NEWS BRIEFING
Puzzles 20
Business 31
TV listings 37
Weather 39
Prue Leith called in to
overhaul hospital food
Top grades for tougher
GCSEs are on the rise
Blood test can identify
ovarian cancer earlier
Giraffes added to list of
endangered animals
Ministers have launched a review of
NHS hospital food, with Prue Leith,
The Great British Bake Off judge,
brought in to overhaul menus. Leith, a
vocal critic of the fare served on
wards, has been asked to tackle the
issue 30 years after she was brought in
to transform the food served on
Britain’s railways. She once warned
that vulnerable patients were being
asked to survive on “unidentifiable
grey mush” and “sweaty cheese” while
recuperating.
Page 2Top grades are on the rise despite the
new “tougher” GCSE exams, with
students able to pass some exams after
answering just 18 per cent of the
questions correctly. This year, 20.7 per
cent of all exams were given grades 7,
8 or 9, which are equivalent to A or A*,
making it the highest proportion since- In 2002, when the Joint Council
for Qualifications’ records began, 16.
per cent were graded A or A*. This rose
to 20.3 per cent by 2016, the year before
the reformed GCSEs were introduced.
Page 7
A blood test that can detect ovarian
cancer two years earlier than current
methods could be used to screen
women annually. Researchers from
Queen’s University Belfast have found
that measuring four proteins together
can pick up cancer early, at a stage
when nine in 10 women will survive
the disease. Ovarian cancer is one of the
deadliest cancers because symptoms are
vague or absent until the later stages,
when the chance of surviving for five
years is just 22 per cent.
Page 12Giraffes have been given protection
against unregulated trade for the first
time. The animals, hunted for their
hides, bones and meat, have been
added to a list of endangered species at
a summit. Conservationists said the
ruling, which was opposed by
southern African countries, “throws a
vital lifeline to this majestic species”. It
is thought giraffe numbers have
decreased by about 40 per cent in 30
years and only 68,000 of the animals
remain in the wild.
Page 17newsnews newsworldJohnson demands fresh border plan
REUTERSPM orders ministers
to turbocharge
search for new Irish
solution as Macron
says Withdrawal
Agreement can
be amended
By Christopher Hope,
Anna Mikhailova and
Harry Yorke in Paris
BORIS JOHNSON returned to London
yesterday evening and ordered ministers
to draw up a new Irish border policy to
ensure the UK leaves the European Un-
ion with a deal in 10 weeks’ time.
The Prime Minister appeared to
punch the air in triumph as he entered
Downing Street after a Paris meeting
with Emmanuel Macron, in which the
French president said the Withdrawal
Agreement could be amended.
Stephen Barclay, the Brexit Secre-
tary, and his officials will now be or-
dered to “turbocharge” work on how to
find alternative arrangements to the
Northern Ireland backstop.
Their work is expected to focus on
examining proposals in a 270-page re-
port drawn up by Greg Hands, the for-
mer Tory minister, and Nicky Morgan,
now the Culture Secretary.
It is understood the officials will be
asked to update David Frost, the Prime
Minister’s Europe adviser, on progress,
as he plans to hold meetings with Euro-
pean countries next week, after the G
meeting of world leaders.
Mr Johnson will also phone Euro-
pean leaders after the G7, where he will
have further meetings with Mr Macron
and Angela Merkel, to brief them on
the plans.
The work on alternative arrange-
ments for the backstop plans will add a
new impetus to reopen negotiations
before the European Council summit
in October, where Boris Johnson will
hope to secure a new deal.
Downing Street officials have been
in contact this week with Mrs Morgan,
while Mr Barclay has held talks with
her about the report.
In his meetings with Mr Macron and
Mrs Merkel, Mr Johnson said the report
could be a blueprint to unpick the cri-
sis. Its suggestions include checks on
livestock and crops away from the bor-
der, trusted trader schemes and elec-
tronic customs clearance checks.
A source said: “Those of us who have
been involved in the report are waiting
to see how it will be turbocharged,
how the 30-day deadline is going to be
met given that we have already done a
lot of the work.”
A Whitehall source described the re-
port as a “proper piece of work”, adding
that its content was “of great interest to
the Government”.
Referring to the Withdrawal Agree-
ment, Mr Macron said: “If there are
things within the framework that can
be adapted, and conform to the two ob-
jectives I cited: stability in Ireland and
the integrity of the single market, we
must find them in the coming month.”
While Mr Macron said a new agree-ment with substantial differences was
not possible, his comments opened the
door to movement. He said: “Within
the context of past negotiations, we
should be able to do some work.”
After their press conference, Mr
Johnson and Mr Macron had lunch in
the Elysée Palace before going for a
walk in the gardens and having a cof-
fee. Mr Johnson was pictured appar-
ently putting his foot on the furniture,
responding to a joke by Mr Macron that
the tables would work equally well as
footstools. They met a day after MrsMerkel suggested a solution to the
backstop could be found in 30 days.
Mr Macron said: “Like Angela Mer-
kel, I’m also confident. We should, all
together, be able to find something
smart within 30 days if there is goodwill
on both sides, which I think there is.”
Mr Johnson said: “Let’s get Brexit
done sensibly and pragmatically...
where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Yesterday it emerged Dublin and
Brussels were in talks about imposing
new customs checks and controls at
ports and factories in preparations for ano-deal Brexit. Checks will be at the
point of origin or destination, sources
told the Irish Independent.
Last night, it was reported Mr John-
son and Donald Trump will give the
green light to trade talks when they
meet at the G7 summit. The Prime Min-
ister and the US president will agree to
start immediately on a timetable for ne-
gotiations, according to Mail Online.Reports: Page 4
Fraser Nelson: Page 18
Editorial Comment: Page 19Boris Johnson with
Emmanuel Macron
at the Elysée
Palace, where the
pair joked that the
tables were so
small they could
serve equally well
as footstools‘We should,
all together,be able to find
somethingsmart within
30 days if
there isgoodwill on
both sides’BRITAIN’S BEST QUALITY NEWSPAPERKitchen therapy Meet
the mindful millennial
bakers Features, page 21
Hannah Betts ‘Drinking
with my family sobered
me up’ Features, page 23
ARCHER’S ASHES
HEROICS
Six wickets put England in charge of third Test Sport, pages 1-
Han
with
ort, pages 1- 6Friday 23 August 2019 **^ telegraph.co.uk No 51,091 £ 2.00 | Subscriber price just £ 1.
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