Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Tuesday 20 Nov 2018

1. DUP warning as May gets Hunt’s backing

Theresa May last night received a warning from the DUP to drop her Brexit plans – and the support of her Foreign Secretary. Instead of backing the government, DUP MPs abstained from a finance bill, apparently to send May a message, while Jeremy Hunt, warned that a challenge to her leadership would cause “chaos”.

2. Police ‘will have to stop arresting offenders’

The chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation has warned that rank and file officers he represents in London may have to stop arresting violent offenders because of a loss of respect for the force among the public. Ken Marsh spoke after video footage showed two officers being attacked by suspects with little support from passers-by.

3. Elections over, Trump ‘pulls troops back’

Reports in the US claim troops sent to the border with Mexico shortly before mid-term elections will be pulled back again in the next week or two, prompting complaints they were used as political pawns by President Donald Trump. The forces were deployed to tackle a group of migrants heading towards the US who have still not arrived.

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4. McDonald’s: Canada lawsuit on Happy Meals

Fast food giant McDonald’s is facing a class action lawsuit in Quebec which alleges its Happy Meals, aimed at children, break a 1980 law against advertising junk food to minors. The lead plaintiff is a father of three, Antonio Bramante, who estimates he has spent hundreds of dollars on Happy Meals at the urging of his progeny.

5. Migrant workers send home £8bn to families

A new UN report says the total amount of earnings sent home by overseas migrants in the UK to their families each year is £8bn. But Unesco warns that too much is taken out of this sum in transfer charges by agencies – a global average of 7%. The three biggest recipient nations for UK workers are Nigeria, India and Pakistan.

6. Gunman kills three in Chicago hospital

A gunman in a Chicago hospital has killed a doctor, a newly-qualified pharmacist and a police officer who tried to stop him, in an attack Mayor Rahm Emanuel said “tears at the soul of our city”. It is thought the un-named shooter killed his ex-partner, Dr Tamara O’Neal, in a car park before moving into the hospital firing at others.

7. Bleak Christmas looms for non-food retailers

Non-food retailers will not do well over the festive period, according to market research firm Mintel. Total retail spending in December is expected to be 4% higher than it was in the same month in 2017 but the bulk of that – 3.3% – is predicted to be food sales, prompted by a mix of inflation and discounts from supermarkets.

8. Imran Khan fights back against Trump

Pakistan’s President Imran Khan has lashed out against US President Donald Trump after the latter accused Pakistan of knowingly harbouring Osama Bin Laden ten years ago. Trump said “everybody in Pakistan” knew where Bin Laden was and called the country’s leaders “fools”. Khan said these claims were both false and insulting.

9. Scientists identify ‘worst year’ as AD536

New analysis of ice from a glacier has identified AD536 as the year of a volcanic eruption in Iceland which plunged much of the inhabited world into darkness – prompting some academics to dub it the worst year to be alive. The ash in the atmosphere caused crops to fail – and was followed by two further eruptions and a plague.

10. Briefing: is May really the next Thatcher?

Tory Brexiteers seeking to topple Theresa May are being urged to learn from the devastating effects of Margaret Thatcher’s resignation on their party.

This Thursday marks the 28th anniversary of the Iron Lady stepping down. Is history about to repeat itself?

Is Theresa May really the next Margaret Thatcher?