government really is.”
The pound was buying US$1.24 overnight and €1.17.
The papers
Both the Sun and the Mirror feature a large picture of the singer Mel B on the front and allegations surrounding her relationship with her husband. The Mirror splashes on Syria with the headline: “Assad gassing kids again”.
The Mail meanwhile leads with the story that the government may introduce steps to help diesel vehicle drivers who were once encouraged to buy the cars only to see that policy reversed. The paper says people had been “conned” into buying diesel cars.
All the broadsheets feature a picture of the Syrian gas attack on the front. All except the Telegraph which decides to go with a picture of the Duchess of Cambridge getting out of a car. The paper splashes with the same story as the Mail, saying the government is hinting it may introduce financial aid to diesel drivers.
The Times has “Outrage against Assad after nerve gas attack”, saying up to 100 people – including 19 children – have been killed in the deadliest nerve gas attack for four years. The FT’s headline is “Women still missing out on most senior jobs in finance industry” and says only one in four senior executives are female.
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