The main stories...
It wasn’t all bad
The major difficulty for those hoping to thwart Johnson’s plan
to quit the EU on 31 October is that the law states we will
leave on that date, deal or no deal, said The
Daily Telegraph. So even if the PM were to
lose ano-confidence vote, he could still set an
election for November–bywhich time the UK
would already have left. As Corbyn realises,
the “only option” now for those who want to
stop Johnson is to win that no-confidence vote,
and use the “14-day interregnum” specified
under the 2011 Fixed-term Parliaments Act to
formashort-lived alternative administration.
Corbyn is “unequivocally right” to put himself
forward as leader of an interim government,
said The Observer. It’s the only way to fight
the “calamity” ofanodeal –acalamity whose
dire consequences are spelt out in the classified
document leaked this week, detailing the
Government’s plans for dealing with the crisis (see page 4).
On the contrary, said The Independent, the caretaker leader
should be someone who is not seeking to stay in No. 10,
someone who would not use the role–asSwinson fears
Corbyn would do–tohis electoral advantage. It should be
someone like Clarke or the Labour MP Harriet Harman, a
politician who is prepared to put party to one side.
Jeremy Corbyn wrote to opposition leaders and
Tory backbenchers opposed toano-deal Brexit
last week, calling on them to join Labour in a
cross-party coalition to oust Boris Johnson in
ano-confidence vote, and to forma“caretaker
government” ona“strictly time-limited” basis.
The alternative government, which he would
lead, would seek “to preventadeeply damaging
no deal”, he said, by asking Brussels to extend
Article 50. He would then callageneral election
in which Labour would campaign forasecond
referendum which included “an option to
Remain”. But several opposition politicians,
including Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson, said they
would reject any plan that involved putting
Corbyn in Downing Street. Swinson called
instead for veteran Tory MP Ken Clarke, the
Father of the House, to leada“government of national unity”.
Hopes thatanodeal could be averted tookafurther knock
this week when Donald Tusk, the president of the European
Council, reiterated the EU’s determination to reject Johnson’s
demand that it re-open negotiations over the Brexit
withdrawal agreement and scrap the Irish backstop.
What happened What the editorials said
Cross-party coalition call
“The Hong Kong crisis has reachedapivotal moment,” said
The Times. China could yet meet the protesters’ demands by
leaning on the Hong Kong government to scrap
its controversial extradition law and order an
inquiry into police abuses. Or it could send in
the troops–and risk the start ofa“new,
protracted Cold War”. Alas, the hardening
rhetoric from Beijing suggests that it is now bent
on confrontation, said The Observer. According
to China’s “fake narrative”, the protesters are a
“subversive minority” of “terrorists” who take
their orders from the US, Britain and Taiwan.
The likely aim of such propaganda: to prepare
public opinion ahead ofacrackdown.
At least the peaceful nature of last weekend’s
mass rally gave Hong Kong “a much-needed
break” from violence, said the South China
Morning Post. Let’s hope that the organisers have learnt a
lesson from the ugly scenes at the airport last week, when
protesters clashed with riot police and attackedaChinese
journalist accused of being an infiltrator. Any repeat would
risk losing the support of local and international communities.
Vast crowds of pro-democracy demonstrators
defied an official ban and took to the streets
of Hong Kong last week, despite severe threats
of acrackdown from Beijing.Organisers say
the march attracted 1.7 millionpeople, almost
aquarter of Hong Kong’s population. The
rally passed off peacefully, in sharp contrast to
the violence early last week, when protesters
occupied Hong Kong’s international airport.
As protests entered their 11thweek,asenior
Chinese diplomat cautioned that Beijing
would not “sit on its hands and watch” if the
situation deteriorated. The warning came as
TV pictures showed Chinese forces massed
just across the border in Shenzhen.
The sudden resignation of the boss of Cathay Pacific, Hong
Kong’s flag carrier airline, is also widely seen asaresult of
Beijing’s pressure. Rupert Hogg had been embroiled in a
row with Beijing over his reluctance to sack airline staff who
had taken part in the protests (see page 45).
What happened What the editorials said
Stand-off in Hong Kong
The rate of unexplained infant
deaths in England and Wales
has fallen to its lowest level on
record, according to Office for
National Statistics figures. In
2017, 183 babies under one year
old died withoutaknown cause
or of sudden infant death
syndrome,afifth fewer than in
2016. At 0.27 occurrences per
1,000 live births, the rate is half
that of 2004. The drop is likely
to be due to greater awareness
that babies should be placed on
their backs to sleep, and fewer
pregnant women smoking.
ABritish cyclist has reached a
speed of 174mph, settinganew
world record. Ridinga£15,
custom-built, elongated bike,
45-year-old architect Neil
Campbell was pulled along a
runway at Elvington Airfield in
North Yorkshire byaPorsche
Cayenne, which hadalarge
attachment fitted to its rear to
createaslipstream. He was then
released to go througha200-
metre speed trap under his own
power. The previous record for
amale cyclist was 167mph.
However, the overall record is
184mph, set last year by the US
cyclist Denise Mueller-Korenek.
Apublic lavatory in
Hull has been included
alongside Stonehenge
and Tate Modern on
alist of the UK’s
“ultimate” visitor
destinations. The
Grade II listed
conveniences on
Victoria Pier, which
opened in 1926 to
serve passengers of
the Humber Ferry, are
ranked 483rd in Lonely
Planet’s top 500. The travel guide describes them as “temples of
lavatorial luxury built in Edwardian style, with art nouveau
flourishes, resplendent with gleaming white tiles, polished copper
piping, varnished mahogany andaminor jungle of potted plants”.
COVER CARTOON: HOWARD MCWILLIAM
Corbyn: would-be caretaker
Protesters in Hong Kong
