Cabinet agrees Brexit negotiating position, but David Davis resigns. After a high-stakes away day at Chequers, the Prime Minister appeared to secure unanimous support for her preferred plan for the UK’s future relationship with the EU. Michael Gove, a prominent Brexit minister, urged fellow Conservatives to support the plan, which includes proposals for a combined customs territory and a free trade area for industrial and agricultural goods. In his resignation as Brexit Secretary, however, David Davis said that it looks “less and less likely” that the UK will leave the customs union and single market, resulting in his decision to quit. The EU has yet to officially respond to the UK’s proposals.

Murder inquiry launched as Novichok victim dies. Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother, was admitted to Salisbury General Hospital along with Charlie Rowley, 45, after being exposed to the nerve agent. 100 detectives from the Counter Terrorism Policing Network are working alongside Wiltshire Police. Theresa May said she was “appalled and shocked” by the death, just months after Sergei and Julia Skripol were poisoned by Novichok in Salisbury. The UK government blamed Russia, which has denied any involvement.

Court rules that civil servants do not have ministerial authority. The Department for Infrastructure had granted planning permission in 2017 for a waste incinerator to be built at Hightown Quarry outside Glengormley. However, the Court of Appeal ruled that in the absence of a functioning Executive, civil servants did not have the authority to take such a consequential decision with significance across multiple government departments. The decision raises fresh questions for decision-making without ministers in office, 18 months after the collapse of Northern Ireland’s devolved institutions.

Number 10 rejects Troubles amnesty suggestion. The Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson had written to the Prime Minister to say that if a statute of limitations on the prosecution of British soldiers serving in Northern Ireland had to be accompanied by a general amnesty, “so be it.” This was rejected by Downing Street, asserting: “We cannot countenance a proposal where amnesties would be provided to terrorists.” George Hamilton, Chief Constable of the PSNI, insists that investigations into Troubles-related investigations do not unfairly target former soldiers.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador elected President of Mexico. Better known as ‘Amlo’, the social democrat won with 53% of the vote – the first a presidential candidate has secured an outright majority in two decades. After 11 years of a failing ‘war on drugs’, the President-Elect pledges a new approach that tackles the underlying causes: “I am convinced that the most effective and humane way of fighting these ills involves combating inequality and poverty. Peace and tranquillity are fruits of the justice.” He will take office in December, replacing Enrique Peña Nieto.

 

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