Wednesday briefing: EU offers olive branch over sausage war

Top story: EU concedes protocol has not worked well enough

Good morning from me, Warren Murray. Now the news in just the right amount of detail.

Up to 50% of customs checks on goods entering Northern Ireland would be lifted, along with more than half the checks on meat and plants, under a bold offer from Brussels. The olive branch will be extended on Wednesday, with Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s Brexit commissioner, expected to say the proposals are not “take it or leave it” and he recognises the protocol has not worked well enough.

Beyond lifting an EU prohibition on British sausages and garden plants, Sefcovic’s intention is to reduce all so-called sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks to what is regarded in Brussels as an extremely low level. The EU will also vastly reduce the level of customs paperwork by broadening the definition of what products from Britain will be regarded as “not at risk” of entering the wider single market from Northern Ireland.

France, after its bruising encounter with the UK over fishing licences, had warned of the risks to the single market posed by lifting controls. But Sefcovic won the internal argument. A bone of contention remains in the form of a demand from Lord Frost, the UK’s Brexit minister, that the European court of justice (ECJ) loses its role as the arbiter of EU law being applied in Northern Ireland.

Midweek catch-up

> Poor housing is harming the health of one in five renters in England, with mould, damp and cold the main triggers of sickness, a major survey by the housing charity Shelter has revealed.

> Users of “younger” social media platforms such as TikTok are being introduced to antisemitic ideas they would be unlikely to encounter elsewhere, warns a report involving the group Hope Not Hate. It comes amid warnings that those drawn into conspiracy theories around Covid-19 are also at risk of adopting antisemitic views.

> Ministers are considering backing a Tory MP’s bid to cut the number of animals slaughtered without being stunned, while protecting religious rights to halal and kosher meat.

> In the US, the House has given final approval to a bill temporarily raising the government’s borrowing limit to $28.9tn at least until early December. It had already passed the Senate and Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law this week.

> A Dutch monarch can marry a person of whatever gender they choose without forfeiting their right to the throne, the Netherlands’ prime minister, Mark Rutte, has said.

Rutte was responding to questions from parliament that arose from a recent book – Amalia, Duty Calls – which argued old laws would appear to exclude the possibility of a same-sex couple on the throne, despite same-sex marriage being legal in the Netherlands since 2001. Princess Amalia, the 17-year-old heir to King Willem-Alexander, has not made any comments on the matter.

‘Adapt or die’ – Current plans to cut global carbon emissions will fall 60% short of their 2050 net zero target, the International Energy Agency has said, as it urges leaders to use the upcoming Cop26 climate conference to send an “unmistakable signal” with concrete policy plans. China plans to build more coal-fired power plants and has hinted it will rethink its timetable to slash emissions, in a significant blow to the UK’s ambitions for securing a global agreement in Glasgow. England faces more floods and droughts, rising sea levels, and pollution and greater demand burdening its water supplies, the Environment Agency has reported to the government. It has presented a scenario of “adapt or die”, warning that adapting to the already inevitable effects of climate change is just as important as actions to cut greenhouse gases.

Briefly up, Scotty – William Shatner, aka Captain James T Kirk of the starship Enterprise, is due to go into space today on one of Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rockets.

Shatner must be the first fictional space traveller to become a real one – depending whether you count Yulia Peresild, the Russian actor who is on the International Space Station making a film. Shatner’s 11-minute flight with three civilian crewmates is due to lift off around 2.30pm UK time today.

Today in Focus podcast: Covid – how UK got so much wrong

A parliamentary report says the initial handling of the coronavirus outbreak was one of the worst public health failures in UK history. Could tens of thousands of deaths have been avoided – and what are the lessons for the future?

Lunchtime read: When you can’t afford a family

“It is devastating.” Some millennials are working three jobs, changing careers or moving to faraway areas with affordable housing in order to drum up enough money to raise children of their own. Sadly, the numbers still don’t add up.

Sport

Hungary supporters were involved in more ugly scenes as they clashed with police officers at the start of their team’s drawn World Cup qualifier against England on Tuesday night. Fifa is likely to launch an investigation after trouble broke out in the away section during the first 10 minutes and the incident will raise further questions over the behaviour of Hungary’s fans. It set a malevolent tone and England could not lift the spectacle. Did it affect them? Whatever the explanation, it was a strange display from Gareth Southgate’s team. That a Scotland win in Moldova next month will take them to the World Cup play-offs belies the struggles Steve Clarke’s team encountered against the Faroe Islands. Broadcaster Sonja McLaughlan says the abuse she faced on social media for asking tough questions after England’s Six Nations defeat against Wales in February was made more severe because she is a woman. But she has vowed not to soften her pitchside interviews when she returns to covering Eddie Jones’s side next month.

Alexander Zverev notched his first career win against Andy Murray with a 6-4, 7-6(4) victory that moved him into the fourth round at Indian Wells. Wasps have asked Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Football Union to consider imposing a nationwide ban on the wearing of Native American headdresses by fans of Exeter Chiefs, arguing that visiting supporters who do so when the sides meet in Coventry on Saturday will potentially “cause offence”. Former middle-distance runner Mary Cain has filed a $20m lawsuit against disgraced coach Alberto Salazar and Nike alleging she suffered years of emotional abuse. Success in elite sport has not inspired ordinary Britons to become more active, the government will be told on Wednesday, and it must seize the moment to ensure that the participation legacy of the 2022 Commonwealth Games is not squandered as it was after London 2012.

Business

The crisis gripping the global supply chain looks like worsening after Apple was reported to be planning to cut iPhone 13 production by 10m units this year – more than 10% – because of a shortage of computer chips. The White House has warned Americans that they might not be able to get everything they want from shops this Christmas, while in the UK cargo ships have been turned away from the port of Felixstowe because there aren’t enough lorry drivers to pick up the containers. The FTSE100 will open flat after a calmer session in Asia overnight. The pound is buying $1.361 and EUR1.178.

The papers

The Guardian leads this morning with “EU to offer olive branch on Northern Ireland goods”. Also on the front: Beyonce. The US private equity giant Blackstone has struck a deal with Merck Mercuriadis, who advises the London-listed music rights business Hipgnosis, to set up a $1bn (about GBP735m) venture to acquire music rights and manage catalogues. Mercuriadis has been on an acquisition spree at Hipgnosis, buying the royalty rights to the music of Beyonce, Neil Young, Barry Manilow and others. The music rights industry is so crazy right now …

The Times has “Backlog at biggest port forces ships to turn away”. That’s about Felixstowe being unable to berth ships from Asia because there are not enough HGVs to offload the containers on to. The i says “Ships unable to dock and unload goods for Christmas”. The Telegraph has that on the front too, while its lead is “Brussels to offer new Brexit deal for NI”. The Express could never bring itself to say anything nice towards Brussels though – its headline is “EU told – your ‘poison’ is wrecking Brexit rules”.

The Metro’s splash headline today: “Covid verdict: it’s your fault … Apologise? Fat chance”. It says ministers won’t say sorry for the handling of the pandemic and instead are blaming victims for “being too fat”. “UK recovery will lag behind other advanced nations, IMF forecasts” – that’s the lead in the Financial Times. The Daily Mail hails “victory” for one of its own campaigns: “GPs freed from Covid rules”, saying social distancing will be scrapped in surgeries, allowing more face-to-face appointments. “Having fun Boris?” – the Mirror has a long-lens shot of the PM “playing with his paint set” on the balcony of his “billionaire pal’s villa”. The Star is fuming over that as well: “What a load of Pollocks”, though the Briefing doubts the PM’s daubing in any way compares.

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