Top story: Patel hangs on as Boris blusters
Hello – it’s Warren Murray putting you out in front this morning.
Damaging excursions on the international stage by two ministers have left Theresa May facing suggestions her cabinet is out of control.
The international development secretary, Priti Patel, is fighting for her job this morning after secretly proposing to send aid money to the Israeli army in the Golan Heights. The idea was to support Israeli field hospitals treating victims of the Syrian war – but it would have been extremely provocative towards the Palestinians and a breach of government policy. Patel held unsanctioned meetings with senior Israeli figures including Benjamin Netanyahu. She apologised and was rebuked by No 10, but last night looked on the verge of leaving the cabinet after it emerged there were further meetings she had not disclosed to the PM.
Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, made a clarification and eventually offered an apology of sorts after potentially worsening the plight of British woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is in jail in Iran. Johnson has admitted his “remarks could have been clearer” when he said a week ago that Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been in Iran “teaching people journalism”. The incorrect statement was seized upon by the Iranian government to portray her as a foreign propagandist who deserves harsh punishment. Our editorial says the behaviour of the two cabinet ministers shows that, in her tenuous position, May is afraid to reprimand or sack: “In this government it is everyone for themselves.”
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‘Headed down a dark path’ – Donald Trump has delivered a stark personal message to Kim Jong-un: “Do not underestimate us. Do not try us.”
Addressing South Korea’s parliament, the president said the US was willing to diplomatically resolve the crisis over the North’s nuclear programme. “We will offer a path to a much better future. It begins with an end to the aggression of your regime, a stop to your development of ballistic missiles and complete verifiable and total denuclearisation.” Addressing Kim directly, Trump said: “North Korea is not the paradise your grandfather envisioned, it is a hell that no person deserves.” Earlier, Trump’s off-then-on-again trip to the demilitarised zone was cancelled when fog stopped his helicopter from landing. Trump heads to China now and will receive the full trappings of a state visit — here’s what is on, and off, the agenda.
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Shock death of Welsh assembly member – Welsh and broader British politics has been shaken by the apparent suicide of Carl Sargeant, a Labour minister in the Welsh assembly who stood aside last week over allegations about improper conduct towards women. Sargeant, 49, was found dead on Tuesday and police said there were no suspicious circumstances. Constituents said Sargeant, a married father of two, had been a tireless worker for his community. A family spokesperson said: “He was the heart of our family. We loved him so very much.” There has been soul-searching about how this and other recent cases of alleged misconduct in politics have been handled. Friends said Sargeant was distressed at not knowing the details of the allegations against him. “There are big questions to be asked about the process,” said Leighton Andrews, the former Welsh Labour minister.
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The prince and Paradise – Our examination of hidden offshore fortunes continues with revelations that Prince Charles’s private estate took a secretive stake in a forest protection scheme run through Bermuda by a close personal friend. It raises questions about whether the company might have benefited from Charles’s extensive campaigning as a conservationist. Offshore industry pressure group the International Financial Centres Forum was helped by Paradise Papers firm Appleby to successfully lobby against a clampdown on tax havens, it has emerged. And the Labour MP Margaret Hodge has drawn attention to a secretive deal under which UK taxpayers heavily subsidise the zero-taxing Isle of Man government. “Our government does not just tolerate tax havens – they are using our tax money to enable the Isle of Man to operate as a tax haven,” said Hodge.
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Send your nude snaps – It’s not the Briefing asking, it’s Facebook. A project is being trialled in Australia where, if you fear someone might use an image for “revenge porn”, you submit it to be “hashed”, which stops anyone else uploading a copy. Facebook says the pictures are processed by specially trained staff and only the digital DNA, not the image itself, is permanently retained. After the singer Sia shared a nude photo of herself online to thwart a paparazzi agency, Lucy Mangan has some other suggestions for fighting back against such intrusions.
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Sad end for Paddles – Yesterday we told you how the New Zealand prime minister’s cat tried to butt in on her owner’s phone call with Donald Trump. Today we are sorry to relate that Paddles is no more. The ginger rescue moggie was hit by a car near the home of Jacinda Ardern and her partner, Clarke Gayford. In her short life Paddles became a social media star as the “first cat” of New Zealand. “To anyone who has ever lost a pet, you’ll know how sad we feel,” Ardern said on Facebook. The PM asked followers to support the country’s SPCA.
Lunchtime read: How to be human online
Emma Brockes says that while “internet outrage” can be a detestable phenomenon, it has also helped expose the misdeeds of Harvey Weinstein and his ilk. “The power of women’s voices has been overwhelmingly, gratifyingly raised these past weeks, as women of all ages and demographics feel emboldened to step forward to share their stories of sexual harassment.”
But the “unvarying pitch” and vengefulness of these discussions online can be problematic when it “makes no distinction between a serial rapist and a guy who asks a woman out one time too many … If we hold it to be true that social media, and the idea of public shaming, is a dangerous dynamic that cuts both ways, the more we should hesitate to use it.”
Sport
English fast bowler Stuart Broad took six first-innings wickets at the Gabba four years ago and is hoping he can again frustrate the Australian batsmen in the way Glenn McGrath used to his opposition. Eddie Jones is set to unleash England’s British and Irish Lions at the start of their autumn internationals campaign in a surprising U-turn after all 10 – including the fit-again Elliot Daly – were named in the squad to face Argentina on Saturday.
British aerial skier Lloyd Wallace insists he will not let a spectacular training crash in Switzerland deter him from qualifying for Pyeongchang 2018. Finally, a few key moments, from the spin of the new ball to the first day-night switch, could decide the unpredictable, historic Women’s Ashes Test at North Sydney Oval.
Business
Asian stocks are at highs on the back of buoyant Chinese demand for imports. However there are some concerns in the markets in the US over Republican plans for major US tax cuts and whether they will happen. The dollar is weaker as a consequence.
The pound was buying US$ 1.32 and €1.14 overnight.
The papers
The latest developments in the Priti Patel saga missed most of the first editions but made it on to the front of the Telegraph, with the headline: “May leaves Patel’s fate in the balance”.
The Sun splashes on the death of former Labour minister in the Wales assembly Carl Sargeant, who apparently killed himself after allegations were made of improper personal conduct. The Sargeant story also makes the front page of the Guardian, which splashes on more Paradise Papers revelations, this time about Prince Charles.
The Times leads on Labour councils using offshore companies to avoid paying millions in tax. The Daily Mail is preoccupied with the case of Farhana Ahmed, a woman accused of sharing Isis propaganda on Facebook who was spared jail. The Mirror says the BBC is investigating 25 cases after it asked staff to come forward if they have a sexual harassment complaint. The FT splashes on Wall Street banks warning Trump and his team over rising fears of Brexit chaos.
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