Top story: Dilemma for PM if ministers back Brexit delay

Hello, it’s Warren Murray with a briefing that will have to keep you going until Monday I’m afraid.

Theresa May faces a flurry of Commons motions and amendments over Brexit, with up to 25 members of the government prepared to defy the PM and vote for an extension of article 50 if she fails to rule out no deal. The motion proposed by the Tory MP Sir Oliver Letwin and Labour’s Yvette Cooper is due to be debated in the coming week and May will be seen as having little option other than to sack ministers if they rebel to support it. The “Brexit delivery group” of 100 MPs from both the remain and leave wings of the party have warned May that many of their number are prepared to rebel unless she allows a free vote on taking no deal off the table.

Under another amendment drawn up by the Labour MPs Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson, MPs would support the prime minister’s Brexit deal in exchange for it being put to a public vote. It would not be tabled until May brings her final deal back to parliament for the “meaningful vote”. If that does not happen next week, May has promised to table another amendable motion, like the one that resulted in her being defeated by Brexit rebels this month. Labour is likely to table its own amendment to that motion, which would put forward Jeremy Corbyn’s alternative Brexit policy.

In Brussels, Corbyn – who this week had eight pro-people’s vote members of his party leave to form the Independent Group – has made a point of saying that the option of holding a second referendum remains “very much part of the agenda put forward by the Labour party”, should May fail to back a close economic partnership with the EU. Up to 10 Labour shadow ministers have said they would be prepared to resign rather than vote against a second referendum amendment. Some senior party figures believe much of the appeal of the 11-strong Independent Group would be neutralised if Labour leant towards backing a referendum.

Global threat to the human diet – About 20% of the Earth’s vegetated surface has become less productive for food over the past 20 years, a UN report says. The comprehensive global study found plants, birds, fish and fungi are in decline as agricultural, urban and industrial development damage the natural support systems that underpin the human diet. As well as the decline of bees and other insects, the Food and Agriculture Organisation report says vertebrate pollinators such as bats and birds are under threat.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Not just bees but vertebrate pollinators like birds and bats are under threat, says a UN study. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Agriculture is reliant on monocultures with two-thirds of crops coming from nine species (sugar cane, maize, rice, wheat, potatoes, soybeans, oil-palm fruit, sugar beet and cassava), while many other cultivated plant species are in decline and wild food sources are diminishing. “The reliance on a small number of species means they are more susceptible to disease outbreaks and climate change. It renders food production less resilient,” warns Julie Bélanger, coordinator of the report.

Murder charge after jihadists’ brother killed – Police have charged a man with murdering a brother of two British teenagers killed fighting for Islamists in Syria. The convicted drug dealer Abdul Deghayes, 22, from Brighton, died of stab wounds on Sunday after being attacked in a car that crashed in Brighton. Daniel Macleod, 36, of Lambeth, south London, is due to appear before magistrates in Brighton on Friday. The victim’s twin brother, Abdullah, was killed fighting in Syria in 2016 aged 18, while their brother Jaffar, 17, was killed there in 2014.

North Korea hunger plea – North Korea has issued an international call for food aid after drought and floods led to a poor harvest. The UN estimates 10.3 million people – almost half of North Korea’s population – are in need of food and 40% of people in the country are undernourished. North Korea said it faced shortfalls that would lead to daily rations being cut from 550g per person to 300g. The UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said talks were under way with the North Korean government after requests for help via humanitarian agencies. A second summit will be held next week between Donald Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

‘Punished twice’ – The Jamaican high commissioner has called for a suspension of deportations to Jamaica until the Home Office has published its investigation of the Windrush scandal. “It is not just the people who are being deported,” said Seth George Ramocan, “ it is their children, it is their families. Are we acting intelligently, are we creating another set of problems when we do that?” Ramocan met with relatives of those already deported and others still in immigration removal custody. Family members questioned why people who had been in the UK since childhood should be “punished twice” by being deported even after serving their prison time for criminal offences. The Jamaican government is understood to be reviewing its cooperation with the Home Office deportation flights in future.

Stone silenced – The Republican operative Roger Stone has been slapped with a strict gagging order after he circulated a meme that appeared to threaten the judge in the Trump-Russia case against him. The Donald Trump confidant, who is charged with perjury, witness tampering and obstruction, tried to argue they were not cross-hairs but a “Celtic occult symbol” on the picture of Judge Amy Berman Jackson. The judge has now banned Stone from making any statements about the case other than to raise money for his defence.

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Lunchtime read: ‘Drinking too much and giving orders’

Mark Ronson’s new album of “sad bangers” is inspired by his divorce – and has already scored one global hit single. “Famously a nice guy, he also has a reputation for making quite heavy weather of the business of being himself,” writes Alexis Petridis. “The stress of making the Uptown Funk had, at various junctures, made him faint, vomit and caused his hair to fall out.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mark Ronson. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

“Despite Ronson’s apparent dominance in modern pop, he says he feels out of step with the current climate, where ‘all your songs have to be under three minutes and 15 seconds … Everything has to be produced so it sounds competitively as loud as possible coming out of an iPhone or as loud as possible when it comes out of a Spotify hits playlist. I mean, Amy wouldn’t have let that shit happen for a second, which makes me think how Back to Black would have been received, or how it would have probably performed badly on Spotify playlists if it was released today.’”

Sport

Warren Gatland has responded to Eddie Jones’s attempts to wind up Wales before the Six Nations game on Saturday by describing the England tighthead Kyle Sinckler as an “emotional timebomb”. Under pressure Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has bought himself more time after Callum Hudson-Odoi’s goal put the finishing gloss on a 3-0 win over Malmö to secure passage through to the last 16 of the Europa League. Arsenal also progressed after Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos added to an early Bate Borisov own goal in a 3-0 win at the Emirates Stadium, but Celtic went out of the competition after going down 1-0 to Valencia at the Mestalla.

Chris Silverwood has emerged as a leading candidate to replace Trevor Bayliss as the England head coach after Ashley Giles, the national team’s director of cricket, revealed he is set on appointing one individual for the role. And Chris Eubank Sr has admitted he is “petrified” his son will lose this weekend’s must-win fight against James DeGale.

Business

China’s partial ban on Australian coal imports hurt Glencore’s share price on Thursday but BHP and Rio – whose coal operations are mostly located down under – were only off slightly. China says the surprise move is for environmental reasons but many suspect simmering diplomatic tensions between Canberra and Beijing are at the root of it. Asia-Pacific shares dipped overnight because of continuing gloom about the global economy. The FTSE100 is set to open flat. Sterling is also unchanged from yesterday at $1.303 and €1.149.

The papers

For the first day in a while the front pages carry a variety of stories. Some stick with politics. The Guardian’s lead is “May faces ministerial revolt in move to head off no-deal Brexit”, the Times has “Back public vote or face mass revolt, Corbyn told” and the i’s splash is “Lib Dems offer pact to breakaway MPs group”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Guardian front page, Friday 22 February 2019.

Many papers have the news on the front that a 16-year-old has been convicted of raping and murdering six-year-old Alesha McPhail. The Sun leads with the story, focusing on the teenager’s interest in a horror character: “Slender Man fiend who killed Alesha, 6”. The FT’s lead is: “Trump’s softer rhetoric on Huawei raises hopes of China trade accord” while the Mirror has: “Ban on school run to save kids from toxic fumes” and the Mail is concerned that: “Schoolgirl self-harm is surging”.

The Express is irritated by Jeremy Corbyn’s sympathy for Shamima Begum, asking: “Do you really think she deserves our support!” and the Telegraph reports: “Churches can scrap Sunday services” as a 400-year-old law is rescinded in the hope of helping small rural parishes.

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