Thursday briefing: Renters at risk from cut to universal credit

Top story: ‘Still time for government to step in’

Hello, I’m Warren Murray and it’s my pleasure to bring you the news this morning.

At least 100,000 renting households in England will be placed at risk of eviction when the government’s planned GBP20-a-week cut to universal credit comes into effect next week, the housing charity Crisis has warned. With a third of rental tenants relying on benefits after the pandemic, the impact could be widespread. The charity predicts evicted households who seek help from local councils with emergency housing will end up costing the public purse more.

The squeeze is being compounded by the final lifting of the emergency restrictions on evictions during the pandemic in England and the end of the furlough scheme on Friday. Dan Wilson Craw, the director of the Generation Rent campaign group, said: “There’s still time for the government to step in with a Covid rent debt fund to clear renters’ arrears and keep people in their homes.” Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have extended more liberal measures on evictions until next year.

‘Level up when you can’t fill up?’ – Keir Starmer has condemned Boris Johnson as “trivial” and a “showman” in a conference speech aimed at convincing voters Labour is ready for government. Closing the five-day conference in Brighton, Starmer drummed home the message that Labour’s priority was to win the next general election. Starmer ridiculed Johnson’s “levelling up” slogan, saying: “Level up? You can’t even fill up!” Labour strategists believe the botched exit from Afghanistan and the chaos of this week’s fuel crisis have sparked fresh doubt in voters’ minds about Johnson’s competence. Starmer was repeatedly heckled by a small number of individuals and tackled them with prepared putdowns, prompting applause from the majority of those present.

He distanced himself from the era of Jeremy Corbyn and stressed Labour’s patriotism, leading a standing ovation for Britain’s armed forces – though not all of those present joined in. Starmer’s team believe the perception that Labour was unpatriotic or sympathetic to anti-western forces cost the party heartlands seats in the last general election. With Labour keen to retake ground in Scotland, Starmer attacked Nicola Sturgeon’s record in office and promised Labour would offer a robust defence of the union. The Conservatives will gather for their own conference in Manchester this weekend, against the backdrop of petrol shortages, soaring energy bills and fears about the supply of key goods in the run-up to Christmas.

Nazi secretary, 96, in court – The trial begins today of a 96-year-old woman who worked as a secretary in a Nazi concentration camp. Irmgard Furchner was 18 when she started work at Stutthof camp on the Baltic coast in Nazi-occupied Poland. She is the first woman to stand trial in decades over Nazi crimes and, due to her age at the time, will be tried as a juvenile. Furchner is charged with aiding and abetting murder in 11,412 cases as well as complicity in 18 cases of attempted murder. Prosecutors will have to prove the first secretary to the camp commandant Paul-Werner Hoppe, an SS major, contributed to the mass murders. The defence argues that she only had a desk job reading handling Hoppe’s correspondence, and there is a lack of concrete evidence that she aided and abetted murder.

‘Desperate choices’ – The collapse of a further three UK energy companies in the past day will force the regulator to move 233,000 more customer accounts, with bills expected to increase as a result. Rising gas prices have now driven 12 energy companies under this year, with Igloo Energy, Symbio Energy and Enstroga the latest to succumb. In our report, an Ofgem official goes into what happens next for affected customers. Citizens Advice says consumers moved to a new supplier typically pay GBP30 a month more. The charity fears some could end up turning off their fridges and freezers this winter, relying on hot-water bottles for warmth and needing help to buy duvets and blankets. Clare Moriarty, its CEO, said people would face “desperate choices … The government and Ofgem must guarantee that the warm home discount will be continued for people moving to new energy suppliers.”

‘Let asylum seekers work’ – Dominic Raab, the new justice secretary, has said he would be “open-minded” about allowing asylum seekers to work to help tackle the UK’s labour shortage. Interviewed by the Spectator, Raab said: “If they learn the language and they can work, they integrate much better and they make a positive contribution.” Last week, the previous justice secretary Robert Buckland said the system in Denmark, which allows it, was “well worth a look”. The suggestion has been welcomed by campaigners but would be a major departure for the government. Raab also advocated encouraging more employers to give prisoners paid work. “Why not – if there are shortages – encourage them to do paid work where there’s a benefit for the economy, benefit for society?”

Britney’s dad stripped of control – Britney Spears’s father has been suspended from the conservatorship that has controlled her life for 13 years. Jamie Spears had fought against his removal and requested instead that the conservatorship be terminated entirely. He stepped aside in 2019 from control over her life decisions but remained conservator of her estate and finances. Now a certified public accountant is expected to take over that job. Jamie Spears’s attorney objected to his suspension during a hearing yesterday and cast doubts on Spears’ emotional testimony to a court in June: “She wasn’t cross examined. Nobody knows the veracity of those statements.” Jodi Montgomery, a court-appointed fiduciary, now acts as conservator of Britney Spears’s person. It is yet to be decided whether the conservatorship is wound up completely.

Today in Focus podcast: R Kelly’s reckoning

More than 20 years after the first allegations of sexual violence and abuse against R Kelly, he has been convicted on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. But as the women of colour who gave evidence celebrate the verdicts, there are renewed questions in the US about how the music industry, the media and the criminal justice system failed to hold him accountable for decades.

Lunchtime read: Lessons from Lewinsky’s shaming

She was a 22-year-old intern, he was the most powerful man in the world – yet everyone blamed her for their affair. As the story is retold in a new drama, this is what that vicious period taught us, writes Zoe Williams.

Sport

Trans women retain physique, stamina and strength advantages when competing in female sport, even when they reduce their testosterone levels, new guidelines for transgender participation in national and grassroots sport published by the UK sports councils will say on Thursday. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed a “massive moment” for Manchester United after Cristiano Ronaldo’s 95th-minute strike snatched a win against Villarreal and eased the pressure on the manager following a run of three defeats in four matches. Thomas Tuchel said Chelsea lacked mental sharpness after the European champions slumped to a flat defeat against Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Arsenal rallied in style to beat Tottenham 5-1 in their 2020-21 FA Women’s Cup quarter-final at Meadow Park. They will face Brighton in the last four – the Seagulls’ first Women’s FA Cup semi-final since 1975-76 – while Chelsea beat Birmingham to set up a meeting with Manchester City. Owen Farrell’s England place is not under threat from the fast-emerging Marcus Smith, and the international careers of the Vunipola brothers and Jamie George are also far from over, according to their longtime coaching mentor at Saracens. Tyson Fury says he was “absolutely wounded” by Anthony Joshua being defeated by Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua lost his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles as Ukraine’s Usyk secured a unanimous decision win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

Business

China’s factory activity has shrunk unexpectedly as the country’s huge manufacturing sector grapples with widespread power shortages, raising concerns about a drag on the world’s recovery from the pandemic. Output, orders and employment were all down, especially in energy-intensive industries, official figures showed. A shortage of components is also playing havoc with industry, including in Britain where the car industry saw output fall 27% in August thanks to the shortage of computer chips. The FTSE100 is set to rise 0.3% at the opening bell today while the pound has recovered a little bit of ground from its recent hammering to $1.344 and EUR1.158.

The papers

Keir Starmer’s speech takes up much of our Guardian front page today, while the lead story concerns the harrowing revelation that “Couzens used police handcuffs and ID to kidnap Sarah Everard“. Video footage released at a sentencing hearing shows Wayne Couzens, then a serving Metropolitan police officer, staging a false arrest of Everard in south London. Here is a timeline of what followed. Lord Justice Fulford is to decide today on the minimum length of Couzens’ life sentence for Sarah Everard’s murder, to which he pleaded guilty.

The same dreadful story is told in varying ways across other front pages. The Metro says “Moment cop took Sarah” while the Times has “Everard’s parents tell murderer: look at us”. The Express takes a similar angle, reporting the words of Susan Everard that she is “haunted” by what her daughter must have gone through. “Sarah didn’t stand a chance” says the Sun.

The Telegraph has “Everard’s killer used Covid law to entrap her” and says there are questions over how police vetting let him join up. The i says “Women losing trust in police”. The Financial Times, like others, has Keir Starmer on the front to mark his Labour conference speech, while its lead story is “Green tax burden shift away from electricity set to drive up gas bills” – it says ministers are to outline changes that would be phased in over a decade, to push people away from heating their homes and offices with gas and on to cheaper electricity that can be generated by zero-carbon, renewable means.

Sign up

The Guardian Morning Briefing is delivered to thousands of inboxes bright and early every weekday. If you are not already receiving it by email, you can sign up here.

For more news: www.theguardian.com

Get in Touch

If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com

Sign up to Inside Saturday to get an exclusive behind the scenes look at the top features from our new magazine delivered to your inbox every weekend