Top story: Ministers scramble to avoid no deal
Hello and welcome to the last Briefing of the week, with me, Warren Murray.
Cabinet’s soft Brexit faction appears increasingly convinced a “Norway plus” option may be the only route to Brexit that can command a majority in parliament, it has emerged, after Theresa May convened a crisis meeting in Downing Street with ministers. May has come under pressure to call off next Tuesday’s vote on her deal in order to avoid defeat. Last night a proposed Tory amendment to give MPs power over the “backstop”, including committing the government to it lasting no more than a year, was rejected out of hand by the DUP. Today more than 30 ministers, including many from the cabinet, will fan out across the UK to sell the deal.
A Norway-style deal would mean continuing to accept freedom of movement. May’s opposition to that is considered within No 10 to be her “reddest of red lines” and the chancellor, Philip Hammond, has said it would not respect a Brexit referendum result that was partly driven by immigration concerns. British industry, though, warns it is having trouble recruiting foreign staff as “derogatory” language about EU migrants peppers the Brexit discourse. Companies could go bust, costing many UK jobs, if Brexit makes recruitment even harder, says the CBI chief, Carolyn Fairbairn.
Jeremy Corbyn has called for MPs to back him in seeking a “comprehensive customs union with the EU” and single-market deal – although with Britain due to leave by March it is unclear how that could be negotiated. The Labour leader argues a general election would be best but if necessary Labour will campaign for “a public vote to break the deadlock”. Simon Jenkins argues Norway is the only deal that can be done. A no-deal Brexit would bring Kent to a standstill, the county council has warned, with tens of thousands of lorries causing gridlock on the roads leading to and from Dover port, children unable to get to exams, rubbish piling up on streets and bodies lying unburied in morgues.
Trump wants Fox host at UN – Donald Trump is expected to nominate the former Fox News presenter Heather Nauert as his next ambassador to the United Nations.
Nauert has no prior political or policy-making experience. She became the state department spokeswoman in April 2017 and this year was named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs. If confirmed by the Senate, Nauert would replace Nikki Haley, who announced her resignation in October.
‘Sheer love for all things punk’ – Pete Shelley, the lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks, has died aged 63, his bandmates have said. Shelley was said to have had a heart attack on Thursday in Estonia where he was living.
“It’s with great sadness that we confirm the death of Pete Shelley, one of the UK’s most influential and prolific songwriters and co-founder of the seminal original punk band Buzzcocks,” the band said. “Pete’s music has inspired generations of musicians over a career that spanned five decades and with his band and as a solo artist, he was held in the highest regard by the music industry and by his fans around the world.” The New Order bassist Peter Hook said Shelley was a “true gent … He helped us so much at the start of our career out of a sheer love for all things punk.” The author Neil Gaiman wrote: “Part of my youth dies with him.”
Search for backpacker Briton – New Zealand police say they have “grave fears” for the missing 22-year-old Essex backpacker Grace Millane who disappeared from central Auckland on Saturday night.
Millane’s father, David, arrived in Auckland on Thursday and issued a plea for people to come forward with any information they may have relating to the disappearance of his daughter. Millane entered the City Life Hotel on Queen Street in Auckland at 9.41pm on 1 December with a male companion. It is the last confirmed sighting of her. Police said they had identified and questioned the man seen with her and he remained “a person of interest” but was not in custody.
Diplomatic blow-up over Huawei – Beijing has reacted to the arrest of Huawei’s head of finance with the sort of language it so often uses when China’s standing in the world faces bad press, accusing the US of “hooliganism” and being a “despicable rogue”. Japanese media has reported the country is banning government purchases of telecommunications products from the Chinese company as security services around the world warn that using its equipment and services carries a risk of intelligence leaks and cyber attacks. We have a timely feature today on how the Chinese government is buying up media outlets and training foreign journalists to “tell China’s story well” – which in practice looks a lot like serving the ideological aims of the state.
Wait for GP stretches out – One in five patients now has to wait at least 15 days to see a GP in England, NHS figures reveal. Numbers have fallen by 1,000 since 2015 when the government has committed to 5,000 more GPs in England by 2020. The head of the NHS and the government are at loggerheads over how much the health service can be improved for the £20.5bn extra Theresa May has promised. Sources have told the Guardian that ministers are “deeply irritated” the NHS England CEO, Simon Stevens, is refusing to sign up to targets. A comprehensive NHS analysis has found it needs more like £80bn extra a year to improve care and become sustainable – let alone honour recent government promises to expand and improve cancer and mental health care.
Where no lander’s gone before – China will today launch the first spacecraft to attempt a landing on the far side of the moon. The Chang’e 4 mission aims to drop a lander and rover into the South Pole-Aitken basin, the largest and deepest impact crater in the solar system. Katherine Joy, a lunar scientist at the University of Manchester, said: “It’s going to a place that is really special for lunar science. The impact crater carved a huge hole in the lunar crust and possibly into the lunar mantle. It potentially unlocks rocks that we wouldn’t normally find on the surface of the moon.” Further missions will try to take lunar samples and return them to Earth.
Today in Focus podcast: Angela Merkel’s long goodbye
After 18 years Angela Merkel steps aside today as leader of her Christian Democratic Union party, although she plans to remain Germany’s chancellor until 2021.
Her decision comes after the migration crisis left her party languishing in the polls – and amid a rising tide of populism in Europe. The Guardian’s Kate Connolly in Berlin takes a look at Merkel’s legacy. Plus: Rania Ali on debunking stereotypes about refugees
Lunchtime read: ‘Macron’s arrogance unites us’
“We won’t back down and we’ve got nothing to lose,” says Celine, who voted for Emmanuel Macron last year, as she stands at a village roundabout north of Toulouse beside a bonfire and a barricade built from wooden pallets and tyres. “He gave good speeches and I really believed his promises that he would change France. But not any more.”
Last weekend saw the worst street unrest in central Paris in decades, as fringe elements of the otherwise peaceful gilets jaunes movement fought running battles with riot police and set cars alight. This weekend the government is on guard for a repeat of those scenes. But gilets jaunes also continue to blockade roundabouts and motorway toll-booths near small towns and villages where residents often cannot work or take children to school without a car – hence the fury triggered by talk of fuel tax rises. “This is now about so much more than fuel tax,” says Isabelle, 41, who earns minimum wage working at a sandwich stand. “We seem to live in a world gone mad where the rich pay next to nothing and the poor are constantly taxed. We’ve had enough of the elite.”
Sport
The police chief superintendent in command of the FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough in 1989 has failed with a further application to have his prosecution for manslaughter stopped, reports David Conn, with the trial set to start on 14 January in Preston. Sean Dyche has fired back at Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, who had previously criticised Burnley’s tackling, defending a challenge by Ben Mee that left Joe Gomez with a fractured leg as “a fantastic tackle”. Unai Emery has made light of the incident in which Marouane Fellaini pulled youngster Mattéo Guendouzi’s hair, quipping “I think the best thing is that he cuts his hair before the next match, then the problem is finished.”
Australia have made a nervy start to their first innings against India, with opener Aaron Finch going for a third-ball duck, heightening the pressure on debutant Marcus Harris at the top of the order. After dismissing India’s last batsman with the first ball of day two, Australia were 57-2 at lunch. And a cargo ship has diverted in an effort to rescue 29-year-old British solo yachtswoman Susie Goodall after she was injured and her boat badly damaged about 2,000 miles west of Cape Horn during the Golden Globe Race.
Business
Asian shares managed to cling on to gains overnight in the wake of the global battering that markets received in the wake of new of the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. It augurs for a better day on the FTSE100 which saw its worst close since Brexit yesterday. Futures trade points to a rise of almost 2% when trading begins later this morning, with Wall Street also set for a healthy gain ahead of what are expected to be strong jobs figures in the US. The pound is buying $1.277 and €1.122.
The papers
The FT’s lead story today is about the Chinese phone maker: “Huawei executive’s arrest sparks market turmoil and Beijing fury”. Health stories lead on the front pages of the Guardian: “NHS chief and No 10 battle over £20bn health pledge” and the Times: “Millions of patients face three-week wait for GP”. The Mail reports on yesterday’s O2 network blackout : “Mobile phones mayhem for 30m” and the Mirror says: “At last … where they belong” reporting that four out of five of the men accused of killing Stephen Lawrence are now in jail.
The Express splash is “Look who’s cosying up to the rich”, with a story that “Socialist Corbyn” has been asking “fat cats” for donations. The Sun has pics of Arsenal footballers passed out inhaling “hippy crack”, under the headline “High goon”. And Brexit features on the front pages of the i: “Back down or else, Tory MPs tell May” and the Telegraph: “What now, Prime Minister?”
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