Top story: Driver arrested on suspicion of murder
Hello and welcome to the Guardian morning briefing with me, Warren Murray.
Overnight, police have searched two properties in Co Armagh in relation to thediscovery of 39 bodies in a lorry in Grays, Essex. The searches are believed to be linked to the arrest of the driver, named in reports as 25 – year-old Mo Robinson, from Portadown, who is being held and questioned on suspicion of murder by Essex police.
This morning, authorities will continue their work to identify the 38 adults and one teenager found dead on Wednesday. Police are examining whether organized crime networks linked to a recent surge in people-smuggling into the UK are responsible. The lorry trailer came from Bulgaria, authorities said. Robinson is believed to have arrived in the UK via Holyhead, one of Britain’s busiest ferry ports, and picked up the trailer in Essex shortly before emergency services were called.
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, said he was “appalled by this tragic incident” – the worst of its kind in Britain since the bodies of 58 Chinese people were found in a container in Dover, Kent in 2000. The case throws a spotlight on the perilous journey of asylum seekers into Europe via the Balkans. Often theyend up on lorries and trucks managed by smugglers. Before yesterday’s discovery in Essex, 58 migrant deaths on land in Europe had been recorded for 2019 – 22 of which were from “vehicle-related” incidents. A further 24 people have diedon the western Balkans route. Five have drowned in the Channel, and a stowaway on a plane fell to his death over London on 30 June. More than 1, 000 migrants and refugees have died in the Mediterranean Sea this year, according to the UN.
Hauliers approached by the Guardian in Holyhead saidchecks on people smuggling at UK ports were often inadequateand that such an incident had been “a matter of time”. Drivers told of regular hazards they faced with refugees and migrants trying to climb into their vehicles. Hugh Williams, who runs the Edinburgh Castle pub opposite the Holyhead ferry port, said: “Desperate people trying to escape desperate circumstances and someone has made money out of this misery. It is disgusting. ”
Republicans in bizarre stunt –Republicans have“stormed” a closed-door hearing of the Trump-Ukraine impeachment inquiryto interrupt what they called “secret” proceedings. But the committees carrying out the investigation already include both Republicans and Democrats. The intervention came after Donald Trump called on Republicans to “get tougher and fight” on his behalf – apparently rattled by devastating testimony from the ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, about efforts on Trump’s behalf to make US aid conditional on Kyiv’s assistance in smearing Joe Biden. “Republicans are playing to an audience of one, and the president’s proud of them, but we’re going to continue to do all the work,” said the Democratic congressman David Cicilline, a member of the House foreign affairs committee.
Having a WAB-ble -MPs on both the Labor and Conservative sides of the Commons are voicing their doubts about the idea of a general election amid the impasse over the Brexit withdrawal agreement bill (WAB). Some in Boris Johnson’s cabinet believe the majority of 30 achieved by the government on the second reading suggests his deal hasenough support to carry it through all its stages in parliament. Meanwhile there is anxiety among Labor MPs aboutabandoning the idea of a Brexit referendum in favor of a pre-Christmas election, especially with the party well behind the Conservatives in recent published polls. Owen Jones says Labor shouldbite the bullet and agree to an election. The prime minister has told MPs he is awaiting thedecision of the EU 27over whether to grant an extension before settling his next move. That decision is unlikely to come from Brussels before Friday.
Oil lobby’s reach into EU politics –The five biggest oil and gas companies – BP, Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Total – and their industry groups have spent at least € (m) £ 217 m) lobbying the EU over climate policies since 2010. Researchers say the figure represents the tip of the iceberg, as in some years companies made no declarations of spending in the voluntary EU transparency register. Pascoe Sabido, researcher at Corporate Europe Observatory, said the oil and gas lobby had “delayed, weakened and sabotaged EU action on the climate emergencythanks to their hefty lobby spending. A cool quarter of a billion over the last decade buys a lot of access and influence in Brussels. ”
Facebook founder grilled –Mark Zuckerberg has been questioned by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Facebook’s reluctance to ban lies in political advertising. The Democratic congresswoman’s questions about whether Facebook would take down campaign ads that told liesdrew extensive fudging from Zuckerbergwho at times struggled to answer. Zuckerberg was appearing at a committee hearing regarding thelaunch of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra. “In order for us to make decisions about Libra, I think we need to kind of dig into your past behavior and Facebook’s past behavior with respect to our democracy,” said Ocasio-Cortez. Poppy Noor writes: “AOC has shown a remarkable ability toextract energising viral moments from stale bureaucratic meetings. She turns complex political concepts into snappy soundbites and boring old politics into much-talked-about spectacle.
Wanted known –Coldplay has revealed the tracks of its new album, Everyday Life, by placing ads in theclassified sections of newspapers around the world. The band started close to home with local papers in north Wales and Devon but also included Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald, the Otago Daily Times in New Zealand and Le Monde in France. In the North Wales Daily Post, the advertisement sits alongside ads for bales of hay and a fridge-freezer. Lead guitarist Jonny Buckland tweeted: “I once had a holiday job at the Daily Post, placing photos of houses for sale. I wasn’t very good at it. ”
Today in Focus podcast: Klein on the climate crisis
Activist and author Naomi Klein tells Anushka Asthana that combating the climate crisis must be at the heart of anurgent restructuring of politics and the economy. Plus: Daniel Trilling on the shocking discovery of 39 bodies inside a lorry in Essex.
Today in Focus
Klein on the climate crisis
Sorry your browser does not support audio – but you can download here and listen https://audio.guim.co.uk/2019 / 10 / 23 – 77723 – 911026 TIF_Kleinx. mp3
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Lunchtime read: The culinary gourds are smiling on us
Yesterday we brought you some frightening statistics on pumpkin wastage at Halloween, with more than 8m of them expected to be binned uneaten this year.
Tony Naylor writes: “It can be hard work to hollow out these thin-walled but robust monsters, discard the toughest fibrous bits, separate the seeds and create something tasty from the watery flesh. But you can make delicious food from even the most unpromising pumpkin. ”Naylor rounds up someenticing ideas from chefs, bakers and cookery writers.
Sport
George Ford is expected to face New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final, with Eddie Jones springinganother selection surprisein a team that is probably “the tightest group of England players there has ever been ”,according to Manu Tuilagi. Wales, meanwhile, are confident the centers Jonathan Davies and Hadleigh Parkeswill be fit for their semi-final against South Africa. Jürgen Klopppraised Alex Oxlade-Chamberlainfor two “sensational” goals ina 4-1 win over Genkbut admitted he was less than impressed with Liverpool’s overall performance in Belgium. Frank Lampard said Chelsea hadprovided the blueprint for future successwith their display in the1-0 Champions League winat Ajax, which fired their hopes of qualification for the last 16.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has insisted the Hundred will be judged a success only if it“grows the game as a whole”after thecontroversial new cricket formatcame under sustained scrutiny from MPs. And five years after finally admitting female members, the R&A has made the decision to allow golfers to get ready on the premises at the Old Course byinstalling a women’s changing room.
Business
After soaring 6% in two weeks of volatile trade, sterling has stabilized as Brexit appears to be in a holding pattern. The pound is trading around $ 1. 291 and € 1. 159 at time of writing. Currency markets are sticking to tight ranges ahead of key central bank meetings this week and next with the eurozone, Japan and United States due to review policy. Asian shares have pulled ahead as corporate earnings and a ceasefire in northern Syria helped prop up sentiment. On Wall Street overnight the Dow and the Nasdaq added 0.2% each while the S&P 500 gained 0.3%. Tesla shares jumped 21% in after-hours trading following asurprise third-quarter profit. The FTSE is trending flat to a few points down ahead of the open.
The papers
The discovery of 39 bodies in a lorry in Essex is the main story on most of the front pages today, including the (Guardian) : “Police work to identify 39 people found dead in lorry ”, theDaily Telegraph: “Human cargo driven to frozen fate”, theMirror: “The tomb of steel” and thei: “Dream of a new life ends in horror”.
Several papers feature pictures of Mo Robinson, whom police are questioning in connection with the deaths, including theSun: “39 dead in his truck ”, theTimes: “Lorry migrants froze to death” and theMail, which asks “Why were warnings ignored?” Saying ministers were warned about the port three years ago.
TheExpressfeatures the truck on its front page, but leads on “Fury over EU still deciding our fate” while theFThas “SoftBank to force 4, 000 WeWork job cuts as part of turnaround plan ”. *****
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