WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
NI hike hint, Canada and India's spat grows, and hemp's promise as a natural insecticide

 
today's politics story

Reeves signals National Insurance hike

What happened 
Rachel Reeves has given the clearest hint yet that employers could face an increase in their National Insurance contributions when she unveils the new government's economic plans in her first Budget later this month.

Who said what
At the government’s international investment summit at London’s Guildhall yesterday the chancellor said Labour's election pledge not to increase National Insurance on "working people" related to the element paid by employees rather than employers.

The comments immediately prompted accusations that Labour is on the cusp of breaking a manifesto promise, said The Guardian. "I went back and read the manifesto and it says, very clearly, we will not raise rates of National Insurance," Paul Johnson, the head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, told Times Radio yesterday.

In her summit speech Reeves said Labour would "stick to the commitments we made in our manifesto", before adding: "But you know there is a £22 billion black hole over and above anything we knew about going into the election that we need to fill."

What next? 
The suggestion of an NI increase came as Labour unveiled £63 billion worth of investment that the government claimed would create 38,000 jobs. New investment deals include £1.1 billion for Stansted Airport; £279 million from US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly to tackle "significant health challenges" such as obesity; and £20 billion from Macquarie towards infrastructure projects like a national EV charging network.

The announcements were "a clear (and rare) win for an administration that has stumbled through its first 100 days in office", said Jack Barnett in The Times, because the private sector will be "crucial for the government's plans to kick-start the economy".

 
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today's international story

India and Canada expel diplomats amid murder row

What happened
Canada and India have expelled one another's top ambassadors as a row over last year's assassination of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil intensified.

Who said what
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were "credible allegations" linking Indian diplomats and intelligence services to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – an activist who advocated for a separate Sikh state to be carved out of India. New Delhi rejected the accusation as "preposterous". Both countries have expelled six of the other's diplomats in tit-for-tat moves.

India has accused Trudeau of "pandering to Canada's large Sikh community for political gain", said the BBC. Canada, for its part, maintains that it has "evidence that cannot be ignored" linking India to the crime.

What next?
Designating Indian diplomats as "persons of interest" takes the India-Canada spat over Nijjar's killing to "a new low", said the Economic Times. The allegations levelled by Trudeau, who is widely expected to lose the next election, are likely to "burden the next government with unwanted diplomatic baggage". In the meantime, said Newsweek, "tensions between the two nations continue to rise".

 
 
Today's health story

Thousands denied weight loss jab due to slow rollout

What happened
Thousands of people are facing a long, possibly life-threatening wait to gain access to treatment for obesity because of a slower-than-anticipated rollout of a weight loss jab, according to freedom of information requests by Sky News.

NHS weight management services should have started prescribing Wegovy last December to anyone with a BMI of more than 35 and one related health condition, but as of April only 838 people had received the drug – an estimated 6% of those eligible. Only 14 of England's 42 care boards had made Wegovy available and they had imposed extra restrictions.

Who said what
Access is a "postcode lottery", said Robert Andrews of the University of Exeter.

"I considered going private," said Ken Pollock, who was told that his clinic was unable to offer medication or an appointment for two years. "It's so shocking."

What next?
Half of all obese people with three related health conditions will be dead in 10 years, said Sky News.

 
 

It's not all bad

Like any drug, too much cannabis can be poisonous, but this fact could help humans in their battle against mosquito-borne diseases. A recent study found that hemp leaf extract rich in CBD can kill yellow fever mosquito larvae, including insecticide-resistant strains. Researchers at Ohio State University discovered that small amounts of the extract were highly toxic to mosquito larvae, providing a potential alternative to current insecticides. Scientists hope that the discovery can offer a safer, natural solution to controlling mosquito populations and preventing disease.

 
 
under the radar

Experts call for a Nato bank to 'Trump-proof' spending

Europe and Ukraine should "Trump-proof" their military spending by setting up a "Nato bank", according to a report by German and UK think tanks.

As the US election looms, there is concern over how a Donald Trump presidency could affect defence spending in Europe. The report asks leaders to "actively consider" urgent measures, including a Nato bank, said The Guardian.

The authors of the joint report said that if Trump won next month he could quickly slash US defence spending in Europe, push for a peace deal in Ukraine that surrenders parts of its territory to Russia and might even withdraw from Nato altogether.

In order to pre-emptively bolster European defence, Nato countries should support the creation of an allied multilateral lending institution, or a Nato bank, said the think tanks. A Nato bank could "save nations millions on essential equipment purchases, offer low interest rates on loans to alliance members and introduce a new line of financing with longer repayment time frames", they added.

But Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (pictured above) has told the international community to "stop worrying about a Trump presidency", and specifically its implications for the war in Ukraine. Speaking during a visit to London, he insisted he was "absolutely convinced" that the US was involved in the conflict "because they understand" that "the whole of the US would be less secure if Putin would be successful in Ukraine".

Rutte's comments "could raise eyebrows in some European capitals", said Politico. Trump has recently criticised Washington's involvement in the war in Ukraine, saying the country is "stuck" and will be able to "get out" if he wins the election, said The Kyiv Independent.

 
 
on this day

15 October 2003

China launched its first crewed space mission, Shenzhou 5, becoming the third country after the Soviet Union and the US to put humans in space. China now aims to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030, and this month its space agency unveiled spacesuit designs for lunar landing missions.

 
 
Today's newspapers

The Times leads on warnings from business chiefs that there could be "collateral damage" to the UK following the proposed rise in business taxes. The Guardian reports from the Novichok inquiry, which suggests Vladimir Putin "authorised" the Salisbury poisonings, which could have killed thousands of people. "Weight-loss jabs will get Britain working," says the Daily Telegraph, reporting on Wes Streeting's claim that new treatments will have a "monumental" impact on getting jobless people back to work.

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Criminally false labelling

Police got more than they bargained for when they stopped a man and a woman driving a stolen car in Portland, Oregon. Officers found cash, a loaded gun, scales and a bag of drugs with the words "definitely not a bag full of drugs" printed on it, said law enforcement officials on Wednesday. Regardless of the disclaimer, court records said the bag was filled with more than 10 grams of fentanyl and methamphetamine.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden and Chas Newkey-Burden.

Image credits, from top: Jonathan Brady – WPA Pool / Getty Images; PIB / AFP / Getty Images; Jaap Arriens / NurPhoto / Getty Images; Dan Kitwood / Getty Images.