Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Thursday 12 Sep 2019

1. Johnson holds back secret Brexit messages

Boris Johnson is refusing to comply with MPs’ demand that he publish in full a series of key Brexit documents. Michael Gove, who is in charge of no-deal planning, said that publishing emails from senior government advisers relating to the suspension of Parliament risked breaking laws relating to human rights and data protection. The Goverment has released the previously leaked Operation Yellowhammer files, which predict food shortages and public disorder in the event of no-deal.

Today’s newspapers: ‘Bullish Boris ready to walk away’

2. Labour demands Parliament recall following Scots court ruling

Labour has demanded that Parliament be recalled, after Scotland’s highest court ruled that Boris Johnson’s prorogation was unlawful. The Supreme Court in London will consider the legal judgment on Tuesday. The Scottish judges said that the prime minister’s shutdown was illegal because it was designed to stifle parliamentary debate and action on Brexit. Critics including Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng have accused them of bias.

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Can the UK prime minister be arrested or impeached?

3. Obesity among primary school leavers to hit 40% by 2024, experts warn

Almost four in ten children leaving primary school in 2024 will be clinically obese or overweight, according to a new report from Public Health England. Experts predict that 38.1% of 11-year-olds will be an unhealthy weight in five years’ time, compared with 34.3% at present. Current data shows that children from poorer areas are more than twice as likely to be overweight as those from more affluent neighbourhoods.

4. British and Australian bloggers detained in Iran named

More details have emerged about two foreigners arrested by Iran and accused of spying. British-Australian woman Jolie King and her Australian partner Mark Firkin were detained ten weeks ago, but news of their arrests has only just emerged. Iranian media has claimed that the couple, who were blogging about their travels, were detained for flying a drone without a licence. Another British-Australian woman also being held in a Tehran prison has not been named.

5. BNP Paribas banker wins £4m sexism case

A City worker has won an employment tribunal case against her former employers BNP Paribas after receiving unequal pay and facing sex discrimination and victimisation that included a witch’s hat being left on her desk. Stacey Macken earned £33,000 in bonuses in her first four years as a broker at the French bank, compared to a male peers’s £167,000, and was belittled by a boss who kept telling her “not now, Stacey”.

6. Top Gear’s Flintoff ‘fine’ after high-speed crash

Ex-England cricketer and Top Gear presenter Freddie Flintoff says he is “absolutely fine” after crashing a three-wheeled motorcycle travelling at 124mph during a drag race earlier this week while filming the new series of the BBC show. The 41-year-old did not need medical attention after the accident, which occurred at the same airfield where former host Richard Hammond was seriously hurt during filming in 2008.

7. J.K. Rowling donates £15.3m to MS research

Author J.K. Rowling has donated a further £15.3m to a centre for research into multiple sclerosis that she set up with a £10m donation in 2010. The Edinburgh clinic is named after the writer’s mother, Anne Rowling, who died at the age of 45 of complications relating to the neurological condition, and also provides care for MS patients.

8. Megachurch pastor takes own life

A pastor at a “megachurch” in the US who frequently spoke out on mental health issues has taken his own life at the age of 30. Jarrid Wilson founded a programme known as Anthem of Hope to help people struggling with depression at the 15,000-member Harvest Christian Fellowship church in California. He leaves a wife and children.

9. Jeremy Paxman: Britain is nation of litter louts

Former Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman, now patron of the Clean Up Britain group, has claimed that the UK is a nation of litter louts and that government efforts to tackle the problem are “utterly useless”. The famously acerbic journalist says the makers of chewing gum and cigarettes should be made to pay to help clear up discarded gum and cigarette butts.

10. Briefing: the pros and cons of a second referendum

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson has called for a second EU referendum to take place before a general election - a stance that puts him at odds with Jeremy Corbyn.

With the Lib Dems also backing a second referendum, debate is growing about the advantages and disadvantages of a so-called People’s Vote.

The pros and cons of a second referendum