Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Monday 12 Mar 2018

1. Sir Ken Dodd, last music hall great, dead at 90

Stand-up comic Sir Ken Dodd has died at the age of 90, two days after marrying his partner of 40 years. One of the best-loved of British comedians, Dodd was known for his rambling live shows, which were often up to five hours long. He also had a string of hit records in his 1960s heyday.

2. Cable says Brexit voters wanted ‘white faces’

Sir Vince Cable said yesterday that some of those who voted to leave the EU were driven by “nostalgia for a world where passports were blue, faces were white and the map was coloured imperial pink”. Many Conservative MPs were angered by Cable’s remarks, which minister Brandon Lewis called “rude” and “offensive”.

3. May ‘set to accuse Russia over spy poisoning’

Theresa May is on the verge of publicly accusing the Russian state of being behind the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Salisbury eight days ago, The Times reports. Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are still in critical condition in hospital. Policeman Nick Bailey, one of the first on the scene, is conscious but still ill.

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4. Putin: ‘I ordered attack on passenger plane’

Russian leader Vladimir Putin says he ordered the shooting down of a passenger jet believed to have been hijacked at the start of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Speaking in a new documentary, the 65-year-old president says he found out shortly afterwards that it was a false alarm. He also says Crimea will never be returned to Ukraine.

5. Labour frontbencher Abrahams decries bullying

Labour MP Debbie Abrahams, the Labour MP has said she is a victim of a “bullying culture of the worst kind”, after being removed from her position as shadow minister for work and pensions on Sunday. Abrahams says she did not agree to stand down and has not been told what she is accused of. The party said she would stand aside while an allegation was investigated.

6. London house prices fall by up to 15% as Brexit bites

Property prices have fallen by an average of 2.6% in London over the past year – and by as much as 15% in some boroughs – as the effect of the Brexit vote continues to be felt, according to a survey by property website rightmove.com. Wandsworth, Islington and Southwark are among the hardest-hit parts of the capital.

7. University vice-chancellors ‘paid more than peers’

University vice-chancellors are paid “far more” than their peers in the public sector, including NHS managers and senior local authority staff, according to an analysis by The Guardian. The newspaper cites the example of the chief executive of Birmingham City council, who earns £185,000, compared with the vice-chancellor of the city’s university, who gets £378,000.

8. CIA head: Trump knows North Korea risks

CIA director Mike Pompeo has defended Donald Trump’s decision to meet with North Korean dictator Jim Jong Un, insisting the president understands the risks. Pompeo told Fox News that Trump “isn’t doing this for theatre” but rather to “solve a problem”. Critics say botched talks could leave both nations worse off, the BBC reports.

9. Carragher apologises for spitting at family

Former England and Liverpool footballer Jamie Carragher has apologised for spitting at a family of Manchester United supporters while driving. Carragher was being filmed as the father of the family drove alongside him, shouting about a recent Liverpool defeat. The 40-year-old said he had since phoned the family to apologise.

10. Briefing: interest rates ‘likely to rise in May’ despite Brexit

A majority of economists still expect UK interest rates to rise in May even though Brexit is making the future hard to predict.

Last month, the Bank of England’s rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC) voted unanimously to leave rates at 0.5%, but “the tone of its discussion suggests the cost of borrowing will not remain this low for much longer”, says The Guardian.

Interest rates ‘likely to rise in May’ despite Brexit