Top story: Union urges Labour to abandon talks

Good morning – Warren Murray with a sampler of the day’s major stories.

Theresa May is set for a tense meeting this morning with heads of the Tory backbenchers’ committee as the scene is set for her potentially final attempt to get a withdrawal bill through parliament. No 10 has said the key piece of Brexit legislation will be voted on in the week beginning 3 June, and it is seen as a make-or-break moment for May’s prime ministership. The 1922 Committee will today press May to set a timetable for her resignation, whether or not the bill passes.

May’s spokesman suggested that if the bill did not pass, the Commons would face the choice of no deal or revoking Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman said: “There is no agreement and we need the government to make further moves.” The leader of the TSSA trade union, Manuel Cortes, has said the cross-party Brexit negotiations are damaging Labour’s European election prospects and it ought to pull out. “I fear we are paying a heavy price on the doorstep for talks which the government has used as a fig leaf for their Brexit failings.”

A YouGov poll has found more than half of Europeans think the EU is likely to fall apart in the next 20 years. Ahead of her final election as German chancellor, Angela Merkel has said Europe needs to reposition itself to face the challenges posed by its three big global rivals: China, Russia and the US. “The old certainties of the post-war order no longer apply.”

‘Securing America’s networks’ – Huawei and the Chinese government have hit out at Donald Trump after he declared a national emergency that outlaws technology from “foreign adversaries” where it poses a risk to US security. The commerce department said it was adding Huawei and 70 affiliates to its “entity list”, banning the company from acquiring components and technology from US firms without government approval. US officials have previously labelled Huawei a threat and lobbied allies including the UK not to use its equipment in next-generation 5G telecommunication networks. A leak about the issue from Britain’s national security council led to the sacking of Gavin Williamson as defence secretary. Ajit Pai, the chair of US telecoms regulator the FCC, said: “Given the threats presented by certain foreign companies’ equipment and services, this is a significant step toward securing America’s networks.”

Reality TV on notice – After the scrapping of The Jeremy Kyle Show by ITV, MPs have launched an inquiry into the death of a guest who had just been on the programme, as well as the suicides of two former contestants from the channel’s Love Island show. Damian Collins MP, the chair of the digital, culture, media and sport select committee, said: “Programmes like The Jeremy Kyle Show risk putting people who might be vulnerable on to a public stage at a point in their lives when they are unable to foresee the consequences … for themselves or their families.” The MPs will consider stricter regulations on how contestants are treated on air, how they are supported during and after their appearance, and whether certain programmes place “unfair psychological pressure on participants and encourage more extreme behaviour”.

Labour’s next manifesto – Momentum, the Corbynite grassroots faction of Labour, is urging the party to adopt “radical and transformational” pledges in its manifesto for the next election, including a green new deal and four-day week. In a swing at Tom Watson, the Momentum spokesperson Becky Boumelha accused the party’s deputy leader and his social-democratic Future Britain grouping of being “intent upon watering down and blocking Labour’s most transformational policies”. Labour’s Brexit policy over the past six months has been heavily influenced by the wording of the party’s conference motion that called for a customs union and kept a second referendum in play. Policies from this year’s conference will be expected to form part of the next manifesto for a general election predicted to take place within the next 12 months. After announcing yesterday that it would renationalise Britain’s energy network, Labour last night vowed to put solar panels on 1.2m homes as part of a “green industrial revolution”.

Black slate wiped clean – Donald Trump has signed a full pardon for Conrad Black, the Canadian-born British citizen and former newspaper mogul. Trump cited Black’s “tremendendous contributions to business”, the books he has written about ex-presidents, and his exceptional character as vouched for by Rush Limbaugh and Elton John. Trump didn’t mention Black’s book of 2018 that praises the incumbent president of the United States. Black once ran an international newspaper empire that included the Chicago Sun-Times, Britain’s Daily Telegraph and the Jerusalem Post. Ennobled as Lord Black of Crossharbour, he was found guilty in 2007 of scheming to siphon millions from the sale of Hollinger Inc’s newspapers. Two of his convictions were later quashed and his sentence was shortened. Black was released from a Florida prison in May 2012 and deported from the US.

From the ground up – A German company says it has unveiled the future of commuting: an electric “flying taxi” that you might one day be catching like an Uber. In a promotional video, the Lilium Jet only hovers a few feet off the tarmac. The Briefing will leave you to decide whether the idea has wings.

Today in Focus podcast: Facing up to Europe’s far right

With the EU elections beginning on 23 May, Anushka Asthana is joined by Jennifer Rankin, Shaun Walker and Angelique Chrisafis to assess the rising tide of anti-immigration and populist parties. Plus: Simon Hattenstone on what an accidental voicemail recording revealed about G4S’s private ambulance service.

Lunchtime read: Who killed Sweden’s PM?

Three decades ago, Olof Palme was assassinated on Stockholm’s busiest street. On the last night of February 1986, Palme and his wife, Lisbet, were walking home from the cinema when a tall man in a dark coat walked up behind them and shot the Swedish prime minister in the back, then fled.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The site of Olof Palme’s assassination in Stockholm, Sweden. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features

Over the past three decades, one chief investigator after another has failed to solve the case, and today the official inquiry remains open. In 1988, Christer Pettersson, a disturbed man who had already served time for manslaughter, was arrested and convicted, but freed after a successful appeal. The continuing mystery has given rise to wild conspiracy theories, and more than 130 people have falsely confessed. This February, police confirmed they are interviewing new subjects and testing new physical evidence for the first time in many years. Are they on the verge of closing the case at last?

Sport

Frank Lampard has had the last laugh in an ongoing battle between the Derby manager and his Leeds United counterpart, Marcelo Bielsa, after the Rams booked a Wembley final in a come-from-behind thriller. The former England and Chelsea star’s side secured a place in the Championship play-off final against Aston Villa but denied that “Spygate” played a part in motivating his side.

One of the Giro D’Italia race favourites, 2017 winner Tom Dumoulin, has pulled out during stage five, succumbing to injuries acquired during a crash in the peloton on the previous day. Primoz Roglic has reclaimed the race lead.

The England cricket board is facing further backlash over its promotion of new cricket format the Hundred after promotional material purported to depict fans was revealed to be stock photography. And outspoken Australian Nick Kyrgios has launched a remarkable tirade against Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic ahead of the French Open, calling the Spaniard a “super salty” loser and the Serbian “cringeworthy” for his “sick obsession with wanting to be liked”.

Business

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will today announce a policy to renationalise the electricity network to fight climate change and poverty. The opposition says its plans would end the energy consumer “rip-off”. Asian stock markets have dipped after Donald Trump declared a national emergency targeted at Huawei, with the FTSE100 tipped to follow them with a modest fall this morning. The pound is on $1.285 and €1.146 at the moment.

The papers

Several front pages are leading with Jeremy Kyle news, reporting his comments in light of the death of a man who was on his show. The Sun says: “Kyle: I’m utterly devastated”, the Mirror has “Jeremy Kyle: I am heartbroken” and the i reports: “Reality TV shows to be investigated as Kyle is cancelled”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Guardian front page, Thursday 16 May 2019.

In other news, cancer treatment hopes excite the Mail: “New dawn in cancer war” and the Express: “New drugs to beat cancer in a decade”. The Guardian reports: “Probation will be renationalised after disastrous Grayling reforms”.

The Telegraph says: “Tories plot to topple May within a month”, the Times has “Britain and US in spat over threat from Iran”, and the FT reports: “Trump defers showdown on EU and Japan car tariffs by 6 months”.

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