News Daily: Cummings warns over Brexit, and plastic in your teacup

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Anger at MPs not surprising, says PM’s adviser

Dominic Cummings, the man who ran the Vote Leave campaign during the EU referendum, has said the anger directed at MPs over Brexit is “not surprising”. Mr Cummings, now one of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s top advisers, said the only way the issue could be resolved was for MPs to respect the result of the 2016 referendum – as they had spent three years “swerving all over the shop”. His remarks, at a book launch on Thursday, follow anger from MPs over Mr Johnson’s use of language – especially when describing attempts by the Commons to prevent the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mr Cummings was also asked if Downing Street felt under pressure after Tuesday’s Supreme Court judgment, which ruled that the prime minister acted unlawfully by suspending Parliament for five weeks. “This is a walk in the park compared to the referendum. We are enjoying this, we are going to leave and we are going to win,” Mr Cummings said.

Our political correspondent Helen Catt says comments like these are unlikely to smooth tensions in the Commons, which on Thursday debated the use of language and MPs’ fears of abuse and death threats.

We’ve written a profile of Dominic Cummings, or you can listen again to Radio 4’s programme about him here.

White House whistleblower ‘is CIA agent’

Reports out of the US say a whistleblower, whose concerns about a phone call between President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart have sparked an impeachment inquiry, is a CIA agent. The New York Times says the un-named officer worked at the White House and raised fears officials were trying to cover up the contents of the conversation. Democrats allege Mr Trump sought the Ukrainian president’s help to smear former Vice-President Joe Biden – who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election. Mr Trump has dismissed the claims as a “hoax”.

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The tiny bits of plastic in your teacup

You may be reading this while having your morning cuppa but, according to scientists, some plastic tea bags are leaving behind high levels of microplastics. While most teabags use paper, according to the Canadian research some premium brands have opted for a type of plastic mesh which can release about 11.6bn microplastic and 3.1bn smaller nanoplastic particles into the hot water. Microplastics are invisible to the human eye and unlikely to pose a risk to health, but the scientists say their research could help consumers who are trying to reduce their use of plastic.

How podcasts went from unlistenable to unmissable

By Jamie Robertson, Technology of Business reporter

Today we are in the middle of a podcast boom. In the UK nearly six million adults tune in each week, about double that of five years ago, according to the telecoms regulator Ofcom.

Podcasts are now available on a wide range of platforms, with streaming sites such as Spotify competing with downloads.

And where the audience goes, the money follows. From 2017 to 2018 advertising spending on podcasts in the UK went from $10.6m (£8.5m) to $19.7m, an 85% increase, according to analysts Ovum. It expects the annual expansion in ad revenue to be in double digits over the next five years.

Read the full article

What the papers say

The prime minister’s sister’s criticism of his use of language over Brexit is among the front page leads in Friday’s papers. Rachel Johnson, who backed Remain at the EU referendum, said her brother was using a “strongman gambit” to whip up voters, according to the i paper. The Times, though, reports a senior cabinet minister’s warning that there is a risk of riots in the UK if Brexit is not delivered. Elsewhere, the Financial Times and the Guardian report a CIA whistleblower’s allegation that the White House attempted to cover up a call between President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, which is now the subject of an impeachment probe by the US Congress. Take a look at the front and inside pages in our paper review.