Top story: May survives pivotal customs vote
Hello, it’s Warren Murray bringing you the news this Wednesday morning.
Theresa May won a crucial Brexit vote after threatening her party’s rebel remainers with a general election this summer if they supported a “backstop” amendment to keep Britain in a customs union with the EU if all else fails. The Labour MP Kate Hoey, meanwhile, is facing demands to stand down after siding with the Conservatives in the vote.
Hoey and four other Brexit-supporting Labour MPs defied their own party whip and voted against the backstop. Labour activists fumed because if the amendment had passed it could have brought down May’s government. A censure motion is expected to be put before an upcoming constituency meeting in Hoey’s south London seat of Vauxhall.
Amid confusion and some extraordinary scenes May did end up suffering her second ever Brexit defeat when the Commons unexpectedly backed calls for the UK to remain under EU medicines regulation. Downing Street also abandoned plans to bring forward the summer recess by five days – the apparent effort to shield May from any confidence vote had angered Tory backbenchers, furious at the prospect of having to explain to constituents why they were taking an early cut.
Would he or wouldn’t he – To the surprise of few, Donald Trump has backtracked on his endorsement of Vladimir Putin’s claim that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 US elections. Characteristically, he partly rowed back, partly didn’t, and partly blamed having misspoken. “I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” Trump said, back in the White House and reading from a prepared script. But then he mused: “It could be other people also. There’s a lot of people out there.” Trump said he didn’t mean to say there wasn’t “any reason why it would be Russia”, but that “I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia” that interfered in the election.
In South Africa it was clear who Barack Obama was talking about when he gave a speech condemning the “utter loss of shame among political leaders when they’re caught in a lie and they just double down and lie some more”. (And if, like Trump, you keep saying that your father was born in Germany when he wasn’t, there might be further cause to question your honesty.)
Quick catch-up – Let’s see where things are at in some of the week’s other stories …
> A Russian woman charged with being a spy used the gun rights movement to penetrate US conservatism’s most rarefied circles. Jon Swaine and Lois Beckett investigate how the glamorous Maria Butina wooed the NRA and its allies.
> The Labour MP Margaret Hodge has called Jeremy Corbyn an “anti-semitic racist” on the floor of the Commons. She accosted the leader after the party’s executive declined to immediately strengthen its new code of conduct on antisemitism.
> Boris Johnson broke parliamentary rules by taking a job with the Telegraph within a week of quitting cabinet. “Boris is a useless fraud who was the worst foreign secretary in modern history. He has no shame,” said the Lib Dems’ Layla Moran.
> Milk shortages could turn butter and cheese into luxuries if there is a hard Brexit, according to the London School of Economics. Britain is a net importer of milk, and the import process would become a tangle under WTO rules.
Not oil that helpful – Omega-3 is important to the diet but taking it as a supplement does not protect against heart attacks or strokes, according to a review that encompassed dozens of randomised trials. “Such supplements come with a significant cost,” says Tim Chico, from Sheffield University. “So to anyone buying them in the hope that they reduce the risk of heart disease, I’d advise them to spend their money on vegetables instead.” Eating more oily fish, which is rich in omega-3, might still be of benefit, if only because you are eating it instead of something less healthy. “Iodine, selenium, calcium and vitamin D are at good high levels and much less common in other foods that the fish might replace,” says Dr Lee Hooper, the study’s lead author. “And if you take an oily fish capsule you might think you have done the healthy thing and now you can relax.”
Musk in hot water – Major investors in Tesla have stepped up their demands that Elon Musk apologise for calling one of the Thailand cave rescue divers a “pedo”. A partner at Baillie Gifford, Tesla’s fourth-largest shareholder, told the Guardian: “We are in contact with the company and we are hopeful that it is being taken with due seriousness.” Loup Ventures published an open letter saying Musk had “crossed the line” and calling for an apology. Jing Zhao is trying to remove Musk as chairman of the Tesla board: “He is not mature enough.” British renewable-energy installer Solar Shed says it will no longer promote Tesla-branded products – its boss tweeted: “All it takes is a public apology Mr Musk and I will reverse our decision.” Vernon Unsworth, the British diver who was defamed, has not ruled out suing Musk.
Not the droids we’re looking for – Thousands of scientists have promised not to build killer AI robots. Signatories including Google DeepMind and SpaceX pledge to “neither participate in nor support the development, manufacture, trade, or use of lethal autonomous weapons”. The organisation behind the pledge is the Future of Life Institute – let’s hope they remain in business for the foreseeable future.
Lunchtime read: Saying no to Love Island
“My modelling agency said it could be good – but it might all go very badly and potentially ruin my career,” says model Harry Sellers, 23. “I don’t want to be that guy who goes on Love Island and promotes tooth-whitening products and does club appearances for the rest of my life.”
Last month it was reported that more young people applied to appear on the latest season of Love Island than applied to either Oxford or Cambridge. But the casting process isn’t necessarily as open as all that – a team of producers also trawls Instagram and nightclubs for potential cast members. “Most of the people on the show are friends of friends,” says London model Dominique Sapsin. “They’ve clearly approached these people rather than picking people who have applied.” And a surprising number approached by producers say no. Mattha Busby finds out what puts them off.
Sport
Julian Alaphilippe prolonged French hangovers from World Cup celebrations by becoming the first home stage winner in this year’s Tour de France, a success that came at the expense of Geraint Thomas. Meanwhile the Giro Rosa champion, Annemiek van Vleuten, overcame her fatigue from winning the Italian stage race last weekend to win the fifth edition of La Course, a race that gripped viewers but is unlikely to lead to a women’s Tour de France any time soon.
In cricket, Joe Root reached his century on the last ball as England beat India at Headingley to win the ODI series 2-1. And Liverpool have opened talks with Roma over the possible world‑record signing of the Brazil goalkeeper Alisson, with an initial offer of €70m (£62.2m) including €10m of add-ons being lodged with the Serie A club.
Business
Asian markets have climbed higher overnight. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has said he expects the job market to remain robust and inflation to hover around the Fed’s 2% target for the next few years. US industrial production, including output at factories, mines and utilities, climbed 0.6% in June.
Sterling has been trading at $1.310 and €1.12 overnight.
The papers
The Guardian leads with “Relief for May as she sees off Tory rebels” while the Telegraph goes with “Four Labour MPs save May’s premiership in crunch vote”. The FT has “May restores frail grip on Brexit by seeing off pro-Europe rebels”; the Times says “Back me or we hold an election, PM told rebels” while the i keeps it simple: “The PM survives”.
Elsewhere it’s a mixed bag. “Criminal!” is the Express headline for the story of the “furious crime victim” unhappy with police who failed to investigate a theft despite there being CCTV footage. The Mirror has “Sex, lies.. murder” with an odd tale of a love triangle within a family. “Britain is working!” cheers the Mail about ONS statistics showing “record numbers of Britons are in work”.
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