Top story: Rent will soar to 80% of retirement income

Hello – Warren Murray keeping you savvy this morning.

More than 600,000 people are facing a “catastrophe” of homelessness when they retire, as their income will not be enough to keep a roof over their heads, according to the first government inquiry into what will happen to so-called Generation Rent – millennials unable to get on the housing ladder – as they age. People’s incomes typically halve after retirement, and those in the private rented sector who pay 40% of their earnings in rent could be forced to spend up to 80% of their income on rent in retirement. Many will have to move into temporary accommodation, at the state’s expense, according to an all-party parliamentary group: “The number of households in the private rented sector headed by someone aged over 64 will more than treble over the next 25 to 30 years,” said Richard Best, the group’s chair.

George Monbiot shares the story today of a friend who “works almost every waking hour, mainly to pay the rent. Her landlord lives on a beach, 4,000 miles away. He does not have to work because she and other tenants work on his behalf … [it is] a form of private taxation, levied by the rich on the poor.”

Meanwhile the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, is to promise that Labour will eliminate the “modern-day scourge” of in-work poverty by the end of the party’s first full term back in office. In a speech today he will attack the Conservatives for believing that “poverty is OK as long as some people are given the opportunity to climb out of it, leaving the others behind”. McDonnell will launch the Resolution Foundation’s Living Standards Audit revealing UK households have had slower income growth over the past two years than in the aftermath of the early 1990s recession, and the weakest growth outside of recessions since records began in 1961.

Midweek catch-up

> The House of Representatives has passed a resolution condemning as racist Donald Trump’s remarks that four congresswomen of colour should go back to where they “came from”. The White House aide Kellyanne Conway has snapped “What’s your ethnicity?” at a reporter who pressed her on the president’s comments.

Play Video 3:03 'The world is watching': US house condemns Trump over racist comments – video

> Rural women enduring domestic abuse are half as likely to report it as those living in cities, and it goes on for longer, according to findings by the National Rural Crime Network, which says perpetrators exploit isolation and countryside culture to shelter themselves from the law.

> US lawmakers have called for an investigation into whether the spread of Lyme disease had its roots in a supposed 1960s Pentagon experiment in weaponising ticks and other disease-spreading insects.

> More than sixty Labour peers have taken out an advertisement accusing Jeremy Corbyn of having “failed the test of leadership” over his handling of antisemitism complaints. They represent about a third of Labour’s members in the House of Lords.

> Police in Brazil have shut down a father-and-son factory that churned out fake Lamborghinis and Ferraris. The cars were allegedly being offered on social media for $45,000 to $60,000 – a fraction of the price of the real thing.

‘I just hate it’ – Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman detained in Tehran for more than three years, has been transferred to a mental health ward and is being kept out of contact with her relatives by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, her husband has said. According to those campaigning for her to be freed, she said before being transferred that she had arrived “healthy and happy” in Iran just over three years ago. “Look at me now, I ended up in an asylum. It should be an embarrassment. Prison is getting harder and harder for me. I hate being played in the middle of a political game. I just hate it.” Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in April 2016 on charges of spying that are vehemently denied.

‘You pay for it, chum’ – Boris Johnson has been accused of repeatedly ignoring expert advice on his so-called vanity projects as London mayor, leaving taxpayers with a bill of nearly £1bn and rising. He championed eight high-profile projects that either ended in failure or turned out to have questionable value. In numerous cases he was told from the start they wouldn’t work. Among them: a fleet of new Routemaster buses with the wrong kind of windows, and whose separate conductors were too costly to keep on; three unusable secondhand water cannon that had to be sold at a £300,000 loss; a £5.2m study of putting an airport in the Thames Estuary, which came crashing down with an unfavourable report that Johnson refused to make public; and of course the Garden Bridge proposal, a £53.5m failure. Johnson is the frontrunner to be the next prime minister, in case you needed reminding.

Play Video 6:36 Boris Johnson's failed vanity projects as London mayor – video

Cheque stub – The NHS could save £3bn a year by giving people a bit of money when they quit smoking, according to a review, which found it makes people 50% more likely to snuff their habit. In trials, people were given monetary and other rewards ranging in value from £35 to £912 – but the amount actually made little difference. Dr Penny Woods, the chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said the idea had been discredited in the past. “So it’s fantastic to see strong evidence that these innovative schemes work. Local authorities should consider this new research when designing comprehensive stop smoking services, as it could help target those in our communities who struggle the most to give up cigarettes.” Smoking costs the economy about £13bn a year.

Today in Focus podcast: Lunar landing hoax theories

On the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, a significant number of people across the world still believe it was all a hoax. Richard Godwin explores why the conspiracy theories endure. Plus Geoff Andrews on his part in the Guardian’s front page on that historic day back in 1969.

Today in Focus podcast Moon landing hoax theories Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen https://audio.guim.co.uk/2019/07/16-66904-190716TIF_moonhoax2.mp3 00:00:00 00:25:46

Lunchtime read: Memorable moon shots

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Buzz Aldrin poses next to the stars and stripes. Photograph: Nasa/Reuters

They’re on their way – or at least they were, 50 years ago, when Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins began the trans-lunar journey that would climax with the historic touchdown of Apollo 11. Art critic Jonathan Jones considers whether the images returned from their specially crafted Hasselblad cameras are the greatest photos ever.

Sport

Andrew Strauss, England’s former director of cricket, has urged the game’s powerbrokers to learn from the mistakes of the past and capitalise on England’s World Cup success. Meanwhile, Chris Woakes says England’s players will back whatever decision Eoin Morgan makes over his future as the one-day captain. Dave Brailsford’s rest-day habit of provoking the French resurfaced again as the Tour de France took a 24-hour pause in Albi, a day after the home hero Thibaut Pinot had been unceremoniously worked over by Geraint Thomas.

Billy Vunipola has no plans to stay off social media during the forthcoming World Cup in Japan despite the controversy sparked by his support for Israel Folau – who has since been sacked for his homophobic outburst. Amir Khan has claimed that he and Manny Pacquiao have signed up for a fight and are targeting a meeting in Saudi Arabia later this year. Kieran Trippier is on the verge of sealing a move to Atlético Madrid in a deal worth £20m plus add-ons and he has been given permission by Tottenham to travel to the Spanish capital for a medical. Ahead of this week’s Open at Royal Portrush, Justin Rose has broken ranks from golf’s leading players by criticising the new schedule for 2019, which features four majors in as many months. And the coach of the Santos women’s team has criticised the Brazilian Football Confederation after players had to doss in a hotel lobby before a crucial first division game: “This is the respect that people have for women’s football in Brazil.”

Business

Asian stocks have been subdued as Wall Street ended a five-day winning streak after the first big round of corporate earnings reports. Investor sentiments are turning lower after Donald Trump said: “We have a long way to go on tariffs with China.” Sterling is bringing $1.241 and €1.107 while the FTSE is set to open lower by around 0.2%.

The papers

The front pages range across a variety of topics today.

The Times and Guardian focus on politics and the prospect of a Boris Johnson prime ministership. The former suggests Johnson plans early election to hit Corbyn, while the latter looks back over the former mayor of London’s legacy: “Johnson accused over £1bn vanity projects”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Guardian front page, Wednesday 17 July 2019.

The Financial Times reports on the political impact on the economy: “Sterling plunges to 2 year low on mounting risk of no-deal Brexit”, while the Telegraph is preoccupied with the new “rubbish tip ‘tax’” and the Mail has launched a campaign against “dementia care bills betrayal”.

The Express and the Mirror train their attention on the threat to free TV licences, while the Sun goes for a pun about an attack on a toddler in Yorkshire: “Bat out of Hull”.

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