Top story: ‘We need to go further,’ says Owen Smith

Good morning – I’m Warren Murray and here are the main stories.

Labour’s shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Owen Smith, has challenged the party to reopen the debate on whether Brexit is “the right choice for the country” and offer the public a vote on the final deal. Smith, who ran against Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership in 2016, writes in the Guardian: “Labour needs to do more than just back a soft Brexit or guarantee a soft border in Ireland.”

Underlining the critical importance of peace in Ireland, Smith writes: “If we insist on leaving the EU then there is realistically only one way to honour our obligations under the Good Friday agreement and that is to remain members of both the customs union and the single market. I’m pleased my party has taken a big step in this direction by backing continued customs union membership, but we need to go further.”

The intervention is likely to reopen divisions within Labour after fraught internal discussions led to Jeremy Corbyn eventually agreeing to adopt “a customs union” with the EU as party policy. Smith’s remarks will appeal to remainers in the party ranks and embolden backbenchers campaigning for Labour to support single market membership.



‘No other plausible explanation’ – The EU has recalled its ambassador to Russia overnight and several European governments look likely to expel Kremlin diplomats in solidarity with the UK over the Salisbury poisonings. EU leaders have met with Theresa May in Brussels and issued a statement saying it is “highly likely Russia is responsible” for the use of a nerve agent against Sergei and Yulia Skripal. France, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are understood to be considering expulsions, while Lithuania’s foreign minister, Linas Linkevičius, appeared to suggest withdrawals from the World Cup: “To make Russia proud at being capital of this world religion football, I don’t believe it’s very productive frankly.”

In today’s long read, international relations expert Mark Galeotti chronicles how under Vladimir Putin, gangsterism has moved from the streets of Russia to the heart of the state.

China answers Trump tariffs – Beijing has promised to hit back with tariffs against the US and protest to the WTO after Donald Trump announced $60bn in new trade measures targeting China. Global markets have gone into shock at the prospect of a trade war – the Dow Jones industrial average dropped nearly 3%, and Asian markets have followed suit overnight. Trump declared the new tariffs necessary to address a $504bn trade deficit and a “tremendous intellectual property theft situation” costing hundreds of billions more. A new list of proposed tariffs is likely to cover sectors such as robotics, hi-tech trains and aerospace. The Chinese leadership has signalled it will hit back with tariffs on US goods such as pork, apples, steel pipe, soybeans, cars, planes, cotton, apples and ethanol. An editorial in the nationalist Global Times suggested a “people’s war” where ordinary citizens would boycott American goods: “Don’t believe it? Come try us.”

McMaster of none – Donald Trump’s increasingly-on-the-outer national security chief has gotten in first by resigning. HR McMaster will be replaced by John Bolton, hawkish former ambassador to the UN who has advocated a tough stance towards Russia and using military force against Iran and North Korea. McMaster’s exit comes after Trump fired Rex Tillerson as US secretary of state – the biggest departure in a lengthening line of exits from the Trump administration.

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Tillerson has given a farewell speech in which he said Washington can be “a very mean-spirited town”. He didn’t mention Trump once.

Controversial school of thought – Going to a selective school does little to improve a pupil’s GCSE results, according to a study. A pleasing idea, perhaps, to Guardian readers, but the basis for the assertion might trouble you: that genetic factors are at play. The lead author, Prof Robert Plomin of King’s College London, argues the influence of genetics on achievement is the “elephant in the classroom”. It might be seen as problematic that one of the co-authors is Toby Young, known for controversial writings about working-class students and “progressive eugenics”. Professor Danny Dorling, of Oxford University, questioned the study, saying it implies “the large majority of children in the UK [those outside selective schooling] … have, on average, a genetic predisposition not to be that able. The idea that private schools do not increase a child’s chance of being awarded more GCSEs and A-levels is not very credible.”

Lunchtime read: Charles in charge

Spooked by cling film, ranting at prime ministers, obsessed with his public image and disdainful towards “Mama down the road”. An unauthorised biography of Prince Charles portrays the heir who regards his life as “utter hell”.

Tom Bower writes in The Rebel Prince that Charles “presides at the centre of a court with no place for democracy or dissenting views … like some feudal lord” and commands an army of 120 staff. Some patrol his lettuce patch at night to pick off the slugs, while four valets help him change his clothes up to five times a day, alleges Bowers, who expresses concern that as king, Charles “will act alone, without any restraining adviser”. Clarence House says it will not comment on the allegations made in the book.

Sport

Gareth Southgate, the England manager, says he is “not concerned” about his side as the World Cup looms but England face the Netherlands tonight burdened by a host of still unanswered questions. Southgate has also claimed England must address its own problems with racism before it can criticise Russia over the matter after revealing members of the national set-up’s junior sides had endured “disgusting” racial abuse on social media.

Despite the time it has taken, the news that Manchester United, one of the game’s superpowers, are launching a professional women’s team is welcome, writes Suzanne Wrack. Golf’s No1, Dustin Johnson, fell by the wayside at the World Match Play, but Rory McIlroy stayed alive with a timely win. And after England’s spectacular collapse yesterday, New Zealand are well on top on a soggy day two of the first Test in Auckland.

Business

Investors have shown what they think of a possible trade war between the world’s two biggest economies by frantically selling stocks and key industrial commodities in overnight trade. Asian shares have taken a real battering, the worst shellacking being for the Nikkei which is off 4.65%. Iron ore dropped 5%, which didn’t do much for the Australian stock market either. The pound has risen slightly to $1.411, but is off a smidgen at €1.144. Follow all the developments at our live blog here.

The papers

The Mail makes up for yesterday with belated but plentiful outrage about post-Brexit passports being made across the Channel. It demands that ministers “Stand up for Britain for once!” and fumes that Britain’s “ruling class” seem to “hate our country, its history, culture and the people’s sense of identity”. Don’t hold back!

The Times goes with “May’s EU allies prepare to expel Russian diplomats”. In the Guardian’s print edition we lead with how Facebook gave anonymised data on 57bn friendships to Alexsandr Kogan – the Cambridge academic who shared data with Cambridge Analytica. The Telegraph says “May’s task force backs women in business” – something for which the paper claims credit after running a campaign to help female entrepreneurs. The Mirror tells how a transgender woman who won the lottery couldn’t buy her dream home because of objections from neighbours. The Sun is angry at two easyJet pilots for messing about with Snapchat at 30,000 feet. The Express splashes with yesterday’s news about police forces failing to respond to 999 calls. The i leads on the release from hospital of Salisbury policeman DS Nick Bailey – “My life will never be the same again” is the headline.

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