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Britain’s nuclear power industry could be crippled by Brexit, MPs have warned. Photograph: David Sillitoe/The Guardian

Tuesday briefing: Britain unplugged? Brexit warning over nuclear power

This article is more than 6 years old
Britain’s nuclear power industry could be crippled by Brexit, MPs have warned. Photograph: David Sillitoe/The Guardian

Cloud of uncertainty over UK atomic energy … surfer found after 32 hours lost at sea … and broken housing market puts pressure on ‘bank of mum and dad’

Top story: ‘UK nuclear industry at risk’

Hello, Warren Murray welcoming you back after the bank holiday. Let’s get on with it shall we?

Britain’s power supply could be in jeopardy if it loses access to nuclear fuels and expertise because of Brexit, the government is being warned. Critics say the Tories have no coherent plan for what comes after the Euratom treaty, which governs safety standards, cooperation, research and trade in atomic energy across the EU.

Cross-party MPs are warning that unless proper arrangements are made, Britain could be reduced to a “rule-taker”, forced to comply with European rules and standards without having any say in them. And the UK could end up running out of nuclear fuel for reactors that are relied upon heavily for electricity. “Decisive action must take place now,” says Justin Bowden from the GMB trade union.


Surfer’s survival – A surfer was found last night extremely cold but alive after surviving 32 hours adrift off the Scottish coast. Matthew Bryce, 22, was 13 miles from shore when he was spotted by a Coastguard helicopter still clinging to his board. He had last been seen at 9am on Sunday headed to Westport Beach. Bryce was taken to hospital in Belfast suffering from hypothermia. The Coastguard said his thick neoprene suit probably saved him.


Global politics wrapped up – To speed things along, here is a Trumpbrexilection update. Donald Trump wants to meet Kim Jong-un someday and doesn’t understand the American civil war. The president’s commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, has seen fit to joke about bombing Syria, calling it the “after-dinner entertainment” for Xi Jinping’s visit. Things are hectic for busy mom Ivanka who tells how she can’t even get a massage sometimes. Experts in the House of Lords say “mercurial and unpredictable” Trump is useless when it comes to the Middle East and Britain needs to go it alone. Theresa May has tried to wash away the sour aftertaste of her dinner with Jean-Claude Juncker at which the EU supremo reportedly told her not to bother turning up to Brexit talks unless she brings the divorce settlement, and for afters described her as “deluded” and “on another galaxy”. Labour’s Keir Starmer says it all shows that if May wins the election she will continue negotiating us towards a disastrous EU exit.

There you go, all done and dusted. Well almost … there’s more on the UK election in the Snap. Read to the bottom for details on how to subscribe.


‘Bank of mum and dad’ – Parents are expected to lend £6.5bn to their first-time buyer children this year to help them get on the housing ladder. It’s 30% more than last year and illustrates the struggle caused by high prices in Britain’s “broken” housing market. Parents are now involved in 25% of UK property purchases, with millennials needing the most help, and £30,000 representing an average contribution in some areas. Nigel Wilson, chief executive of L&G, says: “The problem is getting worse, not better … Younger people today don’t have the same opportunities that the baby boomers had, including affordable housing, defined benefit pensions and free university education.”


Bit less rich – Philip and Tina Green are the losers in this year’s Sunday Times list of Britain’s richest husbands and wives, with their wealth falling by £433m following the BHS pensions debacle. It’s consoling, though, that they are still the fifth richest pairing, worth an estimated £2.8bn. The couples list is topped by Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli, who have made £11.5bn in biotech and pharmaceuticals. The Hollywood actor Salma Hayek also makes an appearance – she is married to luxury fashions magnate François-Henri Pinault, and earns about £12m a year herself.

Simultaneously, findings have come out showing that the number of high-income earners in the UK has risen by a million, but women have not increased as a proportion: 75% in the highest tax bracket are still men.


Lunchtime read: Where oil rigs go to die

Disposing of these monsters of the sea is a fraught and risky business, as the world found out when the Transocean Winner, en route from Norway to Malta and beyond, broke its tow cable in stormy seas and ran aground on the Isle of Lewis.

The Transocean Winner aground on the Isle of Lewis. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

Tom Lamont traces the rig’s refloating and onward journey to its final resting place – along the way, examining an industry where the substantial risks of a long voyage are balanced against extracting every last dollar of scrap value by dragging these unwieldy beasts through the ocean to the country that will pay the highest price for their metal.

Sport

Mark Selby, completely unrecognisable from the player who trailed 10-4 at one stage during the world championship snooker final, recovered against John Higgins to win his third title in four years at the Crucible. Meanwhile, Barry Hearn has voiced his “disgust” at players who spurn 147 break opportunities, saying anyone who complains of the lack of financial incentive to score maximums should “get out of the sport”.

Liverpool appear set to secure a Champions League place after a 1-0 win at Watford thanks to Emre Can’s stunning bicycle kick, even if they showed familiar flaws at Vicarage Road. Paula Radcliffe and Jonathan Edwards have reacted with incredulity and dismay to news that all athletics world and European records before 2005 are likely to be stripped from the record books.

The beleaguered Team Sky have suffered another body blow in their attempts to rebuild their brand after they suspended Gianni Moscon for six weeks for racially abusing another rider. And Ben Stokes hit his maiden Twenty20 century despite battling cramp in his calf to lead Rising Pune Supergiant to victory against Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League.

Business

News is breaking this morning that Greece has reached a deal on a package of bailout-mandated reforms with its foreign creditors. It should pave the way for long-awaited debt relief talks.

Reuters reports that the deal includes labour and energy reforms as well as pension cuts and tax rises and “marks a milestone in talks between the two sides which began last October”.

Overnight the pound was buying US$1.29 and €1.18.

The papers

The Mirror says Spanish hoteliers might ban Britons from staying because they are putting in so many compensation claims for food poisoning. The Sun reports that a man jailed for his part in the 1980 siege of the Iranian embassy in London is now out of prison and living on benefits.

The Guardian front page, 2 May 2017. Photograph: The Guardian

The Times has a splash that claims the car loans market is heading toward a mis-selling scandal with fears about the reliance on debt to buy 90% of new cars. The Mail has an investigation headlined “Exploited by cash-for-eggs IVF clinics” about women on low incomes being offered free treatment if they give up the right to half the eggs produced.

The Telegraph tries to hit back at the recent leaks about May’s conversations with top EU officials over Brexit – it thunders that the EU has been “plotting” to block the PM’s plans to secure a deal for expats. The paper offers up what it says is evidence of the plot.

The FT says Brussels is poised for a power grab on London’s euro-clearing market, with the European commission preparing to severely restrict the capital’s ability to host its flagship business.

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