Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Saturday 18 Jan 2020

1. Sajid Javid admits Brexit will not benefit all businesses

The chancellor has admitted that not all businesses will benefit from Brexit and warned manufacturers that “there will not be alignment” with the EU after Britain leaves the bloc. Speaking to the Financial Times, Sajid Javid said firms must “adjust” to new regulations. He declined to specify which EU rules he wanted to drop.

2. IMF says world economy risks return of the Great Depression

The head of the International Monetary Fund says the global economy risks a return of the Great Depression. Kristalina Georgieva said IMF research, which compares the current economy to the “roaring 1920s” that culminated in the great market crash of 1929, revealed that a similar trend was already under way, powered by inequality and financial sector instability.

3. Greenpeace listed in anti-terror document

Greenpeace has been listed alongside Combat 18 and the National Front on a counter-terrorism police guide distributed to medical staff and teachers as part of anti-extremism briefings. The Counter Terrorism Policing document is used across England as part of training for Prevent, the anti-radicalisation scheme designed to catch those at risk of committing terrorist violence.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

4. Clinton's prosecutor to defend Trump at Senate trial

Donald Trump's defence team in his Senate trial will include special prosecutors from Bill Clinton's impeachment. The US president will be represented by Ken Starr and Robert Ray, who investigated Clinton. Also on his defence team will be the controversial Alan Dershowitz, whose past clients include OJ Simpson. Opening statements in the Trump impeachment trial will begin next week.

5. Macron rushed out of theatre after protesters confront him

Emmanuel Macron has been rushed out of a Paris theatre after protesters attempted to confront the French president. Police tried to hold back the protesters but some managed to enter the building, amid chants of “Macron, resign!” The incident came on the 44th day of strikes aimed at overturning the French government's plans to overhaul the country's pension system.

6. Infection from mystery China virus may be higher than thought

Scientists have told the BBC that the number of people infected by the mystery virus emerging in China is far greater than official data suggests. Although there have been 45 laboratory-confirmed cases of the new virus, experts in the UK believe the true figure is closer to 1,700. “I am substantially more concerned than I was a week ago,” said disease outbreak scientist, Prof Neil Ferguson.

7. Long-Bailey would replace Lords with elected senate

Rebecca Long-Bailey says she would replace the House of Lords with an elected senate, based outside of London, if she were prime minister. She told a rally she would devolve power out of the clutches of Westminster, decisively ending the “gentlemen’s club of politics”. She also vowed that she would “sweep away the House of Lords”.

8. Watchdog claims cop admitted ignoring grooming gangs

A police chief admitted that his force ignored the sexual abuse of girls by Pakistani grooming gangs for decades because it was afraid of increasing “racial tensions”, claims The Times. The Independent Office for Police Conduct upheld a complaint that the senior Rotherham officer told a missing child’s family that the town “would erupt” if it was known that Asian men were having sex with under-age white girls.

9. Isolation booths ‘could harm children's mental heatlth’

There have been warnings about the mental health of children after it was revealed that schools are converting toilet blocks and classrooms to build isolation booths to accommodate “disruptive” children. The Centre for Mental Health charity has warned that putting pupils in isolation for extended periods at school could harm their mental wellbeing.

10. Guildford pub bombings police ‘to destroy seized files’

Police investigating the 1974 Guildford pub bombings have “seized” archives and may destroy some of them, according to a memo seen by the BBC. The records at Surrey History Centre were gathered by retired officers. Official paperwork says one file, which had information on wanted people, “will be destroyed” on retention. The Guildford Four were wrongly convicted of the bombings and spent up to 15 years in jail.