Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 14 October 2022

1. Sunak or Mordaunt ’may replace Truss’

Conservative grandees are in talks about replacing Liz Truss with a joint ticket of Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, according to The Times. The PM and her chancellor are expected to make a humiliating climbdown over corporation tax in a bid to calm markets, but some backbenchers fear that Truss will not be able to save her premiership. Senior Tories are in discussions about replacing Truss with a “unity candidate”, said the paper, with one of the pair put forward to succeed the prime minister in a “coronation” by MPs.

Truss and Kwarteng’s supply-side reforms

2. Kwarteng flies home early

Kwasi Kwarteng has dramatically cut short his visit to the International Monetary Fund, flying home early from Washington in the latest sign that the government is preparing to announce a U-turn, reinstating a rise in corporation tax. The BBC said Downing Street had dismissed “echoes of previous finance ministers curtailing their travel plans because of market turmoil”.

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Kwarteng profile: the UK’s ‘radical’ or ‘reckless’ new chancellor

3. Macron rules out nuclear response

President Macron has said France would not respond in kind if Vladimir Putin attacked Ukraine with nuclear weapons. The French president said he wanted to avoid “global war” even if Putin unleashed an atomic missile strikes on Ukraine or “the region”. His comments are “widely seen as unhelpful”, said The Times, particularly the word “region”: Ukraine is bordered by Nato allies including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

What a Russian nuclear attack might look like

4. Committee subpoenas Trump

The congressional committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot has issued a legal summons for Donald Trump to testify. The former president “is required to answer for his actions”, said Representative Bennie Thompson, a Democrat. If he does not comply with the subpoena, he could face criminal charges and imprisonment. The former president is not expected to respect the summons, said CNN, but the subpoena “marks a notable escalation in taking on Trump directly”.

Inside Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s ‘winter White House’

5. Abuse filmed at luxury care home

An octogenarian with dementia was physically and mentally abused at a luxury care home, reported The Guardian. The misconduct was exposed by secret filming inside the home run by Signature Senior Lifestyle, which charges residents close to £100,000 a year. The abuse was recorded by the woman’s children after they became concerned about her wellbeing. The company said “the actions of a few rogue individuals should not be construed as being representative of the wider staff team, or Signature as a whole”.

6. Clegg accused of OnlyFans bribes

Nick Clegg has been accused by a group of adult entertainers of accepting bribes from OnlyFans. The Telegraph said the “bizarre” and “bitterly contested” court filings claim the former deputy PM and two other executives of Meta, Facebook’s parent company, helped the porn platform to outperform its rivals by having them blacklisted online. Meta denied the claims and said the plaintiffs “still have no facts that plausibly support their story”. Clegg joined the company in October 2018 as its head of global affairs.

Has Clegg ‘mastered the art of failing upwards’?

7. China steps up surveillance

Authorities in Beijing have increased surveillance and harassment of government critics ahead of the Communist party’s forthcoming 20th congress. Since last month, numerous activists and petitioners have been detained or put under house arrest across China, said The Guardian. Many human rights lawyers have been intimidated, harassed and followed by agents. A “rare protest” against Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his policies was swiftly ended in Beijing yesterday, said CNN.

Podcast: Chinese protests and supersonic jets

8. Summer heatwave broke records

The summer “smashed dozens of UK records”, said the BBC, after Met Office data showed that more than half of the UK’s oldest active weather stations recorded their hottest day ever in 2022. New all-time highs were set at 56 of the 109 longest-standing stations during the July heatwave. One village in west Yorkshire broke its previous record by 6.3C. The Met Office described this summer's extreme temperatures as a “real indication of how our climate is changing”.

Why do heatwaves in the UK feel hotter than abroad?

9. Camilla ‘to dodge’ diamond row

Camilla, the Queen Consort, is expected to decide not to wear a crown mounted with the controversial Koh-i-Noor diamond at the coronation, said The Times. The change of heart came after India’s ruling party warned it would bring back “painful memories of the colonial past”. A source close to the Queen Consort said: “I would have thought they would err towards keeping India happy. The priority is the Commonwealth these days, and diversity.” However, another source said no decision had been made, as palace officials waited to see whether the controversy was a “ripple or a wave”.

Koh-i-Noor diamond: the controversy explained

10. BBC says Lineker breached guidelines

The BBC has found Gary Lineker in breach of its impartiality guidelines after he tweeted about the Conservatives taking money from Russian donors. In February, the then-foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said English football teams should not play in the Champions League due then to be held in Russia, because of the invasion of Ukraine. Lineker responded on Twitter, asking: “And her party will hand back their donations from Russian donors?” The BBC’s internal complaints department ruled that the comment breached its impartiality guidelines.