Top story: PM triggers Article 50
Hello – Warren Murray bringing you the Briefing today.
Some will hail it as Britain’s “independence day”. Others, not so much. Today, Theresa May formally invokes article 50 of the treaty of the European Union. Her letter to the European council president commences the process of separating from a bloc that Britain joined in 1973 but voted to leave in the 2016 referendum.
Much uncertainty and many unanswered questions lie ahead as May’s government embarks on extricating Britain from myriad EU structures, agreements and relationships whilst trying to minimise damage to the country’s economy, budget, communities and international standing. Tim Farron, the leader of the Lib Dems, argues forcefully today that the government’s hardline Brexit agenda is not what people voted for and, at the end of the two years, no deal can be signed until the results have been put to a further referendum.
Jennifer Rankin in Brussels has filed one possible timeline for a process that theoretically culminates in early to mid-2019 with Britain no longer an EU member. The Guardian’s Brexit policy editor, Dan Roberts, explains eight key points to be decided including citizenship, the “divorce bill” and trade . Our editorial argues that protecting EU nationals in the UK should be top of the agenda – and the EU’s top Brexit negotiator agrees, saying he is aiming for a draft reciprocal agreement by the end of the year.
The Scottish assembly at Holyrood has meanwhile voted to ask London for a second referendum on independence, to be held before Brexit is complete so that Scotland has the chance to keep its EU ties. Number 10 says no.
Jon Henley, European affairs correspondent, tracks the breakdown of what was never an easy marriage. A former EU head of trade writes that both sides in the negotiations need to shake their preconceptions: that the “other side thinks like you”, that the Brits are being xenophobic, or that the UK has the upper hand because the EU is “weak and divided”. Whatever happens, the scrambled egg of Brexit won’t be going back into the shell, writes Rafael Behr.
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Westminster terrorist – Khalid Masood had been an apolitical, friendly employee who wanted to clean up his life after a violent criminal past, his ex-boss at a Luton language school has said. Masood was focused on family, career and being a good Muslim when he worked at the Elas UK school between 2010 and summer 2012, said Farasat Latif. He actively disliked radical Islamists who preached in the streets. Latif said he was “distressed, I was angry, I was sickened” when he found out the Westminster attacker was the Masood he once knew, rather than someone else with the same name.
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Strip club death – Australian police have stepped up their investigation over the unexplained death of British woman Stacey Tierney in a Melbourne adult venue. A man has been arrested and is to be charged with perjury. The body of Tierney, 29, was found on 19 December last year in Dreams nightclub after apparently lying undiscovered for up to 12 hours. She was last seen alive hosting an event after closing time for several men. She was buried in Manchester in January.
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Fillon’s wife charged – François Fillon’s path to the French presidency looks more complicated than ever. Penelope Fillon, his wife, has been charged over the “fake jobs” scandal that has engulfed the campaign. Fillon, a former PM who is running for the opposition centre-right Les Républicains, is accused of paying €900,000 over 10 years to his wife and two of their children for dubious work as parliamentary assistants. Emmanuel Macron on the left and Marine Le Pen on the far right are leading Fillon in the campaign. Polls predict he won’t make it through the first round on 23 April.
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Trump lawsuit – The president is trying to avoid being sued by a former Apprentice contestant on the grounds his office affords him immunity. Summer Zervos has claimed Trump sexually harassed her in 2007 after she appeared on the show, and that during last year’s election campaign he defamed her by calling her a liar about it.
Trump’s lawyers say the case should be halted because it might distract him from performing his duties. Zervos’s lawyer says the supreme court has previously decided “no man is above the law and that includes the president of United States”.
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Alien intelligence – They have been known to open screw-top jars, turn off light switches by squirting them with water, and make fantastic escapes from human captivity. Cephalopods – the family that includes octopuses and squid – are recognised as extremely clever but the workings of their minds remain an inky mystery, writes Elle Hunt, as she meets the philosopher determined to find out what drives these creatures that have “a really big brain and a really short life”.
Lunchtime read: why you might never retire
Retirement – gone before you get there? Amelia Hill writes after two months of reporting for the Guardian’s New Retirement project that many people now in their 40s and 50s will find themselves working into their 80s to get the same standard of living their parents enjoyed into their later years.
The conclusions are stark as Amelia reports on how the squeeze on retirement has already started, what those affected are doing to cope, and how those just setting out in their working lives foresee an old age where they can’t count on the government to look after them.
Sport
France twice fell foul of decisions made by a video assistant referee in a high-profile example of the new technology during their 2-0 home international defeat against Spain, while Argentina, deprived of Lionel Messi after he received a four-match ban hours before kick-off, lost 2-0 in Bolivia to endanger their qualification chances for the World Cup in Russia.
A non-league footballer is under investigation by Hertfordshire police after allegedly wielding a knife at an opposition fan, with the player given a life ban by his club, Sawbridgeworth Town.
Colin Graves, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has triggered the process required for the creation of the new domestic Twenty20 tournament from 2020 onwards, calling it a “watershed moment”. And the international chess governing body has been plunged into controversy after announcing its longtime president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who once claimed he had been abducted by aliens, had resigned in a statement that he dismissed as “fake”.
Business
As Theresa May prepares to trigger article 50 today, the pound has come under more pressure in Asian trading overnight. It fell as low as $1.238 early on – a drop of 0.64% on Tuesday’s close – and is now hovering around the $1.24 mark.
Stocks were a mixed bag with the Nikkei down but the Australian market hit a near two-year high as it gained on strong US consumer confidence figures.
The papers
It’s Brexit trigger day – as if you didn’t know after reading all the above – and accordingly it is all over the front pages.
The Sun has the funniest: “Dover and Out” using a symbol of Britain, the white cliffs, as a backdrop for its play on words.
The Times says “The eyes of history are watching” with a picture of Theresa May signing her article 50 letter under a portrait of the first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole.
The Mail’s headline is “Freedom”. It equates the 65 million-plus residents of the UK being unshackled from the EU with the fact of a Royal Marine being freed for Easter after his conviction for murdering a Taliban prisoner was overturned.
The Mirror is a bit more subdued with the headline “Dear EU, it’s time to go”. The Express is on a similar wavelength: “Dear EU, We’re leaving you.”
The FT plays it straight and goes with “May signs historic Brexit letter and opens way for compromise”, saying she has softened her stance on some aspects of EU withdrawal.
The Telegraph goes with “Unite behind Brexit, says May” with the call for Britons to put aside their differences over the EU exit.
You can see some other fronts and pictures in our roundup here.
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