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8 September

In the headlines

Boris Johnson’s new social care policy means “the tax burden will be the highest in history”, says the Daily Mail. The government has imposed £36bn of tax rises over the past six months, according to the Resolution Foundation think tank. It sounds “the death knell for Conservatism”, says Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph. Home Secretary Priti Patel will today square off with her French counterpart, Gérald Darmanin. She has threatened to withhold a promised £54m for preventing migration unless the French stop more people crossing the Channel. Scientists have found the secret of a scum-free cuppa, says the Times – avoid hard water from the tap and go for filtered instead.  

Comment of the day

 

Noted

Countries are not the villains when it comes to greenhouse-gas emissions – the real culprits are meat and milk producers. According to the Meat Atlas report, 20 livestock companies emit more greenhouse gases than Britain, France or Germany, churning out the equivalent of 932 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. The world’s largest meat processor, Brazilian multinational JBS, is responsible for more than a quarter of that. 

Eating out

TV chef Tom Kerridge’s Buckinghamshire pub, the Hand & Flowers in Marlow, styles itself as an “unpretentious” watering hole where “everyone’s welcome”. But The Sun says its £87 sirloin steak and £26.50 crème brûlée have “left diners sizzling”. “And people complain about wine list mark-ups,” tweeted journalist Guy Woodward. In fairness, it’s Britain’s only two Michelin-star pub. 

Sport

When Emma Raducanu’s classmates saw her playing at Wimbledon, they were gobsmacked. To them I was just the “quiet one who didn’t really raise her hand”, she tells British Vogue. Quiet or not, she’s “the most exciting prospect in tennis”, says Matthew Syed in The Times. “Men’s or women’s.” The 18-year-old from southeast London retired during her fourth-round match at Wimbledon, but has bounced back at the US Open, where she plays in the quarter-finals this afternoon. “I often fear writing glowingly about British talent, conscious of the pressure this can heap on young shoulders, but on this occasion it is difficult to hold back.”

Quoted

Quoted 08-07

“There’s nothing like having a bucket of cold water flung over you to make you see things as they really are.”

Enid Blyton

Snapshot answer

It’s a 100ft tunnel used by six Palestinian militants to escape from a high-security prison in Israel. While a guard snoozed, they escaped through the tunnel via a toilet and scurried away at 1.30am on Monday. Reports suggest that part of the tunnel was dug with a rusty spoon.