Top story: President moves to reassure white nationalist extremists

Hello – it’s Warren Murray with the news you need to start the day.

Donald Trump has worked quickly to unravel any goodwill and unity he might have engendered when he belatedly denounced white supremacists and neo-Nazis over the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The president has now returned to – and expanded – his original theme of spreading the blame to anti-racism protesters. At a rowdy press conference he conjured something he called the “alt-left” and said they showed equivalent violence to the far-right protesters – one of whom is accused of ploughing a car into a crowd at the height of rioting, killing one woman and injuring many others.

Trump added: “You had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists and the press has treated them absolutely unfairly.” The president appeared to ignore the fact that the “Unite the Right” rally was explicitly organised by white nationalists, for white nationalists. He did condemn Fields, the driver of the car, saying he “is a disgrace to himself his family and his country” and “a murderer”.

“I’m not putting anybody on a moral plane,” said Trump. “You had a group on one side and group on the other and they came at each other with clubs – there is another side, you can call them the left, that came violently attacking the other group … You had people that were very fine people on both sides.” Some people had only wanted to protest against the removal of the Robert E Lee statue, he said.

But Trump’s own Republican colleagues said there was no room for concessions to the far right. Senator Marco Rubio tweeted: “The white supremacy groups will see being assigned only 50% of blame as a win. We can not allow this old evil to be resurrected.” The House speaker, Paul Ryan, said: “We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive … There can be no moral ambiguity.” Some in the party were more coy about criticising Trump by name.

At least we have Barack Obama to remind us how to soothe troubled times: the ex-president’s tweet in the wake of Charlottesville that “No one is born hating another person” because of colour, background or religion is officially the most favourited of all time.

Daniel Craig back as Bond – 007 is not getting a new face just yet. Daniel Craig has told Stephen Colbert on US television’s The Late Show that he will be returning as the secret agent.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Daniel Craig leaves the Late Show studios in New York. Photograph: James Devaney/GC Images

It was not exactly the best-kept secret in showbiz but the response was immediately ecstatic. Craig said he “couldn’t be happier” about resuming the role. He suggested, though, that it might be the last time.

Gravy training – The government has pulled all funding and contracts from Learndirect, the privatised adult training agency that has almost 73,000 trainees on its books. Ofsted gave Learndirect the worst possible rating and the company is accused of allowing a “catastrophic decline” in standards while its bosses and majority-owner Lloyds Bank raked off tens of millions of pounds in taxpayers’ money. Learndirect – spun off by David Cameron four years ago – has received an estimated £631m in public funding, and an FT investigation found 84% had gone to managers and financiers. Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, has called on the government to ensure trainees and apprentices can complete their courses: “The future education and training of thousands is now at risk.”

‘Sexually victimised’ – Roman Polanski is facing new allegations of child sexual assault after an American woman said she was molested by the film director when she was 16, in 1973. The woman, named only as Robin, cannot bring a case because of the statute of limitations, but could be called on to testify if there were a future trial, according to her lawyers. Polanski, about to turn 84, has been living in Europe since fleeing the US because he suspected a judge was about to renege on a plea bargain over his statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl and send him to jail. The victim in that case has called for US authorities to drop their pursuit of him.

No ‘hard border’ – The British government will reject a return to border posts in Ireland as part of Brexit negotiations. Theresa May’s Brexit team want to agree on that up front with their Brussels counterparts as they seek to negotiate continued “free and frictionless” trade with the EU, but outside EU mechanisms – a goal that is being criticised as unrealistic. Our editorial calls for Britain to stay inside the EU customs union rather than trying to somehow copy it, and argues the Conservatives’ “future partnership paper” on the EU relationship is more about sorting out internal party politics than defending the national interest.

Gagging for it – “If you’re being chased by a pack of taxidermists, do not play dead.” The Briefing allows itself this single spoiler as necessary to introduce the top 10 jokes from the Edinburgh Fringe. Our favourites: the one about the Village People, closely followed by eye tests.



Lunchtime read: Has the Booker poisoned British literature?

The Booker prize now has a “stranglehold on how people think of, read, and value books in Britain”, according to author Amit Chaudhuri.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘The meaning of a writer’s work must be created, and argued for, by writers themselves.’ Illustration: Thomas Pullin

Because of its marketing power, this “midnight ball” model of literary worthiness is slavishly endorsed by publishers and writers alike, he argues. Novelists who once ranted against the Booker become strangely silent once they’ve won it, and the value of a book is reduced to whether it can win, thus becoming a success in the market. But the solution is not another, better prize. “The meaning of a writer’s work must be created, and argued for, by writers themselves, and not by some extraneous source of endorsement.”

Sport

Mark Stoneman feels his Test debut against West Indies under lights tomorrow is justification for his winter move from Durham to Surrey as he prepares to become the latest batsman to try to crack the puzzle that is being Alastair Cook’s opening partner.

Jürgen Klopp has hailed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s courage and revealed he told the teenager to take the free-kick that sent Liverpool on their way to a valuable Champions League play-off win away at Hoffenheim. Juli Inkster, the USA’s Solheim Cup captain, has urged the anticipated record crowds at the event in Iowa this weekend not to abuse Suzann Pettersen, after the last meeting was overshadowed by a controversy involving the Norwegian.

And Everton have finally reached an agreement with Swansea City to sign Gylfi Sigurdsson, who will move to Goodison Park for a club-record fee of £45m subject to completing a medical today.

Business

The IMF has warned that China’s debt-fuelled growth is “dangerous” and it risks a marked slowdown or financial crisis if it continues to allow “large increases in public and private debt”. The annual checkup also notes that China’s banking sector has become one of the largest in the world and equivalent to an above-average 310% of GDP.

Stock markets in Asia were broadly flat overnight while the FTSE 100 is set to rise very slightly this morning. The pound stabilised at $1.287 after Tuesday’s fall and will fetch a meagre-looking €1.096.

The papers

A mixed bag of front pages today. The Guardian reports that the EU is hitting back at the “fantasy” of the UK government’s proposition to mirror the customs union post-Brexit. The Telegraph says the number of babies left brain damaged by “NHS blunders” has risen by a record amount.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Front page of the Guardian, 16 August 2017.

The FT’s characteristically wordy lead headline is “Decade of QE leaves big central banks holding one fifth of public debt”.

The Mirror’s splash is “Freeze Fare” and says campaigners want the government to scrap a 3.6% rail fare rise. The Times also takes up the story saying some commuters have experienced a £2,500 season ticket increase since 2010.

The Mail reports that MPs are to rethink a plan to stop Big Ben from tolling as it undergoes a four-year refurbishment. And finally, the Sun splashes with “Scissor attack on Silent Witness star”.

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