Ex-bank chief attacks UK’s Brexit handling
Former Bank of England governor Lord King supports Brexit, but he’s far from happy about how it’s going. He’s told the BBC the UK’s preparations are “incompetent” and that it lacks a “credible bargaining position” with Brussels.
Lord King also said the other 27 EU states had a more “united” stance. He added that it “beggared belief” that the world’s sixth-biggest economy was talking of stockpiling medicines and food ahead of Brexit.
Labour anti-Semitism ‘caveats’ criticised
Labour’s governing body has adopted in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism in the party’s code of conduct. But it’s also issued a statement saying this will not “undermine freedom of expression on Israel or the rights of Palestinians”.
The Jewish Leadership Council responded that this would “drive a coach and horses” through the IHRA’s definition. The Labour Against Anti-Semitism group said it allowed “vile views” to be presented and that there should be “no caveats, no conditions and no compromises with racism”.
Children to be offered new cancer therapy
NHS England has given the go-ahead to an expensive treatment that’s been called the most exciting development in fighting cancer in children for decades. CAR-T involves giving patients genetically modified immune cells to fight aggressive leukaemia. Hospitals could start giving it to a small number of children within weeks. It usually costs hundreds of thousands of pounds per patient. NHS England says it’s agreed an affordable price – but some difficult funding decisions are still expected.
Does a killer haunt Manchester’s canals?
Tom was cycling home at night when the man attacked him. A swinging arm knocked the 34-year-old into the cold black water of the Bridgewater Canal. Shocked by what had happened, Tom tried to pull himself out, but the man kicked his hand away. “I started to think, ‘This is quite serious’,” says Tom, who asked that his real name not be published.
He had heard rumours about “The Pusher”, a supposed serial killer whose victims were found drowned in Manchester’s old industrial canals. There are no lights along that section of canal towpath, running through the south-west of the city. No-one to hear him if he screamed.
What the papers say
Metro and the Daily Mirror lead on NHS England offering a new drug treatment for cancer in children. Metro calls CAR-T a “wonder drug”, while the Mirror describes it as “game-changing”. Elsewhere, the Guardian reports on a study saying almost four million children live in households unable to buy adequate fruit and vegetables. And the Sun leads on former EastEnders and Carry On films star Dame Barbara Windsor having a heart operation after she had difficulties with her Alzheimer’s medication.
Daily digest
Meat testing A fifth of samples reveal unspecified animals’ DNA
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Lookahead
12:00 Theresa May takes on Jeremy Corbyn at the first Prime Minister’s Questions since the summer recess ended.
14:00 European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn announces his four wild card picks for the three-day competition against the United States, which starts on 28 September.
On this day
1997 Mother Teresa, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who devoted her life to helping the sick and the poor, dies at the age of 87.