Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 28 Dec 2018

1. Migrants arriving on UK coast ‘ignored’

The government has been accused of failing to get a grip on attempts by migrants to cross the channel in makeshift boats because ministers are distracted by Brexit. Conservative MP Tim Loughton, who sits on the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said Home Office “resources and attention” were “stretched” by Brexit.

2. Corbyn: bring back MPs now for Brexit vote

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has urged the government to recall Parliament early from its Christmas break so that MPs can vote sooner on Theresa May’s Brexit deal. MPs are due back on 7 January and are expected to vote a week or so after that. Downing Street said Corbyn’s suggestion was a “silly demand”.

3. Government accused of hiding Brexit truths

Campaigners who want a second Brexit referendum say ministers have been abusing their powers to hide uncomfortable truths about Britain leaving the EU. The People’s Vote campaign points out that the departments most closely involved in planning Brexit are also those which have denied the most freedom of information requests.

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4. Three Brits killed in Iceland crash

Two British women and a child have died in a single-vehicle crash in Iceland. The rented 4x4 the tourists were travelling in crashed through a railing and off a 20ft bridge on Thursday morning. It is not known what caused the accident. Two brothers, said to be the women’s husbands, and two children were also seriously injured.

5. Search for cruise ship entertainer suspended

The US coastguard has suspended its search for Arron Hough, the British entertainer who went missing overboard from a US-based cruise ship early in the morning on Christmas Day. The search covered more than 3,700 square miles and the coastguard said it was a “difficult” decision to stop looking. Hough’s family have been told.

6. Police fire Tasers at dogs and children

New data from police forces show officers have fired Taser guns at children as young as 13, elderly people and dozens of animals in the past three years. Between January 2016 and November 2018, a 77-year-old pensioner and 37 dogs were hit. In 2017, a 13-year-old was fired on in Merseyside and 14-year-olds have been Tasered elsewhere.

7. US government shutdown to continue

The suspension of many state services in the US is likely to continue for another week after both chambers of Congress met but took no steps to agree a budget so staff could return to work. US President Donald Trump has vowed to force a shutdown unless Democrats agree to allocate funds to increase border defences.

8. Royal Mail criticised for D-Day stamp mix-up

Royal Mail has been criticised for an “offensive” mistake after it released a preview image of a stamp planned to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in June this year. The image did not show British troops landing on a Normandy beach – instead it showed US troops landing in what is now Indonesia.

9. No 10 thought email was a fad

Newly declassified files in the National Archives include 1994 memos in which Downing Street officials wonder if they should start using email in order to seem as on-the-ball as the Clinton administration in the US. They were convinced email would be a flash in the pan.

10. Briefing: the best photos of 2018

How to sum up a year in 12 images? It’s a tough undertaking but we’ve chosen one photo from each month to build a mini-portrait of 2018.

From a snow-spotted Household Guardsman standing firm in the face of the Beast from the East to the very second that England fans saw the ball hit the back of Croatia’s net in the World Cup semi-final, enjoy our snapshots of an eventful year.

The best photos of 2018