Friday briefing: Atrocity in Plymouth

Top story: ‘Not a terrorism-related incident’

Hello, Warren Murray with this morning’s major stories.

Six people including a child have died after a gunman repeatedly opened fire in Plymouth, police have confirmed. The atrocity is being classed as a domestic incident and is not thought to be related to terrorism. Police believe the suspect shot himself. Armed police and paramedics converged in Biddick Drive, in the Keyham area of Plymouth, shortly after 6pm. Devon and Cornwall police said two females and two males were deceased at the scene, along with another male believed to be the offender. A further female had gunshot wounds and died shortly afterwards in hospital. Police stressed it was “not a terrorism-related incident”.

Luke Pollard, the MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, wrote online: “I’m utterly devastated that one of the people killed in the Keyham shooting was a child under 10 years old.” One area of investigation for police will be the motive for the shootings. Another will be whether the man who opened fire had a licence to hold a weapon and whether he should have had. Also under investigation is whether the man had any prior contact with police or the authorities. A number of local spaces including churches said their doors would be open from 9am today to help people cope. The Plymouth Argyle football team tweeted: “Our hearts go out to victims of tonight’s tragic incident in our city, alongside their families, friends and the wider Plymouth community.”

Desperate race to Kabul – The US and UK have scrambled reinforcements to Kabul to help evacuate diplomats, soldiers and citizens as well as thousands of Afghans who have worked with them. The Pentagon said it was sending about 3,000 soldiers while the UK is to send 600. The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said Britain was relocating its embassy from the outskirts of the secure Green Zone to a potentially safer location closer to the centre of the capital. As well as diplomats and soldiers, Britain expects to evacuate up to 4,000 eligible Afghans. Taliban fighters on Thursday captured Afghanistan’s second- and third-largest cities, Kandahar and Herat, and are reported to be within 95 miles (150km) of Kabul. Mitch McConnell, the US Senate minority leader, has criticised the Biden administration for its “reckless policy” on Afghanistan, which he said was “careening toward a massive, predictable and preventable disaster“.

VAT mess over test kits – Companies offering Covid tests to travellers may be skewing the market by not charging VAT, a Guardian investigation has found. HMRC says Covid tests are only exempt from 20% VAT if administered by a registered health professional or if the company selling them has sales of less than GBP85,000 a year. The Guardian has seen communications from a number of companies telling customers they have not been charged tax on kits sent out by post. Providers are calling on HMRC to either scrap VAT on the tests or ensure everybody is charging it correctly. Our global coronavirus live blog awaits your visit.

Gigs ‘too often not safe spaces’ – Ellie Goulding, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Glastonbury’s Emily Eavis are among the names backing a call to end the harassment and abuse of women at gigs and festivals. Organisers of the Safe Spaces Now music industry initiative say more than 40% of women under 40 have experienced sexual harassment at a live music event. Their letter has also been signed by Anne-Marie, Clara Amfo, MNEK and Rudimental. “Our industry has too long ignored: venues, festivals, studios and workplaces are too often not safe spaces for women, girls and marginalised genders.” Festivals, venues, labels and artists are being called on to sign up to the initiative.

Covid and relationship breakdown – More than one in five adults reported a complete breakdown in a relationship at home or at work in the past year, the UK’s largest study of social ties during the pandemic has revealed. Younger people were more likely to have their relationships affected. A quarter of people reported worsening relationships with their spouse or partner and a quarter reported difficulties with colleagues or co-workers, according to University College London’s Covid-19 Social Study. It was not all bad news, as 46% of young adults said the quality of their relationships with their spouse or partner had been better than usual over the past year – a higher proportion than in older adults.

‘Orderly transition’ – Jamie Spears has agreed to step down as conservator of his daughter Britney Spears’s estate “when the time is right”, according to court filings. A lawyer for Jamie Spears wrote that he “does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests … Mr Spears intends to work with the court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator“. The filing said Jamie Spears had “already been working on such a transition” with his daughter’s previous lawyer. Britney Spears’s current lawyer has called for her father to step aside immediately. At a 14 July hearing, Vivian Thoreen, Jamie Spears’s lawyer, defended his record, saying: “He loves his daughter and only wants the best for her.” Thoreen questioned the veracity of the singer’s “conservatorship abuse” claims: “Many of her characterisations or memories are just incorrect.”

Fellowship broken – Amazon has made the surprise decision to move production of its $1bn-plus Lord of the Rings series from New Zealand to the UK. Production will continue in New Zealand until June next year and the new series is due to premiere that September. The New Zealand government was criticised for offering multimillion-dollar rebates to Amazon, one of the richest companies in the world, to secure the production. The strict Covid policies in New Zealand have also played a part: roughly half the cast is from the UK, and coming and going entails 14 days’ quarantine. The UK also offers rebates for TV series that cost more than $1m an episode to shoot and is the home of many high-profile Amazon productions.

Today in Focus podcast: Cuomo’s fall from greatness

The New York governor Andrew Cuomo resigned this week after 11 women came forward with sexual harassment claims, ending the career of one of the most prominent politicians in the US.

Lunchtime read: Heartbreak as Hongkongers flee the home that China took away

Amid the Covid pandemic, Hong Kong airport is quiet except for twice a day, when long queues form at airline desks for London-bound flights. Families exchange envelopes of “lucky money” and say tearful, heart-rending farewells. Tens of thousands of people are taking up the British government’s offer of a route to citizenship, after China imposed the draconian national security law on its former colony a year ago. Hong Kong’s population has declined by 1.2% in the past year, continuing the largest fall since the city began keeping comparable records in 1961.

“When we said goodbye to our parents the night before our departure, we thought it might be the last time we saw one another,” says Carol Poon, an accountant who recently left. “We shed a lot of tears. Would we see them again? Can we return? If we go back, can we leave again?” She and her husband moved their young family because of the national security law. “It’s a catch-all law that has no limits … how can we accept it?” Patricia Chiu, a businesswoman who has also fled Hong Kong for the UK, said the loss of the city’s former way of life broke her heart. Since she might not be able to return, one of her biggest worries was about her son: “I dread not being able to see him again.”

Sport

The new Premier League season kicks off tonight when newly-promoted Brentford host Arsenal in their first top-flight match in 74 years. There are plenty of players with a point to prove during the upcoming campaign, while this weekend, Tottenham striker Harry Kane will be the centre of attention and Chelsea hope for a statement of intent against Crystal Palace. The British sprinter CJ Ujah has been provisionally suspended for an anti-doping rule violation after testing positive for two banned substances after winning a silver medal in the 4x100m relay at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

An impressive India will resume today on 276 for three in the second Test at Lord’s, largely thanks to KL Rahul’s sublime unbeaten century on day one, after England chose to bowl first. St Helens had Tommy Makinson sent off after an hour and a late breakaway Greg Eden try made sure Castleford ran out 20-10 winners in the Super League clash at the Totally Wicked Stadium. And several employees of the Mauritius Football Association have been summoned by police after an employee said she had discovered a mobile phone in video recording mode hidden in the women’s toilets at the association’s headquarters.

Business

Another day, another takeover deal. Yesterday it was aerospace fim Meggett but today is about London-listed inhaler-maker Vectura, which has agreed to accept a GBP1.1bn bid from the US tobacco giant Philip Morris. The FTSE100 looks like opening flat this morning, while the pound is also pretty level at $1.382 and EUR1.177.

The papers

There were changes to later editions after the terrible events in Plymouth. “At least five dead in gun rampage in Plymouth” – the Guardian’s third edition went out before we could confirm a sixth death. The main story on the front is “Britain and US evacuate as Taliban advance on Kabul“. The Telegraph has the Plymouth story while its lead is “Paras sent on rescue mission to Afghanistan” and Una Stubbs is commemorated with a front-page picture.

The Times reports “Multiple fatalities after Plymouth mass shooting” and the front also carries the Paras’ mission to Afghanistan, which the Metro calls “Operation Kabul”. The Mail says “Six shot dead in Plymouth gun horror”, a construction more or less repeated in the Mirror and Express.

The i says “Britain faces biggest test for living with Covid this weekend”. The Financial Times leads on that British deployment to Afghanistan while it also covers the latest GDP figures, headlined: “Eager shoppers bring economic boost with quarterly growth approaching 5%”.

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