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MPs to vote on Johnson’s Brexit deal
The Parliamentary year is ending as it began – with MPs debating Brexit. Whereas, in January, Theresa May was embarking on a series of defeats over the deal she struck with the EU, her successor as prime minister says his 80-seat majority will provide “certainty” after years of “delay and rancour”. MPs will vote later on Boris Johnson’s version of the Brexit bill. It not only paves the way for the UK to leave on 31 January but bars the government from extending the transition period – during which the UK continues to follow EU rules while a future trade deal is struck – past 2020.
This period aims to provide financial stability and allow business to prepare for the new environment. And Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer describes limiting it to 11 months as “reckless and irresponsible”, putting people’s jobs at risk. The bill also loses a previous clause on strengthening workers’ rights, with the TUC warning the change will help “drive down” working conditions. The government says it will deal with this issue through separate legislation. To find out what else is in the Brexit bill, including a provision allowing more British judges to depart from previous rulings of the EU’s top court, check out our guide. And to go back to basics, read our simple guide to Brexit.
Boeing prepares to launch astronaut capsule for Nasa
First into space was a monkey called Albert. Then there was Laika, the Moscow mongrel who orbited earth. There was even a French feline, Felix. Now, it’s Rosie’s turn. Rather than an animal, “she” is an anthropomorphic test device – or dummy. Covered in sensors, she will record how much discomfort a real astronaut might experience during launch or landing within the test capsule for Starliner – the passenger craft developed by Boeing to taxi Nasa astronauts to and from the International Space Station. It’s scheduled to lift-off atop an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 11:36 GMT and, if all goes well, should be carrying humans into space next year.
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Chemotheraphy: ‘Like plugging in a phone charger’
Most people might know the basics about chemotherapy and what its effects might be. Beyond that, BBC Click’s LJ Rich says she, like many, found it a mystery. “Before I started chemo, I was really scared,” she says. “I was also uninformed about the practicalities of it… what to expect, how it feels.” So she shares the experience of being given breast cancer drugs through a port implanted in her skin – “like plugging in a phone charger” – and enduring the pain of wearing hair-preserving cold caps, akin to “eating the coldest ice cream in the world for an hour and a half”. And, of course, LJ uses a variety of tech to help doctors monitor her condition. Watch the video.
Why the Bank of England governor matters to you
By Andy Verity, economics correspondent, BBC News
The Bank’s most important role is to try to control the cost of borrowing money by setting the official interest rate. That is likely to be a key determinant of the cost of real interest rates: your mortgage; your car loan or your business loan.
Because of the vast sums of money traded on the foreign exchange markets, traders listen obsessively to the governor’s words for any hints about where interest rates are going. Positive or downbeat comments can affect the value of the pound. The governor must be careful about what they say – which means they’re not always the most exciting people to listen to.
What the papers say
The front pages offer differing perspectives on whether the Queen’s Speech promised the “golden age” the prime minister heralded. As the Daily Telegraph puts it, the 36 bills contained in the government’s agenda at the State Opening of Parliament “left little doubt that he was planning for life in No 10 beyond the next general election”. However, the Guardian raises fears of an “extreme Brexit”, saying protections for workers’ rights have been “stripped out” of the EU Withdrawal Bill, with commitments on unaccompanied refugee children “watered down”. Meanwhile, the i says a plan to tackle the “social care crisis” was missing from the programme “despite [a] £1bn-a-year pledge”.
Daily digest
Australia bushfires PM apologises for US holiday amid crisis
Tasers Use by police reaches record high
Heathrow Airport Third runway “delayed for 12 months”
Miss America Biochemist wins crown after on-stage experiment
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The women who finished Rita’s quilt
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Lookahead
12:00 A memorial service for London Bridge attack victim Saskia Jones takes place at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.
19:00 Fallon Sherrock plays her PDC Darts World Championship second round tie against Mensur Suljovic after becoming the first woman to beat a male player in the tournament.
On this day
2004 More than £26m is stolen in a raid at Northern Bank’s headquarters in Belfast, with the families of two executives held hostage for 24 hours.
From elsewhere
Tracing the roots of a partisan impeachment (NPR)
Boris Johnson has a Bank of England problem (Bloomberg)
How can we talk to children about the climate crisis without painting it all black? (Independent)
My teenage respect for the rules led me to risk poisoning the whole family (Guardian)
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