Monday briefing: Let's get back to school, urges Johnson

Top story: ‘Very small’ risk for children at school

Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories this Monday morning.

Boris Johnson has emerged from his holiday in Scotland to try to reset his government’s education policies with a personal plea to parents to send their children back to the classroom in England next month. With education secretary Gavin Williamson damaged by the ongoing A-level results fiasco, the prime minister was seen by senior Tories as trying to win back public trust in the government. Johnson said it was “vitally important” that children returned to school, and cited the chief medical officer’s comments that keeping children at home could be more harmful than the “very small” risk of contracting Covid-19 in a classroom. Schools reopened in Scotland earlier this month. Labour will keep up the pressure on ministers to extend the furlough support scheme with new analysis claiming that virus-related job losses in areas such as retail and manufacturing will widen the north-south divide. The travel sector has already lost 18% of its roughly 200,000 jobs, the industry says today. The opposition has also criticised the government for forcing the NHS to spend £15m on visa fees for much-needed frontline staff from overseas. Police plan to issue heavy fines to crack down on raves after another weekend of illegal gatherings across the country.

The Chinese government has been administering a trial vaccine to selected groups of key workers since July, a health official has revelaed. In the United States, Donald Trump has authorised the use of convalescent plasma for Covid-19 patients, a treatment used to treat flu and measles. He also took a swipe at the “deep state or whoever” for holding up approval of a vaccine. Naturists at a popular French beach resort have been exposed to an outbreak of coronavirus with more than 100 people testing positive. You can follow all overnight developments in the pandemic around the world at our live blog.

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Christchurch hearing – The sentencing hearing of the Christchurch mosque shooter has begun in the New Zealand city under huge security attended by survivors and relatives of victims. The high court heard an official account for the first time of how Brenton Tarrant, 29, murdered 51 people at two mosques in the city last March and how he planned to burn down both places of worship and attack a third mosque before he was arrested. The Australian has admitted to the massacre and was flown into Christchurch by military transport plane yesterday to face his victims for the first time. The hearing is expected to last a week with 66 victims reading out impact statements.

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Fake news ‘pandemic’ – The BBC is “vital to democracy” and has “never been more needed” to counter the spread of fake news, the broadcaster’s outgoing director general, Tony Hall, is expected to say in a livestreamed speech to the Edinburgh television festival later today. Hall will describe misinformation as a pandemic that needs to be tackled by public service broadcasters, and will also argue that the BBC’s reporting can help overcome suspicions among some people and promote the uptake of vaccines against Covid-19. The festival begins amid a warning that streaming services such as Netflix are using the virus-driven global shortage of new programming to outbid traditional broadcasters for the rights to new shows.

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Conway quits – Kellyanne Conway, one of Donald Trump’s longest-standing advisers, is leaving the administration at the end of this month, citing the need to focus on her four children. Her departure in the run-up to the November election comes at a crucial time for the president and leaves him without one of his staunchest and most outspoken defenders.

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Keeping track – A judge has dismissed a legal challenge from campaigners who wanted to stop drivers of 4x4 vehicles using off-road tracks in the Lake District. An alliance of walkers, cyclists and horse riders had appealed to the high court against a decision to allow cars and motorbikes to use two old farm and quarry tracks in the Langdale and Coniston valleys. But the judge ruled the group could not prove the activity had made the area less attractive.

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Musician mourned – Justin Townes Earle, the acclaimed American singer-songwriter, has died at the age of 38. Earle, who was the son of country rock legend Steve Earle, made eight albums and was honoured twice at the Americana Music awards including for his best-known song, Harlem River Blues. Writing on Twitter, his friend and collaborator Jason Isbell said: “Had a lot of good times and made a lot of good music with JTE. So sad for his family tonight.”

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Crying foul – The town of Danbury, Connecticut, is renaming its sewage plant after the British comedian John Oliver in retaliation for a foul-mouthed rant on his HBO show about its allegedly racist jury selection process. “We are going to rename it the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant,” Danbury’s Republican mayor said. “Why? Because it’s full of crap just like you, John.”

Today in Focus podcast

This week we are revisiting episodes from our archive examining race and racism after a summer of protests in reaction to the killing of George Floyd. Today, Paul Butler discusses the history of police killings of black Americans and whether Floyd’s death could prove a turning point.

Lunchtime read: Is the daily commute over for ever?

It helped create the suburbs, with countless towns thriving due to good transport links. Now it is under threat, with potentially huge consequences for our cities, and how we work and socialise. Sam Wollaston jumps on the morning train to find out.

Sport

Kingsley Coman’s header on the hour mark was enough for Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 to win the Champions League for a sixth time. Thomas Müller did not do much in Lisbon that registered on the approved statistical records but he was still key to Bayern’s triumph, while losing coach Thomas Tuchel afterwards played down suggestions that he could sign Lionel Messi. Jimmy Anderson heads into day four of the final Test just two victims away from the 600-wicket mark and following an evening session of three dropped catches off his bowling in conditions that his teammate Dom Bess felt were dangerous.

Sophia Popov’s victory in the Women’s Open was so comfortable the scale of her underdog status was easily forgotten. It means the 27-year-old becomes the first German to claim a major title on British soil. Novak Djokovic sent a tremor of concern through Flushing Meadows when he pulled out of the doubles at the relocated Western & Southern Open with a neck strain, a week before the start of the US Open. Paul Pogba will not be sold by Manchester United this summer and talks over a new contract will start soon, according to the France midfielder’s agent, Mino Raiola. And Japanese driver Takuma Sato snatched his second Indianapolis 500 victory, holding off Scott Dixon before winning under caution at an empty racetrack.

Business

Dividends paid out by the world’s 1,200 biggest companies plummeted between April and June as they struggled with the coronavirus crisis. Total shareholder payouts made globally slumped 22%, or £82.6bn. The FTSE100 is expected to rise 0.5% this morning, while the pound is buying $1.309 and €1.11.

The papers

The prime minister’s plea to parents is the lead in many of the papers. The Telegraph says “PM’s plea to parents over return to school” and the Mirror’s main headline reads “Send your kids back to school”. The Guardian has a wider context with “Johnson moves to seize control of schools agenda after exams chaos” while the Times says “Teachers spread virus more than their pupils”. The i splashes with “Get children back to school, says Johnson”.

The Mail has “Hospital accused of baby deaths cover-up” and the Express is in a lather about the Proms: “Fury at BBC bid to axe Land of Hope and Glory”. FT focuses on the latest from the US with “Trump eyes fast-tracking UK Covid-19 vaccine before election”. In Scotland the National has the SNP warning “Vote leave cabal driving country towards Brexit ‘disaster’”, while the Scotsman leads with “Pubs stay shut as Aberdeen eases out of lockdown”.

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