Portrait of the week | 16 November 2017

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As the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill faced 470 amendments in its examination by a committee of the whole House, David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, promised that Parliament would be able to have a final take-it-or-leave-it say on the Brexit agreement, which would become law by an Act of Parliament. He said: ‘It’s a meaningful vote, but not meaningful in the sense that some believe meaningful [to be], which is that you can reverse the whole thing.’ A government amendment announced by Theresa May would incorporate in law the moment at which Britain would leave the EU: 11pm GMT on 29 March 2019. EU citizens who become British do not lose the right to bring a foreign-born spouse to the UK, the European Court of Justice ruled; British citizens do not enjoy this right. A conjunction of Jupiter and Venus appeared above Britain.

The annual rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, remained at 3 per cent; by the Retail Price Index it rose to 4 per cent from 3.9 a month earlier. Earnings rose by 2.2 per cent. Unemployment fell by 59,000 between July and September to 1.42 million. Scotland was to go ahead with minimum pricing for alcohol. Tesco’s £3.7 billion takeover of Booker, the food wholesaler, was provisionally approved by the Competition and Markets Authority. Pam Powell, the widow of Enoch Powell, died aged 91. Antonio Carluccio, the Italian chef, died aged 80. Jeremy Hutchinson, the barrister who took pleasure in defending people charged with obscenity, died aged 102. Stanley Johnson, the Foreign Secretary’s father, announced he was going to appear in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! along with Amir Khan the boxer and an actress from Coronation Street.