Thursday briefing: Trump 'failed to do his job, on purpose'
Top story: ‘I don’t want to create a panic’
Good morning. I’m Warren Murray, bringing you the news hot off the press of a button.
Donald Trump has admitted he played down the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming that he did not want to create panic. On 7 February he told the journalist Bob Woodward in a phone call that coronavirus was “more deadly than even your strenuous flus”. But by 27 February he was telling the public: “It’s going to disappear. One day – it’s like a miracle – it will disappear.” The president admitted to Woodward in March: “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”
The Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, reacted to the reports by saying: “He knew how deadly it was. It was much more deadly than the flu. He knew and purposely played it down. Worse, he lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threat it posed to the country for months … he failed to do his job, on purpose. It was a life and death betrayal of the American people. Experts say that if he’d acted just one week sooner 36,000 people would have been saved.”
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No Covid shot so try a moonshot – Boris Johnson believes a mass testing programme is “our only hope for avoiding a second national lockdown before a vaccine”, according to leaked official documents setting out plans for “Operation Moonshot”, which would deliver up to 10m tests a day even though the current testing regime is struggling to deliver a fraction of that number. The test-and-trace system will not function unless ministers boost statutory sick pay (SSP) so workers can afford to stay at home, the head of the TUC has said. Millions of low-paid workers either do not qualify for the statutory sick pay of £95.85 a week or could not live on it. Keep up on coronavirus developments at our global live blog.
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China envoy Twitter porn storm – China’s UK embassy has demanded Twitter make a “thorough” investigation after its ambassador’s account liked a pornographic post. The embassy claimed Liu Xiaoming’s account had been “viciously attacked” after it liked posts critical of the Chinese Communist party and a 10-second video of a sex act. The likes remained active for at least an hour and were widely commented on before the pornographic tweet was unliked, and then later the others. Some hours later a spokesman for the London embassy released a statement: “Recently some anti-China elements viciously attacked ambassador Liu Xiaoming’s Twitter account and employed despicable methods to deceive the public. The Chinese embassy strongly condemns such abominable behaviour.”
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‘Make misogyny a hate crime’ – A couple who were victims of a violent homophobic attack on a London bus are calling for misogyny to become a hate crime, as a report reveals women are three times more likely to experience sexual violence and threats than men. Melania Geymonat and her partner Chris were beaten up and robbed by a gang of young men after refusing to kiss.
They have joined forces with a former police chief, MPs, religious leaders and the charity Citizens UK to put pressure on the government to introduce the new law. Scotland has already begun the process of making misogyny a hate crime. The women said in a statement: “In the wake of being subjected to a homophobic hate crime we have been looking to find ways to ensure that we prevent other, more vulnerable people, from having to go through the horrors we did.”
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People’s assembly calls for green recovery – The first UK climate assembly made up of ordinary members of the public is calling for the economic recovery from Covid-19 to help drive the move to net zero carbon emissions. The assembly of 108 people met for 6,000 hours across six weekends in 2020, with discussion guided by experts, to deliver a report commissioned by six parliamentary select committees. British scientists have mapped cavities half the size of the Grand Canyon that are letting warm ocean water melt the vast Thwaites glacier in the Antarctic, accelerating the world’s rising sea levels. The WWF and Zoological Society of London (ZSL)’s Living Planet Report has found animal populations have plunged an average of 68% since 1970 as humanity pushes the planet’s life support systems to the edge. Two years ago the figure stood at 60%. On a more hopeful note it has been estimated that up to 48 bird and mammal extinctions have been prevented since the UN Convention on Biological Diversity came into force in 1993.
Today in Focus podcast: Factories’ sex abuse shame
An investigation into working conditions in garment factories in Lesotho revealed widespread sexual abuse of women. Annie Kelly travelled to southern Africa to investigate.
Lunchtime read: ‘The right not to like men’
Female and feminist voices aren’t always welcome among men, Pauline Harmange, author of I Hate Men, tells Kim Willsher after finding herself at the centre of a literary storm. “I realise this sounds like a violent sentiment, but I feel strongly we should be allowed to not love them as a whole and make exceptions for certain men.”
Sport
Serena Williams was plainly relieved to put behind her a fretful three-set win against the grasscourt specialist Tsvetana Pironkova to reach the semi-finals of the US Open, while Dominic Thiem outclassed Alex de Minaur to book a clash with Daniil Medvedev, who shrugged off an injury scare in his win over Andrey Rublev, in the men’s semis.
In an incendiary intervention the Newcastle owner, Mike Ashley, has accused Richard Masters, the Premier League’s chief executive, of acting inappropriately in blocking a Saudi Arabian-led takeover of the club. The Premiership’s runaway leaders Exeter effectively booked a home play-off semi-final after beating Gloucester 35-22 at Sandy Park. Gareth Southgate has admitted the furore over Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood led him to play conservatively in the 0-0 draw with Denmark on Tuesday.
Peter Sagan, the seven-time winner of the points green jersey at the Tour de France, was relegated to last place for dangerous sprinting in a hectic finish to stage 11 in Poitiers. Sebastian Vettel appears poised to drive for Racing Point, to be rebranded as Aston Martin next season, after Sergio Pérez announced he is no longer wanted by the Formula One team. And the National Asian Cricket Council is confident the inquiry into Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of “institutional racism” at Yorkshire will get to the heart of the matter and that the club will act should wrongdoing be established.
Business
Asian markets have edged up following a rebound on Wall Street. The Nasdaq led a surge in New York as technology firms that had suffered losses since the end of last week staged a strong recovery led by giants including Apple, Microsoft and Tesla. Jakarta plunged four percent after authorities reimposed containment measures in the Indonesian capital. The FTSE is trending lower at time of writing while the pound is worth $1.299 and €1.099 just now.
The papers
The Briefing coined “rule of six” for the Covid restrictions in our headline yesterday morning, and to hear the PM make it official, sending it rippling through the news … well, in these times one lives for the small things. “There goes Christmas”, the Mail laments today, as it calls the rule “draconian” and depicts “Covid marshals” who will help enforce the rules as an “army of snoopers”.
The Telegraph is gloomy: “Christmas to bring little cheer” and the Times looks and sounds similar: “PM fears threat to Christmas”. But as we’ve come to expect the Express casts Boris Johnson as Santa Claus rather than the Grinch: “PM: Christmas can still be saved by daily tests”. That refers, of course, to what the Metro calls “The £100bn Covid test moonshot” and the Guardian portrays as “PM’s £100bn gamble to avoid second national lockdown”.
“Stick to new rules or Xmas is off”, the Mirror warns, and the Sun does all right with “No Ho Ho”. And lastly the FT where Johnson is “accused of Brexit nadir with threat to rewrite EU treaty” – more on the reaction here.
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