Top story: ‘Dense and destructive’

Good morning and welcome to this Monday morning briefing with Alison Rourke at the start of what will be another Brexit-dominated week.

As Boris Johnson heads to Luxembourg today for talks with the EU commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, No 10 has struck a combative mood. A Downing Street source said that Johnson would “stress to Mr Juncker that, while he wants to secure a deal, if no deal can be agreed by 18 October his policy is to leave without a deal on 31 October – and reject any delay offered by the EU”. In turn, Juncker is expected to ask Johnson to spell out his ideas for replacing the Irish backstop, the key issue in any new Brexit deal. The lunch meeting with Juncker comes 26 days after Johnson met Angela Merkel in Berlin and declared he had 30 days to persuade the EU there was a viable alternative to the backstop. EU officials poured scorn on Johnson’s assertion that, like the Incredible Hulk, he was poised to break free of the EU’s “manacles”. Guy Verhofstadt, the chief Brexit representative for the European parliament, tweeted that the remarks were “infantile”. A bigger ticking off came from Mark Ruffalo, the actor who plays the Marvel superhero: “Boris Johnson forgets that the Hulk only fights for the good of the whole. Mad and strong can also be dense and destructive,” he tweeted.

Peter Walker writes that Labour will face increased pressure from local party activists to adopt a more wholehearted anti-Brexit stance at its upcoming conference, according to an analysis of submitted motions, which shows 90% want the party to openly back remain in any future referendum. Meanwhile, only half of UK universities are ready for a no-deal Brexit, according to a survey by Universities UK, with 80% of universities worried about the impact of crashing out of the EU without a deal.

‘Locked and loaded’ – Donald Trump says he’s ready to respond to the drone attacks on an oil processing plant in Saudi Arabia, saying he has “reason to believe that we know the culprit” behind them. In a tweet last night Trump said the US was “locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] as to who they believe was the cause of this attack and under what terms we would proceed!”. Meanwhile oil prices have soared in the wake of the attack to reach six-month highs. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, gained almost $12 a barrel, reaching up to $71.95 a barrel, before dropping back to $68 a barrel. Iran denies it was behind the drone attacks on Saturday.

‘Dehumanising’ – The government’s chief adviser on extremism, Sara Khan, has called the language used by Boris Johnson to describe Muslim women “demeaning” and “dehumanising”, and warned that politicians and the media risk provoking violence through their rhetoric. Khan criticised the use of inflammatory phrases and terms such as “enemies of the people” and “saboteurs” – both of which featured in Daily Mail headlines – in political discourse. Asked if it was wrong for the prime minister to liken Muslim women wearing burqas to “bank robbers” and “letterboxes” as he did in a Daily Telegraph column in 2018, she said: “Politicians from across the divide need to be very careful of their language,” adding that inflammatory language was “deeply unhelpful”.

Farm subsidies – Just 1% of the $700bn-a-year subsidies given to farmers is being used to benefit the environment, according to a new report by the Food and Land Use Coalition (Folu). Instead, most of it goes to promoting high-emission cattle production, forest destruction and pollution from the overuse of fertiliser. The report rejects the idea that subsidies are needed to supply cheap food and found that the cost of the damage currently caused by agriculture is greater than the value of the food produced. It also finds that producing healthy, sustainable food would actually cut food prices, as the condition of the land improved. “There is incredibly small direct targeting of [subsidies at] positive environment outcomes, which is insane,” said Jeremy Oppenheim, principal at (Folu). “We have got to switch these subsidies into explicitly positive measures.”

Work rights – More than a million workers in Britain do not receive any of the holiday pay according to a report by the Resolution Foundation thinktank. It found that as many as one in 20 workers did not receive any holiday pay despite being legally entitled to at least 28 days a year. According to the research, almost one in 10 workers do not receive a legally required payslip, making it hard for them to calculate whether they are receiving the right level of pay, pension and holiday and to check for any deductions.

Roman beef – A fourth-century Romano-British butcher’s business unearthed at Ipplepen in south Devon has beefed up the case for redrawing the map of the Roman empire. Experts believe the business was set up to prepare the best cuts of beef that were transported to customers miles away along a Roman road found at the site. The discovery of a ditch full of 1,700-year-old cattle bones has undermined the notion that ancient Rome’s influence had not stretched further south-west in the British Isles than Exeter, 20 miles to the north of the site.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The remains of a high-quality Romano-British butcher’s business unearthed by archaeologists in Devon. Photograph: Handout

Today in Focus podcast: Edward Snowden: life after leaking

Former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden’s life was upended by his decision to expose his government’s programme of mass surveillance. Ewen MacAskill helped break the story for the Guardian back in 2013 and now visits him in his adopted home of Moscow. Plus Caelainn Barr on why rape prosecutions are at a 10-year low.

Today in Focus Edward Snowden: life after leaking Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen https://audio.guim.co.uk/2019/09/13-65779-190916TIF_snowden.mp3 00:00:00 00:30:46

Lunchtime read: ‘I needed therapy’

If The Sopranos was groundbreaking at its debut two decades ago, it now occupies an even rarer category – a show that’s become more admired over time, and one the Guardian has named as the best of the century so far. The success of The Sopranos lies in the instantly recognisable relationship between Tony and his toxic mother Livia, which its creator, David Chase, based on his relationship with his own mother. Looking back, he thinks he went overboard in characterising his childhood as bad. Was she proud of his TV career? “Not particularly. She didn’t understand it. My mother was a great one for saying, ‘who do you think you are?’”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest David Chase and the late James Gandolfini, pictured in 1999. Photograph: Jill Connelly/Associated Press

His first idea for The Sopranos came from the central dynamic between Tony and “the mother who was problematic and sent to a nursing home; she was his real enemy”. A mobster-in-therapy was a funny idea, but Chase didn’t see it as a sendup. He himself had been saved by therapy, which he began at 31. “I was just totally selfish. And my wife said to me, ‘You need help.’” Without it, he says he would almost certainly have driven away his wife, Denise Kelly, to whom he has been married for almost 50 years: “She saved my life.”

Sport

Joe Root claimed to have found the blueprint for his Test side and hailed the summer as a success after England followed up the World Cup triumph in July by denying Australia an outright Ashes win. Jonny Bairstow was again excellent behind the stumps at the Oval but his batting position must be questioned, while for a weary Steve Smith it was apparent from his body language that Australia’s hero of the series was no longer piloting in perfect control. The England captain, Owen Farrell, has had to change his tackling technique amid fears of a flurry of red and yellow cards at the World Cup. In the kind of denouement script writers lie awake conjuring up, Europe pulled off a miraculous 14½-13½ Solheim Cup victory over the US at Gleneagles, when Suzann Pettersen sank the final putt of the tournament to seal a home victory. And Granit Xhaka reignited the debate about Arsenal’s mental toughness when he said his team had been scared during the second half of the 2-2 draw at Watford.

Business

The UK is facing its most prolonged investment slump in 17 years, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), with spending due to decline 1.5% this year, fuelled by Brexit uncertainty. The length of the downturn was already poised to exceed the slump after the 2008 financial crisis, when business investment fell by a greater degree but only for two years. The BCC warned that relentless Brexit uncertainty was preventing firms from investing and diverting resources into no-deal planning.

The pound is buying €1.127 and $1.249.

The papers

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Photograph: The Guardian

The fallout from the attacks on a Saudi oil processing plant feature on the front page of the FT: “Saudis seek to reassure markets as attack halves oil production” and the Times: “Iran tells US it is ready for ‘fully fledged war’”.

The Guardian has a story about “Surge in UK children linked to ‘county lines’ drug gangs” and the Daily Mail reports: “Shock rise in crime probes abandoned in 24 hours”.

We’re back on Brexit on the front pages of the Telegraph: “Johnson confident he is closing on a deal”, the Express: “Brexit deal is within our grasp”, and the i: “Johnson’s bid to save Brexit on 31 October”. The Mirror has a report that Rod Stewart is in remission: “Rod: I have beaten cancer” and the Sun says “Flunkies warn Queen’s guests... Don’t mention Meghan”.

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