Top story: Starmer denounces ‘worst possible leader’
Hello this Wednesday – I’m Warren Murray, welcome to your briefing.
Boris Johnson has suffered a humiliating rebellion over measures to slow the spread of the Omicron variant, with 99 Conservative MPs rejecting plans for vaccine certificates. It underlines the PM’s increasingly shaky grip over his party after the damaging Owen Paterson affair and revelations about lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street. The measure passed by 369 votes to 126 but only with the backing of Labour, whose leader, Keir Starmer, called Johnson the “worst possible leader at the worst possible time”. Given the rebellion, Starmer said, “the prime minister needs to ask himself the question whether he has the authority to lead this country through this pandemic”.
Votes on all four plan B measures for England passed on Tuesday night. MPs also voted to make vaccinations compulsory for NHS workers, with 61 Conservative MPs voting against, joined by 22 Labour MPs. A plan to replace self-isolation with daily testing for contacts of people testing positive for the Omicron variant passed without a division.
Britain’s wave of Omicron infections could reach 1m a day by the end of December, the government’s most senior public health adviser, Dr Susan Hopkins, has warned amid growing calls to limit Christmas gatherings. In Scotland, families have already been warned not to socialise in groups of more than three households in the run-up to Christmas. Ministers are being warned that soaring Covid cases could cause major shortages across industry, hospitality and healthcare, as rail companies cancelled services and Royal Mail said it was experiencing high staff absences. From healthcare to hospitality, these are the areas of work and life that could face a pingdemic-style problem, writes Jessica Elgot.
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Bailey caught on camera – Shaun Bailey, the Conservative candidate for London mayor, has stood down from an official role in the London assembly after a photograph emerged of him joining a throng of people for a “raucous” party amid the Covid lockdown in December last year. Bailey’s team had sought to present blame for the party as being with Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) staff, saying that he had only attended briefly. Bailey has not commented since the reports emerged. The Mirror on Tuesday also reported that prior to a Downing Street quiz party hosted by Johnson last December, an email was sent to staff that told them to leave the building via a back entrance once it was over. No 10 has argued the quiz was virtual, with staff who were in the office attending from their desks.
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Midweek catch-up
> The Grammy-winning singer Billie Eilish has told how starting to watch pornography at age 11 “really destroyed my brain … I think porn is a disgrace”. Eilish said she suffered nightmares because of the sometimes violent and abusive content.
Eilish said she is now angry at herself for thinking it was OK. “The first few times I, you know, had sex, I was not saying no to things that were not good. It was because I thought that’s what I was supposed to be attracted to.”
> The biggest taxi firm in Paris said it was suspending the use of Model 3 Teslas after a crash that killed one person and injured 20 others including three people who were left in intensive care.
> A federal judge has dismissed Donald Trump’s latest effort to hide his tax returns from Congress, ruling that its legislative interest outweighs any deference Trump should receive as a former president.
> Amazon’s plastic packaging waste soared by almost a third to 270,000 tonnes during 2020, according the marine conservation group Oceana. Amazon says that calculation is flawed and it is making “rapid progress” cutting back on single-use plastics.
> The Parker space probe has officially “touched” the sun, plunging through the unexplored solar atmosphere known as the corona, Nasa has announced. It happened in April but confirming all the data has taken since then.
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Reach deeper, rich told – Britain’s highest earners have been donating less to charity despite their soaring incomes, while donations from everyone else have risen, according to a probe of tax records. Charities have missed out on more than £2bn as a result of the widening “generosity gap”. Last year 1.6 million fewer people donated as thousands of fundraising events from fun runs to gala dinners were cancelled. Gus O’Donnell, the former cabinet secretary who led the research by the Law Family Commission on Civil Society, urged the wealthy to “think about what you could be spending your money on this Christmas … those with the deepest pockets can afford to reach a little further”. If the rich increased their donations to 1% of income, charities could be getting an extra £1.4bn in annual donations, the commission found.
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The little-lauded cheeses – Medieval monks’ cheese like rollright and pre-second world war wensleydales should take the place of brie and gorgonzola on our Christmas dining tables this year, according to English Heritage. The supply chain meltdown and impact of Brexit on festive demands points to cheeses originating outside the UK being in short supply. Dr Michael Carter, an English Heritage historian and turophile, said a historical English cheeseboard would inspire people to continue ancient traditions and keep history alive.
Today in Focus podcast: To mandate or not?
In Australia, where employment-related mandates on the coronavirus vaccine were introduced months ago, the stories of two women demonstrate how such measures can work – and how they can backfire. Nicola Davis reports on the considerations governments must make when introducing vaccine mandates.
Lunchtime read: The crown prince’s gambit
Beaming in satisfaction, Mohammed bin Salman looked like a man in charge as Arab rulers arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday for a regional summit, Martin Chulov writes. With King Salman barely seen for 20 months, the crown prince is holding the reins of power in Saudi Arabia. The king is known to suffer from a slow onset form of vascular dementia, and whether his quasi-exile in the new age city of Neom is of his own volition is speculated upon inside the kingdom and around the Gulf.
Meanwhile the prince has consolidated his power, ramped up reforms and sought to restore the kingdom’s standing after the grisly Saudi assassination of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. “He has cleared his path to the coronation,” said a former US intelligence official of the crown prince. “Covid or not, no one can deny that the king is not just missing in action, but likely out of business.”
Sport
Joe Root has told his England players that their harrowing experience in Brisbane is as tough as it gets, leaving “no excuses” as they head into their must-win second Test against Australia in Adelaide. Kevin De Bruyne called the shots in Manchester City’s 7-0 rout of Leeds that stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points, while Marcelo Bielsa offered no excuses for the joint heaviest defeat in his club’s 102-year history. At Carrow Road, Jacob Ramsey’s superb individual goal and a late Ollie Watkins tap-in clinched a 2-0 win for Aston Villa over struggling Norwich. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been stripped of Arsenal’s captaincy and dropped from the squad after failing to demonstrate the “commitment and passion” to play for the club, according to Mikel Arteta.
The Premier League’s clubs have agreed to introduce daily Covid testing for players and training‑ground staff as they fight to prevent the postponement of further games and, in the worst-case scenario, a break in the competition. Valtteri Bottas believes Lewis Hamilton deserved to be crowned Formula One world champion and was “gutted” his Mercedes teammate was pipped to the title by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. After restrictions at Alexandra Palace in 2020, defending champion Gerwyn Price could face Fallon Sherrock in a tough PDC darts draw. Bryony Frost has revealed she considered relocating to France in her first interview since an independent panel of the British Horseracing Authority ruled she had been bullied and harassed by fellow rider Robbie Dunne. And Magnus Carlsen says he is ready to shock the chess world by giving up his world championship title – because defending it no longer motivates him.
Business
The deputy governor of the Bank of England has said that bitcoin could be “worthless” and people investing in the digital currency should be prepared to lose everything. Although bitcoin has risen in value to almost $50,000, it suffers from large swings and Sir Jon Cunliffe said: “Their price can vary quite considerably and [bitcoins] could theoretically or practically drop to zero.” The money in your non-digital wallet is flat at $1.324 and €1.175 today, however, and the FTSE100 also looks like opening level today.
The papers
Most front pages take a decidedly critical tone and raise questions about the future of Boris Johnson’s leadership after nearly a third of MPs voted against mandatory Covid passes as the UK battles a surge in Covid cases. The Times splashes with “Huge Covid rebellion stuns PM” while the Guardian suggests the scale of the Tory revolt “raises questions” over whether Johnson will in fact implement tougher restrictions in the coming days. The Telegraph rates it a “hammer blow to Johnson’s authority”.
The Daily Mirror has a photo of 24 Tory aides at a Christmas party last December. The headline reads: “Boris bashed by 99 rebels as Tory quits over THIS party pic”. The Daily Express notes the revolt “bruises Boris” but asks whether he will be “proved right” over the need to introduce the latest Covid restrictions.
The Financial Times has “Johnson suffers biggest setback of premiership in ‘plan B’ rebellion”. The Daily Mail points to an inside spread with the strapline: “98 Tory rebels: no more curbs, Boris”. The Sun carries a mention of it all – “Politicians lose heads over Covid” – but focuses on the Queen hosting Christmas dinner this year.
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