Top story: Rail network ‘unfit’ but Grayling backs privatisation

Hello – Warren Murray here, time to sweep out the cobwebs and make room for news.

The rail chaos that stranded thousands of passengers earlier this year happened because “nobody took charge” even though it was clear that the overhaul of UK timetables was in serious trouble. The Office of Road and Rail has laid the blame for the “collapse” of services on Govia Thameslink Railway and Northern, Network Rail and the Department for Transport.

A series of fiascos has rocked the rail industry during 2018 including the decision in May to renationalise the East Coast line temporarily after Virgin and Stagecoach could no longer honour contract payments. Then the new timetables led to thousands of passengers being left stranded by cancellations.

The former British Airways CEO Keith Williams will now lead an examination of Britain’s rail network, which the transport minister, Chris Grayling, has admitted is “no longer fit to meet today’s challenges”. However he ruled out reversing privatisation, arguing it had doubled passenger journeys and brought in billions of pounds in private investment. The shadow transport secretary, Andy McDonald, countered: “Another review is meaningless in a year of rocketing fares, failing franchises and timetabling chaos … The railways need a Labour government which will deliver public ownership of rail.”

Chequers stalemate – In the Brexit negotiations, Theresa May and Michel Barnier have dug in on opposite sides of the Irish border issue. Barnier and Donald Tusk are demanding a “backstop” that would keep Northern Ireland inside the EU customs union. But the PM told leaders of EU countries at a Salzburg dinner: “The idea that I should assent to the legal separation of the United Kingdom into two customs territories is not credible.” May sought to bounce leaders into accepting her “common rulebook” proposal on trade in food and goods by stressing the urgency of making a deal. “The UK will leave on 29 March next year … extending or delaying these negotiations is not an option.” On immigration, after Brexit 70% of the kinds of EU workers currently in Britain would not get in if they were entering for the first time, under the proposals of the government’s migration committee, the IPPR thinktank has warned. EU workers already in the UK are to be protected but “sectors such as hospitality, logistics and wholesale will feel the squeeze” by the refusal of visas to newcomers earning under £30,000.

More to come after Storm Ali – A yellow weather warning is in place across Wales and the north of England today after the battering delivered by Storm Ali yesterday. Two people died and several others were injured as Ali swept across the north of Ireland, central Scotland and northern England with winds exceeding 100mph. Irish police said a Swiss woman in her 50s died when a caravan was blown off a cliff at Clifden in Galway.

Play Video 1:20 Storm Ali: ferocious winds wreak havoc in UK and Ireland – video

In County Down, Northern Ireland, a man in his 20s was killed by a falling tree; and in Crewe, Cheshire, a woman was seriously injured when a tree fell on her car. For Thursday there are warnings of possible flooding and further travel disruption, with winds of up to 65mph in England. The unsettled weather is due to last the rest of the week.

Furthering their Koreas – “These are minuscule moves on Kim’s part and we should treat them accordingly.” The verdict of North Korea analyst Jung Pak after the Trump administration eagerly embraced the outcomes of the two Korean leaders’ summit. North Korea has offered to dismantle missile test sites, and perhaps close down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor complex. But the missile site offer was just a repeat of what Kim said to Trump in Singapore. While the denuclearisation timeline remains vague, Kim and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, did come up with identifiable measures including a no-fly zone around the demilitarised zone, withdrawal of some guard posts and a revival of economic relations. The latter is problematic because of the US-backed economic sanctions against the North. “South Korea is promising all of these goodies to the North but can’t do any of it with sanctions in place,” says Victor Cha, a former National Security Council director.

Labour push for people’s vote – More than 150 constituency Labour parties have submitted Brexit motions for debate at the party’s conference, which begins in Liverpool on Sunday. The vast majority call for a public vote on the final deal. In an intense and unprecedented ground campaign, a coalition of grassroots Labour groups has pulled together disparate elements within the Labour membership who back a second referendum. They will arrive with an unprecedented mandate – supported by a pro-Corbyn rank and file – to put a people’s vote on the table. In 2017 Corbyn’s Momentum movement steered conference delegates away from the subject. This year Momemtum will not block it, says Laura Parker, the Momentum national coordinator: “It’s absolutely inevitable there will be a discussion on conference floor.”

Desert of Trump’s mind – Donald Trump has suggested Spain build a wall across the Sahara Desert to keep migrants from crossing the Mediterranean. He told the Spanish foreign minister: “The Sahara border can’t be bigger than our border with Mexico.” It is longer – by a thousand miles – and Spain has only two tiny bits of territory in Africa: the coastal cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Spain has overtaken Italy and Greece as the main destination for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, and rightwing parties have accused the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez of being soft in migration.

Lunchtime read: Where is Fan Bingbing?

China’s most famous female actor has not been seen in public for more than two months, after becoming embroiled in a scandal over actors underreporting their earnings.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fan Bingbing at a Cannes premiere in 2017. Photograph: Sebastien Nogier/EPA

As fans mark her 37th birthday, speculation swirls about where she has gone, or been taken. But one thing is certain: her fate has become a cautionary tale of the perils of working in an industry so connected to and controlled by China’s political elite. Our Beijing bureau chief Lily Kuo explains.

Sport

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Champions League debut for Juventus has ended in tears, with the star striker handed a contentious straight red card inside half an hour, that could see him miss a highly-anticipated return to Old Trafford. Juventus went on to defeat Valencia 2-0, but the competition’s all-time leading scorer cut a forlorn figure after his coming together with defender Jeison Murillo was heavily sanctioned. Elsewhere, Paul Pogba guided Manchester United to a convincing 3-0 win over Swiss champions Young Boys, while Lyon embarrassed cross-town rivals City 2-1 at home, thanks to goals from Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir.

Tiger Woods has praised Europe’s Ryder Cup lineup, saying the team is “one of the best they’ve ever had”. Playing in his first Cup in six years, the American also said he was “very proud” of the season he’s had, following a fourth round of back surgery. And, Britain’s most decorated female Olympian, Dame Katherine Grainger, has warned Wada about welcoming back Russia’s peak anti-doping body for “the integrity of sport and competition”.

Business

An epic financial scandal is unfolding in Denmark after the boss of Danske bank resigned over a suspected multibillion-pound money laundering scam. Thomas Borgen admitted that the vast majority of €200bn (£178bn) flowing through a tiny branch in Estonia was dirty money flowing illegally out of Russia, the UK and the British Virgin Islands. Expect the Scandi noir series soon.

Asian stock markets were up overnight on hopes of a resolution to the trade crisis and the FTSE100 is seen opening up a fraction this morning. The pound is sitting at $1.315 and €1.125 after a rough ride yesterday.

The papers

Several papers lead on rail – including the Guardian: “‘Nobody took charge’: regulator’s damning verdict on rail chaos”, the Times: “Rail failings exposed by chaos over timetables” and the Mail: “Off the rails!”.

On the front page of the Telegraph we have: “Chequers ‘as dead as a dodo’” and in the Express: “Do deal in 2 months … or we’ll walk”. “Too little too latte,” says the Sun, which is calling for readers to boycott Starbucks for their tax practices. The i reports on “Genetic testing on the NHS”, the Mirror says “Baby deaths hospital probe hits 104 families” and the FT’s splash is “Inflation defies forecasts as weaker pound drives up costs”.

Sign up

The Guardian morning briefing is delivered to thousands of inboxes bright and early every weekday. If you are not already receiving it by email, make sure to subscribe.

For more news: www.theguardian.com