Friday evening news briefing: Boris Johnson's 'ding-dong' battle with MPs over big return to office

PM warned against 'intimidating' staff back to work

It has not even begun but Boris Johnson's back-to-work drive has already been attacked from all sides. The Prime Minister will next week extol the virtues of returning to the workplace, while ministers will also warn that bosses at struggling firms will find it easier to hand out P45s to people they never see than to colleagues who have been at their desks during the pandemic. Yet Tory MPs fear the move is divisive and paternalistic, with one warning it would "almost certainly lead to another U-turn" once infection rates start to rise again. Another said it had led to "a right old ding-dong" with suburban MPs. Nicola Sturgeon said she will not "countenance" people being intimidated into going back to offices. The boss of the British Chamber of Commerce has also waded in, slamming the Government's tactics as "scaremongering". Yet its former director-general John Longworth has outlined why home workers should be careful what they wish for - and should demand to go back to the office.

Meanwhile, the governor of the Bank of England has said the central bank is "not out of firepower" to support the economy, following the dramatic shock caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Andrew Bailey told traders the bank has more ammunition left and that major bond-buying drives are more effective following major crises, in a speech to the Jackson Hole economic policy symposium. Mr Bailey stressed that the central bank appreciated the need to keep enough "headroom" to deal with future shocks. Russell Lynch has a rundown of his speech.

Harry Maguire's account in BBC interview 'ridiculous'

The lawyer who secured a guilty verdict against Harry Maguire has denounced his "ridiculous" account of how he came to be charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery. Ioannis Paradissis hit out at Maguire following the Manchester United captain's first interview since he was handed a 21-month suspended prison sentence by a Greek court. Maguire told BBC News he thought he and others were being kidnapped by fake police in Mykonos and that he had tried to run away in fear for his life after being hit on the legs and told: "You won’t play again." Read on for Mr Paradissis' response, where he criticised the BBC for not probing Maguire more deeply.

Why JK Rowling returned an award to Kennedy family

J.K Rowling has handed back an award to a charity associated with the US Kennedy family after its president accused her of "deeply troubling transphobic" comments. The Harry Potter author was given the Ripple of Hope Award by the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights organisation last year for her work on advancing equality. But earlier this month, its president Kerry Kennedy - the daughter of John F Kennedy - said views expressed by Rowling online "diminished the identity" of transgender people. Read Ms Kennedy's statement and Ms Rowling's response.

At a glance: Latest coronavirus headlines

• Delivering doses | Student doctors and vets could administer vaccine

• Border control reinforcements | Influx of Britons to Algarve

• Covid deaths | Only two areas recorded more than 20 fatalies in July

• Business loans | Accounting firms to audit government virus schemes

• Eat Out to Help Out | UK restaurants extend discount after success

Also in the news: Today's other headlines

US election | President Trump brought the Republican National Convention to a close with an acceptance speech that cast Joe Biden as a threat to America's security. The President depicted a clash of cultures between a Republican party inspired by patriotic love for the United States, and a Democratic party captured by socialists who hate America. Leslie Vinjamuri analyses how, when Mr Trump spoke, a sense of delusion hovered over the White House. It is worth reading this Telegraph leader article, asking whether the Black Lives Matter movement will end up helping the President's campaign. Alongside Mr Trump stood his wife Melania in a £3,250 highlighter-green pleated gown. Bethan Holt examines how the First Lady channelled the Queen.

• Essex lorry deaths | Man pleads guilty to manslaughter of migrants

• Pc Andrew Harper | Killers could be granted further legal aid

• 'Charming and talented' | Boy found dead with his mother

• 'Raising monsters' | Fears of mother who strangled her two sons

• Extinction Rebellion | Activists to target airports over bank holiday

Around the world: Japan's PM Shinzo Abe resigns

Japan's longest-serving prime minister Shinzo Abe announced his resignation today due to his ill health, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy. Mr Abe, 65, bowed in apology as he confirmed in a press conference that he was stepping down after nearly eight years at the political helm following a recurrence of a chronic inflammatory bowel condition. Lizzy Burden analyses how his resignation may be the end for Abenomics, his three-pronged approach to fixing the Japanese economy.

Friday interview

How David Tennant transformed into serial killer Dennis Nilsen

Ahead of his starring role as the notorious murderer Dennis Nilsen in the new ITV drama Des, David Tennant explains to Benji Wilson the extraordinary challenges involved

Read the full interview

Comment and analysis

• Leo McKinstry | Tories still offer empty rhetoric as migration balloons

• James Webber | Time for better Irish border solution than Brexit deal

• Saul David | To say modern US is like Nazi Germany is woke lunacy

• Tom Harris | What will children think if we refuse to go to the office?

• Katie Russell | Covid generation missing another important milestone

Editor's choice: Features and arts

1. 30 years of The Moral Maze | The BBC show where conservatives are welcome

2. Good old-fashioned romantics | Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster show us what to do

3. Katie Morley Investigates | 'AA wrongly said second-hand Mini with broken horn was safe'

Business and money briefing

Companies look to reshore | Covid-19 has decimated supply chains, meaning many firms are now looking to bring their supply routes closer to home. Lizzy Burden reveals how this is no easy task.

• Norwegian plummets | Budget longhaul carrier suffers £450m loss

• Eviction ban | Landlords face £20k bill and two years to take control

• On top of markets | Live stocks and shares updates 24 hours a day

Sport briefing

'People wondering who will be next' | Three football shows axed, a trio of high-profile pundits gone and now an experienced presenter announcing "with a heavy heart" that his long association with Sky Sports is over. Jeremy Wilson reveals how the exodus is causing unrest.

• Gabriel Magalhaes | The rise of Arsenal's new signing

• Saracens - next generation | Tipped to be better than Class of 2008

• Dan Lawrence interview | Young batting talent on brink of England

Tonight's TV

BBC Proms 2020, BBC Two, 8pm | With so many venerable and beloved music venues in London and around the country under threat, the resumption of this annual tradition comes as a great relief. Read on for more.

And finally... for this evening's downtime

Reinventing the Hitchcock blonde | The ice queens favoured by the Master of Suspense have been quietly revolutionised by Tenet director Christopher Nolan. Robbie Collin reveals how.