Top story: Article 50 might be invoked on Tuesday

Hello - Warren Murray making sure you’re across it all this morning.



Theresa May is within tantalising reach of setting Britain on the path to Brexit as the “trigger” bill comes to a crunch vote in the House of Commons today.

The government aims to remove amendments on EU nationals’ rights and send the legislation back to the Lords. If enough peers drop their objections and wave it through, it is thought May could fire the starting gun as early as tomorrow on two years of negotiations to separate from the European Union.

After the European parliament’s Brexit point-man gave Britons fresh hope of keeping their EU citizenship rights, other countries such as Bulgaria and Lithuania are warning that any such deal will have to cut both ways. Whenever it happens we’re gonna need a bigger bureaucracy – there are predictions a much-enlarged civil service will be required to deal with the challenge of Brexit, and other Whitehall projects will have to be put on hold.

‘Boaty McBoatface’ sets sail – It turns out they DID end up using the name. Boaty the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is being sent on its first mission: exploring the Antarctic depths of the Southern Ocean. The moniker, if you recall, stems from a contest to name a polar research ship that became a viral joke: everyone voted for Boaty McBoatface instead of a strait-laced option. The Natural Environment Research Council just couldn’t go through with it and Sir David Attenborough got the honours when it came to the full-sized vessel.

‘Depressing and defunct’ – Westminster’s youngest MP, Mhairi Black, has said she might not stand for re-election because “I hate the place”. Black, who at age 20 won Paisley and Renfrewshire South for the SNP, says candidly that in parliament you are “working with a number of people you find quite troubling” and “so little gets done. It is so old and defunct … a lot of the time, it is just a waste of time.”

Mhairi Black is not sure parliament is for her. Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/The Guardian

But there are a few bright spots – the lesbian MP describes herself as having found a Tory “boyfriend” in Jacob Rees-Mogg. “If you are reasonable with folk then they will soften a little.”

Over in the Lords, an investigation of peers diddling their allowances has been quietly shelved out of fear it might cause robes to become ruffled (which some might think perfectly warranted) and prompt a “press storm” of naming and shaming.

‘Learning styles’ a myth – Neuroscientists, academics and psychologists have sounded an alarm over the still-popular idea among educators that children need to be taught differently according to whether they are “visual, auditory or kinesthetic” learners. Adapting schooling to individual “learning styles” is a “neuromyth” that is not supported by evidence and may harm a pupil’s education, say neuroscientists and scholars who have written a joint letter to the Guardian. Teachers and schools are urged not to waste time, money and children’s crucial learning years on a concept that is “simply not supported by the science and of questionable value”.

Syria’s toll on children – The situation has “hit rock bottom” for the youngest victims of the country’s bitter civil war who are being killed in their hundreds, recruited to fight or used as suicide bombers, prison guards or executioners, says Unicef in a heart-rending report. Even where families have managed to make it out of the country, financial desperation means children are being pushed into child labour or forced into early marriages. More than 70% interviewed by Save the Children showed signs of “toxic stress” or PTSD. “I dream of a Syria without a war so we can go home,” refugee Darsy, 12, told Unicef.

Surf’s up – We have special coverage today marking the start of the World Surf League Championship Tour. Jonny Weeks goes on the road with the youngsters and veterans searching for glory; our interactive tells you the 12 most exciting surfers to watch this year; and here’s how to score the perfect 10 while riding those filthy green cathedrals on your shark biscuit.

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Lunchtime read: Don’t be so mardy you numpty

The death of the dialect may be feared in today’s global village but a British Library project finds it is alive and well. Here are some terms you will probably recognise (“dog and bone”) and others you might not (“all my eye and Betty Martin”).

What weird sayings come out of your north and south? Composite: Guardian

Join in the effort to preserve unusual words and sayings by contributing yours here.

Sport

FA Cup holders Manchester United are facing a striking crisis with four of their forwards ruled out of tonight’s quarter-final against Chelsea. Derby County have sacked Steve McClaren for the second time in less than two years, paving the way for Gary Rowett to take over as manager at Pride Park.

Under coach Eddie Jones, England’s rugby side have run away with a tournament that was expected to be the most competitive Six Nations for years, writes Robert Kitson.

A Cape Town cycling race had to be cancelled after winds exceeding 60 miles an hour blew riders off their bikes and sent portable toilets tumbling across the road.

And Joey Logano said “there wasn’t much talking, just a lot of swinging” after he left Nascar rival Kyle Busch bloodied in a wild post-race brawl in Las Vegas.

Business

It’s a huge week in the world of finance with the UK possibly triggering Brexit as early as tomorrow and the US Fed expected to raise rates for only the third time in a decade on Wednesday. Throw in a possibly incendiary Dutch election and markets in Japan and Australia were subdued. However, Korea and Hong Kong were up strongly thanks to the tailwind from strong US jobs figures on Friday, undeterred by oil prices, which hit a three-month low in early trading.

The pound remained depressed at $1.22 and was also suffering against a recovering single currency at €1.14.

The papers

The Mirror leads on what it says is a new twist in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. “Maddie cops hunt worker at resort” is the self-explanatory head.

Daily Mail front page, 13 March, 2017. Photograph: The Daily Mail

The Mail splashes on a BBC documentary about the House of Lords and reports that an investigation into peers who clock in for their tax-free daily allowance, but don’t do any work, has been dropped due to the public anger it might whip up.

Meanwhile on Brexit ... the Telegraph leads with a story that the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, is attempting a “last-ditch bid” to ruin Brexit by threatening to name a date for a second independence referendum unless Scotland gets a special EU deal. The Times reports on the heads of 35 Oxford colleges warning of an exodus of academics unless EU citizens who live in the UK get assurances about being allowed to stay. The FT says Theresa May is expected to get her Brexit trigger as MPs lack the numbers to attempt further amendments.

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