Top story: May faces crunch meeting on customs

Hello again – it’s Warren Murray bringing you the news this morning.

Theresa May faces an arm wrestle today as Brexiters seek to “pointedly and forcefully” persuade her to abandon anything that looks like a customs union and get behind their preferred option of “maximum facilitation”.

The PM will meet with her Brexit inner cabinet and it is suggested she will seek to put her “customs partnership”, also known as the hybrid model, on the table . But those who campaigned behind the catchy abbreviation “Brexit” in the referendum may have gotten the drop once again with their preferred option, dubbed “max-fac”.

The customs partnership – under which Britain would collect EU tariffs – has become the most contentious issue in the debate about the shape of Brexit. Many MPs regard it as the only way of avoiding a hard border in Northern Ireland. But Brexiters want “maximum facilitation”, which would make an unequivocal break with the EU regime and rely on technology to minimise border checks.

Sixty Eurosceptic MPs from the European Research Group, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, have sent May a 30-page report setting out their opposition to a customs partnership. They are claiming that with Sajid Javid joining the Brexit sub-committee as home secretary, they have the numbers to force May’s hand.

Inherited problem – “It manages the uniquely bad twin feat of being both wildly unpopular and raising very little revenue.” That is the experts’ verdict on inheritance tax, which they want scrapped in favour of a “lifetime receipts tax”. Analysis by the Resolution Foundation suggests the government could raise an extra £5bn by bringing in a tax-free inheritance limit of £125,000; a 20% tax on amounts up to £500,000; and 30% for amounts above that. Taxing individual recipients, rather than the estate as a whole, could also give parents an incentive to spread their largesse more widely, say proponents, while making it harder for the rich to avoid the tax. To tax avoidance on a global scale, and the government has agreed to back measures forcing British overseas tax havens to introduce public ownership registers. The backflip comes in the wake of the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers investigations in which the Guardian participated.

Health hazard – Labour is urging ministers to let the NHS bring in foreign doctors and exempt all healthcare professionals from skilled migration caps. Theresa May’s cabinet appears split on the issue and Labour wants to drive in the wedge. Medics, including 100 from India needed by hospitals in the north-west, have been refused visas simply because of migration quotas. Labour’s Jon Ashworth has blamed the government’s “hostile environment” while the British Medical Association says the situation is “inexplicable and threatening patient care and safety”. Separately in Labour politics, the party says it “throwing the kitchen sink” at Swindon in the local elections. The Wiltshire town is a “classic political bellwether area”, writes Peter Walker, as it almost exactly tracks the national election results.

Quick catch-up – We’re right in the middle of things week-wise. Here are some developments in brief.

> Donald Trump personally dictated the doctor’s letter that boasted of his “astonishingly excellent” health during the 2016 campaign, his longtime personal physician has said. Dr Harold Bornstein has claimed White House staff “raided” his offices after he talked about prescribing hair-loss treatment for Trump.

> Abusive men are controlling women by exploiting their fears of being deported under the “hostile” immigration environment, the government has been warned. The immigration minister, Caroline Nokes, has apologised to victims of the Windrush debacle. Labour is seeking to force the release of all government correspondence over Windrush.

> Exeter University says “expulsions, suspensions and other significant sanctions” have taken place after racist, sexist and homophobic comments were made in online chat groups. It comes amid growing calls to tackle racism on UK campuses.

> Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have taken the fight against childhood obesity to parliament, where they described the marketing of unhealthy foods to children as a “national security issue” and an “arms race”. John Crace sketches it as the Jamie and Hugh show, with the latter as sous chef.

Terror of the wet wipe – First the fatberg, now the baby-wipe river monster. These disposable horrors are changing the shape of Britain’s riverbeds, warn environmentalists, who collected more than 5,000 of them from one stretch of the Thames. “Wet wipes are accumulating on the riverbed,” says Kirsten Downer from Thames 21. “When you get close you can see that these clumps are composed of wet wipes mixed with twigs and mud.” The wipes often incorporate plastics that are not biodegradable. With the industry booming, campaigners want better labelling to stop people flushing them.

Drunk on dragon energy – “Surprising outburst” seems insufficient when it comes to Kanye West these days. The recently self-declared Trump fan has gone on the offensive by appearing to blame black people for slavery, declaring: “For 400 years? That sounds like a choice. You was there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all. It’s like we’re mentally in prison.” Van Lathan, his interviewer on TMZ, shot back: “I actually don’t think you’re thinking anything.”

Lunchtime read: Who owns the sexual violence in fiction?

Crime drama finds more readers – and viewers – among women than men. Rape and other forms of sexual violence often figure in the storylines.

Does it mean, as Germaine Greer has suggested, that the basis for their inclusion lies in women’s own sexual fantasies? Zoe Williams delves into the controversy.

Sport

Jürgen Klopp has said Liverpool will “fight for our dreams” of an eighth European Cup final appearance when they play Roma tonight holding a 5-2 advantage, with the Italian side’s recovery against Barcelona providing the perfect warning against complacency at Stadio Olimpico. Zinedine Zidane admitted it was not good for the heart and that Real Madrid had “suffered” to reach their third final in a row but said, “it’s better this way” after his side’s 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich saw them complete a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Serena Williams, who is restarting her career the hard way at 36 after the difficult birth of her first child last September, will almost certainly be seeded at Wimbledon, despite extraordinary confusion at the All England Club. Barry Hawkins moved to within two frames of a place in the snooker world championship semi-finals in Sheffield after a superb second session in his last-eight match against Ding Junhui. And a former member of the US national team, Sabrina Vega, has become the latest gymnast to file suit over sexual abuse by imprisoned former sports doctor Larry Nassar.

Business

The dollar has continued its march upwards to reach a four-month high against a basket of other currencies ahead of the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s May meeting later today. The pound suffered again, falling to $1.361 and €1.134. The greenback has benefited from strong US corporate profits, but the positive mood has not been enough to save a famous American company: the guitar maker Gibson, supplier to music greats such as Chuck Berry, BB King and Jimmy Pagehas gone bust.

The papers

Another day, another slew of headlines pitting Theresa May against Tory rebels of one kind or another in the battle for Brexit. The Telegraph leads with “May warned Brexit deal could sink her” by a group of 60 Brexiteers who believe a customs partership with the EU could “collapse the government”.

The Mail calls for the PM to “trust her admirable instincts” and “Show us your steel Mrs May” in rejecting the “absurd fudge” of a customs partnership. The Guardian also has that on the front, but splashes on the government U-turn on tax havens brought about by an unlikely partnership between Labour and Tory MPs.

In a small point of light during another horror week for the PM, the Express has a poll that shows “Britain backs May” over Jeremy Corbyn despite “interminable turmoil”. Away from Brexit, but still in Westminster, the FT leads on the latest home office debacle: “UK wrongly ordered thousands of foreign students to leave country”. Elsewhere, the Times leads on “BMW failed to act over safety fears on new cars”, the Sun has a story about actor Sheridan Smith getting engaged and the Mirror goes with the story of Max Johnson, a boy who met the family of the girl whose donated heart is keeping him alive.

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