Thursday 5th October, 2017

Brief overview: Theresa May’s hour long keynote speech yesterday at the Conservative conference was shambolic. Instead of reassuring and consolidating her support, the speech has left the Prime Minister under further internal scrutiny. New opt-out organ donor legislation is set to be drafted in England.

Outside of the headlines: The girlfriend of the Las Vegas killer has returned to the USA. She is now listed as a person of interest in the case. Catalonia has declared it will go independent as early as next week.

Poll of the day: “Immigration is causing my country to change in ways that I dislike”

Ipsos MORI global study, 2017

Video of the day: A snapshot of old Hong Kong (video)

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: Luckless May centre stage in tragic farce

The Telegraph leads with coverage of May’s disastrous speech from yesterday’s Conservative convention. The paper reports “the prime minister had hoped the speech would effectively relaunch her premiership and kickstart a Conservative revival, with policies to cap energy prices and spend billions on new council houses.” Unfortunately for May, she was interrupted first by a prankster who handed her a P45, and then by herself as she began coughing and eventually lost her voice. The Telegraph reports that the PM is feeling ‘extremely distraught’.

Afterthought: May’s speech was shambolic. Aside from the being interrupted by a famous prankster and losing her voice, she was accused of plagiarising parts of her speech from the TV show The West Wing.

The final product (source)

As she stumbled through the rest of her speech, her logo ‘Building a country that works for everyone’ began to physically fall apart in the background. Observers also noticed Johnson being told off by Rudd for not standing to applaud the PM.

There were some positives. For a woman dubbed The Maybot, this provided a unique chance to see a more human side of the Prime Minister. After receiving a hefty amount of criticism about not understanding how to engage with young voters on social media, her Twitter account finally kicked in to action.

Likewise, she rebutted Osborne’s now infamous alleged comments cooly.

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: May on final warning after speech shambles

The Times also chooses to cover the reaction to May’s speech. The paper quotes a Tory MP source who claims May has been told she is ‘one crisis from the exit’ following the disastrous speech. Blame is also levelled on the Conservative Party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin for not vetting the audience closely enough, and Boris Johnson for his behaviour.

Afterthought: Between coughing fits and interruptions, May did manage to announce new policies. Here are some of the most important:

· The government will put another £2 billion into affordable housing, raising the total affordable housing budget to £9 billion. · A price cap on energy bills. · Easier organ transplants. · An independent review of mental health legislation. · Free schools extended until 2022, and another one hundred to be built every year until then.

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: Coughing and spluttering — May’s British dream turns into nightmare

Similarly, today’s Guardian also covers the PM’s keynote speech, which was ‘aimed at resetting public opinion’ and restoring confidence in her ability to lead both the party and the country. The paper goes on to suggest the speech may raise serious questions about the Prime Minister’s future.

Afterthought: Polling has been poor for May and her party in recent months.

Voting intentions as polled by Britain Elects have shown a steep increase for Labour, whilst the Conservative party have steadily dropped.

Likewise, polling from Survation indicated the gap tightening between May and Corbyn when it came to who the public believed would make the best Prime Minister.

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: Last gasp

Today’s i revels in a dramatic headline — ‘Last gasp’. The paper follows roughly the same narrative as the others, highlighting the importance of the speech as a chance to come back from the edge for May. The paper does cover some of May’s announcements in its sub headers.

Afterthought: Little to add.

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: Victory!

The Daily Mirror is full of joy today with the news that May has proposed an organ donor opt-out law. This would mean that a person would have to manually opt-out of organ donation. The Mirror, which has been campaigning for the change for months, estimates that this will save around 500 lives a year.

Afterthought: Wales changed their legislation to presumed opt-in in 2013 — England now looks set to join twenty-five other European countries that have adopted the ‘assumed consent’ model. France introduced the legislation at the beginning of this year, and of its population of 66 million, just 150,000 people have filled in the form to opt-out of donating.

Despite this, context and culture are both hugely important when it comes to organ donations being ‘assumed consent’. Religious and cultural beliefs need to be considered and a clear opt-out option presented by the government for those who choose it.

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: May endures ordeal in speech aimed at reasserting authority.

Today’s Financial Times also reports on May’s crash and burn speech from yesterday’s Tory conference. The paper talks of the ‘renewed speculation’ on Theresa May’s leadership abilities.

Afterthought: Be cautious of anonymous sources. For at least the next couple of days, papers will run various pieces on May where the sole source will often be an anonymous Tory MP. An example appeared in today’s Guardian online:

Such were the mishaps that after the speech, Downing Street sources were forced to deny a claim that May had wept into the arms of her husband, Philip, instead describing her mood as “stoic” as she joined her team for a drink and sandwiches.

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: Things can only get letter

The Sun bring attention to complete failure of the slogan that was hanging on the wall during May’s speech yesterday. The paper levels the same accusations of job insecurity, and feature a glum looking May on its cover.

Afterthought: It will be interesting to see how Murdoch chooses to tell his editors to cover Theresa May over the next couple of days.

And the top trending stories 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: Marilou Danley says had no idea about Las Vegas attack (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: Las Vegas shooting: Paddock’s girlfriend denies knowledge of attack (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: May’s Speech “Strong & Strepsil” (link)

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: This seemingly remarkable statement from Theresa May just got torn to shreds (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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