Thursday briefing: Labour to apologise to antisemitism whistleblowers

Top story: Corbyn allies accuse Starmer of capitulating

Hello and welcome to today’s briefing with me, Alison Rourke.

Labour is poised to make a formal apology to antisemitism whistleblowers as part of a settlement designed to draw a line under allegations made during the Jeremy Corbyn era. Seven whistleblowers – all former staffers – sued the party for defamation in the wake of the 2019 BBC Panorama investigation, which made a number of serious claims about Labour’s internal culture for dealing with complaints of antisemitism. They claimed senior party figures had issued statements attacking their reputations and suggesting they had ulterior political and personal motives to undermine the party. Under Keir Starmer, Labour has appeared eager to reach agreement to end ongoing conflict over the party’s antisemitism crisis. But any apology will prove controversial among Corbyn loyalists, who question whether settling the matter is a good use of party funds. The Guardian understands legal advice provided to Labour under the former leader suggested the party could win the case.

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Coronavirus latest – Train companies are hoping to encourage commuters back on to public transport with a “travel safe this summer” campaign, as Boris Johnson urges a bigger return to work. The government is reviewing its guidance, in place since lockdown started, to work from home where possible. Johnson is expected to set out the next steps in easing the lockdown on Friday. Yesterday the PM indicated he had not read the winter coronavirus report setting out urgent measures needed to prepare for a possible second wave of coronavirus, telling the Commons only that he was “aware” of it. Every child in Scotland will need additional mental health support as a consequence of measures taken to tackle the coronavirus crisis, according to the country’s children and young people’s commissioner. Bruce Adamson said the pandemic had sent a “very negative” message about how decision-makers value young people’s voices. In the US Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious diseases expert, has pushed back at a concerted campaign by Donald Trump and his allies to discredit his response to the pandemic. “I think you can trust me,” he told an audience in Washington. Find the latest on the coronavirus pandemic at our global live blog.

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British Vogue – The magazine’s editor says he was racially profiled after being told yesterday to “use the loading bay” by a security guard as he entered the offices. Edward Enninful, who is black, has been the fashion magazine’s editor-in-chief since 2017. “Today, I was racially profiled by a security guard whilst entering my workplace. I was instructed to use the loading bay. Just because our timelines and weekends are returning to normal, we cannot let the world return to how it was. Change needs to happen now,” he said.

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Twitter hack – The accounts of major public figures and corporations, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Apple, were hijacked late last night, in a stunning show of force by hackers. The compromised accounts, which count tens of millions of followers, sent a series of tweets proposing a classic bitcoin scam. Twitter said it was a “coordinated social engineering attack” on its own employees that enabled the hackers to access “internal systems and tools”. In the course of halting the attack, Twitter stopped all verified accounts from tweeting at all – an unprecedented measure. The company had restored most accounts by late last night, but warned that it “may take further actions”.

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Siberia heatwave – The record-breaking Arctic temperatures were made at least 600 times more likely by human-caused climate change, according to an international study, including the Russian Academy of Science. Between January and June, temperatures in the far north of Russia were more than 5C above average, causing permafrost to melt, buildings to collapse, and sparking an unusually early and intense start to the forest fires season. On 20 June, a monitoring station in Verkhoyansk registered a record high of 38C. The study calculated human impact added at least 2C of warming to the region.

Coronavirus extra

The class of Covid-19 are facing an uncertain future as they leave school, writes Sirin Kale. As schools and colleges closed in March and exams were cancelled, travel, work and study plans were upended. Sectors young people would normally seek casual employment in, such as retail or hospitality, have been shedding staff at an alarming rate. Many universities are moving to online tuition and apprenticeship opportunities have largely evaporated. At the other end of the scale, family fortunes of the super-rich have been riding out the coronavirus storm, with the portfolios of 77% of the richest investors performing in line with or above target, according to the Swiss bank UBS.

Today in Focus podcast: Who is Ghislaine Maxwell and does she hold the key to justice for Epstein’s victims?

Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite and daughter of the media baron Robert Maxwell, once attended parties with princes, presidents and celebrities. Now she faces up to 35 years in a US prison for her alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage girls.

Lunchtime read: I miss football hugs and crave for a fetid, boozy embrace

The football hug is a strange beast – usually, it involves a number of people, some of them strangers, and tends to be a bit stinky (BO, booze and fags), writes the Guardian’s Simon Hattenstone. Sometimes it’s painful when it goes wrong. Yet, despite the fetid, occasionally life-threatening nature of football hugs, they are a thing of wonder and act of extraordinary, unlikely bonding.

Sport

Jürgen Klopp accused his players of “taking a break” in surrendering a lead to Arsenal that means Liverpool can no longer reach the 100-point record set by Manchester City in 2018. The Labour party has called on the government to “deliver on its manifesto pledge to football fans” by implementing a review into the reform of the game. Joe Root returns in a much-needed boost for England’s top order, while Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson also join the squad for the second Test against West Indies. A new study has found that elite rugby players of both codes in the UK typically suffer more than five times the number of injuries than athletes do in non-contact sports. Rory McIlroy remains content with the playing of the first major of a disrupted golfing year in California, despite coronavirus restrictions returning to the state just three weeks before the US PGA Championship begins. And nearly half of Britain’s public leisure centres face going under by Christmas as the sector reels from the effects of Covid-19.

Business

Rents have continued to climb across England, but they are sliding in London as Airbnb owners abandon hopes of attracting holidaymakers and put their properties on the long-term rental market. The property website Rightmove said asking rents outside London hit a record of £845 a month in early July, up 3.4% on the same time last year. But in the capital, rents fell by 0.6% over the year, with stock levels up 41%. It said the rise in flats and houses available for rent was “fuelled by landlords with holiday lets now competing for long-term rentals”.

Abroad and China’s economy has grown 3.2% in the second quarter following sharp declines during the start of the pandemic. But domestic consumption and investment remained weak as the shock from the pandemic underscored the need for more policy support to bolster the recovery. The bounce was still the weakest expansion on record, and followed a steep 6.8% slump in the first quarter, the first such contraction since at least 1992 when quarterly GDP records began.

The pound is buying €1.10 and $1.26.

The papers

The Guardian’s splash is “Labour offers deal to end antisemitism legal action”. The Telegraph reports “Vaccine hopes rise after strong trial results”. The Times also leads on a vaccine story: “Success of early trials lifts hope for vaccine”. The Express also splashes with the vaccine story: “Covid vaccine: hopes of jabs by end of the year”. The i has: “All over the shop: muddle on face masks”. The FT leads with “Do not expect help with debts, Sunak tells struggling businesses”. The Mail’s splash is on what it says motorists have “always known”: “So speed cameras are used to fleece drivers”. And the Mirror leads on Ghislaine Maxwell, with the headline: “No laughing matter”.

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