Top story: May to announce workers’ rights sweetener
Hello, I’m Warren Murray and here are the known knowns.
Downing Street is hoping the threat of a softer Brexit – including a customs union – will help to win over wavering Brexiters at the meaningful vote, which the PM has promised to hold by next Tuesday. Theresa May is under pressure not to whip MPs in the vote, which was secured after dozens of frontbenchers made clear they were prepared to resign.
The Conservative chief whip, Julian Smith, has warned cabinet ministers that if May’s deal is rejected a second time, parliament will take control to extend article 50 and block a no-deal Brexit. A process of “indicative votes” would then lock in a soft Brexit as the majority view in parliament. Even if the deal is approved next week, cabinet ministers believe a “technical” extension of a few weeks will be needed to pass the necessary legislation. One senior Tory source said: “If we go for an extension of longer than a technical one, it will be long and it will lead to a softer Brexit.”
May will today announce measures to safeguard workers’ rights as she tries to swing Labour MPs behind her deal. The PM will also face questions in parliament over whether progress was made by her Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, and the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, who have visited Brussels for talks on the Irish border backstop.
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Midweek catch-up
> The Home Office has failed to properly deal with the aftermath of the Windrush scandal, a parliamentary report concludes. Ten months after the government apologised, many undocumented long-term UK residents remain in dire straits after losing their jobs, homes and savings.
> Incendiary packages mailed to Heathrow, London City airport and Waterloo station bore stamps from the Republic of Ireland. The Heathrow parcel caught fire when it was opened. Irish police and the Met are investigating.
> A man has been arrested in Leicester over the stabbing murder of Jodie Chesney, 17. And two teenage boys are due in court today, one charged with murder, over the knife killing of Yousef Ghaleb Makki, 17, in Greater Manchester.
> Michael Bloomberg has announced he will not run for US president in 2020. The former New York mayor says he will put his wealth behind the anti-Trump “resistance” rather than seek the Democratic candidacy.
> The prestigious Charterhouse boarding school is one of 50 British education providers to have received fees via shadowy international banking and tax-haven structures that are the subject of our Troika Laundromat investigation.
> After denuclearisation talks between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump broke down, the respected 38 North thinktank on North Korea says the regime has rebuilt missile launch facilities that it promised to dismantle.
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More rape cases being dropped – Rape prosecutions in England and Wales have fallen to their lowest rate in more than five years, the Guardian can reveal. It has prompted a Home Office review of how rape cases are dealt with across the criminal justice system, as part of a package of measures to tackle violence against women and girls. Separately, a paper from Women’s Aid says more than two-thirds of survivors of domestic abuse risk themselves and their children being plunged into poverty if they leave. “When you have no access to money, you can feel completely trapped,” said Sarah Davidge, a co-author of The Economics of Abuse. “Economic abuse is often used by abusers to control their partner and stop her from leaving.”
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Saudi royal discord – There are growing signs of a serious rift between the Saudi Arabian king and his heir, the Guardian has been told. It is believed to have started with the murder in Turkey of the dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the CIA reportedly concluded was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Now Salman is understood to have disagreed with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud over crucial policy issues including the war in Yemen. In late February the king, 83, suddenly replaced his whole security detail during a trip to Egypt after being warned of a potential move against him, according to a detailed account from a source. “There are subtle but important signs of something amiss in the royal palace,” said Bruce Riedel, a director of the Brookings Intelligence Project and ex-CIA analyst.
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Morgan goes Italian – The venerable classic sports car maker Morgan is being sold to an Italian conglomerate after 110 years as a British concern. The company hand-builds around 700 cars a year in Malvern, Worcestershire. The buyer, Investindustrial, also has stakes in Aston Martin, Ducati motorcycles and others. The Morgan family will continue to represent the brand and retain a minority stake.
The news comes as carmakers employing thousands of people in Britain issue a stark warning about the effects of a no-deal Brexit. BMW said it might be forced to stop making the Mini at its Cowley plant near Oxford. Toyota, Bentley and France’s PSA gave similar warnings, while Nissan, which has already cancelled plans to build the new X-Trail SUV at its Sunderland factory, did not deny reports it might have to scale back production of other models.
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Pothole reckoning – Utilities and other companies that dig up the roads could be forced to come back and repair any potholes that develop afterwards. “Potholes are the biggest enemy for road users and this government is looking at all options to keep our roads in the best condition,” said Chris Grayling, the transport secretary. A consultation is being launched into the “Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways” (one for the bedside table).
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First, catch your melon – Naaman Zhou receives our ad-hoc Culinary Folly Award for trying to turn a watermelon into an ersatz smoked ham. The rationale and the results really can’t be understood without reading the story and watching the video.
While we’re on gustatory matters: today, vegan cheesemakers demand to be allowed a fair slice by the dairy industry, which is trying to stop them calling their products cheese. “If we are to survive as a species, we have to make drastic changes to the way we eat,” argues Brad Vanstone, a maker of plant-based cheese.
Today in Focus podcast: Britain’s dirty money problem
The Guardian’s Juliette Garside describes how Prince Charles and some elite UK schools have benefited from Russian money channelled through a Lithuanian bank. Plus: Ben Beaumont-Thomas on the legacy of The Prodigy’s Keith Flint.
Lunchtime read: The look on your face …
As well as singling out and identifying individuals, machines can now allegedly identify anger, fear, disgust and sadness in a person’s facial expression. “Emotion detection” has grown from a research project to a $20bn industry. Amazon, Microsoft and IBM now advertise “emotion analysis” as one of their facial recognition products, and a number of smaller firms offer similar services.
But some experts argue the assumptions behind the programming of these systems are flawed – and bring a risk of real social harm. “You’re already seeing recruitment companies using these techniques to gauge whether a candidate is a good hire or not,” says Meredith Whittaker, an AI researcher. “You’re also seeing experimental techniques being proposed in school environments to see whether a student is engaged or bored or angry in class. This information could be used in ways that stop people from getting jobs or shape how they are treated and assessed at school, and if the analysis isn’t extremely accurate, that’s a concrete material harm.”
Sport
A stunning three goals in 30 minutes against their World Cup Group D opponents, Japan, handed Phil Neville’s England a first-ever SheBelieves Cup in Tampa. Mauricio Pochettino said he hoped Tottenham could play their Champions League quarter-final at their new stadium rather than Wembley after they recorded a 1-0 win to dispatch Borussia Dortmund with a 4-0 aggregate last-16 triumph. Ajax’s young side humiliated holders Real Madrid at the Bernabéu to swagger into the last eight after a 4-1 win that left Dani Carvajal welling up with tears.
Jonny Bairstow and Tom Curran produced career-best performances in T2o internationals to help England to a four-wicket win in the first match of the series against West Indies. Injury concerns over Maro Itoje and Jack Nowell have prompted England to call up the Bath lock Charlie Ewels and retain the Gloucester wing Ollie Thorley in the squad preparing to face Italy in the Six Nations. And the medical tribunal of the former Team Sky and British Cycling doctor Richard Freeman has been adjourned and will not be heard until later this year at the earliest.
Business
Since 2008, 32 major high street retailers have closed their doors with the loss of around 115,000 jobs. We have spoken to some to find out what has happened to them and the high streets they used to work in. Emma Murray, who worked at BHS in Widnes, says: “Losing the store was big for Widnes. There’s nowhere you can get nice bedding or towels; it has really dive-bombed. It’s either pound shops or charity shops.”
The FTSE 100 is expected to dip slightly at the open. The pound is buying $1.313 and €1.162.
The papers
Several front pages lead with the packages sent to transport hubs. The i has: “Bombs sent to airports and station came from Ireland”, the Telegraph’s splash is: “Bomb plot with stamp of ‘Irish dissidents’” and the Mirror calls it a “‘New IRA’ terror attack on Britain”.
Other papers continue to report on the knife crisis. The Times has “Pupils given lessons in how to treat stab wounds”, the Sun has “Call in the army” and the Mail focuses on an 18-year-old caught with cocaine and a blade who avoided jail: “Smirking at soft justice Britain”. The Express warns criminal gangs are bringing in rogue pharmaceuticals: “Danger of fake medicines flooding Britain”. The Guardian has “MPs condemn Home Office over new Windrush failings” and the FT says: “N Ireland warned of unrest and food shortages in no-deal Brexit”.
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