UK government reveals huge Brexit hit on economy

My oh my. What a bill. The cost of Brexit has been revealed in the first budget update released since the June 23 referendum - an expected £58.7 billion ($98.76 billion) hit over the forward estimates.

The Tories have dropped their budget surplus by the end of the decade pledge, nearly doubled government borrowings and all but announced the end of austerity with no further welfare cuts planned.

A few ironies worth pointing out. The Vote Leave campaign said the vote was all about "taking back control" of the borders. Since then Theresa May's government has announced plans to target foreign workers and students and lo and behold, the reduction in migration is part of the huge Brexit bill.

Higher inflation will stall wages growth, also exacerbating one of the other reasons often attributed to the anti-globalisation sentiment behind the EU referendum result. [My report/Fairfax]

2. Jo Cox murdered by right-wing extremist

Brendan Cox arrives for Thomas Mair's trial. Photo: Getty Images

Thomas Mair has been convicted of murdering British MP and mother-of-two Jo Cox. Mair was obsessed with Nazis and white supremacism. He attacked the Labour MP outside one her constituency meetings just days before the referendum in June. [Reuters]

3. Tony's book 'Battlescars'

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Photo: Andrew Meares

Tony Abbott finds himself in a difficult position. As a former Prime Minister every single word he says is pored over by people like me. Until he retires, (or takes back the PMship - an increasingly unlikely prospect) it will be ever thus.

So you can imagine the field day the press is going to have, and perhaps the Panadol Turnbull is going to need for his headache, at news Tony Abbott is publishing another book.

His first was called Battlelines, he's joked to James Massola that his second might be called Battlescars. In reality, it looks like Abbott is further attempting to claim the conservative mantle he forgot about as Prime Minister. [Fairfax]

On that note, don't miss Cory Bernardi saying Trump's election has made him realise he needs to be a "catalyst for change" in Australia. Bernardi has long denied he is preparing to form a breakaway conservative party but his latest blog post suggests he is one to keep your eye on when he returns from New York where he has been representing Australia on secondment to the United Nations. [My report/Fairfax]

Columnist Niki Savva takes aim at the "stampede by some prominent, mostly male, right-wingers here to embrace Trump," but her comments floating the possibility of Turnbull building enough political capital to spend on allowing a free vote on gay marriage are the most significant. [The Australian]

Last night at the Arias Kylie Minogue and her fiancé appeared to promote marriage equality and AME picked up Sia's gong on her behalf. [Rob Moran/Fairfax]

Proponents of the change and Labor are confident the issue will be over by the time of the next election. When you ask 'how' they won't say. If a free vote is in the works that would explain it. Turnbull would need huge amounts of capital to spend to pull this off internally but externally it would be a huge boost and finally give the public a sign that he is capable and willing to stand up to the right for his beliefs.

In other politics news:

Gaffe-prone Attorney-General George Brandis and the below-the-radar Indigenous Minister Nigel Scullion are headed for the political scrapheap, reports Renee Viellaris. [Courier Mail]

Michelle Grattan has a great wrap of the One Nation shenannigans that dominated Tuesday in Parliament. [The Conversation]

The QUT student at the centre of the 18c case is suing federal Labor MP Terri Butler over comments she made on live television on Monday night. [Hedley Thomas/The Australian]

4. Trump fills positions

Nikki Hayley. Photo: Cliff Owen

The President-elect has named former critic, Republican South Carolina Governor Nikki Hayley as US Ambassador to the United Nations. [Maggie Haberman/New York Times]

It is also being reported that Betsy DeVos, a wealthy GOP donor and proponent of charter schools, is his pick for Education Secretary.

Trump is expected to announce another post in coming hours - perhaps Ben Carson, the one-time contender for the GOP nominee who was reported to have already turned down a position citing a lack of experience. [Jessie Hellmann/The Hill]

5. Mosul​

A truck carrying fighters on their way to fight against IS militants west of Mosul. Photo: Felipe Dana

Significant progress has been made overnight with Iraqi troops saying they have effectively encircled and trapped Islamic State forces in Mosul. [BBC]

6. 'Gravity may have chased light in the early universe'

I read that headline and fell in love with the poetry of it and knew it must be my Number Six today!

A wonderful article by Michael Brooks on a new theory suggesting the speed of light may not always have been the speed it is now. [New Scientist]