Advertisement

Wednesday morning news briefing: Tory revolt grows

Dominic Cummings - DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP
Dominic Cummings - DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP

If you want to receive twice-daily briefings like this by email, sign up to the Front Page newsletter here. For two-minute audio updates, try The Briefing - on podcasts, smart speakers and WhatsApp.

Six Cabinet ministers 'believe Cummings should quit'

Boris Johnson's hopes of quelling public anger over the conduct of Dominic Cummings are in jeopardy. More than 35 Tory MPs, including former Cabinet ministers, have called for the Prime Minister's chief aide to resign after travelling to Durham during lockdown. As a junior minister became the first to resign over the affair, Cabinet ministers said Mr Cummings should "step back" until a police investigation into his behaviour had concluded. Now Political Editor Gordon Rayner understands that up to six members of the Cabinet have privately told colleagues they believe Mr Cummings should quit. It has also emerged that his Covid-19 "prediction" blog post was secretly edited by him last month. Anna Mikhailova has the key unanswered questions.

Mr Johnson faces another difficult day today when he appears before the powerful Commons Liaison Committee for the first time since taking office. The session from 4.30pm is likely to be dominated by questions about Mr Cummings. Follow latest updates and analysis in our liveblog. Can Mr Johnson afford to stand by his right-hand man? To debate all these issues with my colleagues Daniel Capurro and Madeline Grantregister now for our webinar at 11am today. And let Matt raise a smile with today's cartoon, where he imagines a new slogan for Durham.

'Double bubble': Two households will be able to meet

It will be a case of family - or friends - reunited. Two households will be able to meet outdoors next month under government plans to "increase social contact". The new guidelines mean it will be possible to enjoy a picnic in a public space with another family or visit friends in a garden. But Amy Jones reports that a household will have to pick only one other group from a separate property to socialise with until lockdown is relaxed further. Remind yourself of the current rules for daily life.

JK Rowling: The new fairy tale I'd filed in my attic

When J K Rowling threw a 50th birthday with the theme "come as your own private nightmare", she dressed as "a lost manuscript". Now she has not only dug out that manuscript but announced she is publishing her first children's book outside the Harry Potter universe as a gift to young readers during lockdown. The Ickabog is a fairy tale she planned to release in 2007 until the project was abandoned. The story gathered dust in the attic until Rowling brought it down and decided to release it free online in daily instalments. In our first-look reviewJake Kerridge writes that it is a fun but lightweight fairy tale - lacking the Potter magic.

PS: Allow our books team to help you choose what to read by browsing our reviews. To access all our journalism, try our subscription offer. Take a free one-month trial - then save 50pc on your first three months.

At a glance: More coronavirus headlines

Comment and analysis

You Are Not Alone: Getting you through lockdown

  1. Best of Britain Ten great summer holiday ideas, from remote hikes to luxury yurts

  2. Learn a language… or to code? | The best paid skills you can learn while in lockdown

  3. Home education | 'Finding an online tutor has saved my sanity during lockdown'

Business and money briefing

Market rout | More than 1.5m workers could be forced to push back their retirement dates after pension returns were hammered by a plunge in the stock market. Savers have been urged not to withdraw large amounts of cash from their investment pots as they risk locking in steep losses since Covid-19 struck, with the FTSE 100 down 20pc this year.

Life after lockdown: Unified action saving Portugal

Portugal is not rich. So how does one of the eurozone's poorer countries have a Covid-19 testing rate more than double almost every other nation in the world? Read this dispatch by Jorge Branco and view more pictures from around the world as lockdown measures are eased.

Staff and customers at the Deck beer garden in Estoril, near Lisbon, wear protective masks as more businesses reopen in Portugal - HORACIO VILLALOBOS/GETTY
Staff and customers at the Deck beer garden in Estoril, near Lisbon, wear protective masks as more businesses reopen in Portugal - HORACIO VILLALOBOS/GETTY

Also in the news today

US race row | Protests have erupted in Minneapolis after four police officers were fired over the death of a black man who was pinned down by a white officer. As US Correspondent Rozina Sabur reports, the case has drawn comparisons to Eric Garner, the African-American man who died in 2014 after being placed in a chokehold by police.

And finally... for this morning's downtime

Classical escape | From the Danube to the Nile, music can transport you all over the planet. BBC Radio 3 presenter Petroc Trelawny has selected 10 pieces of music to take you away while in lockdown.