Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 21 November 2022

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1. Sunak warned over ‘Swiss-style’ deal with EU
2. World ‘still on the brink’
3. NHS Scotland ‘mulls two-tier service’
4. Queen ‘would have blocked snap poll’
5. Nightclub heroes praised
6. Harry and Meghan to get award
7. Libraries face cuts as demand grows
8. Train cancellations at record high
9. ‘Toxic mix’ is damning restaurants
10. Cornwall tourism boss criticises tourists

published 21 November 2022

1. Sunak warned over ‘Swiss-style’ deal with EU

UK eurosceptics have warned Rishi Sunak that a Swiss-style Brexit deal would be a “massive surrender of our sovereignty”. According to reports over the weekend, the government hopes to establish a Swiss-style relationship with the EU. However, a member of the ERG told the i paper, such a move would “undermine the whole point of Brexit and make the UK a vassal of the EU with no say in the rules we were forced to adopt”. Number 10 sources told The Telegraph that reports they are seeking a Swiss-style deal are “categorically untrue”.

The planet remains “on the brink of climate catastrophe” despite the deal reached at the Cop27 UN climate summit on Sunday, said climate experts. Mary Robinson, chair of the Elders Group of former world leaders, and ex-president of Ireland, said progress on cutting emissions has been “too slow”, while António Guterres, secretary general of the UN, warned that the planet is “still in the emergency room”. Almost 200 countries agreed a landmark deal to launch a fund to help nations worst affected by climate change.

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NHS leaders in Scotland appear to have discussed “abandoning the founding principles of the service” by having the wealthy pay for treatment, said the BBC. Scotland’s Health Secretary Humza Yousaf insisted that “any suggestion” that health care should be about the ability to pay was “abhorrent”. Meanwhile, said The Times, patients face long waits for ambulances and A&E care for many years to come, as ministers accept there is “little hope of hitting key targets by the next election”.

The Queen would have been “unavailable” if Boris Johnson tried to call an election during his final days in office, reported The Telegraph. As Johnson tried to cling to power, Downing Street ‘wargamed’ several scenarios, including a snap poll. However, according to a new book, Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, and Edward Young, the Queen’s chief courtier planned to block him. Monarchs can prevent prime ministers from going to the polls with the Lascelles Principles, which guard against unnecessary and aggravating election requests.

Authorities in the US have said that “heroic” people confronted a gunman who killed five people at a gay nightclub in the US and stopped him killing more. Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said one patron grabbed the attacker’s own gun and hit him with it during the incident in Club Q on Saturday. The gunman killed five people and injured 25 more before being arrested. The suspect has been named as Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, who was taken into custody and treated for injuries.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will receive a human rights award for their “heroic” stand against “structural racism” in the monarchy, said the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights foundation. Prince Harry and Meghan are to be handed the Ripple of Hope award at a ceremony next month for “exemplary leaders” with “an unwavering commitment” to social change. Kerry Kennedy said “they went to the oldest institution in UK history and told them what they were doing was wrong”.

Local libraries are at risk of cuts despite an “unprecedented” rise in the number of people using their services, said the BBC. As the cost of living crisis sees people turn to libraries for warmth, with some services hosting food banks, soaring costs could force some to make “drastic cuts” and even shut next year, said charity Libraries Connected. The Local Government Association said that to save libraries, councils would require “adequate funding, in line with inflation and the demand for services”.

Rail cancellations have reached their highest level on record, according to analysis in The Guardian. More than 314,000 trains were fully or partly cancelled across Great Britain in a year and the proportion of cancelled services has more than doubled since 2015, rising to one in 26 of all train journeys being disrupted in the year to 15 October. Labour said ministers are rewarding “abject failure” by offering performance bonuses despite poor data.

A “toxic mix” of surging energy costs, staff shortages and falling bookings mean restaurants in the UK are going bust at a faster rate than during the Covid pandemic, researchers have found. Closures in the sector rose by 60%, with 1,567 insolvencies in 2021-22, up from 984 during 2020-21, according to Mazars. “Restaurants will be bracing themselves for a very tough winter and many face a real battle to keep afloat,” said a spokeswoman.

Cornwall’s tourism chief has described some visitors to the region as “bloody tourists” who “don’t show respect”. Malcolm Bell, the outgoing boss of Visit Cornwall, also described some of the area’s visitors as “f***ing emmets”, a term meaning ants. He complained that, during the pandemic, many tourists came to Cornwall despite wanting to be overseas. “Half the country went abroad. Once you stopped them going abroad, we ended up with people here who didn’t want to be here,” he said.

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