Your morning briefing: What you should know for Monday, June 17

Hancock comes out in favour of Boris

Boris Johnson's Tory leadership bid has received a new boost with the backing of Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Mr Hancock pulled out of the race last week and ruled out a No Deal Brexit during his campaign but has now swung in behind the clear frontrunner to be the next Prime Minister.

Writing in The Times, Mr Hancock said Mr Johnson was the best candidate to unite the Conservatives as well as the country, and deliver Brexit.

The endorsement came after Mr Johnson missed a televised debate of the other five candidates.

That saw the sharpest exchanges dominated by Dominic Raab's refusal to rule out suspending Parliament to push through a no-deal Brexit.

RMT to strike for five days and hit Royal Ascot trains

Royal Ascot racegoers will face the massive hurdle of a five-day strike this week because of the long-running dispute over guards on trains.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union on South Western Railway will walk out from tomorrow, hitting services including busy commuter trains into London Waterloo.

Industrial action was suspended in February when it appeared a resolution was in sight, however the union is renewing strikes after accusing the company of dragging its heels during recent talks.

South Western Railway labelled the decision to coincide with Royal Ascot as cynical.

Labour's Watson pushing for second EU referendum

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson is to mount a renewed push today for the party to wholeheartedly back a second EU referendum, saying: "Our hearts are Remain".

In a keynote speech to the Centre for European Reform, Mr Watson will say Labour's members and its values had always been pro-European.

He will argue the only way to break the Brexit deadlock at Westminster is to put the issue back to the people in a new public vote in which Labour would campaign proudly for Remain.

Key workers 'now priced out of more than 90 per cent of towns'

The average nurse, teacher, paramedic, police officer or firefighter can only afford to own a home in eight per cent of towns across Britain, a report has found.

Halifax looked at housing affordability for the five key worker professions across 515 post towns and found only 40 of these areas were affordable – down from a quarter five years ago.

In some areas, a home typically costs more than 18 times a key worker's average annual wage.

The research also found just three per cent of those towns were deemed affordable for nurses.

Morgan's joy at Soccer Aid win

Piers Morgan said last night’s Soccer Aid might be the greatest moment of his life after his World XI beat an England team on penalties.

Morgan was managing the side with Harry Redknapp and saw them come back from 2-0 down to draw the charity match at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge ground.

They won 3-1 on penalties to spark jubilant celebrations, but perhaps, a little more importantly, it was announced the game raised almost £6.8 million for Unicef.

On this day...

1579: Sir Francis Drake anchored the Golden Hind just north of what would one day be San Francisco Bay, naming the area New Albion.

1703: The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, was born, the 15th of 19 children of a clergyman.

1775: The Battle of Bunker Hill, the second major clash of the American War of Independence, was fought just north of Boston, Massachusetts.

1823: Charles Macintosh patented the waterproof cloth he was to use to make raincoats.

1970: Edwin Land patented his Polaroid camera.

1972: Five burglars were caught in the Watergate office complex in Washington, election headquarters of the Democratic Party, sparking a major political scandal.

1991: In South Africa, the repeal of the Population Registration Act of 1950 officially ended apartheid.