Top story: ‘I inadvertently misled MPs’
Good morning. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories to start your week.
Afters days of mounting pressure, Amber Rudd has resigned over her handling of the Windrush scandal. The final straw was her admission that she had “inadvertently misled the home affairs select committee” about how much she knew about targets for deportations of immigrants. In her resignation letter to Theresa May last night she said: “I should have been aware of this, and I take full responsibility that I was not.” Her mea culpa followed a Guardian story which revealed she wrote to the PM’s office last year to say she was “increasing the number of enforced removals by more than 10% over the next few years”, a letter at odds with her claim that she did not set, see or approve any targets for removals.
Her departure from the government creates a number of problems for May, not least that the person who was taking the flak for the tough immigration policy built by the PM while she was home secretary has now gone. May faced immediate calls from Labour and the Lib Dems to front up to the Commons about Rudd’s resignation and the whole Windrush scandal. The other problem is who she should pick to replace Rudd at the Home Office and whether the loss of a “soft Brexiter” upsets the cabinet’s precarious balance of leave and remain forces. Here are the most likely runners and riders, a list led by Sajid Javid and Michael Gove.
The Guardian reporter who broke open the Windrush story, Amelia Gentleman, has written about how her low-key investigation transformed into a scandal that has shamed Britain’s reputation for fairness. And, lest we forget, this is a story about the shocking mistreatment of Windrush generation immigrants including Hubert Howard, who arrived here from Jamaica aged three, has never lived anywhere else, and yet lost his job as a caretaker because he couldn’t prove his citizenship. As he tells Amelia: “I’m just satisfied that people are finally listening.”
You can follow all the action at our live blog here.
‘Truth telling’ – America’s sharply polarised politics were exposed again by the reaction to Michelle Wolf’s scathing attack on the Trump administration in her standup routine at the annual White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night. Wolf’s barbs about the press secretary, Sarah Sanders, and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, provoked an angry response from conservatives. The White House adviser Mercedes Schlapp and her husband, Matt Schlapp, who chairs the American Conservative Union, walked out. He later tweeted: “Enough of elites mocking all of us.” Several leading journalists and Trump critics agreed that Wolf had gone too far. But the comedian was defended by many people on social media who said she had the right to say what she wanted under the first amendment. Rosie O’Donnell, one of Trump’s bêtes noires, slammed those who called Wolf’s speech vulgar by replying: “It’s a roast – truth telling is required.”
Rail cutbacks – Millions of trees are at risk of being chopped down as Network Rail engages in a “pre-emptive strike” to prevent falling leaves and branches from disrupting services. The company has used drones to create an aerial map of its 40,000 hectares of railway and identified “hotspots” it needs to deal with. But the cull has angered conservation groups who say the chainsaw massacre endangers the habitat of wildlife along the country’s railways. One passenger said of his journey between Leeds and Manchester: “It looked like some kind of logging operation .. all you could see was mile after mile of tree stumps and sawdust.”
Cancer care alarm – More alarm bells have sounded for the NHS in the shape of a report by Macmillan Cancer Support which says specialist cancer nurses are being “run ragged” as they are forced to take on heavier workloads because of high vacancy rates in the profession. There is also a “startlingly broad variation” in the number of specialist cancer nurses in some parts of England compared with how many new patients are being diagnosed. New lung cancer cases each year per specialist nurse vary from 62 to 203 in different areas, while for breast cancer nurses they vary from 56 to 145.
Vocation, vocation, vocation – As we enter local election week, it has emerged that almost one in 10 councillors in London either work for property businesses or have received gifts or hospitality from them. A Guardian investigation has revealed that nearly 100 councillors hold a variety of jobs working for property companies or lobbying and communications consultancies, while also sitting on planning committees where they make decisions over major developments. While we’re on the elections, Polly Toynbee writes today that the polls could shock the government as people hit back against cuts in services.
Fake news – An art museum in the south of France has discovered that more than half of its collection are fakes. The Etienne Terrus museum in the village of Elne near Perpignan is dedicated to the works of the local artist who was born in 1857. It called in an art historian to reorganise the museum after the acquisition of about 80 paintings, only to find that nearly 60% of the entire collection was fake. “Knowing that people have visited the museum and seen a collection, most of which is fake, that’s bad. It’s a catastrophe for the municipality,” said the mayor, Yves Barniol.
Lunchtime read: How art captured the rebellious spirit of 1968
It’s often said that we live in turbulent times but the riots, assassinations and spirit of revolution that spread across the western world 50 years ago take some beating. The year 1968 is so synonymous with rebellion that our arts team has put together an assessment of how the various worlds of cinema, theatre, music and dance captured the times. From the musical Hair to Star Trek’s interracial kiss, and from Josef Koudelka’s celebrated photograph of his wristwatch above the deserted streets of post-putsch Prague to rock’s “hippy idealism”, our critics delve back in time. Writing about Jean Luc Godard’s documentary about the Rolling Stones, One Plus One, Peter Bradshaw sums it up neatly: “It shows the strange, tense moodiness of the times: the simmering sense of disorder: jittery, euphoric, but with an edge of bleary cynicism, like the voice of Jagger’s Lucifer.”
Sport
The problem with football, as Arsène Wenger is rapidly finding out, is that there is never any guarantee of a happy ending; the Arsenal manager had been clapped to his seat at Old Trafford but his team conceded a 91st-minute goal as Marouane Fellaini’s header gave Manchester United a 2-1 win. English rugby has its share of thorny issues at present but there is one fast-emerging success story out there – the inaugural Tyrrells Premier 15s final represented the latest major positive stride for the domestic women’s game. Barcelona were crowned La Liga champions for the 25th time after beating Deportivo La Coruña 4-2 with the help of a hat-trick from Lionel Messi. Trent Alexander-Arnold has said that Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final win at Manchester City provides the template for exploiting Roma’s need to score three times on Wednesday. And LeBron James scored 45 points leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 105-101 win over the Indiana Pacers to reach the second round of the NBA play-offs.
Business
The delivery firm Hermes faces a legal action today from eight of its couriers who believe they are being denied basic workers’ rights by being forced to declare as self-employed. The GMB union action at a tribunal in Leeds in the latest case promising to have major ramifications on labour rights in the growing gig economy.
On the markets, shares have had a strong day on the Asian markets. The FTSE100 is expected to rise about 0.2% at the open. The pound is buying $1.378 and €1.136 after getting walloped in the wake of Friday’s weak growth figures.
The papers
The news of Amber Rudd’s resignation dropped late in the evening, forcing some editors to scrap their original front pages and redraw them.
The best puns of the night goes to the Mirror’s “Good Ruddance” and the Sun’s “Ruddy, steady, go”.
The other papers were more prosaic. The Times and Metro kept it short and pithy with: “Rudd resigns” and “Rudd quits” respectively. The Express ponders what Rudd’s exit will mean for the prime minister. The paper says Theresa May is now “facing the biggest political crisis of her premiership”. The Mail agrees, saying the resignation is a “huge blow” to May.
The Guardian leads with “Rudd quits over Windrush scandal”, saying the home secretary’s dramatic departure came as she struggled to account for her role in the unjust treatment of Windrush citizens. The Telegraph says “Rudd quits as leaked letter leaves her denial in tatters”, citing the private letter written by Rudd to May as the reason for the resignation.
For more news: www.theguardian.com
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