Top story: House poised for impeachment vote tomorrow
Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories today.
The Republican revolt against Donald Trump over the US Capitol riot is gathering pace after Liz Cheney, one of the most senior Republicans in Congress, said she will vote to impeach the president. Cheney, a representative from Wyoming and the daughter of the former vice-president Dick Cheney, said that Trump had “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack”. She was joined by two other Republican representatives, and it was reported earlier that Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell had suggested to colleagues that he supported impeachment. In another day of high drama in Washington, vice-president Mike Pence rejected calls to strip Trump of his presidential authority by invoking the 25th amendment. This paves the way for a vote expected tomorrow in the the House of Representatives to impeach Trump and send him for trial in the Senate.
The fallout from the Capitol riot continued when lawmakers were briefed yesterday about the threat of more violence at president-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration next week, and US military leaders issued a rare joint statement condemning the assault. Trump has shown no remorse for last week’s attack and has attempted to shift the blame onto Democrats. Reports have identified US Olympic champion swimmer Klete Keller as being among the people who entered Congress last week.
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Coronavirus – A “home and hotel” scheme under which hospital patients will be discharged early to free up bed space for Covid sufferers needing life-or-death treatment is being launched in England to prevent the NHS from collapsing. Documents seen by the Guardian show that hospital chiefs have asked care homes to start accepting Covid patients directly from hospitals as long as they have been in isolation for 14 days and have shown no new symptoms. Hotels will also be used to house patients where they will be cared for with help from voluntary organisations such as St John Ambulance and the Red Cross. The drastic action is being driven by the ever-increasing number of Covid patients in hospital, which now stands at 35,000, up around 20% in the past week. Deaths from Covid-19 grew by 1,243 yesterday, the second worst day ever, although ministers played down the suggestion that lockdown rules should be tightened to stop the spread of the disease. Adding to the sense of urgency in the NHS, research has revealed that nearly half of intensive care staff reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression or anxiety last year.
The rollout of the coronavirus vaccine will come under the spotlight later today when Boris Johnson will be questioned by a committee of senior MPs. The prime minister will also face Keir Starmer at question time on Wednesday although there is frustration in the opposition camp that the Labour leader has not been able to pin the blame for the government’s chaotic handling of the pandemic on Johnson. In the US, Disneyland in California is being turned into a mass vaccination centre and a surge in cases is swamping hospitals in Ontario, Canada. China has recorded its biggest daily case tally since July as the WHO investigators prepare to fly in. Catch up with overnight news about the pandemic at our live blog.
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Saudi spending – Britain has spent £2.4m in the past four years to help Saudi Arabia comply with international law, during which time the Gulf kingdom has waged a relentless bombing campaign on Yemen. The figures have been revealed by parliamentary questions and have led to accusations that British taxpayers are supporting the Saudi military. Ministers have admitted British troops help the Saudis comply with “humanitarian law” but it is a rare glimpse into secretive funding for the kingdom and other cash-rich Gulf states.
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Rashford goal – Marcus Rashford could be about to score another victory for underprivileged families after ministers came under pressure to review the provision of free school meals thanks to the footballer highlighting “woefully inadequate” food parcels. A host of food poverty campaigners, paediatricians and nutritionists called on the government to review the apparently meagre content of the weekly food parcels after parents posted photographs on social media. “What am I supposed to make with this?” one said.
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Child spies rebellion – Tory peers, bishops and crossbenchers could force the government to change key parts of its covert intelligence bill in order to offer more safeguards for the use of child spies. Labour sources believe they have enough backing when it is debated in the Lords today to send it back to the Commons for amendment. The bill allows 22 state agencies to use children as undercover agents and is expected to be used to counter “county line” drug rings and terror plots. But many fear child spies will be allowed to commit crimes even if they are at risk of future harm.
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Barclay twin dies – Sir David Barclay, one of the billionaire brothers who own the Telegraph newspaper group, has died after a short illness aged 86. Along with his identical twin, Frederick, they amassed a huge fortune through hotels, shipping and breweries before branching out into newspaper ownership with the Scotsman and then the Telegraph in 2004.
Today in Focus podcast
The government aims to vaccinate 12 million people by the middle of February. With the NHS struggling, Robin McKie asks whether it is fast enough.
Lunchtime read: ‘I dress up, I make a fool of myself’
The actor Caroline Quentin gives a revealing interview about the phone hacking violations that deeply affected her family life and how, more than two decades on, she received “quite a large amount of money” from the Murdoch empire in compensation. She also tells Paula Cocozza about her time on Strictly Come Dancing (“I dress up, I wear makeup, I make a fool of myself”), therapy.
Sport
Manchester United are top of the Premier League at this stage of the season for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign which they ended by claiming a 20th title. For this they can thank Paul Pogba, the midfielder crowning a fine display with a sweet 71st-minute winner against Burnley. Megan Rapinoe has decried the “devastating” attack on the US Capitol, putting forth the uncomfortable claim that America “showed very much our true colors” when a mob of pro-Trump supporters descended on Washington DC. Hope Solo says she encountered hostility when she first entered the United States national team set-up. England captain Joe Root is leading a very different side to the one that triumphed 3-0 in 2018 but he believes in the methods of their new coach, Chris Silverwood. The Six Nations will be able to start on time but whether it is played to a finish on time hinges on whether the British and Irish governments have their number of Covid-19 cases under control by the second week of next month. Tributes have been paid to Khalid Abdullah, who became so immensely successful an owner that to reel off a list of his best horses is nearly the same as telling the story of British Flat racing over the last 40 years.
Business
Deutsche Bank, the longtime banker to Donald Trump, has severed ties with the outgoing US president over his incitement of the mob invasion of the US Capitol last week. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is still holding investments worth $85bn in coal companies, a year after it promised to sell most of its shares in producers of the fossil fuel. A loophole in its policy has enabled it to keep the assets but campaigners have called for a full divestment. The FTSE 100 is set to rise 0.2% this morning while the pound has risen again against the dollar to $1.368 and €1.121.
The papers
The Guardian leads with the exclusive story about how the NHS is trying to free up space for Covid patients – “Patients sent to hotels to free up beds for Covid care” – while the Times reports that shops are doing their bit to help stop the spread: “Retail giants clamp down in bid to halt virus growth”. Various papers speculate about the state of the vaccine rollout with the FT reporting that “Johnson clashed with NHS chiefs over accelerating vaccines rollout” and the i claiming “Vaccine drive for UK failing to hit the target”. The Telegraph says “GPs leading the way in vaccine rollout are forced to slow down”. The Express leads with the home secretary’s comments yesterday: “Priti: I’ll fine flouters for putting nation at risk” and the Sun focuses on Jeremy Clarkson joining the volunteers helping the vaccine rollout: “Jez we can”.
The Mirror prefers to lead on the food parcel story – “Profit from poverty” – and the Mail headline says “Queen’s cousin in sex assault at royal castle”. The Record in Scotland also has that story, while the Herald has “U-turn after Covid-infected care homes denied vaccines”.
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