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It wasn’t all bad

To take Britain out of the EU withoutadeal “would be the

most wilfully dangerous policy action that any government of

this country has taken in modern times”, said

The Guardian. Yet, “almost unbelievably”, it

now appears to be one of No. 10’s central

goals. Johnson’s chief strategist, Dominic

Cummings, let it be known at the weekend that

MPs had run out of time to preventano-deal

Brexit because even if the Government lost a

vote of no confidence, it could still delay an

election until after 31 October. Johnson lacks

“both the democratic and moral authority”

to attempt any such thing. Parliament must use

every weapon to stop this “arrogant gamble”.

Remainer MPs have already deployedafair

few of these in their efforts to frustrate the

result of the 2016 EU referendum, said The

Daily Telegraph. The sensible move now would

be for them to “change tactics”. Rather than resorting to more

“parliamentary skulduggery”, they should accept that Theresa

May’s deal is defunct and put pressure on the EU to offer the

UKabetter one. The “increasingly ill-tempered stand-off”

between Downing Street and Brussels is helping nobody,

said the Daily Mail. “Good faith and common sense must be

allowed to prevail–for all our sakes.”

The prospect ofano-deal Brexit loomed larger

this week as London and Brussels rejected each

other’s positions and No. 10 signalled that it

was prepared to push through such an outcome

even in the teeth ofafull-scale Remainer revolt.

On Monday, EU negotiators briefed European

officials that there was currently no basis for

“meaningful discussions” owing to Boris

Johnson’s insistence that the Irish backstop be

removed from the withdrawal deal (see page

22 ). Asenior EU diplomat reportedly said that

ano-deal Brexit now appeared to be London’s

“central scenario”.AUKGovernment source

denied that this was the case, but insisted the

EU had to understand that Johnson couldn’t

resubmit to the Commonsadeal that MPs have

already rejected three times.

Johnson’s fledgling administration faced further tests over the

course of the week, includingaslump in the pound, warnings

of apossible recession, and defeat in the Brecon by-election

(see page 6). Inamove widely interpreted asabid to boost

the Tories’ prospects inapossible general election, the Prime

Minister set out details ofa£1.8bn boost to the health service.

What happened What the editorials said

Cummings: tough message

The Brexit standoff

“Mr Trump has stigmatised Mexicans since the day he

announced his candidacy for president,” said The Washington

Post. He denounced Latino immigration as an

“invasion of our country”, and demonised

undocumented immigrants as “thugs and

animals”. The president’s words “have wide

and deep consequences”. Trump cannot be held

responsible for every irresponsible act, “but he

can be held to account for propagating ugly and

bigoted notions”. He should never again “spew

his loathing” from the White House.

Blaming these shootings on political opponents

is too easy, said The Wall Street Journal. After

all, there were mass killings under Obama, Bush

and Clinton. The real problem is more complex:

anew breed of angry loners who are “marin-

ated”in dangerous notions they absorb online.

It’s clear now that America hasaserious problem with white

nationalist terrorism, said The New York Times. Since 9/11, it

has claimed more American lives than the Islamist kind. True

enough, said the Chicago Sun-Times. But in the end, “it’s

about the guns. Every other explanation can get in line.”

Two mass shootings in the US in the space

of asingle day left 31 people dead and 53

injured. In the deadliest attack, 22 people

were killed on Saturday whenasuspected

white supremacist opened fire with an assault

rifle ataWalmart store in the city of El Paso,

on the Mexican border. Patrick Crusius, 21,

was later arrested and charged with capital

murder. It emerged that Crusius had posted

a“manifesto” onafar-right online message

board denouncing the “Hispanic invasion of

Texas”. Most of the dead were Hispanic. In

asecond attack,agunman killed nine people

outsideabar in Dayton, Ohio–even though

police shot him dead within 30 seconds.

Democrats bluntly blamed Donald Trump over the El Paso

attack, arguing that his rhetoric had stoked racial hatred.

For his part, Trump blamed mental illness and video games;

he also condemned racism and white supremacy. “Mental

illness and hate pull the trigger, not the gun,” he said.

What happened What the editorials said

Mourners in El Paso

American carnage

Sea eagles have been brought

back to the Isle of Wight, 239

years after they were last seen

there, as part ofaprogramme

to reintroduce the birds to

England’s south coast. Last

month, six chicks were brought

to the island from Scotland

(where they were reintroduced

in the 1970s), and 60 will now

be released over five years.

The birds, which vanished from

the UK due to persecution by

humans, can haveawingspan

of 2.4 metres, making them

Britain’s largest bird of prey.

Britain’s “worst football team”

has finally wonamatch, after

an 840-day, 73-game wait. Fort

William FC, who play in the

Scottish Highland League,

defeated Nairn County 5-2 at

Claggan Park last week. The

team, which featured inarecent

BBC Scotland documentary,

received congratulations from

clubs around the country.

Footage of the dressing room

showed champagne popping

and players chanting the name

of Russell MacMorran, the

former policeman who took

over as manager in January

followinga14-1 defeat.

AFrench inventor successfully flew

across the Channel last weekend

on his jet-powered hoverboard.

Franky Zapata, who lost two

fingers while developing his board,

completed the 22-minute journey

from Sangatte near Calais to St

Margaret’s Bay in Kent on his

second attempt, having fallen into

the sea onatrip two weeks ago.

Powered by five turbojets, the

device hasabackpack that carries

enough kerosene to stay airborne

for ten minutes, so Zapata had to

makearefuelling stop onamid-

Channel platform. Escorted by

three helicopters, he hitatop

speed of 105mph.

COVER CARTOON: HOWARD MCWILLIAM