Section:GDN 1N PaGe:59 Edition Date:190907 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 6/9/2019 11:30 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
Saturday 7 September 2019 The Guardian •
In brief^59
The Tories lost control of parliament
during a disastrous two days, which
began with one Conservative MP
defecting to the Liberal Democrats- depriving Boris Johnson of his
majority – and ended with the
government losing a series of votes
on Brexit and unable to push through
his demand for a general election
Issue of
the weekBoris Johnson loses
control of parliamentZoe Williams, in
the GuardianOwen Jones, in
the GuardianTom Kibasi, in
the Guardian“Boris Johnson’s strategy is coming
apart. He had no plan for a deal.
He promised not to call a general
election. He feared the consequences
of no deal. So in an ideal world,
which is the only one he had planned
for, he would have had an election
forced upon him by Jeremy Corbyn.
“Instead, he had to go to the
House of Commons and ask for one.
His request was rejected, leaving
him a hostage prime minister, with
no meaningful option available that
doesn’t lead him into the territory
of compromise, which would
jeopardise his off er: the man who
beats the Brexit party by being even
more uncompromising than them.
“ He is the one with everything
to fear from a prolonged contest:
his project works best when it is
unchallenged, and even the briefest
brush with parliamentary realities
leaves it looking absurd.”“After four years of press panic about
the ‘Stalinist authoritarianism’ of
Labour, not one of its MPs has been
deselected. Yet after assuming
the premiership just six weeks
ago, Johnson has already shut
down parliament, purged 21 of his
opponents, and called into question
whether he’d obey the law.
“Johnson’s dire performances this
week in the House of Commons, and
his bumbling bluster when under
pressure in the Tory leadership
campaign, have challenged the myth
of his charismatic, campaigning
selling point.”“From proroguing parliament to
furiously provoking rebels on his
own side, Johnson created this
moment of crisis. That’s because
his political strategy aims to force a
general election before Britain leaves
the EU – and to use Brexit to win it.
In a single day, Johnson managed
to drive one Tory MP to walk across
the chamber to join the Liberal
Democrats, others to announce they
would not seek re-election, and
more to walk through the opposition
lobbies with Jeremy Corbyn. It is
quite the political feat.”Environment
EU fury over UK plan to
abandon North Sea oil rigsSociety
Suicides rates increase to
highest level since 2002Diet
Teenager loses sight due to
only eating processed foodTransport
HS2 to be delayed by up to
seven years as cost spiralsWildlifeSeal success suggests formerly
toxic Thames is thriving
It has been a highway, a sewer and was declared
biologically dead in the 1950s but the River
Thames is now a nursery for 138 baby seals,
according to the fi rst comprehensive count of
pups. Scientists from the Zoological Society
of London analysed photographs taken from
the air to identify and count harbour seal
pups, which rest on sandbanks and creeks
around the Thames estuary, downstream
from London. “We were thrilled to count 138
pups born in a single season,” said conservation
biologist Thea Cox. “The seals would not be
able to pup here at all without a reliable food
source, so this demonstrates that the Thames ...
is thriving and shows just how far we have come
since the river was declared biologically dead .”
The government is facing growing
outrage from the European
commission and EU member
states over plans to leave some
decommissioned oil rigs in the
North Sea, with one German offi cial
describing the UK’s proposal as a
“grotesque idea” that amounts to a
“ticking timebomb”.
Several hundred oil drilling
platforms in the sea are due to be
decommissioned over the next three
decades. Each of them can be as
tall as the Eiff el Tower, and taking
them down is costly. Plans to leave
them in place have raised alarm over
the raw oil and toxins that would
be left behind. Germany issued
a formal complaint, backed by
Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands
and Luxembourg. In August the
European commission wrote to the
government expressing concern.The rate of suicides in Britain has
risen sharply to its highest level since
2002, with men accounting for three-
quarters of such deaths last year,
offi cial fi gures show.
A total of 6,507 suicides were
registered in 2018 – 11.2 per 100,000
people – up 11.8% on the previous
year, according to the Offi ce for
National Statistics. Particular
concerns were raised over a rise in the
rates of young people aged 10 to 24
killing themselves, with the overall
rate at a 19-year high and the rate for
young females a t an all-time high.
Ruth Sutherland, the chief
executive of Samaritans, said:
“ Whilst the overall rise has only
been seen this year – and we hope
it is not the start of a longer-term
trend – it’s crucial to have a better
understanding of why there has been
such an increase.”The family of a 19-year-old from
Bristol, who suff ered irreversible
eyesight loss after surviving on a diet
of chips, white bread and processed
snacks and meat, have spoken of
how the teenager had been a fussy
eater from an early age and refused
to eat fruit and vegetables because of
the texture.
His poor diet caused him to suff er
from nutritional optic neuropathy,
which can be treated if diagnosed
early. However, the harm to his sight
has been judged to be permanent.
Speaking anonymously, the
teenager’s mother said her son
became a fussy eater when he was
about seven and would only eat
chips, crisps, sausages, processed
ham and white bread.Full HS2 services between London
and Birmingham will be delayed
by up to fi ve years to 2031, the
government has announced.
The transport secretary, Grant
Shapps, told parliament that fi nal
completion of the northern section
of the high-speed rail network would
very probably be pushed back by
seven years until 2040.
He also confi rmed that the budget
had escalated from the offi cial £56bn
at 2015 prices to up to £88bn at
today’s prices.
The announcement on Tuesday,
based on the fi ndings of the HS2 Ltd
chair, Allan Cook, pre-empts the
outcome of a review into the project
commissioned by the government
and expected to report next month.▲ Harbour seal in Kent – now in force in the Thames PHOTOGRAPH: GARETH FULLER/PAThe number of tourists who paid a visit to
Birmingham last year - up 26% since 2013. The
rise is being linked to the worldwide popularity
of the BBC series Peaky BlindersThe percentage by which the risk of an early
death increases for people who drink two or
more soft drinks a day, including sugar-free
versions, according to the largest study of its kind42.8m 17%
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