Top story: ‘No defence’ for president’s comments
Hello on this Friday morning. I don’t know about you, but it feels to me like the individual days have dragged, while the week as a whole has flown, as we wait to find out for sure what America has decided.
Joe Biden has moved closer still to taking the White House but there is not yet a conclusive result in the US presidential election – and Donald Trump has been filling the delay with false proclamations that his inevitable victory is being stolen away by fraud. The truth is that mainly because of Covid-19, about two-thirds of voters cast their ballots early, including by post, compared with one-third in 2016. Counting those papers is slower because they have to be opened and verified. Some states start verifying before election day, others do not. More Democratic voters submitted postal votes than Republicans – partly due to the parties’ different views on Covid-safe voting. So the votes being counted now are tending strongly towards Biden in some areas. Here is your way in for continuing live coverage of the suspenseful election aftermath and we continue to tally the electoral college votes for each candidate when they are called to our satisfaction.
As we publish the Briefing, Trump’s lead is narrowing in Pennsylvania and Georgia. Pennsylvania would be the definite coup de grâce for his presidency, bringing Biden enough electoral college votes for the win. Democrats have also regained hope in the race for control of the Senate, with two key contests being sent to a run-off after neither Republican nor Democrat candidate won a majority.
In a droning, deflated-sounding monologue from the White House press room, the president has reeled off a stream of florid lies about the validity of the election and drawn a false distinction between “legal” votes and those cast by mail – framing the latter as illegal, when they are not. Some television networks including MSNBC cut away from the speech in short order because of the president’s lies, as Republican officialdom disowned his remarks and his support from Republican-leaning commentators appeared to implode in real time. Trump walked out after the speech without taking questions, meaning he could not be challenged on his manifold baseless assertions –the biggest and fattest of which we have debunked here line by line.
Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland, wrote after the speech: “There is no defence for the president’s comments tonight undermining our democratic process. America is counting the votes, and we must respect the results as we always have before. No election or person is more important than our democracy.” Chris Christie, New Jersey’s former Republican governor, said the president had the right to raise concerns but “show us the evidence. We heard nothing today about any evidence.” The incumbent and his followers are furious at Fox News, which has been putting on an unaccustomed display of objectivity, calling states in favour of Biden and picking apart the president’s claims.
Coronavirus latest – Overnight the government has closed the travel corridor with Denmark, meaning arrivals in the UK after 4am today will have to quarantine for 14 days. This is due to a variant strain of Covid infecting Danish-farmed mink and spreading to people. Liftoff for the Operation Moonshot rapid Covid testing initiative has not gone smoothly with a trial in Greater Manchester failing to detect more than 50% of positive cases, the Guardian can reveal. The tests are due to be used in the Liverpool trial of mass testing to begin today, but to what extent is now unclear. Charities and the mayor of London have called for the government to cancel plans to deport foreign rough sleepers and relaunch the “everyone in” strategy to accommodate thousands of homeless people during the Covid second wave. Further developments at our global coronavirus live blog.
‘Covid pressure cooker’ – The number of babies in England seriously injured through abuse or neglect during the pandemic is up by a fifth on the same period of 2019. Eight died from their injuries, according to Ofsted. More than 300 “serious incidents” were notified to authorities between April and October. Almost 40% involved children under the age of one. Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector, will say in a speech today that Covid lockdown is a “pressure cooker” that has created additional risk for young and vulnerable children in the most troubled families. Spielman will urge all professionals dealing with children – including midwives, health visitors, GPs, and staff of schools and nurseries – to work together to identify and protect vulnerable children in the second lockdown: “While these children are out of sight, they should never be out of mind.”
Brexit: UK ‘not ready for 1 January’ – Billions of pounds worth of trade with the EU will face “significant disruption” after 1 January 2021 regardless of whether a post-Brexit trade deal is agreed, the National Audit Office (NAO) has concluded. Its report released today says IT systems have yet to be tested and border transit areas for lorries are not ready. Auditors also highlight concerns about the checks required for goods moving to Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. HMRC still needs to make significant changes to its customs systems, even though planning for a no-deal Brexit began in 2017. Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: “Disruption is likely and government will need to respond quickly to minimise the impact, a situation made all the more challenging by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Today in Focus podcast: Will Trump accept the result?
They wouldn’t let me put a laugh/cry emoji at the end of that headline. Jonathan Freedland describes an election that has provided one clear message: the US remains divided.
Will Trump accept the result?
Lunchtime read: ‘The body changes. The mind does not’
Sophia Loren, star of the Netflix drama The Life Ahead, looks back at her own life, from the squalor of wartime Naples to the glamour of international fame.
Sport
Arsenal went behind but made it three wins out of three in the Europa League after two own goals set them on the road to victory over Molde. Harry Kane’s header brought up his 200th Tottenham goal in 300 games and set up a 3-1 away victory over Ludogorets, while Kelechi Iheanacho scored twice and Dennis Praet and James Maddison once each in Leicester’s 4-0 win over Braga. But Celtic were sent to the bottom of their group after Lukas Julis scored a hat-trick for Sparta Prague in a stunning 4-1 away win. Ronnie O’Sullivan was involved in a bizarre exchange with Mark Allen in the final frame of their Champion of Champions quarter-final match. Rafael Nadal defeated Jordan Thompson 6-1, 7-6 - the Spaniard’s 1,001st win - to progress to the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters.
Bryony Frost, who is going for a hat-trick of wins in the Badger Beers Chase at Wincanton on Present Man, says she will be relishing the spotlight on Saturday. Disabled people face a two-pronged health risk from the Covid-19 pandemic, campaigners have warned, with the immediate danger of the virus now compounded by a long-term threat to physical health caused by a drop-off in activity. Human rights groups have condemned the confirmation that Formula One is to hold a race in Saudi Arabia next year. The Football Association chairman, Greg Clarke, told senior representatives of the Premier League and its big six clubs that he supported the clubs’ efforts to secure greater voting power for TV deals, club sources have told the Guardian. And Leicester’s preparations for the new Premiership season have been plunged into disarray after a Covid-19 outbreak forced the Tigers to shut down their training ground.
Business
Asian stock markets have been mixed after Wall Street rose amid protracted vote-counting following this week’s US elections. Tokyo and Sydney advanced while Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul declined. Markets appear to be betting on control of the US Congress being split between Republicans and Democrats, which could mean low taxes and light regulation that investors like stays in place. The FTSE is trending 22 points or 0.37% lower at time of writing while sterling is worth $1.312 and €1.110.
The papers
“Tensions rise as race for presidency goes to wire” – that’s our Guardian print edition splash. The Times says “Trump stokes fresh fury as Biden appeals for calm”. The Metro has “Biden his time” which looked familiar because we used it in the Briefing recently – but admittedly it’s a fairly obvious one … while the i has “President in meltdown”. The FT’s version is “Trump demands halt to count as swing states hang in balance” – see what they’ve done there? The Star more or less calls the result, for the sake of fun: “Grumpy Trumpy set to lose bigly”.
Others appear to have decided it’s all too hard. The Telegraph splashes with a Covid story, “Death toll graphs were wrong”. The Express has “Rishi: we’re digging deep for the future” after the chancellor extended furlough pay. “Burglary of BBC’s Diana scandal files” says the Mail as it maintains pursuit.
A worthy cause in the Mirror – for Remembrance Sunday it speaks to the daughter of a British soldier who died in Afghanistan. The headline is “Silent prayer for Dad” – the paper is campaigning for a two-minute doorstep tribute to the fallen. The Sun has “Warning to Boris – the lock is ticking”, telling the PM to mind that England’s lockdown finishes on 2 December.
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