Top story: ‘Tories are trying to sound tough’
Good morning from me, Warren Murray. Here’s something for the news-hungry but time-poor likes of yourself.
A crackdown on student behaviour and more free schools are to be announced by the government within days, according to a confidential briefing paper seen by the Guardian. It details proposals for schools in England designed to be rolled out over the coming weeks in an attempt to seize the initiative before a possible autumn election. Proposals including a £3.5bn funding announcement and plans to increase teachers’ basic pay may be broadly welcomed but there will be concern over disciplinary measures that include a renewed emphasis on exclusions and allowing teachers to use “reasonable force” to improve behaviour. “The Tories are trying to sound tough whilst failing to look at the evidence,” said the Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman, Layla Moran.
In other signs of an election footing, the first major speech by the chancellor, Sajid Javid, has been cancelled by the Treasury less than 24 hours before it was due to take place. A Treasury spokesman said its theme would instead be covered in the one-year spending review, which is being fast-tracked to take place on 4 September – the date MPs return to parliament.
* * *
Midweek catch-up
> Jeremy Corbyn, meeting with opposition parties, has agreed that legislating to prevent a no-deal Brexit should be their priority when parliament returns, rather than seeking a snap vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson, the PM.
> Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family whose company makes the opioid painkiller OxyContin have reportedly offered to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits for between $10bn and $12bn after a $572m verdict against Johnson & Johnson.
> The advertising watchdog has banned a Home Office radio advert that wrongly said EU citizens only needed a passport or ID card to apply to stay in the UK post-Brexit. In fact, some applicants need to provide proof of address covering the last five years.
> Hundreds of asylum seekers crammed into “guest houses” overrun by cockroaches, rats and mice have seen a raft of improvements in the past few days after the Guardian exposed the conditions. The Home Office confirmed it was taking “urgent action” to improve the facilities run by contractor Clearsprings Ready Homes.
> North Korea may have warheads that can dodge their way through the missile shield over Japan, the defence minister in Tokyo has warned. Takeshi Iwaya pointed to irregular trajectories of projectiles recently tested by Kim Jong-un’s military.
> Jaunty stories about record bank holiday temperatures have glossed over the reality of the climate crisis, experts say. All of the UK’s 10 hottest years on record have occurred since since 2002, while record-shattering temperatures in Europe last month were a one-in-a-thousand-year event.
* * *
Epstein accusers speak – An accuser of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has addressed her claim that she was coerced into sex with Prince Andrew, saying he “knows what he’s done”.
Virginia Giuffre spoke outside federal court in Manhattan where two dozen women detailed alleged sexual abuse by Epstein during court testimony that was allowed to go ahead by the judge after Epstein’s death brought an end to his criminal case. The prince has always vehemently denied the allegations – in 2015 a court decided they were “immaterial and impertinent” and ordered them struck out of a claim against Epstein.
* * *
‘I look like a stick’ – Childhood happiness has become a national scandal after falling to its lowest level in a decade, the Children’s Society says. More than 200,000 children are unhappy with their lives, according to the society’s annual Good Childhood report, with average contentment among 10- to 15-year-olds dipping to 7.89 out of 10, at a time when adults’ sense of wellbeing is improving. The society has called on Boris Johnson to prioritise the issue and introduce a national measurement of children’s wellbeing. Anxiety among boys about their appearance is on the rise – one boy surveyed blamed “Instagram and stuff … you see all these weightlifters, bodybuilders, and you look at yourself and you’re like: ‘I look like a stick.’ I feel like we’re exposed to a lot more, so we are less secure about our appearance.”
* * *
Razak in dock over 1MDB – The trial has opened in Kuala Lumpur of the former Malaysian PM Najib Razak over the 1MDB corruption scandal. Najib is accused of laundering 2.3bn ringgit (£440m/$540m) of the Malaysian government’s 1MDB fund for his own financial reward. He denies the charges and says he was misled by others involved in running the fund. 1MDB has been described as the “biggest kleptocracy scandal in the world”, with more than $4.5bn of state money spent in Malaysia and around the world on everything from Manhattan real estate and diamonds to Pablo Picasso paintings and Hollywood films.
* * *
Meat off the menu – Vegan meals are now the UK’s fastest growing takeaway choice, according to something called the British Takeaway Campaign, with burgers made from black beans, sweet potato and quinoa and vegan “fried chicken” among dishes challenging doner kebabs and tikka masala. Pakistani, Greek, Persian and Turkish takeaways also grew in popularity more rapidly than staples such as Chinese, Indian and fish and chips. Deliveroo reported that vegan orders had quadrupled over the past two years and in the past 12 months the number of vegan restaurants on the app increased by 168%.
Lunchtime read: Lessons from the summer box office
Fewer reboots! More Keanu! Less Shaft! The summer season at the cinema is over and it’s time to sift through the hits and misses with Benjamin Lee to see what was hot, what flopped, and what the movie industry can learn from it all.
Sport
The English Football League has promised to upgrade its rules to prevent a repeat of the implosion of Bury FC, after a day that began with optimism ended in despair, disbelief and fury as one of England’s oldest football clubs was kicked out of the EFL after 125 years. Thirteen miles away, the fate of Bolton Wanderers also looks increasingly perilous as the club was given 14 days to save its membership in a league it helped found in 1888.
Britain’s Kyle Edmund can be proud that, unlike Stefanos Tsitsipas, he left the US Open with his dignity intact, fighting for every second of the four hours and 21 minutes it took Pablo Andújar to subdue him in five sets of the most honest endeavour. In the women’s draw, Naomi Osaka overcame intense nerves and a stuttering start to open her US Open title defence with victory over Russia’s Anna Blinkova. Internazionale have finally reached a deal to sign Alexis Sánchez on a loan from Manchester United. And veteran prop Owen Franks was the big-name omission as the All Blacks named their squad to defend the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Business
Two economists paint a downbeat picture of the UK economy in the past month as part of our regular look at how Brexit is affecting business and finance. One of our experts, the former Bank of England rate-setter David Blanchflower, says Brexit couldn’t have come at a worse time as the world economy slows. The continuing squeeze on real wages is depressing, he says. On the markets, the FTSE100 will reflect Asian markets when it opens flat this morning and the pound is buying £1.228 and €1.107.
The papers
Comments from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers about Prince Andrew make it on to several front pages today, including the Mail: “Andrew’s accuser: he knows what he has done” and the Sun: “Andrew knows what he has done”.
The Times has Epstein on the front but its top story is: “Johnson accuses Corbyn of sabotage over EU talks” while the i reports: “Opposition parties agree pact to block no-deal Brexit”. The Express has: “PM lays down the law to EU leaders” and the Telegraph reports comments from Sajid Javid that he will refuse to break fiscal rules in spending to prepare for Brexit: “Javid warns there will be no ‘blank cheques’”.
The Guardian’s lead story is: “Tories’ controversial school plans revealed in leaked document”, the FT has “Philip Morris and Altria discuss reuniting to forge $200bn giant” and the Mirror has a “shock report” from Greenland about the climate crisis: “Our world is in meltdown”.
Sign up
The Guardian Morning Briefing is delivered to thousands of inboxes bright and early every weekday. If you are not already receiving it by email, you can sign up here.
For more news: www.theguardian.com
