Monday 9th October, 2017

Good morning

Brief overview: As a potential Cabinet reshuffle lurks on the horizon, factional quibbling remains at the forefront of today’s front pages.

Outside of the headlines: The Vice President of the United States of America Mike Pence registered his anger at NFL players protesting police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem. Pence protested himself, leaving before the game started and costing American taxpayers $242,500 in the process.

Russia’s government said it might restrict the operations of American media organisations in Russia. It accuses Washington of putting unwarranted pressure on the American operations of RT, a Kremlin-backed broadcaster.

Graph of the day:

via The Economist

Cartoon of the day:

via Ben Jennings

The Daily Mail

Owned by: Daily Mail and General Trust, owned by Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere

Editor: Paul Dacre

Political leaning: Right / far right

Daily circulation: circa 1,490,000

Brexit stance: Pro-Brexit

Today’s leading headline: Gender neutral census

Today’s Mail leads with the revelation that ‘declaring your sex could be optional in the next consensus’. The move is still very much in the preliminary consideration stages at The Office for National Statistics; the reason for its potential introduction would be ‘for the benefit of intersex and non-binary people’. The paper notes its concern, warning of incomplete data and the 4 million people who chose not to fill in the last voluntary census question about religion.

Afterthought: This is a complicated issue. From as early as 2007 the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has examined ways to fill in gaps on gender data, whilst trying to include as many respondents as possible. As a result, many potential ideas have been floated and dismissed.

The Mail has taken a deliberate stance on reporting this issue. Dacre knows that trans issues are emotive and will still cause controversy among his right wing reader base.

Comments from the most recent article on trans acceptance in schools on The Mail Online. Source

The paper also quotes a Tory MP who believes that ‘the world has gone mad’.

The Daily Telegraph

Owned by: Telegraph Media Group, owned by Sir David Barclay and Sir Frederick Barclay

Editor: Chris Evans

Political leaning: Right

Daily circulation: circa. 460,000

Brexit stance: Pro-Brexit

Today’s leading headline: Pound coin chaos as shops defy deadline

The Telegraph today covers the pound coin crisis that is threatening to consume the UK’s small traders and shops. The Royal Mint introduced the new one pound coin in March of this year, and set out a deadline for when old pound coins would cease being legal tender.

Old pound coin on the left, and the new coin on the right. Source

With around 300 million old pound coins still left in circulation, small business are rejecting the deadline set out by the Royal Mint, and will continue to take the old pound coins.

Afterthought: Life goes on in Britain in a typically British fashion. The government announced the introduction of the new fraud proof coin in their 2014 budget speech. Businesses have had three years to prepare themselves for this moment.

The Times

Owned by: News UK, Rupert Murdoch’s company.

Editor: John Witherow

Political leaning: Centre right

Daily circulation: circa. 446,000

Brexit stance: Neutral / slightly pro-Brexit

Today’s leading headline: The ball’s in your court, May tells EU leaders

Brexit is back in the headlines in today’s Times. Theresa May has gone on the offensive as negotiations continue to move along at a snail’s pace. In a statement to the House of Commons, May warned EU negotiators that ‘the ball is in their court’, and urged negotiations to get back on track so as to ‘prove the doomsayers wrong’.

Further factional infighting has continued to rumble as the right-wing members of the party called for the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, to be reallocated. Others called for Johnson to be shuffled from his position.

Afterthought: Threatening the EU negotiators by saying the ball is in their court is a strange move indeed. Many pundits would suggest that it is in the EU’s interest to have the ball in their court — they can delay Brexit for as long as they want, whilst May’s government falls from beneath her feet. Simultaneously, the prolonged and expensive negotiations serve as a warning for any other countries that contemplate leaving the EU.

The Guardian

Owned by: Scott Trust Limited, run by a board with a policy of non-interference.

Editor: Katharine Viner

Political leaning: Left

Daily circulation: circa. 161,000

Brexit stance: Anti-Brexit

Today’s leading headline: Tory Brexiters turn their fire on treasury

It is now Philip Hammond’s time to feel the fire of the Brexit entourage, reports The Guardian. The Chancellor and his department have been accused of spreading ‘anti-Brexit gloom’ by Tory backbenchers, who want him moved in the potential Cabinet reshuffle May is considering.

Conservative MP and former director of the Vote Leave campaign Bernard Jenkin claimed that Hammond was deliberately dragging his feet. Along with his EU counterparts, Hammond is ‘legitimising EU threats of economic disruption’, the MP claimed.

Afterthought: Anti-Brexit charges have been laid on a variety of targets, most notably the BBC. However, Hammond ranks poorly among his colleagues when they were asked who they believed wants Britain out of the EU.

via YouGov

With a potential Cabinet reshuffle on the horizon, campaigning from both sides of the party will now begin as pro and anti-Brexit MPs attempt to get their position consolidated at the top level of the party. Expect many more trial-by-press articles.

The i

Owned by: Johnston Press, whose CEO is Ashley Highfield

Editor: Oliver Duff

Political leaning: Centre

Daily circulation: circa. 264,000

Brexit stance: Neutral

Today’s leading headline: May fights back — and threatens Boris with the sack.

The infighting among the Tories continues to receive coverage in today’s i. The paper reports that May has issued another threat to Johnson to fall back in line or else face losing his position as Foreign Secretary. Ruth Davidson, the ‘rising star’, urged her colleagues against any ‘private ambition’, and advised them to rally behind their leader.

Afterthought: Little to add here. Johnson and Hammond are facing losing their current jobs should May choose to reshuffle her Cabinet.

The Daily Mirror

Owner: Trinity Mirror. Its chairman is David Grigson, formerly the chief financial officer at Reuters

Editor: Lloyd Embley

Political leaning: Left

Daily circulation: circa. 716,900

Brexit stance: Anti-Brexit

Today’s leading headline: The great bin collection scandal

The Daily Mirror leads on the news that many Brits are calling private waste firms to collect their overflowing bins, as local councils fail to step up to the mark. The paper calls this a violation of a ‘basic right’, and claims that areas affected by the ‘Tory bite’ are waiting as long as 21 days.

Afterthought: The Rubbish Party in Kilmarnock ran on and won a seat with the promise to bring about bin collections on a more regular basis. Birmingham also saw widespread strikes from rubbish collectors this year. This is not just a local issue, and clearly resonates with many Brits.

Financial Times

Owner: The Nikkei, which is based in Tokyo.

Editor: Lionel Barber

Political leaning: Centre

Daily circulation: circa. 193,211

Brexit stance: Neutral/slight anti-Brexit

Today’s leading headline: Schäuble says debt and liquidity levels endanger global economics .

Outgoing German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has told the Financial Times that global debt levels and liquidity present a “major risk to the world economy” — “Economists all over the world are concerned about the increased risks arising from the accumulation of more and more liquidity and the growth of public and private debt”.

Schäuble talked on the danger of listening to “demagogues who say . . . we’re paying too much for Europe”, calling Brexit ‘foolish’. He countered fears over the rise of the far-right AfD in his country: ‘there’s no reason to believe that democracy and the rule of law are in danger’.

Afterthought: Schäuble was a noted Europhile, and oversaw one of the most powerful economies for eight years. He moves on to a new job as Speaker of the German Bundestag.

The Sun

Owner: News UK, owned by Rupert Murdoch

Editor: Tony Gallagher

Political leaning: Right / far right

Daily circulation: circa. 1,611,464

Brexit stance: Pro-Brexit

Today’s leading headline: Ryanscare

The Sun publishes a hit piece today on Ryanair. The tabloid reveals that various workers employed to carry out safety checks have been playing work place pranks on each other, including drawing on each others faces.

Afterthought: A tabloid story.

Top trending stories from across the web

Al Jeezera

Owned by: Government of Qatar.

Political leaning: Often accused of having the state interests overshadow their independent integrity.

Top article: Turkey, US suspend visa services in tit-for-tat fallout. (link)

BBC

Owned by: The British public.

Political leaning: Strict regulation to make it impartial. Centre.

Views: 70 million unique views per week.

Top article: Trump NFL row: Mike Pence walks out of game after players kneel (link)

Guido Fawkes

Owned by: Paul Staines, a libertarian political blogger, also writes for the Sun on Sunday.

Political leaning: Right/far right. Clickbait.

Views: 100–250 thousand views per day.

Top article: All Labour’s Different Brexit Positions

The Canary

Owned by: Six editors and around 25 writers. Editor-in-chief is Kerry-anne Mendoza, prior ties to the Guardian.

Political leaning: Left/far left. Very pro Corbyn. Clickbait — pays its writers on a click per pay basis, encouraging them to produce work that will go viral.

Top article: Jeremy Corbyn just got some thrilling news that will send his opponents reeling (link)

Final Thought

News shouldn’t tell you how to feel. The news should present facts, and allow you to formulate your own opinion. Regardless of your political affiliation, try and read beyond the headlines that most of these papers push on you, from the left and the right.

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