THE

OF BE
20
In Satu
Jodie Saturday
4 December 2021

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Goodby
Doctor
Who
Act now, no time to wait for Part
 Saturday

food
Omicrondata, say experts and
Tell people towork from
home, ministers urged, as
fears growover new variant
Ian Sample
Jessica Elgot
Heather Stewart
Ministers have been warned they
cannot wait for new research on the
Omicron variant and must act now
to prevent a potentially “very sig-
nificant wave of infections” that
risks overwhelming the NHS. The
Guardian understands the govern-
ment has been privately urged by
some of its own scientific advisers
to tell people where possible to work
from home until Christmas, when
more will be known about the dan-
gers posed by Omicron.
Growing concern about the spread
of the variant was reflected in the
latest minutes of the Sage commit-
tee, which were released yesterday.
They show experts insisting there is
no time to wait for more data on the
new variant.
“Even if measures are introduced
immediately, there may not be time to
fully ascertain whether they are suffi-
cient before decisions are needed on
further action,” the documents say.
“The situation could develop
quickly over the coming weeks
and decision-makers may need to
act while there is still a high level
of uncertainty, including consider-
ing the potential need for stringent
response measures.”
The warning came as ministers
gave GPs in England the green light
to provide a lower level of care to
millions of patients for the next four
months so they can join the “national
mission”to deliver the Covid booster
jabs as a matter of urgency. Family
doctors will spend less time moni-
toring people with conditions such
as diabetes and heart problems, do
fewer health checks on the over-75s
and stop performing minor proce-
dures until April.
A Department of Health source
made clear the government saw the
accelerated vaccination campaign,
combined with measures 10 
affecting arrivals from
 Feast

Fans were How to

almost killed havea
at Euros final climate-
Report on disorder at
Euro 22 final describes
‘national shame’in the
e dl
anarchic behaviour of
ticketless fans  Money
News Page 7 
Australia
‘drunkest’
country ‘Consummate
Survey puts Australians Shakespearean’
at the top of the list, with
the UK coming in fifth. AntonySher
France drinks the most
alcohol overall
News Page 2 
1949–2021 Page 6 
•

R: V UBL

 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
Inside 04/12/2021 News

 Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton

adjusts his helmet during practice
before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Features ‘You’re good, but you’re not me’ :  /
Mel Brooks is staying bright at 95, despite the Kingspan’s recklessness and care-
pandemic and the loss of loved ones Page 18 lessness for human life.” It called on
When the world stopped flying him to “immediately sever your rela-
tionship” with Kingspan.
What did a year without flying do to our jobs, Yesterday Wolff apologised to the
our horizons – and the planet? Page 24 survivors and bereaved of Grenfell
Tower for the hurt caused by thenew
Culture Maradona, Naples and my movie partnership, but stopped short of
announcing the deal would be aban-
Paolo Sorrentino remembers his 80s youth doned. He accepted an offer to meet
and the arrival of a football legend Page 50 community representatives “for me
The naked truth about naturism to learn and understand better”.

Calls for F1 car sponsorship

How did it come to embody utopian ideals He said that before agreeing the
deal with Kingspan Mercedes asked
and erotic freedom in the UK? Page 58 what role their products played in

U-turn after Grenfell outcry

what happened at Grenfell.
Lifestyle Hoop, hoop, hooray Grenfell United responded:
“Whilst we appreciate your attempt
Why the earrings loved by Alexandria Ocasio- to understand Kingspan’s actions at
Cortez have become a modern classic Page 93 Grenfell, we hope you understand
Lost in Provence Robert Booth
families “have the rightto be hurt and
aggrieved by your decision”.
that by only askingKingspan for their
account of involvement, you are in
Nature writer Richard Mabey finds a wild Gove said: “There are very real essence asking them to mark their
region in flux on a 10-day hiking tour Page 102 questions about whether parliament own homework; a system which led
Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes Formula would support a statutory regime to Grenfell in the first place.”
Plus One team is facing growing pressure
to scrap a sponsorship deal with a
firm that made combustible insu-
that enabled a core participant in a
public inquiry into how72 people lost
their lives to advertise its products
Gove told Wolffthe government’s
own representations to the inquiry
noted that Kingspan knew their prod-
Sex and the sequel lation on Grenfell Tower, after the
government threatened to change
publicly to millions of families across
the country.”
ucts were more combustible than
they were advertising them to be.
Could And Just Like That … be even more advertising rules. Kingspan’s actions have been The Mercedes AMG Petronas For-
radical than the original TV show? Page 2 The racing team’s deal with King- scrutinised by the inquiry into the mula One team said Hamilton was not
Fetishists apply here span will see the logo of the firm that
made some of the foam boards used
disaster which has already found its
materials “contributed to the rate and
involved in the sponsorship deals.
A spokesperson for Kingspan said it
Channel 4 show is a guide to monetising your on the tower emblazoned on the nose extent of vertical flame spread”. played no role in the cladding system
quirks, writes Joel Golby Page 3 cone cars driven by Hamilton and The Grenfell Next of Kin group design, its K15 product constituted
Valtteri Bottas starting at this week- joined community anger and urged approximately 5% of the insulation
Feast Grace Dent end’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
It sparked a furious backlash from
Wolff and Hamilton not to “sports-
wash sins” and accused them of being
“and was used as a substitute prod-
uct without Kingspan’s knowledge in
Enjoying a slightly olde worlde the Grenfell community and yester- “on the wrong side of history”. a system that was not compliant with
Glasgow restaurant Page 22 day Michael Gove, the secretary of Grenfell United, which also rep- the building regulations”.
state for levelling up, housing and resents survivors and the bereaved, Mercedes said: “Our partner King-
Money A greener Christmas communities, warned the Mercedes
team principal, Toto Wolff, that par-
told Wolff in a letter on Thursday:
“Kingspan played a central role in
span has supported, and continues to
support, the vitally importantwork of
How to ensure your festive wrapping and liament could extend government inflicting the pain and suffering the inquiry to determine what went
greetings cards don’t go to landfill Page 52 powers over advertising to include that we feel today, and there must wrong and why in the Grenfell Tower
logos on cars. Gove said the Grenfell be a degree of public censure for tragedy.”
Journal Marina Hyde
A truly vintage week for hypocrisy in a media
industry that I cannot take seriously Page 3 National headache: Australia is was only just emerging. “Australia
tops the world in both the number
Sport Beyond 1966
Geoff Hurst reaches 80 and reflects on life
drunkest country in the world of times people report getting drunk
and in seeking emergency medical
treatment for alcohol … Both of those
indicators suggest people are drink-
beyond World Cup hat-trick glory Page 2 intoxicated an average of 23 times, ing at fairly risky levels,” she said.
Caitlin Cassidy followed by the British (22.5 times). “There’s an emerging picture that
Cryptic crossword Back of Journal Page 12 While New Zealanders became intox- there is a significant proportion of
Killer sudoku Back of Journal Page 12 icated less often than almost any people who are drinking at riskier lev-
Quick crossword; sandwich sudoku Page 58 Australians have been named the other country, about 10 times a year, els … to cope with stress and anxiety.
heaviest drinkers in the world after they drank more frequently than Those habits are hard to undo.”
Weather Page 59 spending more time drunk in 2020 Australians. “In such an uncertain time, there’s
than any other nation. The Foundation for Alcohol been a sustained change in the way
An international survey has found Research and Education chief exec- alcohol is sold. Companies have
Contact Australians drank to the point of utive, Caterina Giorgi, said the been aggressively marketing and
drunkenness an average of 27 times statistics were “concerning”, and that using Covid and preying on anxie-
For missing sections call 0800 839 100. Guardian News & Media, Kings Place, 90 York
Way,London N1 9GU. 020-3353 2000. Fax
a year, almost double the global a clear picture of the impact of harm- ties to sell their products,” she said.
For individual departments, call the 020-7837 2114. In Manchester: Centurion average of 15. Almost a quarter of ful alcohol use during the pandemic “We have this perfect storm for an
Guardian switchboard: 020 3353 2000. House, 129 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WR. Australians reported feeling regret increase in alcohol harm, and we’re
For the Readers’ editor (corrections Telephone Sales: 020-7611 9000. The for becoming intoxicated. only just starting to see that.”
&  clarifications on specific editorial
content), call 020 3353 4736 between
10am and 1pm UK time Monday to Friday
Guardian lists links to thirdparty websites,
but does not endorse them or guarantee their
authenticity or accuracy. Back issues from
The Global Drug Survey asked
more than 32,000 people from 22
Who gets drunk the most? “We’ve seen people’s mental
health suffer greatly throughout
excluding public holidays, or email Historic Newspapers: 0870-165 1470
guardian.backissuenewspapers.co.uk. countries what their drug and alcohol this pandemic and especially when
guardian.readers@theguardian.com. Published by Guardian News & Media, Kings consumption was last year to paint a Frequency of being drunk – top 10 we have hadstrict measures in place
Letters for publication should be sent to Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, and at picture of global drinking habits. On countries that have limited our normal activ-
guardian.letters@theguardian.com or Centurion House, 129 Deansgate, Manchester average, Australians drank alcohol 1 Australia ities and connection with support
the address on the letters page. M3 3WR. Printed at Reach Watford Limited,
St Albans Road, Watford, Herts WD24 7RG; in line with the global average of two 2 Denmark networks,” the Turning Point exec-
Reach Oldham Limited, Hollinwood Avenue,
Chadderton, Oldham OL9 8EP; Reach Saltire
nights a week, and became heavily 3 Finland utive clinical director, Prof Dan
Ltd, 110 Fifty Pitches Place, Glasgow drunk about once every two weeks. 4 US Lubman, said.
G51 4EA; and by Irish Times Print Facility, The French drink about three times 5 UK “Drinking alcohol at the end of
4080 Kingswood Road, Citywest Business
Campus, Dublin 24. No. 54,520, Saturday 4 a week. 6 Canada the day has often been promoted as
NEWSPAPERS December 2021. Registered as a newspaper Danes and Finns spent the most 7 Ireland a reward and a way of coping, with
SUPPORT
RECYCLING at the Post Ofice ISSN 0261-3077. time drinking to excess after Austral- 8 France ready access to alcohol in stores and
The recycled paper
content of UK newspapers
in  2017 was 64.6%
ians, at 23.8 times a year. Americans 9 Sweden through online delivery throughout
came in fourth place, becoming 10 Netherlands the pandemic,” he added.
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
If the cashmere
cap fits: TV show
turns humble hat
intostatus symbol
Karen Dacre
Ever wondered what treasures the
“one per cent” may pull out of their
Christmas stockings on 25 December?
This year, there could well be a cash-
mere baseball cap in the mix.
The key accessory – distinguished
by its plainness and lack of logo – is
poised to become a sought-after gift
for the super-rich, with menswear
retailers – including Mr Porter and
Matchesfashion.com – counting the
Where are all the green triangles?
Chocolate box mysteries solved
Zoe Wood
If you feel it’s unfair that there are
never enough of the green triangles
or purple caramels in a box of Qual-
ity Street, you may be right: analysis
shows that there are fewer of the most
prized ones to begin with.
The consumer group Which? has
studied the contents of the most pop-
ular Christmas chocolate tubs, and
•
News
hats among their bestsellers this win-
ter. And the surge in popularity can
be traced back to the television show
Succession.
The fashion platform Lyst reports
a 45% lift in sales and online searches
related to baseball caps since Octo-
ber, as the third season of the
award-winning HBO drama hit our
screens. Unbranded styles designed
by Italian labels including Brunello
Cucinelli and Loro Piana are among
the most popular styles.
The oy family of Succession may
well be this hat’s most high-profile
its research answers key questions,
such as the ratio of caramel swirls
to green triangles in Nestlé’s Quality
Street (two to one).
However, it also found that there
was very rarely an even spread of
sweets in traditional tubs of Qual-
ity Street, oses, Celebrations and
Heroes – all of which are sold in huge
quantities at Christmas.
In a box of Mars Celebrations,
Which? experts discovered there
were twice as many Milky Ways
 ▲▼In
HBO’s award-
winning show
Succession,
the logo-less
baseball cap
is part of
the wealthy
Roy family’s
signature look,
as worn by
Logan (Brian
Cox), left,
Kendall (Jeremy
Strong), above,
and Shiv
(Sarah Snook)
R: 
fans, and certainly they would be
among its wealthiest.The unmarked
caps, which the oys tend to wear
in grey, black, blue or any dark
unassuming colour – and which
are available to buy for prices up to
£2,465 – enjoyed plenty of airtime
during the latest chapter of infight-
ing among the iniquitous billionaire
family.
In Succession, it seems you can-
not step off a private jet or utter the
word “cruises” without a sublimely
expensive baseball cap lodged firmly
on your wealthy – but deeply troubled
– little head.
Compassion and family values
are null and void in oy Land, and
so too are logos. In stylistic terms,
at least, wealth is implied but never
stated. It is the mark of the costume
designer Michelle Matland that the
clothes in the show are as deeply
emblematic as they are completely
unremarkable.
The cap played a leading role in the
,
patriarch Logan oy’s early scenes
and stole the show during the final
episode of series 2 when the family
took to a super-yacht to tell one
another how much they detested The price tag of a mink-lined
one another.In series 3, with deserter baseball cap from the Italian
Kendall oy on a disastrous quest to fashion label Loro Piana
and Snickers as Galaxy and Galaxy
Caramel sweets.
Meanwhile, Cadbury’sHeroes con-
tained an average of nine eclairs and
Fudges but just five Twirls orWispas.
The oses selection was biased
towards Dairy Milk, with nine per
tub, but only four fudges and truffles.
The researchers found Quality
Street had the “most variety in its
tub overall”, with 11 different types
of chocolate, but it was not a level
playing field.
They found an average of nine
fudge sweets, eight caramel swirls
but a paltry five purple ones. Green
triangles were practically gold dust,
▲ Typical sweet selections in Quality with only four included.
Street, top, and Celebrations tubs The snapshot was based on the
3
For Logan in times
of crisis,the cap acts
as a literal shield
find cultural relevance, the baseball
cap enjoys even more screen time.
His signature look – a sharp suit
with trainers and a plain black base-
ball cap – is the stylistic embodiment
of his character, which is both cocky
and broken-hearted, shy and dan-
gerously narcissistic. For his father,
Logan, who wears his in times of
crisis, the cap acts as a literal shield. It
also serves to assimilate him with the
real-life billionaires of this world for
whom the baseball cap has become
something of a style calling card.
With or without a logo, the base-
ball cap has endured a complicated
relationship with US culture. Once a
symbol of the sport and the working
classes who enjoyed watching it, the
hat has become a staple for everyone
from film directors shieldingfrom the
sun to celebrities protecting them-
selves from the paparazzi.
In less photogenic terms, it also
played a crucial role in Donald
Trump’s campaign to appeal to
“everyday Americans” with the
baseball caps among the bestselling
items of “make America greatagain”
merchandise.
However, as a reputable fashion
item, the baseball cap has overcome
such obstacles. It has even now
evolved into a luxury item, with
fashion houses such as Celine and
Balenciaga among those to put caps
on the catwalk.
While unbranded styles are clearly
popular with the super-rich, Loro
Piana’s £325 cashmere-virgin wool
offering is a favourite,logos havenot
had their day. It is the logo-splayed
hats of Balenciaga and Gucci that are
still the holy grail for fashion fans.
contents of three 600g-650g tubs
of each brand. Which? recommends
shoppers buy this size of tub as they
offer the best value for money.
Nestlé said that despite appear-
ances the three types of sweets that
make up the selection – chocolate-
based, fruit cremes and toffees – are
there in roughly the same quantities.
“Each of those sweet types is
produced on a different line in the
factory,” a spokesman explained.
“Because there are more varie-
ties of chocolate-based sweets the
amount of time each individual sweet
is being manufactured is lower but
the distribution of chocolates ver-
sus toffees versus cremes remains
broadly steady.”
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
6 National ▼ Antony Sher as Prospero in The
Tempest in 2009, and as Richard III,
below, in 1985 : 
/ U;  /

Appreciation
Michael Billington

Truly supreme
performer who
was unafraid to
exhibit his soul

A ntony Sher was a

man of staggering
versatility. As well
as being a brilliant
actor, he was an
accomplished artist
and writer. But, far from being
separate, his three careers all fed
into each other: you only have
to look at his sketches of Richard
III in his book Year of the King to
see how his draughtsman’s eye
enriched his performance. Gifted
in numerous ways, Sher also
saw his acting career as one that
evolved from impersonation to
embodiment of a character.
Although totally persuasive as
the lecherous redbrick sleazeball

‘Unbearably moving’: acclaimed

Howard Kirk in the TV version of
moved after fleeing the Lithuanian Malcolm Bradbury’s The History
pogroms. He revisited their journey Man, it was his stage performance

actor Antony Sher dies aged 72

in his novel Middlepost and returned as an exploited Arab visitor in Mike
to South Africa with major theatre Leigh’s Goose-Pimples that marked
productions including The Tem- his development as an actor: the
pest (playing Prospero) and Arthur performance was mimetically
Miller’s Broken Glass, whose hero, brilliant.
said Sher, was as “uncomfortable in His Richard III in 1984 showed
his own skin” as the actor himself. his talents working in perfect
and his role as a drag queen in Har- He had arrived in London in 1968, harmony. With a writer’s zeal,
Chris Wiegand vey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy, aged 19. “Ididn’t see anyJewish lead- he explored with orthopaedic
enabling him to sayin his acceptance ing men in the classical theatre, so I surgeons the exact nature of
speech: “I’m very happy to be the first thought it best to conceal my Jewish- Richard’s disability. As an artist,
Sir Antony Sher, one of British actor to win an award for playing both ness,” he once said. “Also, I quickly he was able to find a precise visual
t heatre’s most acclaimed and a king and a queen.” became conscious of apartheid when image for Richard. And, as an
respected actors, has died of can- He was praised for his Cyrano I arrived here, and I didn’t want to be actor, he broke away totally from
cer aged 72. His illness was revealedde Bergerac and his Willy Loman known as a white South African.”He the Olivier template: fleet and
in September, when the Royal in Death of a Salesman, both with concealed his sexuality in public, too, demonic, Sher was the fastest
Shakespeare Company announced Doran and the RSC. He excelled as which meant “myentire identity was mover in the kingdom, making
that its artistic director, Sher’s hus-
both Tartuffe and that play’s author, in the closet”. wickedly inventive use of twin
band, Gregory Doran, would take Molière (in a play by Bulgakov) in At his Rada audition “they urged crutches that became phallic
compassionate leaveto care for him. RSC shows. The real-life figures he me to seek a different career”. He symbols or a cross to betoken
Sher’s death was announced yes- portrayed included Freud in Terry studied instead with the Webber Richard’s seeming saintliness.
terday. Catherine Mallyon, RSC Johnson’s play Hysteria at the Thea- Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. It was a career-changing
executive director, and Erica Why- tre Royal Bath and Primo Levi, both He wrote plays and novels, the performance which, over the years,
man, acting artistic director, said: at the National Theatre and on screen. memoir Beside Myself and accounts gave Sher the chance to play all the
“We are deeply saddened by this Sher was born in 1949 in Cape of some of his roles, including as Rich- great Shakespearean roles, almost
news and our thoughts and sincere Town, where his grandparents had ard III and Falstaff, which opened up always in Stratford-upon-Avon.
condolences are with Greg, and with the craft of acting. Year of the Mad By the time he came to play King
Antony’s family and their friends.” King: The Lear Diaries won the Thea- Lear in 2016, Sher was able to bring
It was his vivid performances over tre Book prize in 2019 – it featured his a lifetime’s experience to the part.
four decades with the RSC, many own illustrations. He was knighted He was first seen enthroned like
of them directed by Doran, which in 2000 for his services to the arts. a secular god in an elevated glass
gained Sher his reputation as one Sher and Doran entered into civil cage. Once brought to earth, Sher
of the great modern Shakespearean partnership on the first possible day captured perfectly the emotional
actors. In 1985 he won the Olivier of the new law, 21 December 2005. volatility that is the key to Lear,
award for his Richard III on crutches, They married in 2015. rounding on Cordelia’s captors
a striking realisation of the charac- His final roles on stage included with a downright violence as if
ter’sdescription as a “bottled spider”. that of a chilling torturer in One for to remind us that this is a play of
For the same director, Bill Alex- the Road in the Pinter West End sea- irreconcilable contradictions.
ander, he played Shylock in The son, and in John Kani’s play Kunene For me, there was a unity about
Merchant of Venice. Doran directed and the King. Sher’s love for language his skills as actor, artist and writer,
him as Macbeth, Falstaff and King was always palpable on stage:“To an in that he approached each part
Lear,and as Iago in Othello.In the last actor,dialogue is like food.Youhold it with an intense creative fervour, as
of these he was praised as “unbear- in your mouth, you taste it. If it’s good if it had to be understood equally
ably moving” by the Guardian’s dialogue the taste will be distinctive. on the performative, visual and
Michael Billington. If it’sShakespeare dialogue, the taste psychological level. And, having
But his range went well beyond will be Michelin-starred.” started out as a gifted chameleon,
the Bard. The 1985 Olivier awardwas ▲ Antony Sher and Geraldine James as Howard and Barbara Kirk in the 1981 Sher became a supreme actor
given to him for both his Richard III BBC television series The History Man :  Journal Obituary Page 8 unafraid to exhibit his own soul.
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
£800,000 nightmare From Elvis to A ele 7
HMRC windfall that Why a new g ration
woman didn’t want is heading for V gas
Page 19 Page 21

Deaths narrowly avoided as  England

players Jordan

disorder by fans at Euro 2020

Henderson,
Jordan Pickford
and Decland
Rice show their

final took officials by surprise

dejection after
the penalty
shoot-out defeat
:
 K/
 

Paul MacInnes

A review into the disorder that

tarnished the Euro 2020 final at Wem-
bley has painted a terrifying picture
in which fatalities and widespread
injury were only narrowly avoided
after authorities failed to plan for the
“worst-case scenario”despite a series
of warnings.
The Football Association-com-
missioned report, led by Louise
Casey, examines the day of 11 July,
when thousands of ticketless fans
tried to storm the national stadium
to see England play Italy, and tens of
thousands more created scenes of
anarchic disorder on Olympic Way.
The review describes what unfolded
as a “national shame”.
“I am clear that the primary
responsibility for what went wrong
that day lies with those who lost con-
trol of their own behaviour …not with
anyone who did their best but lost
control of the crowd,” Lady Casey
said. “Nevertheless there are always
lessons to be learned. No one was
fully prepared for what happened and
it can’t be allowed to happen again.”
The report lays bare the details of
the day, revealing a situation far worse
than had been previously assumed. It
says more than 2,000 people gained
access to Wembley without tickets,
with 17 mass breaches of security,
and a systematic targeting of disabled
entrances as a way in.
Previously unreportedis the exist- “near misses” where lives were at was more serious and, in some these problems as discrete tactical ▲ Chaos at Wembley Stadium on
ence of a 6,000-strong crowd who risk. A young man on the Spanish instances, extremely dangerous.” issues to be fixed by practical meas- 11 July as ticketless fans laid siege to
stood outside Wembley throughout steps was knocked over and tram- Wembley officials said attempts ures rather than considering the wider the gates in the hours before kickoff
the final, waiting to charge the gates pled by the crowd. He managed to to breach security were “constant for strategic implications,” Casey said. :  / /
in the event of an England victory. escape the crush but collapsed and six hours”, with the perpetrators per- Casey said there was a lack of clarity
A crowd safety expert described went into a seizure. sisting even as the game was played. over who was responsible for con- at the moment they arrived on Olym-
the prospect of this group collid- Meanwhile, at Gate G, a young Police officers in a helicopter esti- trolling “Zone X” – the Olympic Way pic Way. That hurts us deeply.
ing with legitimate fans exiting as woman was also trampled, before mated the crowd to be 6,000 and area – with the ability to introduce “We fully accept the findings and
a “frightening one” whose “conse- being rescued by a fellow supporter. one FA official described them as security measures also hampered by recommendations of the review, in
quences need little imagination”. At the same gate,the stampede forced “zombie”-like, adding to the fear the ownership structure of the land. particular the main one: that we, the
Crowds gathered along Olym- a man carryinga small child on to the among officials. “They were just She criticised the police for inflexibil- police and all of the agencies involved
pic Way from as early as 9am, for a ground. He was rescued by a steward. standing there, not even watching ity, with the main tranche of officers should have looked at the planning
match kicking off at 8pm, with the “The prevailing view in the after- the game on their phones,” he said. only arriving at 3pm. for the event through a different lens.
consumption of much alcohol and math was that the scenes atWembley In the end, England lost and the There is criticism, too, for the gov- “Rather than planning for the
cocaine apparent to bystanders. had been ugly and disgraceful,” Casey heavens opened, occurrences that ernment, who first denied requests biggest ever football match at the
These numbers, the review argues, said. “Many of those present said … officials were extremely thankful for. for extra fan zones to defuse crowd modern Wembley as we did, collec-
were not expected by the authorities. what they witnessed or experienced Casey describes the events as a pressures, then insisted that the FA tively we should have viewed the
The invasion began at 5.25pm, “perfect storm”, of a kind not seen expand the restricted capacity of the event as oneof national significance.”
when 100 men charged an outer secu- before. But she makes clear that plan- final to 67,000 to prevent Uefa mov- He believes “no stadium would
rity perimeter on the Spanish Steps, ‘A day that should ning had failed to consider anything ing the match to Budapest. have coped with that pressure
the central point of access to the
stadium. Wembley officials described have been so much worse than what had happened
previously during the tournament
While insisting the situation was
“impossible” for stadium officials,
from such an aggressive crowd try-
ing to get in” and said: “We didn’t
the incident as “abang” which “came special became and said that, combined with other the FA’s chief executive, Mark Bull- get everything right but, given the
from leftfield”, with police and stew-
ards assailed by punches. By 6.30pm, horrible for many’ external factors includingthe impact
of Covid regulations, meant an unsus-
ingham, apologised for the trouble
endured by tens of thousands of peo-
circumstances, many of our team
performed incredibly well under
the security operation – with 553 tainable situation was created. ple. “I am truly sorry for the terrible extraordinary pressure.
police at the stadium – is described “Multiple stakeholders told the experiences many of you suffered,” “Without them and their actions,
as being “under intense pressure”. Mark Bullingham review that the frequency of matches he said. “Aday that should havebeen as the review makes clear, the situa-
During this time there were several FA chief executive meant a habit had formed of viewing so special became horrible for many tion could have been much worse.”
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
8 National
Murder of Arthur
Labinjo-Hughes

‘Unimaginable suffering’:
couple jailed over killing
of six-year-old Arthur
Jessica Murray
Midlands correspondent
Awoman who killed her six-year-old
stepson after poisoning, starving and
beating him in the weeks before his
death, has been sentenced to life in
prison with a minimum term of 29
years.
Emma Tustin, 32, was sentenced
for the murder of Arthur Labinjo-
Hughes, alongside his father, Thomas
Hughes, 29, who was given 21 years
in prison for manslaughter.
“Arthur was subjected to the most
unimaginable suffering at the hands
of both of you. You both told lies to
conceal what was happening in that
house. Your behaviour towards him
was often spiteful and at times sadis- pital equipment, and 130 bruises
tic,” said Mr Justice Wall as he passed were found on his body, a number
sentence at Coventry crown court
yesterday.“This is without doubt one
of the most distressing and disturbing
cases with which I have had to deal.”
The pair were convicted on Thurs-
day after an eight-week trial that
revealed how Arthur was subjected
to “incomprehensible and escalating
cruelty”,prosecutors argued. He was
physically assaulted, poisoned with
salt and forced to stand in isolation
for up to 14 hours a day in the months
leading up to his death.
Wall described Tustin, who refused
to come to the dock for the sentenc-
ing, as a “manipulative woman who
will tell any lie and shift the blame
on to anyone to save her own skin”.
He said it was a “shocking feature
of the case” that Tustin’s own two
children, aged four and five, “lived
a perfectly happy,normal life in that
household while this appalling cru-
elty to Arthur was taking place”.
Addressing Hughes, he said the
father had apparently cared prop- ▲ Arthur was ‘the model of a happy
erly for Arthur “before you became six-year-old’ before meeting Tustin
infatuated with Tustin to the extent
that it obliterated all your love for
your son”.
Tustin killed Arthur on 16 June last
year by violently shakingand hitting
his head, causing injuries that were
“extensive and devastating”, Wall
said. “The amount of violence you
used on him produced forces on his
body said to be equivalent to those
which might otherwise have been
produced by a high-speed road traf-
fic collision.”
Tustin also poisoned Arthur with
salt over a number of weeks, giving
him a significant amountin the hours
before he died. When he was admit-
ted to hospital, the levels of sodium
in his blood were so high they could
not accurately be measured by hos-
described as “staggering” by a med-
ical expert.
An investigation has been
launched into local social services,
which failed to detect the abuse that
began when Hughes moved into Tus-
tin’s home in Solihull with his son
during lockdown last year.
Social workers visited Tustin’s
house two months before Arthur’s
death after concerns were raised by
his grandmother, Joanne Hughes,
about bruises on his back, but they
concluded there were “no safe-
guarding concerns”. West Midlands
police are also being investigated by
the police watchdog for their actions
after being forwarded photos of the
bruises on Arthur’s body.
In her victim impact statement,
read out in court before sentencing,
Joanne Hughes said: “It is clear from
the evidence that I have heard that
Arthur was failed by the veryauthor-
ities that we, as a society, are led to
believe are there to ensure the safety
of everyone.”
The family said prior to Tustin’s
involvement, Arthur was “the model
of a happy, joyous,exuberant and lov-
ing six-year-old” who loved dressing
up as superheroes, playing cricket
and football, and they “would always
remember him so”.
Birmingham City, the football
club Arthur supported, said it would
encourage fans to take part in a min-
ute’s applause in the sixth minute
of its game against Millwall today
in tribute to Arthur. Wall said “the
mental image of Hughes deliber-
ately ripping up [Arthur’s] beloved
Birmingham City football shirt is one
of many which would “live with any-
one who attended this trial for a very
long time”.
In messages to his partner, Hughes
often referred to his son using exple-
tives, and compared him to Hitler and
Satan, part of a pattern of dehumani-
sation which enabled the abuse, the
prosecution argued.
Journal Harry Ferguson Page 4

Timeline Episodes of abuse that were not picked up

February 2019 Arthur’s
biological mother, Olivia
Labinjo-Halcrow, 29, is arrested
for stabbing and killing her
partner Gary Cunningham. She
was subsequently convicted of
manslaughter and sentenced to
11 years in prison. Arthur’s father,
Thomas Hughes, 29, takes over
care for his son, and in August
meets Emma Tustin, 32, online.
November 2019 Hughes and
his mother, Joanne, met staff at
Arthur’s school to discuss their
growing concerns about his
behaviour. Teachers reported
Arthur was becoming “fixated”
with his dad disappearing from
his life, or killing him.
March 2020 Hughes and Arthur
move into Tustin’s home in Solihull
when the Covid-19 lockdown was
announced.
16 April 2020 Joanne Hughes
reported Arthur to social services
after taking photographs of bruises
on his back, which she discovered
when Hughes and Arthur visited.
She tried to persuade Hughes
to leave the boy with her but
he refused.
17 April 2020 Social worker Jayne
Kavanagh from Solihull council
visited Tustin’s home. She said she
was told Arthur and Tustin’s son
had been playfighting with boxing
gloves resulting in the bruises.
She said when asked how they
felt, both boys said “they felt
very happy and very safe”.
She concluded there were “no
safeguarding concerns”.
Giving evidence during the trial,
Hughes said Tustin had “coached”
the two boys to lie to social services
about the fight with boxing gloves.
18 April 2020 Arthur’s uncle,
Daniel Hughes, spoke to police
about bruises on the boy’s back. He
sent photos but never heard back.
May 2020 Tustin’s stepfather,
John Dutton, said he made an
“anonymous referral” to social
services because he felt Arthur was
“in danger.”
8 June 2020 Arthur’s school
reopened but Hughes did not send
his son back, initially claiming
the boy hadn’t slept well and
would return the next day. Arthur
never went back to school before
his death.
15 June Tustin took Arthur with
her to an appointment with her
hairdresser, Catherine Milhench,
who said Arthur was told to face
the door and not move during the
six-hour session. She described his
appearance as skeletal and said his
legs were shaking “like he couldn’t
hold himself up”.
16 June 2020 Video footage from
a CCTV camera in the living room,
where Arthur slept on the floor,
showed him appearing weak as he
woke up and struggled to carry his
duvet out of the room.
Shortly after 2.30pm Tustin
messaged Hughes to say Arthur
would not get up off the floor and
claimed he had “knocked himself
out” by hitting his head on the
floor. Hughes returned home and a
999 call was made at 2.42pm.
Arthur was taken to the
Birmingham Children’s hospital
and later that evening both Tustin
and Hughes were arrested.
17 June 2020 Doctors concluded
nothing could be done to save
Arthur and his life support machine
was switched off at 1am.
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Safeguarding Lockdown ‘must
not let council off the hook’
Richard Adams
Patrick Butler
The lockdown should not be used
as a reason for Solihull council and
other child safeguardingagencies to
be “let offthe hook” over the murder
of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, according
to one influential Conservative MP.
Robert Halfon, the MP for Harlow
and chair of the education select com-
mittee, said while lockdowns and
school closures had led to a rise in
safeguarding concerns and domes-
tic abuse, Arthur’s case required a
forensic investigation into the coun-
cil’s responsibilities.
•
▼ Arthur Labinjo-Hughes with his
biological mother, Olivia Labinjo-
Halcrow. The boy, 6, died in June
:  N-/
“You can’t just blame this on lock-
down because itseems to me there has
been a dramatic failure by children’s
services and the relevant authori-
ties,” Halfon said. “While I absolutely
believe lockdowns destroyed peo-
ple’s mental health and wellbeing,
and that children have been affected
by safeguardinghazards and domes-
tic abuse, as well as joining county
lines gangs, that shouldn’t let social
services off the hook.”
Aserious case review is under way
into circumstances around Arthur’s
death after it emerged social workers
had visited the house two months
before he died and found “no safe-
guarding concerns”. West Midlands
Out of sight
Big rise in
child harm
cases during
first year of
pandemic
T
Patrick Butler
he terrible death of
six-year-old Arthur
Labinjo-Hughes,
murdered by his
stepmother, Emma
Tustin, after weeks
of abuse and torture, may be
an outlier in terms of its sheer
brutality but is unlikely to be the
only case of its kind to emerge from clear there had been gaps: “The
the lockdown period.
Arthur was killed in June 2020,
weeks after his father, Thomas
Hughes, (who was convicted of
Arthur’s manslaughter) moved
with him into Tustin’s home in
March 2020. As the pandemic
raged, the couple’s staggering
cruelty appears to have gone
largely unnoticed.
The independent review of
Arthur’s case will examine why
the authorities in Solihull – social
workers, police, teachers – failed
to spot the signs of abuse, or
intervene, despite warnings from
members of his wider family. Any
individual errors, and system
failures, are likely to be highlighted. suffering isolation, financial
But it may also look at the impact hardship and job loss on top of
of lockdown on local safeguarding pre-existing stresses. Domestic
arrangements. With schools closed, violence rose and rates of mental
much of normal social life coming illness soared – though it is hard
to an abrupt halt, and families
spending long periods behind
closed doors, did the usual early
warning system collapse? How far was a big rise in serious incidents
was the effectiveness of the local
children’s services department
police are also being investigated for
their actions after being forwarded
photographs showing the bruises.
“Every single one has to be held
accountable, from the local coun-
cil chief executive to the director of
children’s services, to the people who
came around to the house – every sin-
gle person should answer for what
decisions were made,” Halfon said.
Asked if the Solihull case was the
tip of an iceberg, he said: “God for-
bid that there are other cases as bad
as this one, but there has definitely
been a massive impact on safeguard-
ing, of children at home vulnerable to
domestic abuse, children facingpres-
sure where parents have lost jobs,and
virtually vanishing from school rolls.
This is a wider issue.”
Sir Alan Wood, the former head
of children’s services for Hackney,
told the BBC that the tragedy could
lead to the consideration of dedicated
9
blunted as staff fell ill or had to ▲ Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes
isolate, unable to carry out the face- speaking to police after the final
to-face assessments and maintain attack on Arthur that left him dead
the relationships that are so crucial : /N
to detecting abuse? Were the police
affected by the same pressures? Child harm cases reported by local
According to Brid Featherstone, authorities were up by 20%, and
a professor of social work at child deaths by 19%. There were
the University of Huddersfield, 536 such notifications in 2020-21,
many social workers persevered up from 229 the previous year.
“heroically” to keep in touch with There was a 20% rise in babies
families. Yet DI Laura Harrison, being killed or harmed.
from West Midlands police, was This was not unanticipated.
England’s chief inspector of
usual professionals that should schools, Amanda Spielman,
have been involved in safeguarding suggested the pandemic had
a child weren’t because of the increased the “invisibility of
lockdown.” vulnerable children” more than
Referrals to council children’s a year ago. The then children’s
social care departments in England commissioner for England, Anne
fell by a fifth in the first few months Longfield, warned six months
of the pandemic, according to the into the pandemic that vulnerable
Local Government Association, children would “slip out of view”.
suggesting usual levels of vigilance Arthur’s death may lead to
were not maintained. During the questions about whether enough
same period about 1,600 children was done to ensure children at risk
were newly classed as “looked remained in sight. This may in turn
after”, meaning they were placed focus attention on the immense
in public care, down a third on damage caused by huge cuts over
previous years. a decade imposed on increasingly
In this period families came fragile children’s departments, and
under unprecedented pressure, on ways to improve safeguarding
and family support.
It may also trigger a knee-jerk
reaction, as seen after previous
tragedies such as the deaths of
Peter Connelly, known as baby P,
to see Arthur’s killers as driven by and Victoria Climbié. “One of my
anything other than callous cruelty. biggest fears,” says Featherstone,
Official data indicates there “is that this will become a ‘this
must never happen again’ moment
involving children in England in and we’ll go back to scapegoating
the first year of the pandemic. social workers.”
children’s protection officers, taking
over some local authority responsi-
bilities, in an independent review of
children’s social care.
“I think there’s no doubt that there
is a need for significant additional
investment into [children’s]services.
But I don’t think one can simply say
that the cause of the eventis down to
the lack of resources,” Wood said, cit-
▲ Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes ing difficulties in attracting staffand
appear at Coventry crown court barriers between agencies involved.
A Solihull council spokesperson
said: “This terrible tragedy has had
‘It seems tome there ailyshocking impact on Arthur’s fam-
has been a dramatic Weand across the whole community.
send our heartfelt condolences
failure by the to everyone affected. The circum-
relevant authorities’ subject around
stances his death will now be
to an independent review –
the local child safeguarding practice
review – and clearly it would be inap-
Robert Halfon propriate for the council to comment
Conservative MP ahead of the findings of that review.”
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
10 News
Coronavirus

No time to wait for “The honest truth is that the

booster programme, which I think
will work, is not going to work soon

data on Omicron,
enough if there is a big wave here
soon,” said Finn. “We need to buy
time. If in three weeks it’s died out,
then fine, we can all relax, but right

ministers warned
 Continued from page 1
overseas, as its main weapons against
Omicron. “Stepping up the boosters
is the key thing: buy as much time as
we can with the measures at the bor-
der to slow the incursion, and then
make good use of that time to under-
stand the variant.”
Ministers are keepingCovid meas-
ures under constant review, but it is
understood fresh restrictions at the
border – such as adding more coun-
tries to the red list – are considered
more likely than changes such as
working from home guidance.
The Sage experts praised scientists
in South Africa for swiftly identify-
ing and sharing details of the highly
mutated Omicron variant in Novem-
ber. According to the minutes, it is
“highly likely” that Omicron will
escape immunity to some extent,
given the large number of reinfec-
tions already seen in South Africa,
and a number of mutations that affect
every known site to which neutralis-
ing antibodies bind.
The scientists expect the variant
to have a bigger impact on reducing
protection against all infection than
it does on reducingprotection against
severe disease. But even if vaccines
hold up well against severe illness,
any significant drop in the preven-
tion of infection could drive a “very
large wave” of disease that requires
“very stringent response measures to
avoid unsustainable pressure on the
NHS”, the experts say. “It is impor-
tant to be prepared for a potentially
very significant wave of infections
with associated hospitalisations now,
ahead of data being available,” the
minutes add.
The latest figures from the Office
for National Statistics reveal infection
levels have risen in the UK, echoing
trends in recent daily case numbers.
The ONS survey, based on swabs
from randomly selected house-
holds, found in the week ending 27
November that an estimated one in
60 people had Covid in England. In
Northern Ireland and Wales, the rate
stands at one in 45, and at one in 65
in Scotland. The figures represent a
rise in all nations except Wales, where
the trend was uncertain. None of the
cases were confirmed as Omicron.
Yesterday the UK reported a fur-
ther 50,584 cases, up 1% on the week,
with 787 hospital admissions and 143
deaths, down 3.8% and 5.2% on the
week respectively.
Adam Finn, professor of paediat-
rics at the University of Bristol and
a member of the Joint Committee
on Vaccination and Immunisation
(JCVI), urged people to work from
home where possible until more
was known about the risk Omicron
posed. The European Centre for Dis-
ease Prevention and Control believes
the variant could become dominant
on the continent within months.
now is the time when you could pre-
vent there being a big wave.”
He added: “The more people can
work from home now the better,until
we are more definite about what’s
going to happen.”
Sage scientists estimate that more
than a third of people’s contacts occur
in the workplace and that home-
working can have a significant impact
on transmission.
Prof Anthony Harnden, deputy
chair of the JCVI, said while boost-
ers would givethe majority of people
their best chance of fighting Omicron,
there remained a small proportion,
but a large number, of unvaccinated
adults who were “at very high risk”
if Omicron provedto be highly trans-
missible. “We should explore every
measure to reach out to these unvac-
cinated adults,” he said.
No 10 yesterday ruled out making
vaccines compulsory. A spokesman
for the prime minister told report-
ers: “We’ve set out our policy on this
and we’ve said it’s not something that
we would look to introduce. You’re
aware of the changes we made in
terms of social care settings and for
NHS workers, given the importance
of protecting the most vulnerable
in our society. But there’s no plans
above and beyond that.”
Finn believes mandatory vaccina-
tion of the general public could do
more harm than good in the UK, but
favours an approach used in South
Africa, where trusted individu-
als go door-to-door to talk through
people’s concerns about having a
Covid vaccine.
Additional reporting
Nicola Davis and Denis Campbell

GPs’ focus
Fewer health
reduction in routine checks will lead
to signs of illness being missed.
Family doctors are being freed up
giving non-Covid jabs, especially in
children, and undertaking cervical
cancer screening. ‘All our eggs in one basket’
checks now
in order to help administer booster
shots through a substantial liftingof
requirements set out in the Quality
The NHS has to increase the daily
number of boosters given from
350,000 to 500,000 to help meet Boosters without curbing
for over-75s
Outcomes Framework (QOF) to mon-
itor patients and help tackle problems
such as smoking and obesity.
Javid and NHS England havegiven
Boris Johnson’s pledge that every
adult in England will have been
offered one by the end of January.
Rachel Power, the chief exec-
mixing seen as risky move
them permission to undertake far utive of the Patients Association,

Denis Campbell
Health policy editor
Ministers have given GPs in England
the green light to provide less care to
millions of patients for the next four
months so they can join the “national
mission” to deliver Covid boosters.
Family doctors will spend less time
monitoring conditions such as dia-
betes and heart problems, do fewer
health checks on over-75s and stop
performing minor surgery until April.
Sajid Javid, the health secretary,
and NHS bosses have approved the
controversial changes so that surger-
ies can join the drive to administer
fewer checks on people with a wide
range of serious ailments, including
high blood pressure, asthma, chronic
kidney disease and obesity. GPs will
also undertake fewer medication
reviews with people who are taking
drugs on a long-term basis.
For the next four months family
doctors will carry out only a limited
amount of these checks. Javid and
NHS England have agreed to leave
it to GPs’ clinical judgment which
patients still need to be monitored.
“This is a necessary temporary
emergency measure as the booster
rollout is top priority,” a source said.
However, GPs will still have to com-
ply with a few QOF duties, including
welcomed the fact that “the NHS is
undoubtedly mobilising resources
on an impressive scale for the booster
programme.” But she added: “With-
drawing some regular GP services
will further disrupt the relationship
between patients and the NHS. The
decision also risks buildingup future
ill health that wouldhave been picked
up in routine health checks.”
The suspension of so much of
QOF is a victoryfor the British Medi-
cal Association (BMA). The doctors’
union had pleaded in recent months
to relax or scrap QOF as a way of
reducing their “unsustainable and
impossible” workloads.
The BMA’s GP committee chair, Dr
G
government was “putting all its
Jessica Elgot eggs in one basket” by focusing
its main efforts into the booster
vaccine drive.
overnment officials “It should be a balance between
and scientific advisers social mixing and immunity, that
believe the danger will affect how quickly it spreads,”
posed by the Omicron the adviser said.
variant may not be “At the moment we are not really
clear until January, doing anything to reduce mixing.
potentially allowing weeks of It’s disruptive and it’s damaging to
intense mixing among people while the economy but at the very least
it spreads. we could encourage people to think
Across Westminster, invitations about their contacts.”
to Christmas drinks are landing Some senior Sage scientists have
in embossed envelopes or on made the case privately that the
WhatsApp groups. additional precaution of home-

top-up shots as quickly as possible.
Doctors’ leaders sought to reassure
the public that anyone falling ill or
worried about their health wouldstill
be seen and assessed.
However, the Patients Associa-
tion immediately warned that the
4
Number of months GPs have been
authorised to reduce checks on
patients with serious ailments
Farah Jameel, said: “Wehope that by
removing some of the more bureau-
cratic and target-based requirements
staff’s time can be freed up to get
more jabs into arms, while allowing
practices to focus on patients who
need their attention the most.”
But Sage minutes suggest there working should be taken in the
is deep concern about the threat run-up to Christmas and that the
from the new variant, particularly government should start to suggest
its transmissibility. to people that they take sensible
Though there is a wariness about steps to minimise social contact in
overreacting, one government the days before seeing loved ones.
scientific adviser said the “Working from home is
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
substantially less intrusive as an
intervention. f you can easily
do your job from home until
Christmas, to me that seems a very
proportionate thing to do right
now,” one age adviser said.
“We may wait till next year to
see an exponential increase and
then introduce plan B. nd then
that doesn’t work and we end up
having to do more intense things.
t’s undoubtedly a very difficult
judgment.”
hat advice has so far not been
taken – and ministers who have
suggested that people exercise
their personal judgment over
Christmas party participation and
kissing under the mistletoe have
been slapped down by o 10.
fter the work and pensions
secretary, hérèse Coffey,
counselled caution under the
mistletoe, ajid Javid, the health
secretary, intervened on hursday
to insist, “it’s got nothing to
do with the government who
you kiss”.
overnment sources have
also firmly denied that there has
been any consideration of a short
“circuit-breaker” lockdown in
order to allow more mixing over
Christmas. “t’s totally wrong to
suggest that has been considered,”
a spokesman said.
•
▼ Shoppers on Oxford Street in
central London complying with the
updated rules on face coverings
PHOTOGRAPH: TOLGA AKMEN/GETTY IMAGES
But one senior health source
said that although intensive
mixing often occurred in the
run-up to Christmas, people would
be expected to reduce that over
Christmas itself: “he Christmas
holidays may act as a form of
circuit-breaker, people stay at
home in smaller groups, kids are
off school, after a period of lots of
mixing. hat will help.”
nother age scientist said it was
hard to make the case in the early
weeks for a major crackdown on
social contact because the figures
would look absurdly low in relation
to daily infection rates Britons had
come to expect.
“he first part of the curve looks
flat and then it suddenly takes
off and the exponential nature
becomes more obvious.
“ don’t think we will reach that
point before Christmas. We will
reach it in the first quarter of next
year.”
inisters acknowledge current
U figures for micron may be
more than two weeks old and
vastly underestimate the numbers.
“We are talking about big
underestimates. he sequencing is
always a week or more behind.
“We are looking at numbers
that we had from a week or two
ago and it is an underestimate of
that,” an official said. he rapid-
response restrictions, which
include additional measures for
self-isolation of contacts as well as
mask-wearing, will be reviewed in
three weeks.
ome scientists said the data
from outh frica would be clearer
by then but it would still be very
uncertain about how that might
read across in the U.
“f we see the exponential
increase in cases and
hospitalisations are staying flat
that would be positive but the
population [in outh frica] is
much younger, much of the early
circulation is the young adult
population. t’s not necessarily
completely reassuring if you
did not see that increase,” one
‘It should be a
balance between
social mixing and
immunity. We are not
really doing anything
to reduce mixing’
Scientific adviser
Sage minutes
Christmas
Tories insist
No 10 party
will still go on
Rowena Mason
Matthew Weaver
he Conservatives are pressingahead
with their Christmas party in spite
of scientists’ fears over the spread
of micron, as their co-chair told
people to “keep calm and carry on”
with festivities.
abour has decided to cancel its
festive function though it is not urg-
ing businesses to do the same.
But despite criticism of Downing
treet for allegedly holding lock-
down-busting parties last Christmas,
the oryparty co-chair said yesterday
that o 10 and the central party would
be carrying on with their functions.
liver Dowden said: “We obvi-
ously wouldn’t set out details of
private functions in o 10 but, as 
say, there will be festive events in
the run-up to Christmas.” e told
ky ews: “he message to peo-
ple,  think, is fairly straightforward public’s confidence and compliance
– which is: keep calm, carry on with
your Christmas plans. We’ve put the
necessary restrictions in place, but
beyond that keep calm and carry on.”
sked about the ories’ own plans,
he told BBC Breakfast: “ think it is
still planned, and  don’t intend to
cancel it as chairman of the Conserv-
ative party.”
he latest Covid restrictions man-
date mask wearing in shops and on
public transport but there are no
restrictions on socialising, unlike
last year before the vaccine pro- ▲ Downing Street parties will take
gramme had been rolled out. o 10 place, the Tory party co-chair said
government scientist said.
“Ultimately the only thing that
really tells us this is the real-world
data. t would take us a month,
even with our extremely good
data, to have a good understanding
of what is really happening.
Unfortunately, we get that detail
once it’s widespread.”
o 10 believes its actions over
the past week showed a recognition
of where ministers needed to move
quickly, without an overreaction
when evidence of the threat
was still unknown. “Because of
the uncertainty, we have acted
swiftly and decisively but also in
a proportionate way,” one senior
adviser said.
“here was broad recognition
on the importance of working
at speed. hat has been borne
out by the fact we identified our
first confirmed case very shortly
after announcing initial border
measures,” one senior adviser said.
“ur whole approach has been
to act swiftly to buy time and then
make good use of that time to get a
better understanding of this variant
whilst building up our defences
against the potential threat. hat’s
why we are putting the booster
programme on steroids.”
Despite widespread support for
extra precautions at the border and
11
is facing serious criticism over accu-
sations that there was a leaving do
and a Christmas gathering with doz-
ens of people crammed into the office
for festivities during the lockdown
last year.
Boris Johnson is alleged to have
attended one of them, giving a leav-
ing speech for a departing staff
member. Downing treet has said
that “all Covid ruleswere followed”.
he etropolitan police said
yesterday it had not received any
complaints about the parties.
But the former regional chief pros-
ecutor, azir fzal, has called for the
forthcoming public inquiry into the
pandemic to examine alleged lock-
down breaches at the two Downing
treet parties last year as well as
Dominic Cummings’ journeys to the
north-east.
fzal wants the inquiry, which is
due to start in the new year, to exam-
ine how compliant officials were with
the government’sown rules and guid-
ance and the impact of the alleged
breaches on public compliance.
n a letter sent to the prime minister
yesterday, fzal’s lawyers said the
inquiry should have “full authority
to explore the role of individuals in
government, and those connected
to the government, in devising the
regulations, complying with them
themselves and, in turn, ensuringthe
with those regulations, as well as the
impact of non-compliance”.
additional mask-wearing, there is
no major push from the public for
Boris Johnson to go further.
ost nglish adults are
unwilling to return to full
lockdown rules, according to the
latest polling from ouov, which
found 68% against closing pubs
and 56% against the return of
limiting numbers on gatherings.
he polling has not moved
significantly since the end of the
roadmap in July, suggesting the
public are sanguine or jaded about
the new threat.
et emerging information from
outh frica could start to shift
public opinion. ne age adviser
called the latest findings from
outh frica “extraordinary”,
with new cases appearing to have
doubled within 24 hours, and the
variant reinfecting people at three
times the rate of previous strains.
“f you have a much more
transmissible strain then it’s highly
likely you will get a big wave of
infections and even if the fatality
rate is the same then you will see a
big increase in hospitalisations and
deaths,” one government scientific
adviser said.
“ven reductions of 10-20%
in vaccine effectiveness against
severe disease could lead to very
substantial problems.”
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
12 News
Coronavirus

Schools Rachel Hall

said it had been a difficult decision
exacerbated by governmentguidance
large school gatherings. In Wales,
the health minister, Eluned Mor-
head of Brampton Abbotts primary
school in Herefordshire, said her
Guidance on stating that schools and nurseries
“can continue to hold events where
gan, advised caution but fell short
of saying whether parties and larger
school had shifted the nativity play
online due to high community infec-
nativity plays Schools leaders are exasperated with
“unhelpful” recommendations from
visitors such as parents are on-site”
while acknowledging that the deci-
gatherings should take place.
In England, GeoffBarton, the gen-
tion rates.
She said she was angry due to a

‘unhelpful’
government that in-person nativity
plays and concerts goahead as more
are forced to cancel due to rising cor-
– headteachers onavirus cases.
Many schools have decided to
shift their festive concerts and nativ-
ity plays online to reduce the risk of
audiences spreading infection. Head
teachers who spoke to the Guardian
sion is a matter for individual schools
and local public health teams.
One head at a primary school in
Bury, Lancashire, said the local public
health team had advised her school
against inviting an audience due to
the school’s “significant amount”
of cases. In Scotland, nativity plays
are banned as part of restrictions on
eral secretary of the Association of
School and College Leaders, said gov-
ernment advice had handed school
leaders “a poisoned chalice”. “Many
will feel uncomfortable about going
ahead, potentially putting them at
loggerheads with parents as they try
to manage their expectations,” Bar-
ton said. Sara Herriott, the deputy
since-deleted tweet sent by the DfE
on 30 November, which suggested
heads could “decide if they want to
host” nativity plays. “It’s dangerous
but also disingenuous,” she said. “If
heads make that decision, it will be
based on risk assessment in their set-
ting as opposed to simply whether
they want to or not.”

Myth busting Will it keep getting more

transmissible?

Does a more
Yes, probably. “Strains that
transmit more easily and that
evade existing immunity will have
transmissible an advantage over those strains
which are less transmissible and
more susceptible to immunity,”
variant mean it said Dr Kit Yates, a senior lecturer
in mathematics at the University
of Bath. We have already seen
is less virulent? this occurring with the shift from
the original variant, which had
an R number of about 3, followed
by Alpha, estimated to have an
R number of 4-5 and Delta, with
Will Covid-9 become milder? an R number of 6-8.
A reoccurring suggestion is that “There’s no reason to believe
pathogens evolve to be more this won’t go any higher,” said
transmissible and less virulent, Yates. “Measles, which is one of the
bringing virus and host towards most infectious human-to-human
a state of benign coexistence. diseases has an R number which
“Put simply, this has been one of has been estimated to be as high as
the most baffling misinformation 18. There’s certainly still room for
myths peddled during the the R number of Covid to increase.”
pandemic,” said Prof Alan McNally, On the plus side, R number
director of the Institute of is a less pressing concern in a
Microbiology and Infection at the vaccinated population, where there
University of Birmingham. “There is protection from serious disease.
is almost no evidence of any human
pathogenic virus evolving towards Will it keep escaping our vaccines?
reduced virulence.” To some extent yes, although
The simplistic argument behind scientists are not expecting new
the idea is that if a pathogen kills variants to completely evade
its host, or makes them too sick to immunity and put us back to
leave the house, then it gives itself square one. “The broad scientific
a worse chance of propagating, so consensus is that this is not what
there would be a selective pressure will happen with Omicron,” said
for milder variants. Sadly, the real- Yates. “It is believed that existing
world dynamic is more complex. immunity will still provide some
“It’s really unpredictable what defence against the new variant,
will happen to the evolution of the especially against severe disease.”
host or the virus,” said Dr Brian There is also a limit to how
Ferguson, an immunologist at the much the virus’s spike protein can
University of Cambridge. “You can evolve, because the spike is the
pick out examples of things going key that allows it to infect our cells.
one way or the other depending on However, there is still a scenario
what point you want to make.” where protection is weakened
In the case of Covid, there enough to require an update to
is also a hole in the argument: existing vaccines and companies
transmission tends to occur before are already playing out whether
the start or during the earliest stage Omicron meets these criteria.
of symptoms, meaning severity of This poses vaccine-makers with
illness has little influence on the a dilemma. One option is to make a
spread of the virus. The impact of vaccine that is closely matched to
Covid may become less each year the new variant, Omicron, say. But
as immunity builds up through this creates a vulnerability because
infection, vaccination and, new variants could emerge from
possibly, annual boosters. Delta or earlier ones, for which
the updated vaccine would be an
even worse match. And if different
variants are dominant in different
regions, the question of which
vaccines to deploy where becomes
complicated.
“We’re questioning whether
chasing the globe to hunt down the
next variant to tweak the vaccine
again and again is necessarily the
best way of going,” said Prof Danny
▲ A computer generated image Altmann, an immunologist at
shows a model of a betacoronavirus, Imperial College London.
the type of virus linked to Covid-19 Hannah Devlin
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
‘If we close 13
to protect
the NHS
that’s fine.
But it feels
like they’re
saying we’re
not going to
support you’

▲ Ceri Steed, the UK Health Security Agency

the director and chief, Jenny Harries, is cautioning
‘chief juler’ at that people shouldn’t socialise
Exitus Escape “when they don’t particularly
Rooms in Cardiff need to” and the business minister
: George Freeman is saying that his
 /
  department would not be holding
a large event; while on the other,
Sajid Javid and Boris Johnson
are urging people to carry on as
normal.
Reports of parties in Downing
Street last December have done
 Christmas little to dampen a sense of
knees-ups are confusion. And then there was
under threat the work and pensions secretary,
from the Thérèse Coffey, who gave a highly
Omicron variant specific warning against snogging
: strangers, only for Downing Street
 
/X/ to reiterate that people could get off
with whoever they liked.

A tale of two Christmases? Some office


The official position is that the
return to compulsory masks in
shops and on public transport, as
well as enhanced measures for

parties cancelled, as others party on

international travellers, are all that
is necessary for now.
“The government doesn’t
seem to understand that any
representation of doubt just has
a market reaction,” Kill said.
“Nobody really knows what they’re

T
supposed to do.”
Al, a 32-year-old advertising In this, the season of pissed cocktail bar and restaurant group To many events businesses
Archie Bland account manager in London, also and mellow boozefulness, the with 18 sites across the country, that rely on a big December peak
had her work Christmas do called heart-sinking news of Omicron said that his clientele of 22- to to get them through January and
off – but she was not fussed. led many companies to conclude 34-year-olds had been committed February, the message appears
hree months into “I would say I actually like about they had no choice but to call to going out since July. to be one of caution without
her new job, Megan one in three of my colleagues. I’m things off. A survey by the Covid “We know people have been compensation.
McCracken has never not that up for watching them testing company Prenetics of sat on cash and there’s plenty of “It needs to be what it needs to
met most of the get off with each other and vomit 2,000 office workers concluded supporting data to suggest young be,” said Ceri Steed, the director
members of her team. on themselves,” she said, hastily about 52% of workplaces had people particularly are keen to live and “chief juggler” at Exitus Escape
So the office Christmas adding that she had probably better decided not to hold their annual in the moment,” he said. Rooms in Cardiff. “If we’re told
party was a big deal. not use her last name. knees-up, and the online bookings While there had been “a little that you have to close to protect the
“We’re spread out all over the “But seeing your mates is a platform Design My Night says that flurry of spooked corporate NHS, that’s fine. But at the moment
country,” said the 25-year-old, who different thing. Going out is the cancellations went up by 14% after bookings where a CEO somewhere it feels like they’re saying ‘don’t
lives in Sheffield. “It would have best bit of Christmas, isn’t it?” the government announced masks has pulled the plug”, he said that come, but also we’re not going to
been so good to have the chance A university reunion, a pub crawl would be compulsory in shops in for his company “I’m not sure support you’.”
to actually see them in person. and two karaoke evenings are the England last week. there’s a shortfall at all … office Steed is keen to make full use of
When the party was announced, it tentpole events of her schedule, At the same time, though, party- workers are still going out, just in her Christmas chaos room – “the
was put out there as this chance to and she reckoned she would be out starved veterans of last year’s grim different guises.” elves had a bit too much mulled
spend time together.” four nights a week until Christmas December appear determined For hospitality businesses with wine at the Christmas party”, the
The plan was for a training Eve. “I do feel a bit guilty about all to press on. It’s a tale of two more corporate bookings, though, Exitus website says, resulting in
awayday followed by dinner, a of it, but until Boris Johnson says Christmases, and nobody is quite the impact is making itself felt. the loss of various presents, and it
party and a night in a hotel. “It was ‘do not leave your house’ I’m not sure what the ending will be. Simon Wood, the 2015 MasterChef is the participants’ job to get them
a big deal because we’ve had such a going to cancel,” she said. “Sod Simon Potts, the managing winner who runs two restaurants – back under the tree – but has seen
terrible couple of years. It was light that.” director of The Alchemist – a Wood Manchester and WoodKraft some cancellations from out-of-
at the end of the tunnel.” Cheltenham, said he was now town visitors.
Then Omicron happened. ‘We lost a “militant” about deposits and at “But we’re holding up with
McCracken’s company, an 40-person Wood Manchester had imposed late companies. Our advantage is that
occupational health firm with cancellation penalties. the room isn’t shared with anyone
a keen sense of the importance booking in Even so, a corporate cancellation outside of their group, so it’s
of practising what it preaches, Cheltenham hurts. “I understand if a booking for different to a restaurant or a pub.”
cancelled. At the same time as because their six becomes a booking for four we In the face of so much
understanding the decision, office won’t just have to roll with that,”Wood uncertainty, even those who are
McCracken said her own friends let them said. “But we lost a 40-person determined to have a good time are
were still keen to see each other. socialise in a breakfast booking in Cheltenham also resigned to the prospect that
“I think a lot of people would big group’ because their office won’t let them they may soon not have a choice.
feel uncomfortable about a big socialise in a big group.” “You hear so many conflicting
thing now, but everyone is still very “The biggest issue is no-shows,” things about Omicron,” Al said.
much up for meeting up in smaller said Michael Kill, chief executive “We were talking about it in the pub
groups,” she said. “Otherwise it’s of the Night Time Industries last night. And then I wondered
like that light at the end of the Association. He blamed “confused” if I should be there at all.” Did she
tunnel has gone. And you have this ▲ Simon Wood requests deposits at his restaurant Wood government messaging, which is leave? “I did,” she said. “But only
feeling: are we in this for ever?” Manchester :  /  hard to argue with: on the one hand after another two pints.”
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
National 15

Baldwin: ‘I take the gun and I

start to cock the gun.
No 10 culture
wars making
‘My career I’mnot going to pull
the trigger. I let go me less safe,
could of the hammer and
the gun goes off ’ says gay MP
be over’ Peter Walker

after gun
Political correspondent
The Labour M Chris Bryant has

accident
said that Downing Street’s focus on
 Alec Baldwin culture wars has contributed to an
broke down ideological environment in which
in tears at one he feels “less physically safe as a gay

on set
point during man”than was the case 30 years ago.
his interview Bryant, the M for Rhondda since
with George 2001, who as chair of the Commons
Stephanopoulos standards committee has taken a
PP: leading role in recent discussions
/PXE about parliamentary sleaze, said
he had discussed his worries about
to contribute some comment to the who was also a producer on the film, I’ve ever worked with and one of the fomenting culture wars with “people
Dani Anguiano situation, which really didn’t help to confirm that the script didn’t call most professional in terms of her who work in Downing Street”.
Andrew Pulver the situation at all. If your protocol for the trigger to be pulled. “Well, the demeanour,” Baldwin said. Speaking to Nick Robinson’s olit-
is you checking the gun every time, trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the The Colt .45 revolver was supposed ical Thinking, produced by the BBC,
Alec Baldwin has said his 40-year well, good for you. Good for you.”He trigger,” Baldwin said. “I would never to be loaded with blanks or dummy Bryant said that while he did not
acting career could be over after the added: “My protocol was to trust the point a gun at anyone and pull a trig- rounds rather than liverounds, which believe Boris Johnson was person-
shooting incident that resulted in person that had the job.” ger at them. Never.” are banned on set. Baldwin said he ally homophobic, attempts to stir
the death of the cinematographer Baldwin, who was also credited He said: “I feel someone is respon- had “no idea” how live rounds came social divisions inevitably meant
Halyna Hutchins and wounded the as a producer on the film, has ques- sible for what happened, but I know to be in the gun. people from minority groups would
film director Joel Souza. tioned how a live bullet ended up in a it isn’t me. I mighthave killed myself According to court records, Dave be targeted.
In a lengthy and emotional inter- gun used as a prop.“There’s only one if I thought I was responsible, and I Halls, the film’s assistant director, “They’ve learned this trick in
view with ABC News’s George question to be resolved, and that’s don’t say that lightly.” allegedly called “cold gun” as he America from Trump and, in the
Stephanopoulos, Baldwin added where did the live round come from?” Baldwin also described meet- passed it over to Baldwin. end, culture wars will always pick
that he “couldn’t give a shit” about The 80-minute interview, which ing Hutchins’ husband after the Halls’ attorney, Lisa Torraco, told on those who are slightly different
his career. aired in the US on Thursday night, shooting, and said he told him he ABC News that her client had always and that means the gays, the Jews and
The actor said he did not pull the was the first time the actor had spo- was “willing to do anything I can to said Baldwin never pulled the trigger. the blacks,” Bryant argued.
trigger on the gun that killed Hutch- ken in-depth on camera about the cooperate”. “He told me since day one he thought “There’s a world where people
ins, 42, and injured Souza, 48 on 21 October shooting. “I didn’t know what to say,” Bald- it was a misfire,” Torraco said. think it’s politically advantageous to
the set of the western Rust. He did, Baldwin said Hutchins was talking win said of his meeting with Matthew Baldwin and other producers are stir that pot and that makes me gen-
though, “let go of the hammer” while him through a rehearsal. “She’s guid- Hutchins. “He hugged me and he facing lawsuits over the shooting, uinely fearful,” he said.
rehearsing with Hutchins for a scene. ing me through how she wants me to goes, ‘I suppose we’re going to go including one from the film’s script
The gun, which Baldwin believed hold the gun for this angle,” he said. through this together.’ Well, [I said] supervisor that alleges he “intention-
to be safe, went offduring rehearsals “I’m holding the gun where she told not as much as you are.” ally, without just cause or excuse,
for the western, in an incident that me to hold it, which ended up being Baldwin added: “I think to myself, cocked and fired the loaded gun
shocked Hollywood and prompted aimed right below her armpit. this little boy[Hutchins’ son, Andros] even though the upcoming scene to
a reckoning over production safety “So, I take the gun and I start to doesn’t have a mother any more … be filmed did not call for the cocking
and the use of weapons on set. cock the gun. I’m not going to pull and there’s nothing we can do to bring and firing of the firearm”. This alle-
Baldwin responded to comments the trigger … I go, ‘Can you see that? her back. I told him, ‘I don’t know gation is denied.
by fellow actors, such as George Can you see that? Can you see that?’ what to say, I don’t know how to con-
Clooney, who said they checked guns And then I let go of the hammer of the vey to you how sorry I am’.” Samaritans can be contacted on
themselves, saying: “There were a gun, and the gun goes off.” Halyna Hutchins was “the loveliest 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
lot of people who felt it necessary Stephanopoulos asked Baldwin, woman, one of the loveliest women or jo@samaritans.ie ▲ Chris Bryant said he felt less safe
R U O Y E T A R B E L E C “ , ” s e n o J t s e n r E “ . 1 2 0 2 d e t i m i L g n i d a rT t e n g i S ©
. s r o s n e c i l s t i r o t e n g i S f o s k r a m e d a r t e r a M T r e h t o d n a ” YROTS

WE’VE GOT GIFTING

WRAPPED UP
IN STORE. ONLINE. BOOK AN APPOINTMENT.
ERNESTJONES.CO.UK
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
16 National
Inside Money
Fantasy house
Yvette Cooper
hunt Labour now
Cosy cottages
for Christmas has a top team
Page 55  ‘ready for
government’
I
Heather Stewart
t was one of the most
eye-catching moves in
Keir Starmer’s shadow
cabinet reshuffle – marking
a comeback for a former
cabinet minister who cut her
teeth in Tony Blair’s government.
And Yvette Cooper has wasted
little time putting herself at the
forefront of her party’s pitch to win
the next general election.
In an interview with the
Guardian, the shadow home
secretary said Labour now had
a top team that “could be in
government tomorrow”, and could
credibly challenge the Tories on law
and order.
Asked about her new role,
Cooper said: “The thing that feels
important about it is, I’ve had
now 11 years of working in detail
on Home Office issues, as well
as, obviously, past experience in
government as the courts minister,
and cabinet experience as well. And
Keir was obviously five years as the
director of public prosecutions.
So I think together, we bring very
strong experience and a Labour
alternative.”
Asked whether the reshuffle
marked a shift to the political
right, she insisted: “It’s a focus
on a shadow cabinet that could
be in government tomorrow,”
contrasting that with a government
she called “shambolic, and not
really capable of doing the job”.
Cooper was shadow home
secretary during Ed Miliband’s
leadership, before returning to
the backbenches as chair of the
powerful home affairs select
committee for the past five years.
Speaking for the first time since
her appointment, Cooper attacked
Boris Johnson for undermining the
rule of law; demanded more action
on “spiking”; and underscored
Labour’s calls for pre-departure
testing to slow the spread of the
Omicrom coronavirus variant.
With Johnson under pressure
over a Downing Street Christmas
party apparently held last year
while strict limits on socialising
were in place, Cooper said
Johnson’s scant regard for rules
meant the Tories’ claim to be the
party of law and order was a “joke”.
“He still really thinks it’s one rule
for him and another for everyone
else,” she said. “They have
 The shadow
home secretary,
Yvette Cooper,
said Starmer’s
team ‘could be
in government
tomorrow’
PRP:
N NN/
 URN
‘They undermined all
the institutions that
hold up the criminal
justice system, from
policing toprevention
to the courts’
undermined all of the institutions
that hold up the criminal
justice system, from policing to
prevention to the courts, and
they have stepped back and done
nothing while it’s frankly become
much easier to be a criminal. But
also, they actually just show no
respect for following the rules.” She
contrasted that with what she called
Starmer’s “serious steadiness”.
Cooper said Labour was the
party of “safer communities”, and
would take a more active approach
than the Tories in tackling crime at
its roots, citing as an example the
“spiking” of drinks.
“I just think it should be treated
as a serious crime; it’s not being,
and actually, it’s poisoning people,”
she said. “How have we allowed
a situation to arise, where young
people go to clubs or to pubs and
have to protect their drinks?
“An active Home Office would
say, OK we’ve got evidence that
there’s a problem that seems
to be getting worse. Is it linked
to something that’s happening
online? Is it linked to changing
crime patterns? Is there work that
local authorities can do working
with police forces?
“The Tories don’t do any of that,
because they don’t think it’s their
responsibility,” she added. “We
believe in active government, to do
something about it.”
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
17

Praise for UK from a medic who was evacuatingher

from the scene by air, reading: “You
teenager after have one hell of a brave girl there, sir.”
Amelie Osborn-Smith, 18, was left
crocodile attack with her right foot “hanging loose”
and her hip dislocated after a large
crocodile bit herwhile she was swim-
ming in the Zambezi River in Zambia
during a break from a white water
Jamie Grierson rafting expedition.
Her father, Brent Osborn-Smith, a
London osteopath,said his daughter
The father of a British teenager was grateful to be aliveand hoped to
mauled by a crocodile in southern return to the UK this weekend.
Africa said he received a text message “Amelie is a fit, intelligent, brave
and conscientious individual who is
extremely grateful to be alive and to
have been looked after so well by all
those involved in her rescue,” he said.
The teenager was on a gap-year
trip after passing her A-levels at
school in Hampshire, and was part
of a professionally organised rafting
expedition when the attack hap-
pened on Tuesday.
She will be transferred to a teach-
ing hospital in London. Her father
said: “She remains heavily sedated
but we will know more about her ulti-
mate progress in the coming days.”

Cooper said she would back the
government on some issues, such
as countering terrorist threats; but
in other areas, Labour would be
“calling on them to get a grip, but
also setting out, ‘actually here’s
what grip would look like’”.
On the fraught issue of
migration, where the Tories have
consistently sought to portray
Labour as soft, Cooper said she
believed the public were ready for a
“calm, sensible conversation”.
“What does a fair immigration
system look like, that supports the
economy, that allows people to
fall in love across borders, to get
married?” she asked.
Labour is not backing the
government’s nationality and
borders bill, which returns to
parliament next week, and includes
measures Johnson has claimed will
allow Border Force to turn back
people trying to reach the English
coast in small boats. Rather than
criticise the bill as illiberal, Cooper
said: “This legislation is just a
sham, and they’re making a lot of
promises, but actually all they’ve
got is unworkable measures.”
The home secretary, Priti Patel,
has been touring Europe this week
to try to agree a response to tackle
the growing number of people
risking their lives in small boats.
Cooper urged the government to
negotiate a post-Brexit successor
to the Dublin agreement, which
allows some asylum-seekers to be
returned to the first EU country in
which they arrived. “That included
family reunion, that included safe
legal routes, and it included safe
returns as well,” she said.
She pointed out the government
had returned five asylum-seekers
in the past nine months, despite
its tough rhetoric – compared with
289 last year when the UK was still
bound by the Dublin agreement.
One of Cooper’s first
interventions in her new role was
to join the new shadow health
secretary,Wes Streeting, in calling
on the government to reintroduce
pre-departure testing for all
passengers arriving in the UK, to
slow the spread of the Omicron
variant. “Why on earth not do just
something as basic as requiring
people to get a test before they get
on a plane?” she said.
Cooper has frequently been
linked with a potential leadership
challenge. Asked if she saw herself
as a potential future Labour leader,
Cooper said: “I want to be home
secretary.”
And on whether Starmer had
what it took to be prime minister,
she said, “Look, he’s prosecuted
terrorists. He would be absolutely
capable of taking the difficult
decisions that a prime minister
needs to take.”
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
National 19

Nightmare started Raworth to move into Marr’s

seat on BBC’s Sunday show
would present the show, to be tem-
porarily called SundayMorning, from

after woman woke

9 January.Marr is leavingthe BBC this
month after 21 years.
The BBC said Raworth would front
the programme for a “short period”

up to £800,000 in
while a permanent presenter was
Kevin Rawlinson recruited. Once an appointment had
been made, the show would relaunch

her bank account

Sophie Raworth will be the interim
presenter of BBC One’s flagship Sun-
day morning programme, currently
known as The Andrew Marr Show.
The BBC said Raworth, pictured,
with a new presenter, title and look.
Raworth is one of the main pre-
senters of BBC News at Six and Ten
and has covered forMarr before. She
has also presented election coverage,
Watchdog and Crimewatch.

all the time I was very gently eating

Miles Brignall
Patrick Collinson
A woman who woke up to find almost
£800,000 had been deposited in her
bank account by HMRC has described
how she spent a year waiting for it
to realise its mistake and reclaim the
money, and worrying about what
would happen when it did.
In August 2020 Helen Peters*, a
self-employed mother of a five-year-
old, looked ather bank statement and
found that instead of being mildly
overdrawn,a £774,839 Bacspayment
from the Inland Revenue had sent
her account verymuch into the black.
Peters said the experience was
“amazing, incredible, bizarre” but
that it quickly became “anightmare”.
“It was like something out of a
Hollywood film, and after I had got
over the shock I just assumed some-
one would realise they had made a
huge mistake and they would swiftly
take the money back. But no one
did, and the money just sat in my
account,” she said.
Fast-forward 15 months and Peters
contacted the Guardian to ask what
she should do, as she wanted to
return the money.
There was one problem. She had
spent close to £20,000 of it, and could
not afford to pay it back immediately.
The money had arrived in the middle
of the pandemic, just as her training
work had all but dried up, forcing her,
she said, to dip into her newly inflated
bank balance.
“I assumed that HMRC staffwould
notice their mistake when I paid my
tax in November 2020, but nothing
happened,” said Peters from her mod-
est south coast home. “I even tried to
ring HMRC but getting hold of anyone
at the time was impossible. I’d wait
30 minutes on the phone and then
would have to give up as my child
would need to be fed or something.
“On other calls I would be cut
off before I could talk to someone.
I moved £100,000 into my savings
account, but it has earned virtually
no interest. Ihave never been wealthy
and don’t have a car or even a dog.
My income had been decimated and
‘I assumed someone
would realise they
had made a huge
mistakeand they
would swiftly take
the money back’
Helen Peters*
on her HMRC windfall
into the money. But because I could
no longer pay the whole sum back
I was stuck in a Catch-22 position. I
had a whole load of money I knew I
couldn’t spend, but I was unable to
do anything about it in case HMRC
wanted it all back at once.”
She said the few people she told
about her situation had mixed reac-
tions. Some told her to do nothing
and to wait and see what happened.
Others advised her to invest the
money in shares or even property in
the hope that a request to return it
would never arrive.
After the Guardian contacted
HMRC it investigated and discovered
that a member of its staff had made
the mistake while trying to payPeters
a £23.39 parcel customs duty rebate.
The money had not been destined
for another person or company, and
may well have never been detected
had she not come forward. A personal
tax expert told the Guardian that they
had never come across such a case in
30 years of dealing with HMRC.
Peters’ biggest fear was being
aggressively pursued by HMRC.
Section 24A of the Theft Act 1968
makes it an offence to knowingly
keep a wrongful credit – where the
recipient dishonestly failed to “take
such steps as are reasonable in the
circumstances to secure that the
credit is cancelled”.
An HMRC spokesperson has told
Peters that the organisation “genu-
inely wants to be supportive” in her
case. “Weare sorry for the inconven-
ience caused to the individual. We are
working to recover the payment that
was made. For the amount that the
individual spent, we will work with
them to come to a payment arrange-
ment that takes into account their
financial circumstances,” he said.
HMRC has said a debt management
adviser will now contact her, estab-
lish exactly how much she can afford
to repay each month and agree the
terms. She has offered to pay back
the balance over five years.
Peters is not the first person to find
themselves on the receiving end of
an unexpected transfer. In 2019 the
Guardian featured the case of the
Cambridge reader Peter Teich, who
lost his £193,000 inheritance after he
gave his solicitor the correct account
number but the wrong sort code.
The bank, Barclays, told him the
recipient had refused to give permis-
sion for the money to be returned,
forcing Teich to mount an expen-
sive legal battle to recover the money.
After the story appeared the man who
had received it, Tim Gray, handed the
money back, saying he had tried to
return it at the time.
* Not her real name

20
PM in surprise visit to North
Shropshire before byelection
Peter Walker
Aubrey Allegretti
Boris Johnson made a surprise visit
to North Shropshire yesterday in an
apparent sign of Tory jitters about a
Lib Dem challenge in what is usually
a staunchly Conservative seat ahead
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
National
of a byelection on 16 December. The
prime minister’svisit, which saw him
meet people having booster vaccina-
tions at a chemist in Oswestry, the
biggest town in the constituency,
came the dayafter the Conservatives
held another safe seat, OldBexley and
Sidcup, but with a much-reduced
majority.
The Tories’ 2019 election majority
of 19,000 was cut to 4,478 in a vote
sparked by the death of MP James
Brokenshire, with a 10.3% swing to
Labour and signs that a number of
usual Conservative voters might have
decided to stay at home.
Johnson, who was wearing a mask,
chatted to customers and watched
as the Tory candidate in North
Shropshire, Neil Shastri-Hurst, a
doctor-turned barrister,gave people
booster jabs. Tory strategists are
believed to be worried about a pos-
sible shock in North Shropshire,
where the byelection was called after
the resignation of Owen Paterson,
who was found to have repeatedly
breached rules about lobbying.
A Conservative email sent to sup-
porters following the Old Bexley and
Sidcup result urged donations to be
ploughed into North Shropshire,
warning that the Lib Dems had a real
chance of victory.
“The Lib Dems are pouring more
and more resources into their cam-
paign,” read the email. “And the only
way we can win is to match their
spending pound for pound.”
Harry will
use courts
to pursue
claims his
phone was
hacked
Haroon Siddique
Jim Waterson
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s
legal battle against the Mail on
Sunday may be over, but another
media clash is looming.
Phone-hacking is at the heart of a
case that Prince Harry has brought
against the Sun and the Daily Mirror
– newspapers, he claims, that illegally
intercepted his voice messages. It is
expected to come to court next year,
the Guardian understands.
The prince is claiming dam-
ages of more than £200,000 in the
legal action, first lodged in 2019. In
court papers he has said it affected
his relationships with friends and
family. Articles highlighted include
ones relating to his relationship with
Chelsy Davy, which ended in 2010.
For more than a decade, phone-
hacking victims have invariably
been accepting generous settlements
before the cases reach court, but it is
possible that Harry could be the one
to break the mould.
The Guardian understands that
there is no sign of a settlementat pre-
sent. There is no love lost between the
parties, and one, News Group News-
papers, has alleged it is too late to
bring the claim.
In a court filing, the Rupert Mur-
doch-owned company said Harry’s
phone was hacked by the News of the
World’sClive Goodman and a private
investigator,Glenn Mulcaire.Among
▲ Prince Harry is claiming damages
from the Sun and the Daily Mirror
While the Tories are favour-
ites to win again in the often rural,
largely Brexit-supportingseat, which
returned Paterson in 2019 with a
majority of nearly 23,000, the Lib
Dems are strong second favourites,
despite being beaten by Labour there
in the last general election.
The Lib Dems are devotingconsid-
erable resources to the battle, having
largely stood back in Bexley. While
there is no pact, Labour has taken a
similarly low key approach in North
Shropshire, with few campaigning
visits by Labour MPs or ministers.
the articles it has conceded were
based on hacking are an April 2006
report that “Prince Harry has been
given a furious Chelsy Davy dress-
ing down over his late-night antics
in a lapdancing bar” and an August
2005 article about a disagreement
between Harry and Prince Andrew
over a shooting weekend.
But, the filing said: “These were
first published over six years prior to
the issue of these proceedings and
this claim is therefore statute-barred
and it is denied that [Prince Harry] is
entitled to any relief in relation to it.”
The other obstacle to a settlement
could be Harry digging his heels in
with a determination to obtain judg-
ments against the two newspaper
groups in court.
With other victims of phone hack-
ing – Harry is believed to be the last
big name with an outstandingclaim –
the pattern has been consistent, with
a settlement eventually being made
and accepted.
However, given Meghan’s desire
to change a model that she said
“rewards chaos above truth”, there
remains the possibility that even
if News Group and the Daily Mir-
ror owner, Reach, admit his claim is
merited – and there is no sign of that
– Harry will be determined to have
his day in court.
That would amount to a power-
ful statement of intent, given that it
would risk leaving him heavily out
of pocket, as the cost of a symbolic
victory.
In civil claims, when a settlement
offer is refused and the case goes to
court, if the judge awards an amount
less than or equal to the offered
amount they will generally force the
claimant to pay the legal costs of the
other side since the settlement figure
was lodged with the court.
In other words, by refusing a set-
tlement, Harry would risk having to
pay out legal fees for the sake of hav-
ing a judge rule in his favour against
his adversaries.
For most people that would be
unthinkable, but the couple’s wealth
and the unprecedented – for royals
manner in which they have taken on
the tabloid press head-on, means it
is a possibility.
Speaking after Thursday’s court
victory against the Mail on Sunday
for publishing a private letter she sent
to her father, Meghan made clear the
Sussexes weren’t done yet.
“What matters most is that we are
now collectively brave enough to
reshape a tabloid industry that con-
ditions people to be cruel, and profits
from the lies and pain that they cre-
ate,” she said.
Reach plc declined to comment.
News Group and the Sussexes were
also approached for comment.
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Full house
Las Vegas
residencies
become a
rite of pop
passage
G
Ben Beaumont-Thomas
o back a few years and
if a big music star said
they were taking up a
Las Vegas residency,
it would conjure up
images of early-bird
dinner specials, corny magicians
and tunes sung to happily
clapping coach parties by an artist
contemplating their twilight years.
But with another of the world’s
biggest pop stars signing on to
perform in the city – Adele – the
Vegas concert residency is further
cemented as a glamorous and
lucrative rite of pop passage.
Adele’s fourth album, 30,
released last month, became the
biggest selling album of the year in
the US after just three days. That is ▲ Celine Dion changed the Vegas
the kind of popularity that warrants residency reputation in 2003
a stadium tour – indeed, she played
to nearly three million punters
across the 120-show stretch of her – Ticketmaster has advised there
2017-2018 world tour.
For her Vegas residency, every
Friday and Saturday – “Weekends
with Adele” – between 21 January
and 16 April at the Colosseum in
the Caesar’s Palace casino, she
will play to a mere 4,000 people
a night. Tickets are likely to be
•
National
entirely bought by registered fans
may be none on general sale.
It used to be that these shows
were a sign of a certain type of artist said Greg Parmley, chief executive music is the sort of environment
at a declining point in their career: of music trade body Live. “There’s you have in Vegas.”
Elvis Presley’s early 1970s Vegas
performances were legendary, but to the days of the Rat Pack,” Hanley money. The sums can be enormous: remuneration and intimacy means
by the middle of the decade he was added, making a residency “a
overweight and drug-addicted.
▼ Adele begins her residency on the
21
strip in January. Elvis Presley sold
out more than 600 shows in a seven-
year-long residency at the Hilton
generated $681m (£512m) in ticket
sales, and under the terms of her
current deal which began in 2017,
she will earn $272m from concerts
in Vegas until 2026.
But greater revenues can still
be generated through touring
venues with larger capacities, and
Parmley says the attraction of Vegas
ultimately comes down to the
lifestyle of the artist. “If they are
“It was where careers go to It adds up to an obvious choice at a point in their life, be it due to
die – you’re near the end when for Adele. Las Vegas is fairly close family or career, where they don’t
you go to Vegas,” said James to her home base of Los Angeles want to be on the road, Vegas offers
Hanley, news editor at live music where she co-parents her son an opportunity to have a stable base
industry publication IQ. “But Angelo with her ex-husband Simon and still be performing every few
that has definitely shifted in the Konecki, and she has said, even on nights. It’s not for everybody, but it
21st century. Celine Dion was a stage, that she is not well suited to will certainly suit some artists.”
gamechanging moment when touring vast venues. Particularly He adds: “It’s much easier to
she came in 2003. Then there was on 30, her music is intimate and maintain the quality of the show,
the rise of the superstar DJ – the conversational, and her famed as opposed to when you’re touring
likes of Calvin Harris and the repartee on stage evokes the and you’re loading the production
Chainsmokers had very lucrative stand-up comedians who are also into a new building every night.
residencies. And then in 2013 big draws in Las Vegas: this material [A Vegas residency] allows the
Britney Spears kicked off a wave of works best when you can see the production to be as good as it
younger pop artists like Bruno Mars whites of your audience’s eyes. possibly can be.”
and Lady Gaga.” “Adele admits she doesn’t Other big stars are currently
The city has retained a cachet, like touring – instead she can be preparing Vegas jaunts. Katy
successfully curating its image as situated in one place for weeks Perry’s residency Play begins on
a debauched yet classy pleasure on end, so that solves that issue,” 29 December, and Jennifer Lopez
spot. “It’s the entertainment capital Hanley said. “It wasn’t like she felt is expected to return following her
of the United States, super easy to out of place in Wembley Stadium, All I Have residency in 2016, saying
fly into, so it’s a great destination,” but the more natural home of the this year: “I’ve been offered that
option … I just can’t wait to get back
to doing that.”
a great heritage there, going back The other draw, of course, is the The combination of security,
Celine Dion’s pair of residencies that artists – to borrow the city’s
bucket list thing for a lot of artists.” between 2003-2007 and 2011-2019 fabled motto – tend to stay in Vegas.
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
22 National

The heights  Jon Bennett,

one of three
Lake District fell
Zac Poulton, is one of the three
along with Jon Bennett and Wes
Hunter. “It is a ridiculous job really,
of fashion top assessors,
gauges the
weather for
isn’t it?” Poulton admitted. “But in
a very good way. It’s my escape.
“You never get bored. Every day

Social media the daily report

describing
conditions
is different. We’ve got an absolutely
stunning day today, a real good
hard freeze, a little bit of snow on

brings new
on Helvellyn, the tops, not a cloud in the sky …
England’s third what’s not to enjoy?” Other days,
highest peak when it’s lashing down with rain,

faces to fells
G: are what they call “type-two fun” –

/ better in the pub afterwards.
 G Poulton said the Lakes in the
winter could be as perilous as
anywhere in the world. Most

T
Mark Brown
North of England correspondent
here are still plenty of
lean, grizzled oldies
in well-worn gear
zipping effortlessly up
Lakeland hills like it’s
a walk to the corner
shop. But there are also younger
and more diverse groups exploring
the area as hiking, climbing
and enjoying nature become
“fashionable and trendy” again.
“It is absolutely fantastic,”
said Richard Leafe, the chief
executive of the Lake District
National Park Authority. “This is
what it is all about.”
Before the pandemic, the
average age of visitors to the
Lakes was over 60 but that has
been changing, Leafe said. “To
see a real swing in that, a lot more
young people talking about nature,
grabbing their selfie moment at the
top of the Old Man of Coniston , or
England’s highest peak, Scafell Pike
… it’s fantastic.”
Leafe said the health benefits
of being outside were becoming
more widely known: “I think that
hiking, walking and being outside
… for younger people it has become
quite fashionable and trendy again.
We’ve seen a lot of that led by
influencers on social media.
“I think the very future of
our national parks is in young
people’s hands so to see them back
energetically and enthusiastically
enjoying these spaces is a joy.”
Leafe was speaking on a walk up
Helvellyn, England’s third highest
peak, to launch the annual fell top
assessor scheme. Now in its 34th
year, every day between December
and April one of three assessors
climbs and surveys the mountain.
They record the weather and
wind speed and post an account
of conditions on the national
park’s website giving, it is hoped, a
complete picture of what walkers
will find if they go up the high fells.
people are prepared for the
conditions, he said, but every
assessor has a story of a walker in
trainers and jeans or shorts.
“Usually it is just that lack of
awareness of what the risks are …
most of us who have been out in the
hills in winter have suffered from
minor hypothermia. It is about
being able to recognise it and do
something about it.” One of the best
pieces of advice, he said, is always
be prepared to turn back.
The scheme is part of a wider
winter safety campaign. Leafe
said: “We encourage people to be
adventure-wise and to be equipped
for their day out in the mountains.
To know what the weather is going
to be, to have the right gear, and the
skills to know how to use that gear.”
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Widow, 86, reunited with
wedding ring she lost 50
years ago in potato patch
Libby Brooks
Scotland correspondent
“It was a wee bit emotional,” said
Donald MacPhee, reflecting on
the day he reunited a woman with
the wedding ring she had lost in a
potato patch in the Western Isles
50 years ago.
Peggy MacSween, 86, believed
that the ring had gone for ever after
it slipped offher finger while she was
gathering potatoes at her home on
Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides.
But after learning of her lost
ring during a conversation, her fel-
low islander and metal detectorist
MacPhee made it his mission to
unearth the treasure.
He spent three days searching
Liniclate machair, the sandy coastal
meadow where the potato patch had
been situated, with a metal detector.
The area had become a popular
drinking spot over the years, result-
ing in a significant number of buried
ring pulls that confused the search.
•
National
MacPhee, who runs Benbecula’s
Nunton House hostel, said: “For three
days I searched, and dug 90 holes.
The trouble is, gold rings make the
same sound [on the detector]as ring
pulls and I got a lot of those – as well
as many other things such as horse-
shoes and cans.
“But on the third day I found the
ring. I was absolutely flabbergasted.
I had searched an area of 5,000 sq
metres. It was a one in a 100,000
chance and certainly my best find.
It was a fluke. There was technique ▲ Pey MacSween and Donald
involved, but I just got lucky.”
After dislodging it from the turf found after a three-day search
MacPhee brought the ring to its :  ÀE
owner. “It was in immaculate con-
dition. She put it on her finger and it
still fitted perfectly.”
MacSween added:“He just came to
the door and said: ‘I have something
to show you.’ It was the ring.
“I couldn’t believe it, but there it
was. I thought I would never see it
again.”
She said of losing the ring in the
first place: “I was shaking the sand
MacPhee with the ring, which he
out of my gloves and the ring dis-
appeared. I didn’t know until I got
home. I went out once or twice to
look for it, but there was no way of
finding it.”
Her husband, John, whom she
married in July 1958 and who died
several years ago, had bought her a
replacement ringwhile they were on
holiday.
MacPhee said he had started
metal detecting seven years ago after
watching YouTube videos. “That got
me interested and this is for many
reasons my best find,” he said.
23
Is Superman
Circumcised? A
cut above other
odd book titles
Alison Flood
Is Superman Circumcised?, a study
of the superhero’s Jewish influences,
has resoundingly won the competi-
tion for oddest book title of the year”.
The Diagram prize, run by the
Bookseller magazine, shortlisted six
titles this year, from Curves for the
Mathematically Curious to Hats: A
Very Unnatural History. Despite com-
petition from second-placed The Life
Cycle of Russian Things: From Fish
Guts to Fabergé, Is Superman Circum-
cised? took 51% of the 11,000 votes.
The title follows in the footsteps
of former winners including How to
Avoid Huge Ships and The Big Book
of Lesbian Horse Stories. It explores
the creation of the “Mensch of Steel”
by the Jewish immigrants Jerry Siegel
and Joe Shuster. The author, Roy
Schwartz, argues Superman’s origin
story is based “on Moses, his strength
on Samson … and his nebbish [timid]
secret identity on themselves”.
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Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Rise in
inflation
‘The fruit
bowl is
emptier;
petrol is
shocking’
J
Hilary Osborne
on Daly has noticed it in
the family’s fruit bowl,
which isn’t as well stocked
as it used to be. His wife,
Jess, has noticed it at the
weekends, when the cost
of filling the family’s car means
thinking twice about long trips.
Inflation has hit the UK, and for
households up and down the
country rising living costs mean
tough choices about spending.
The most recent figures from
the Office for National Statistics
show that in October the cost of
living was 4.2% higher than in
the same month of 2020. As some
countries emerge from lockdown,
consumption has increased across
the globe, driving up demand for
goods – and their prices.
Beneath the headline rate
of inflation – the highest in
almost a decade – are some even
steeper price rises for many daily
essentials, such as energy. This
week, Citizens Advice warned that
one in 10 families were facing a
financial crisis this winter, and for
all but the wealthiest households
there are shocks at the checkout or
when bills arrive.
Jon and Jess, both 35, live in
Almost all areas of UK life
have seen price rises in the
past year
Transport
Restaurants & hotels
Furniture, household items & upkeep
Education
Housing, water, electricity, gas & fuels
Recreation & culture
Alcoholic beverages & tobacco
Communication
Miscellaneous goods & services
Food & non-alcoholic drinks
Health
Clothes & footwear
Source: ONS. Inflation for the 12 months to October 2021. Weekly spend is for financial year ending 2020. Note: Selected shopping list items are own-brand unless stated otherwise. Some descriptions have been shortened
•
National 25
‘We won’t go for a trip
out to north Norfolk
 Jon and
Jess Daly with
baby Robin at
their home in
and use a quarter of Norwich. The
a tank of petrol,we’ll couple use a
spreadsheet to
stay local instead’
track spending
G:
Jess Daly  /
 G
Norwich resident
The other big cost increase the
family has noted is petrol. Recently,
prices in Britain hit a record high,
and the average cost of a litre of
unleaded has continued to climb,
reaching 146.89p this week. This is
more than 34p a litre more than a
year ago.
Neither Jon nor Jess use the car
for work, but they have started to
think twice before using it in their
spare time. “Last week I filled up
the car and it cost more than £50,
which was a bit of a shock,” said
Jess. “We won’t go for a trip out to
north Norfolk and use a quarter of
a tank of petrol, we’ll do something
Norwich, where Jon works for the have not been able to go out for cauliflower and potatoes all cost local instead.”
insurance company Aviva and restaurant meals this year, so their more. These are all things that vary The energy crisis has put
Jess works for the University of grocery budget accounts for pretty in price throughout the year, but pressure on many families’
East Anglia. The couple have an much all of their food spending. the ONS figures show an upwards finances. So far the Dalys have not
eight-month-old daughter, Robin, “We don’t eat out any more, so trend in the cost of fresh fruit and seen their unit costs rise as they
and a cat called Polly. The family I do like to cook nice things,” Jess vegetables since October 2020, with are on a fixed-price tariff, but the
is well positioned to spot rising said. “I allocate a certain amount to inflation in both categories running amount they use has gone up, as
prices: they keep a spreadsheet of food and we go over it every month at 1.9%. having a young child and working
their expenditure and can track at the moment. I look at the budget Dairy products have also gone from home has meant using the
household finances back to 2018. and where I can cut down costs so up. The cheese the Dalys had on heating more.
The Daly household’s finances we don’t need to scrimp on food.” their shopping list costs much Come April a new price cap will
illustrate how the cost-of-living The couple don’t eat red meat, more today than in December last come into force. Analysts suggest
crisis is hitting families across the but they have noticed rising costs year. It has gone up by more than the cap could be 30% higher than it
country. “The main price rises we in the things that they do buy. “Fish the headline rate of 3% recorded is today, pushing average bills from
have seen are food and petrol,” is expensive,” said Jess. “We really for “milk, cheese and eggs”. £1,277 to £1,660 a year.
Jess says. “The cost of petrol is just can’t afford to eat fish more than Lower shop prices for eggs may be Recently the Dalys cut their
shocking at the moment.” once a month. You buy a couple of disguising growth elsewhere. cable TV and broadband bill, after
The Dalys say they are lucky pieces of salmon and it’s £7 or £8.” Although the Dalys’ daughter it “crept up” to almost £70, by
enough to have choices about what Fruit too seems pricey, and has started weaning, she still only cancelling lots of channels. They
they do with their money. They Jon said they didn’t buy as much eats a tiny amount so has not added now pay £38 for a basic package.
know they are more fortunate than these days. A comparison with to the food bills. There is the cost of Pre-parenthood they used to go
people forced to rely on food banks prices they pay now with late nappies to contend with now, but to the cinema a couple of times a
and unable to afford heating. December last year shows peppers, the couple say they have not been month. When they do return they
The squeeze on finances has buying them for long enough to could get a shock: cinema, theatre
led them to cut back on how much have noticed a rise in price. and concert tickets have risen 9.5%
they put into savings, and to review The fourth member of the in a year according to the ONS.
subscriptions. But their income still family’s meals have been hit. “The While Christmas may be
covers their costs, and they do not food that our cat eats is never on weighing on some people’s minds,
have any outstanding debts. offer any more,” said Jess. “I just the Dalys are planning a small
Like many households, they tend paid £4 for a box of 12 pouches. celebration, and have a strategy
to do a main food shop – currently I feel since having Robin I’ve to cover the costs: starting each
every couple of weeks, either in neglected the cat, so the least I can January they both make a monthly
Morrisons or Asda – then top up do is get the food she likes.” The contribution of £20 into a savings
with items from a local corner shop ONS says keeping a pet has become account. When the festive season
and small Tesco supermarket. ▲ The Daly family’s freezer. They more costly: products for pets cost arrives they have £480 to spend.
With a young child and tend to do a main food shop every 2.9% more than in October last year, “It really takes the sting out of it,”
lockdowns to contend with, they few weeks at Morrisons or Asda while vets’ bills have risen by 4%. said Jon.
The increases in cost Average weekly spend Gas and electricity price How the Daly family's food shop has changed
compared with of the poorest 10th inflation soared in October 29 Dec 23 Nov % 29 Dec 23 Nov %
last October of households 12-month change in price, % 2020 2021 change 2020 2021 change
• Gas • Electricity Chickpeas In water, 400g Fairy non bio washing liquid
10% £.80
6.3 £16 33p 55p 67% £6 £7 17%
20 Italian ricotta Medium tie handle food & freezer bags
.7 £13.30 84p £1.20 43% £1.70 £1.90 12%
4. No data available Yellow peppers Greek style yogurt
10
3.8 £8.60 45p 59p 31% 80p 85p 6%
.4 £31 KTC chilli beans, 400g Dijon mustard
1.9 £8.80 0 35p 45p 29% 65p 65p 0%
1. £10.40 Alpro oat unsweetened, chilled Mixed leaf salad
£1 £1.25 25% £1 99p -1%
1.4 £19.90 -10 Cauliflower Ready to eat avocados
1.3 £3 82p 99p 21% £1.75 £1.49 -15%
1.3 £4.30 -20 White potatoes Free range eggs, six large
-0.3 £8.70 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct 99p £1.19 20% £1.69 £1.09 -36%
 Always set the right
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Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
National
‘This is miserable’
The cold reality of living
without power for days
‘A
Mark Brown
North of England correspondent
nyone who thinks
there is romanticism last Friday and wreaked the worst
to reading by
candlelight
needs their head
examined,” said
69-year-old Fran Marshall as she
braced herself for a sixth night
without power. “There is no
romance. None whatsoever. It has
been freezing cold and miserable.” inundated with callers this week
Marshall lives in a picture-
postcard patch of north
Northumberland, her 19th-century keep their children warm to others
cottage in the village of Kirknewton just desperate for a hot shower.
nestled in a valley below a
spectacular hill called Yeavering
Bell, or the Hill of the Goats. On top
of the hill are stunning views, the
largest iron-age hill fort in northern
England, and on occasion you may
even see friendly groups of wild
Cheviot goats. Opposite is a field
where once was the royal summer
palace of Anglo-Saxon kings and
queens of Northumbria.
It must be a such a wonderful
place to live. This week it has been
awful. “My water comes from a
spring which is run by an electricity
•
pump, so I’ve got no water and no
heating and no power.”
Marshall was one of tens of
thousands of people in a similar
situation after Storm Arwen arrived
havoc to power lines for nearly 20
years. Day by day, more households
were switched on but yesterday
up to 10,000 were still without
power. The army was deployed in
Aberdeenshire and Durham to help
people affected.
Local radio stations have been
telling their stories, from parents
feeling guilty at not being able to
‘I’m driving around
charging my phone;
I’mgoing tothe pub
for food, but an awful
lot of people aren’t’
Fran Marshall
Kirknewton resident
Marshall, whose job is helping
horse trainers and owners, counts
herself as one of the luckier ones.
“Because I am a fairly able person
I’ve been getting out. I’m driving
around charging my phone, I’m
going to the pub for food, but an
awful lot of people aren’t. It is so
difficult for people living in the
valleys without any power … it
is frightening. There are a lot of
elderly people in this part of the
world.
“I’ve got candles, but I’m getting
through them. You try to read a
book, but actually you can’t really
read a book by candlelight, it’s
extremely difficult. At least I’ve
got an open fire. It’s not brilliant, it
heats the chimney rather than the
room but it is there.”
Her week has involved going
to bed early and not being able
to wash properly. Don’t even ask
about the toilet. “My deep freeze
is a disaster, everyone’s will be.
Everything is wasted.”
Her 10-year-old bedlington
terrier, Daisy, is out of sorts too.
“She’s just wondering why it’s dark
all of the time.”
Marshall has had no landline
and, because masts were brought
down too, no mobile signal until
▼ Fran Marshall and her bedlington
terrier, Daisy, were without power
for nearly a week in Northumberland
R: R R/ UR
Ofgem investigation
Ofgem has launched an “urgent”
review into the response of energy
network companies to Storm
Arwen. The regulator said that its
review would establish the facts
and if necessary it would pursue
further enforcement action.
Jonathan Brearley, its chief
executive, said: “We accept the
network companies have been
working in challenging conditions,
but until every home in Britain
has power restored, that relentless
effort must continue.”
The review will focus on the
role of the network companies
in maintaining the resilience of
the system and their emergency
response, including their
communications with customers.
A £700 cap on compensation has
been lifted, allowing households
affected to claim £70 for each 12-
hour period they are left without
power, after an initial £70 for the
first 48 hours.
About 130 troops have been sent
to carry out door-to-door checks
and offer welfare support in north-
east Scotland. PA Media
27
▲ Soldiers deliver care packs in
St John’s Chapel, County Durham
▼ Storm Arwen brought destruction
to large parts of Scotland and
northern England, including
Berwick Holiday Park
she gets in the car and drives to
where she can get one.
More than anything it has been
really boring. “We have become so
used to putting a switch on, turning
the heating up, going online,
getting what you want when you
want it and none of it is there now.
I’m fairly resilient in my life, I’ve
had to be ... but this is miserable.”
Marshall is one of many people
to think that if such power cuts
had happened in the south-east
it would have been a bigger story,
declared a national emergency.
“People don’t understand
remoteness in this country,” she
said. “People might say ,‘well you
chose to live in the countryside’
… farmers do, as well, the reason
being they have farms and without
farms you are not going to eat.”
Marshall said the community
spirit had been amazing and
humbling. In the Cheviot Centre
in nearby Wooler, volunteers work
long hours coordinating visits
to the most vulnerable, a huge
team effort involving fire, police,
paramedics, mountain rescue and
council staff – a picture replicated
across affected areas.
Hugh Penney is a potter who
lives with his cat, Pippikin, in
an early 19th-century former
miner’s cottage in the village of
Waterhouses, County Durham.
There are 70 houses in the terrace,
all without power for six nights.
He tries to see the funny side,
joking that he sells his work at a lot
of Christmas fairs, which he finds
exhausting and “I sometimes say,
‘all I want to do is lie down in a
darkened room’… I didn’t know it
would be taken literally.
“The first night, it’s a novelty,
you get the candles out and it’s all
fine. But you don’t realise it’s going
to go on for so long and it just got
less amusing day by day. It just
makes life more difficult, that’s all,
everything is more difficult. People
have been managing but it is tiring.”
Penney said there was a real
problem with communication.
“The worst thing was getting
messages that things would be
fixed by a certain time and then it
didn’t happen. That’s worse than
no information.”
Both Penney and Marshall’s
power was finally restored on
Thursday. “How long I’ve got it I
don’t know,” said Marshall. “I’m
relieved it’s back but disturbed it
has gone on for so long.
“I don’t think people realise what
it is like being in the sticks without
power for so long, how it affects
everybody. It just takes away
everything you have.”

Will you help make sure there’s mental
health support for everyone in 2022?
Donate now at
www.mind.org.uk/Guardian
Yes, I’ll donate to Mind this Christmas and help support people in need
£10 could help 15 people find hope during
tough times at Mind’s online peer support
community, Side by Side.
£15 could help Mind send out 125
information booklets so people who are
struggling can make sense of what they
are going through and find ways to cope.
£50 could help two children feel
less scared and less alone by funding
personalised mental health support
through Mind’s Whole School Approach.
£100 could help Mind run a virtual school
support session so young people get
the mental help they need - wherever
they are.
Christmas
Appeal
2021
We’re the millions of frontline workers
who’ve been through hell. We’re the
intensive care survivors. The long-Covid
sufferers. The grandparents who lost our
friends. We’re the grieving families. We’re
all the students who were locked in our
rooms. We’re the people whose eating
disorders have relapsed. We’re everyone
who experiences racism in the mental
health system. We’re the people who are
still scared of hugging. Everyone who was
already struggling. We’re barely coping.
We’re not sure how long we can go on for.
We’re not OK.
Please accept my gift of: Here’s how to make your donation go further
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by 25% at no extra cost to you.
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Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Music review
Scintillating and
steamy pop for
the grownups
Jessie Ware
02 Victoria Warehouse,
Manchester ★★★★☆
I still have nightmares,
woman paralysed by
son in knifeattack
tells his murder trial
Steven Morris
A woman who was left paralysed
when her son repeatedly stabbed
her has described the moment she
turned from the kitchen sink to find
him brandishing a knife in front of her
as if they were in a crime film.
Giving evidence from a spinal unit,
Anne Schreiber said her son, Thomas
Schreiber, looked like a wild-eyed
stranger as he assaulted her at the
mansion she shared with her partner
Sir Richard Sutton, a multimillionaire
who was killed in the attack.
Anne Schreiber told the jury at
Winchester crown court that her son
had always had a temper and once
tried to strangle her. She said she suf-
fered nightmares about him since the
attack in April.
Schreiber has admitted killing
Sutton, an 83-year-old landowner
and hotelier, but denies murdering
him and attempting to murder his
66-year-old mother. The court has
been told that the attack took place
on the anniversary of his father’s
death at a time when family ten-
sions had been exacerbated byCovid
lockdowns.
Anne Schreiber’sevidence mainly
took the form of a video recorded
from the hospital unit in Salisbury.
She switched between tenses when
talking about the attack and struggled
▲ Thomas Schreiber admits killing
Richard Sutton but denies murder
•
National 29
W
Fergal Kinney Lite’s What Is Love?, Ware puts on a
show of neon and luxury: she stalks
through with – affords the set a real
variety. Say You Love Me, wearing
hether it was
Dua Lipa,
the stage in a turquoise feathered
gown; two giant disco balls reveal
themselves. Opener Spotlight has
much of co-writer Ed Sheeran’s
sugary generalities, is stripped
down as a singalong piano moment.
or Sophie
Ellis-Bextor’s
the welcome fizz of a surprise bottle
of prosecco, while the terrific Ooh
The set genuflects to disco’s
roots with a well-judged opening
kitchen, disco La La toys with Tom Tom Club’s DJ set by the UK drag artist Jodie
proved to be Wordy Rappinghood, complete Harsh. For an encore of the
a defining sound of lockdown. with choppy Chic-style guitars. pulsating electronic Hot N Heavy,
Jessie Ware’s 2020 album What’s The contrast between newer Ware unveils a microphone with a
Your Pleasure? leaned heavily into material and what tonight Ware lead that doubles as a leather whip
the genre – and became her best- jokingly refers to as “the good old – leaning into a sense of fun, even
performing album. ▲ The contrast in the material gives miserable days” – meaning the camp. This is scintillating, grownup
Entering to a sample from Deee- Jessie Ware’s set real variety elegant, understated R&B she broke pop, done with wit and finesse.
for some words. She was given a drink
through a straw and sometimes had
trouble breathing.
Schreiber, 35, watched from the
dock, his head bowed for minutes at
a time.
Anne Schreiber said her only mem-
ory of the day – 7 April – was the
attack. She was listening to music
and possibly singing along. She
heard a “kerfuffle” and turned to find
Schreiber standing there.
“He looked unusual,” she said.
“His eyes are … almost frightening.
They looked terribly determined. I
see a knife. He didn’t look as if he was
gong to help me peel potatoes.
“He was definitely not himself; the
man who came into mykitchen could
have been a total stranger. The eyes
were wild, his face was screwed up.
He looked … very out of control.”
She said he held the knife in a
“threatening manner … like in crime
films”, adding: “I believe he stabbed
me. I remember looking at the knife in
me and being surprised that it doesn’t
hurt more. I remember me saying:
‘What are you doing?’”
Anne Schreiber said she felt like a
bystander looking through the win-
dow “as if it wasn’t really me there”.
She believed the weapon was a “nice
and sharp” knife from a block used to
cut meat or vegetables.
She said she had “awful night-
mares”. “Thomas is very much part of
them,”she added. She said she won-
dered where she had gone wrong and
felt she had failed her son but added:
“I always think I have given Tom an
enormous amount of love.”
She said he was a very attrac-
tive boy with blond hair but had a
“furious” temper and could be very
aggressive, especially to her. “I did
seem to take the brunt.” She said he
adored his late father, David, but
found it difficult to channel his anger.
“When it comes to Tom, it always
ends in fisticuffs. He had a tendency
to lash out.”
Anne Schreiber said her son had
earlier tried to strangle her as they
returned from a party in a car.She just
waited until it ended. “It jolly well
hurts when he puts his hand round
your throat,” she said.
The trial continues.
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
30
Eyewitnessed
Pictures of the week
 Mamadou, 21,
who arrived in
Gran Canaria
from Mali in
August. The
International
Organization for
Migration says
936 people have
died or gone
missing on the
Atlantic route to
Spain this year
PHOTOGRAPH:
LLUIS GENE/AFP/GETTY

▲ Sarah
Ransome,
who has made
allegations
against Jeffrey
Epstein and
Ghislaine
Maxwell, arrives
at a court in
New York for
the start of
Maxwell’s
sex trafficking
trial on Monday
JOHN MINCHILLO/AP

 A fissure
next to a house
covered with
ash on La Palma
in the Canary
Islands, where
a volcanic
eruption is in
its 11th week
EMILIO MORENATTI/AP
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
31
 Zabriskie
Point in
Death Valley
national park,
California,
pictured from
the air last week
PHOTOGRAPH:
TAYFUN COSKUN/
ANADOLU AGENCY/
GETTY

▲ A leopard
pads through
Inyati game
lodge in the Sabi
Sands private
nature reserve,
South Africa
DAVID SILVERMAN/
GETTY IMAGES)

 Displaced
young Afghans
who are living in
tents at Bazar-i
Iskort in Ghazni,
Afghanistan
BILAL GULER/
ANADOLU AGENCY/
GETTY IMAGES

▲ An exhibition
in Toronto
entitled Beyond
Monet offers
an immersive
view of the
impressionist’s
work
XINHUA/REX/
SHUTTERSTOCK
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Emma Brockes
New York diary
Words mattered to
Stephen Sondheim,
as I found to my cost
Monday
There aren’t many public figures
whose deaths, when announced,
can trigger audible anguish, but
Stephen Sondheim was one of
them. At the end of last week, the
alert popped up on my phone.
Alone in my living room, I said
loudly, “Oh no.”
It wasn’t just the music.
Without growing dated,
Sondheim seemed like a figure
from a long ago and possibly
mythical era, when people
neither tap-danced for favour
nor fawned. In 2008, the late
Elaine Stritch, one of his great
leading ladies, recalled doing a
Sondheim benefit and bringing
the house down with Broadway
Baby and Ladies Who Lunch.
“I really nailed it – standing
ovation – and I came offstage
and Steve Sondheim squeezed
my hand.” This was, she said, an
unprecedented level of praise
from someone not given to
hyperbole. He encouraged and
mentored the best of Broadway,
with an economy that kept the
focus on them.
I interviewed Sondheim in
2010. Six years later – six years! – I
saw him again and he was still
angry about a word I’d used to
describe the behaviour of his
poodles; they had, I had written,
“fussed”. The image summoned,
he said, was of small, silly dogs,
when his two were large and
handsome. I must have looked
nonplussed. The word “fussed”
A month in
Ambridge
A ballroom
blitz could
have saved
Grey Gables
The Archers
BBC Radio 4
•
National
– he paused, ominously – struck
him as particularly unfriendly to
him as a gay man, an interpretation
I was so taken aback by, and more
generally by the experience of
being told off by Sondheim, that
I practically had a heart attack on
his sofa, remaining so stricken and
destabilised that for the rest of
the encounter, he was excessively,
extravagantly kind. Every
word mattered.
Tuesday
The debate around Omicron and
how worried we should be – “cause
for concern, not a cause for panic,”
said Joe Biden, a distinction not
fully recognised by the markets –
comes in second to the question
of how to pronounce it. As a friend
points out, who among us knows
the Greek letters much beyond
epsilon? And why aren’t the
variants going in strict alphabetical
Passenger
advisory:
if you want
Christmas
to happen,
leave now
PHOTOGRAPHS:
JAMES VEYSEY/REX/
SHUTTERSTOCK;
ALEX LENTATI/LNP
‘A
Charlotte Higgins
re you suggesting,” has a sinister, verlook otel vibe,
said liver, the
owner of rey
ables, “that athy not exactly cosy, is it?”  bet the
isn’t doing her job dining room is one of those awful
properly?” f  may tomb-like places with high-backed
interject, liver, that is very much chairs, starched and folded napkins
what we have all been thinking,
for rather a long time. athy erks, main courses probably come out
supposedly the general manager
of the country house hotel, has
not been heard to speak since
2015 – not even when an explosion
hit the kitchens last year almost
carrying off the unfortunate
inda, Blake and Freddie
argetter.
o prolonged and weird is
her silence,  can only suppose
she’s actually dead and haunting
the corridors like the ghastly
bloodstained apparitions in tanley the 1980s. s ia so rightly put it:
ubrick’s he hining (probably
order? (The answer, clarified by the
World Health Organization, is that
they jumped to the 15th letter of
the Greek alphabet because some
of the skipped letters sound like
common surnames – a needless-
sounding precaution until one
recalls that a mob attacked the
home of a paediatrician in south
Wales, thinking her job title meant
paedophile). The New York Times,
meanwhile, offers a handy guide
to pronouncing omicron, that
for speakers of British English
only serves to confuse. Is “AH-
muh-kraan,” as the paper has it,
intended as phonetic spelling for
all of us, or only for those who
already turn “hot” into “haht” and
“from” into “frahm”?
Wednesday
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of
the medical diagnostics company
Theranos who is on trial for
fraud, made a schedule on hotel
notepaper more than 10 years ago coercion. He denies the allegations.
that has come up once again in
court papers this week. If Holmes
and her company had succeeded,
this note would now be enshrined new person. “I do not react,”
in every MBA syllabus as the
roadmap to becoming a guru. As it “I give immediate feedback,
is, her commitment to rising at 4am non-emotionally.” “I speak rarely.
and reminding herself to thank
God, before deciding 12 hours in
advance what kind of dressing
she’ll be wanting with dinner
(“garlic/balsamic”), only serves to shadow image of how she possibly
make her downfall seem inevitable. once was: voluble, nervy, erratic,
The first half of the memo is a
timetable that, while odd – she
describes one 50-minute period
with the words “change, shower,
shave, perfect” – is less odd than Defenders of Holmes make the case
accompanied by the terrifying
shade of aroline Bone).
n fact the whole of rey ables
or the idlands version thereof. s
ia rundy said: “he ballroom’s
and no conversation. an raig’s
under domes; no wonder es
oeurs eureuses is the go-to for
fine dining these days.
 had hopes that the rundys’
proposed vow-renewal bash in the
ballroom would finish the work
the explosion started, trashing
the whole place entirely – with
the help of Baggy, natch and a
few barrels of home-brew – so that
the whole thing would have to be
sold, refurbished and hauled out of
“hat place is so … retro.”
Just to
clarify, they
are not all
mine
the second half, in which she jots
down guidelines on how to behave.
Her defence attorney claims the
advice came from her former
business partner, Sunny Balwani,
accused by Holmes of abuse and
The tone is reminiscent of a
mirthless teen diary in which one
exhorts oneself to be an entirely
she writes. “I do not hesitate.”
When I do, crisp and concise.” “My
hands are always in my pockets or
gesturing.” If this is Holmes as she
wanted to be, it raises a curious
unsure, chewing her fingernails or
picking at scabs.
Thursday
she is the victim of sexism, so that
when male CEOs deploy fake-it-
till-you-make-it strategies and fail,
they aren’t vilified as she was. This
may be true. I was aware this week,
while watching the US supreme
court inch closer to gutting
abortion law, that I was harder on
one judge than the rest.
Mid-week, oral arguments were
heard in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s
Health Organization, an abortion
case from Mississippi that if upheld
would in effect overturn Roe v
Wade. Here was Justice Samuel
Alito, saying with all the wisdom
of a large stone that “the foetus
adly, the ballroom is safe for
now, after the rundys relocated
their ceremony to the cider shed.
he only casualty of the affair in the
event was the vicar, lan, cruelly
videoed by that monkey eorge
rundy while pissed in the back of
the village limousine.
dam, thank od, has finally
stopped his endless whingeing
now that he’s not trying to run
the family farm. e’s as happy as
I hoped the Grundys
would finish what the
explosionstarted –
trashing the whole
place entirely
33
has an interest in having a life” –
an interest apparently not shared
by adult women. Here was Chief
Justice John G Roberts Jr, who
suggested that by imposing a limit
of 15 weeks on abortion, the state
of Mississippi gave women plenty
of time to make up their minds.
It was, however, Amy Coney
Barrett, the supreme court justice
and devout mother of seven, who
moved me to another level of rage.
The burden of parental rights, a
key tenet of Roe v Wade, might,
she argued, be made obsolete by
the possibility of adoption. No
abortion? No biggie; carry the
baby to term, give it up, move on.
Coney Barrett’s logic was no worse
than that of the other conservative
judges, but oh, how much more
appalling she seemed.
Friday
If I could’ve put it off for another
week, I would have, but people
in my house were harassing me.
And so out of the closet comes
the fake Christmas tree and for
an hour everyone decorates. The
homemade angel, fashioned
from toilet roll and covered in
scribbles, always drags at my heart,
but beyond that, the experience
is agony. In the background,
Sondheim plays on the sound
system, as it has done all week.
Order, design, tension, balance,
harmony; the composer, I would
hazard, never had to watch two six-
year-olds decorate a tree and put all
the tinsel and baubles on one side.
anything toiling in ony and at’s
organic fields without a care in the
world, a one-man answer to the
Brexit agricultural labour crisis.
n other cheering news,
helsea orrobin has become
a cross between ok Wan, the
village psychotherapist, and a
hristmas fairy.
When she’s not giving ynda
nell a fabulous new haircut (20
years off her, ready for her B
investiture at Windsor astle), she’s
coaxing Blake into allowing the
scales to fall off his eyes in relation
to hilip oss, his evil former
slave master, who he has finally
conceded was not such a very kind
man, after all.
he triumph of the orrobins
is almost complete, now that
her mum, racy, is practically
the Queen of mbridge and the
ldridges have been so terribly
reduced. he Borsetshire class
struggle continues.
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Gu rdian
Raptor’s return
Moorland welcome
for elusive harrier
Page 37
Mental health benefits of a walk in woods
saves the NHS and the economy millions
Damian Carrington
Environment editor
Woodland walks save £185m a year
in mental health costs, according to a
new report. Spending time in nature
is known to boost mental health, but
the report by Forest Research is the
first to estimate the costs that wood-
lands save the NHS through fewer GP
visits and prescriptions, reduced hos-
pital and social service care, and the
costs of lost days of work.
Councils adopt Finnishappto
help Londoners cut their carbon
Alexandra Topping
Helsinki
For those who want to be part of a
zero carbon future but find the pros-
pect of giving up flying, ditching the
car and turningvegan daunting,help
may be at hand. Anonline tool by the
Finnish innovation fund Sitra that
promises to give users the key to their
own “sustainable good life” bytaking
•
The research also calculated that
street trees in towns and cities cut
£16m a year from antidepressant
costs. The researchers believe the
true savings are likely to be signifi-
cantly higher.
The coronavirus pandemic has
increased the prevalence of men-
tal illness and the NHS was already
increasing its spending on treat-
ments. This includes green social
prescribing,where activities includ-
ing nature visits, are used to help
sufferers. Pollingby Forest Research
control of their carbon footprint is to
be launched in Britain.
London Councils, the body that
represents all the capital’sboroughs,
is looking at developing a version of
the tool, which aims to be helpful
rather than hectoring,letting people
create their own path to reducingCO
output rather than giving out blanket
prescriptions such as stopping flying.
Its developers say users in Fin-
land who answer the tool’s 20-odd
found more than 90% of respondents
saying that woodlands were impor-
tant to them in reducing stress.
“If people spend 30 minutes a
week in trees, doing whatever they
like – walking, sitting meditating –
there are noticeable benefits,” said
Vadim Saraev, at Forest Research.
“It’s amazing how small that is in
terms of time. Youwill feel much bet-
ter than if you spent the 30 minutes
looking at social media.”
Sir William Worsley, chair of the
Forestry Commission, which funded
questions and commit to change
commonly reduce their carbon foot-
print by 30% in 12 months, through
simple steps such as buying second-
hand clothes, cycling more and eating
locally produced food.
Philip Glanville, mayor of Hack-
ney and chair of London Councils’
transport and environmentcommit-
tee, said it could show citizens that
“even small tweaks to their daily
lives” could help tackle the climate
crisis. “The vast majority of our res-
idents are motivated to help prevent
climate change – our recent polling
suggests 87% feel this way,” he said.
Finland has agreed to reduce its
CO emissions by 15 megatonnes by
35
 Woodland near Coniston in the
Lake District. New research also
calculated urban trees cut £16m a
year from antidepressant costs
benefits of woodlands and forests
for some years and this report adds
further important new insights,” said
Mathew White, at the University of
Vienna in Austria.
Alistair Maltby, at the Woodland
Trust said: “If we want to maximise
the benefits for people and society,
we need more trees and woods that
are both closer and more accessible.”
The Forest Research report uses
evidence of reduced depression as a
result of nature visits, as well as data
on woodland visitor numbers, prev-
alence of mental health conditions
and associated costs.
The evidence included an Aus-
tralian study showingvisits to green
spaces of 30 minutes or more aweek
reduced overall rates of depression by
7%, and a British study led by White
that found that a two-hour “dose” of
nature a week significantly boosted
wellbeing. The evidence on the ben-
/  :
efits of street trees was from studies
in Britain, Netherlands and Germany.
The researchers said the calculated
savings were based on conservative
estimates of mental health costs.
These only included NHS treatment,
did not account for any illness pre-
vented by woodland visits, and used
the minimum living wage to calculate
the value of lost work days.
The estimated £185m cost sav-
ings are comparable to estimates of
the value of all recreation, which the
Office for National Statistics puts at
£557m a year. Saraev said woodlands
had value in their own right but that
economic valuations aimed to make
them relevant for policy makers: “If
there is no value, it is not considered
in decision making.”
the report, said: “It demonstrates just Many people visit woodlands at
how vital itis to invest in healthy trees least once a year, according to For-
and woodlands.” est Research surveys: 63% in England
The government has committed to and about 80% in Scotland, Wales and
increase tree plantingto 30,000 hec- Northern Ireland. More than a third
tares a year by2024, but last year only of people in England and Northern
13,300 hectares were planted. The Ireland visit at least several times a
Woodland Trust said native wood- month, and half of those in Scotland.
lands were reaching a crisis point, “Getting outside in green spaces
with only 7% in good condition. and making the most of the little day-
“Forest Research have been lead- light we get can really benefit both
ing the way in terms of estimating your physical and mental health,”
the economic values of the hard- said Stephen Buckley, at the mental
to-measure health and wellbeing health charity Mind.
‘Studies show that The Global Carbon atlas shows the
average Londoner’s annual carbon
individual action has
the potential to lower
footprint is 8,345kg, so if two people
in each of the city’s3.6m households
cut theirs by 20%, it would lower
CO impact globally’ emissions by 12 megatonnes.
“A 20% reduction is easy to do,
anyone can do it … There’s a miscon-
ception that it doesn’t really matter
Markus Terho what you do as an individual, how
Sitra you eat, how you live or what type
of products and services you buy,”
2030, compared with 1990 levels. By said Markus Terho of Sitra. “Studies
Sitra’s calculations, if every house- show individual action has a signif-
hold had two people lowering their icant potential to lower CO impact
carbon footprint by 20%, it would on a global level.” The tool launched
result in 11 megatonnes’ reduction in Finland (population 5.5m) in 2018
– 73% of the national cut required. and went viral, with 1.2m tests taken.
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
36 Environment
 Nature’s
comedians:
penguins on
Dassen Island
in the South
Atlantic, 1921
 Rhino taken
with flashlight,
1909-12
A Victorian Rediscovered pictures
by Yorkshire naturalist
Attenborough
Cherry Kearton will be
shown in an exhibition
in London this month
The first
I
John Vidal
man to hunt
n 1909 two wildlife safari
expeditions arrived by boat
in Mombasa, Kenya, within
days of each other. One party
wildlife ...
was enormous and led by
the adventure-loving US
president Teddy Roosevelt; the
other consisted of just two men and
with a camera
was headed by Cherry Kearton, a
young British bird photographer
from Yorkshire.
Over several months on safari the
trigger-happy president and his son
Kermit killed 17 lions, 11 elephants,
20 rhino, nine giraffes, 19 zebra,
more than 400 hippos, hyena and
other large animals, as well as many
thousands of birds and smaller
animals. By contrast Kearton, the
first man in the world to hunt with
a camera and not a rifle, killed just
one animal in self-defence.
The two men came from different
social worlds and had contrasting
visions of the importance of
wildlife. Roosevelt justified his
massacres by saying he killed for
science and education; Kearton
was not against shooting “for the
pot” but said he took pictures for
the love of it. When they met in
the Kenyan bush they struck up
an unlikely friendship, with the
president letting the photographer
capture unique film of him setting
out on one of his bloodbaths.
The footage was poor quality
but it earned Kearton enough to
set up a London film studio with
his brother Richard that gave
 Kearton and ▲ Portrait of ▼ The Kearton
an ox prepared a chimpanzee, brothers taking
by a taxidermist 1909-12 photographs
in which to hide of birds
  DN N    PGP
birth to the world’s first wildlife
documentary films – now a staple
of TV, and possibly the single
most important medium today for
people to appreciate nature.
Kearton’s work as a pioneer
of nature photography will be
celebrated next week in a small
exhibition that will show 37 of his
▼ The Lion, “lost” pictures of lions, leopards,
1909-12, rhino and other wildlife discovered
another Kearton in an old desk last year by his great-
photograph granddaughter Evie Bulmer, as well
from the as 30 minutes of cine film which he
exhibition shot in Africa and is now held by
With Nature the British Film Institute.
and a Camera Kearton called Roosevelt “a dear
in ondon friend” but was appalled by his
hunting. He wrote later: “[T]o help
in the least degree to accomplish
the extinction of anything
beautiful and interesting is a
crime against future generations
‘[Kearton] made me
dream of travelling to
far-off places to film
wild animals’
David Attenborough
Naturalist
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
… Unfortunately, this is a crime
that we have all been complicit
in committing. It is as a naturalist
that I view the wanton slaughter
of game with such abhorrence …
I raise my voice with all its force
against the wicked and wanton
destruction of big game.”
Kearton was far ahead of his
time, says Bulmer, popularising
nature for the Victorians in the
way that David Attenborough and
others have done for us.
“is fascination with recording
the world’s wildlife through
photography was unique in this
period. It focuses on promoting
Africa as the playground of the
animal rather than the hunter,”
Bulmer says.
Starting in the 1890s, he and
Richard acquired a cheap box
camera and shot the first ever
pictures of birds’ nests with eggs
and made the first recordings of
birds in the wild. They progressed
to massive “collodian” plate glass,
cameras that they had to carry
around; but without zoom lenses,
colour film or rapid-speed shutters,
they had to devise ever more
extraordinary dummy hides to get
as close as possible to wildlife.
One solution was to ask a
taxidermist to make a full-sized
hollow ox, which they would
place in fields and then crawl
inside with the camera lens
poking through a hole in its head.
Another was a mobile heap of hay
and grass, which Richard used
to hide in; there was a stuffed
sheep with a pneumatic camera,
artificial rocks, false tree trunks
and masks. Together the brothers
took enormous risks, abseiling off
high sea cliffs, standing in rivers
for hours, waiting all night, and
climbing the highest trees to film
birds in their nests.
Attenborough acknowledges
the brothers’ influence. In a letter
to Bulmer, he said he was “at the
age of 8 taken to see a film lecture
presented by Cherry Kearton. [It]
captured my childish imagination
and made me dream of travelling to
far-off places to film wild animals.”
According to the Keartons’
biographer, John Bevis, “The
world in which Cherry lived was
preoccupied with capturing,
killing and stuffing animals for
display or to complete a collection.
Cherry was unique in his desire to
photograph animals undisturbed
in their natural habitats. e was
less zoologist than nature lover,
less educator than crusader. is
intention was not to produce film
made by scientists for scientists
and seen by few but scientists …
but an alternative to the ubiquitous
big game and hunting features.”
Cherry Kearton went on to be
a war photographer, and died in
1940. “If through my books, still
pictures and films the public can
gain a wider knowledge of the
animal creation, and consequently
a deeper sympathy, I shall be
satisfied,” he wrote.
The exhibition With Nature and a
Camera is at the Royal Geographical
Society, London, 14-20 December
The Keartons: Inventing Nature
Photography, by John Bevis, is
published by Uniformbooks
•
Return of the hen harrier
Unlikely protector helps
revive endangered bird
I
Patrick Barkham
n the trees beside the
heather-clad, snow-
spattered moorland is an
elusive creature that to
some conservationists is
as mythical as a unicorn:
a gamekeeper looking after
endangered birds of prey.
“Two hen harriers coming in
now,” said Gary Taylor, head keeper conditions for hen harriers to breed illegal persecution. “If brood
on the Swinton estate in North
Yorkshire. Taylor is sitting in a hide tells him there are four of England’s there are more hen harriers ‘to
he built overlooking one of the
country’s best hen harrier roosting one estate.
sites – in the middle of his boss’s
grouse moor.
The hen harrier is one of Britain’s for illegal persecution – and on an
most endangered birds because of estate where two satellite-tagged
illegal persecution. England has
upland habitat suitable for more
than 300 breeding pairs of hen
harriers but in 2013 there were
none. Conservationists accuse the Murphy said Betty had been shot
grouse moor industry of killing
the raptors, which take red grouse. on to it. River’s last satellite-tag
But the hen harrier’s prospects
are brightening. This year, 24
successful hen harrier nests in
England fledged 84 chicks, the
highest number since records
began in 2002. Nineteen of those
nests were on grouse moors.
Taylor’s efforts to prove that
hen harriers can thrive alongside
driven grouse shooting are lauded 34% were connected with pheasant
by Stephen Murphy, one of the
country’s top hen harrier experts.
“What he’s done for harriers,
words can’t describe,” said Murphy, that illegal persecution is lessening that’s not because of hen harriers
Natural England’s lead adviser
for hen harriers, whose studies
of satellite-tagged hen harriers
proved that illegal persecution was
responsible for their low numbers.
Since 2019, hen harrier nests
on the 20,000-acre estate have
produced 23 successful fledglings,
with Taylor and his wife placing
fresh mice on a feeding post for a
male harrier, a tagged bird known
as Frank. This “diversionary
feeding” helps harriers and reduces ▲ Head keeper Gary Taylor, left, and habitat and controlling predators
their predation of red grouse in
breeding season. Meanwhile,
37
 Conservationists accuse the grouse
moor industry of illegal persecution Quiz by Phoebe Weston
Climate crisis
of the endangered hen harrier
HH: L
on grouse moors is not breeding
success (which can be due to a good
year for voles, a favourite prey) but Test your
the survival of long-lived satellite-
tagged birds, such as Sorrel (born
2016) and Dru (born 2017). “What’s
incontrovertible is that we’ve got
knowledge
eight to 10 wild birds breeding on
English grouse moors and staying
1Thirty individuals of
there in winter,” he said. which species were flown
Support for hen harriers from from South Africa to
grouse shooting estates is still Rwandathis week as part
criticised by many conservationists of efforts to savethem
because it is part of the
from extinction?
government’s controversial five-
year “brood management” trial. A White rhino
en harriers like to nest close to B Masai giraffe
each other, and so a concentration C African bush elephant
of nests can build up on grouse
moors. If a second nest appears
near a first, brood management
2According to
campaigners, the
allows landowners to apply to
remove chicks, which are reared
in captivity and released. This
gives grouse operations a “safety
development of what
could pose a threat to
a threat to rare birds
valve” so hen harrier populations
won’t become so concentrated that and amphibians near
Taylor’s control of predators such
as crows, foxes, stoats and weasels
grouse numbers decline.
The costs of captive-rearing are
Braintree in Essex?
A An airfield
to protect ground-nesting red met by landowners. One nest close B A care home
grouse also assists the ground- to Swinton’s boundary was reared C Two mega-prisons
nesting hen harriers. in captivity this year. Nationally, six
In winter, up to 16 hen harriers of eight captive-bred chicks from
roost on the moor and Taylor’s hide 2020 survived in the wild this year, 3On current trends,
overlooking the roost is open to the a higher survival rate than wild- the world’srenewable
public. Next year, the estate plans
to put a camera beside a harrier
reared chicks.
Katie-Jo uxton, the RSPB’s energy-generating
nest so it can beam live pictures to director of conservation, said capacity will exceed that
a local pub. the first step to hen harrier of fossil fuels and nuclear
“What’s here is almost optimum recovery should be the end of
energy combined by
well,” said Murphy, whose phone management is successful and which year?
A 2022
28 satellite-tagged harriers on this manage’ it would involve an ever- B 2026
increasing level of intervention as C 2030
This turnaround for hen harriers the perceived conflict with grouse
is in North Yorkshire – a hotspot
shooting increases,” she said.
“Brood management is about
4Which bird was added
forcing hen harriers to fit in with to the ‘red list’ of Britain’s
birds were found shot: Betty in 2012 driven grouse shooting. That’s most endangered species
and River in 2018.
Murphy first met Taylor when
starting in entirely the wrong place.
Driven grouse shooting should
this week?
A Swift
they searched together for Betty. instead fit around the recovery of B Robin
hen harriers. And if it can’t, it needs C Goldfinch
away from the estate before flying to change.”
Mark Cunliffe-ister, ord
transmission was on another Swinton and chair of the Moorland 5Which mythic creature
estate. In both cases the Swinton
estate was not accused of any
Association, said he and other moor
owners hope to show it’s possible
was spotted offthe coast
offence and emphatically rejects to have a sustainable driven grouse of Jamaica this week?
any suggestion of wrongdoing. shoot and breeding hen harriers A A white sperm whale
There were 137 confirmed raptor – which could also boost eco- B An albino penguin
persecution incidents detected in tourism. “We haven’t got there yet C A black polar bear
Britain in 2020, the highest ever but I’m still confident we’re going
recorded by the RSPB. Of these, to get there,” he said.
Since 1861, Swinton’s average
or partridge shooting and 28% season has produced 5,000 shot
connected with grouse. grouse; this year it’s barely 500.
According to Murphy, evidence But Cunliffe-ister and Taylor said
but due to heather on which
grouse feed being destroyed by a
pest beetle. A cold wet spring also
reduced grouse breeding success.
Taylor is convinced that hen
harriers, grouse and people can
all prosper. “en harriers are part
and parcel of what’s on the moor,”
he said. “Grouse shooting gets
a bad press but it’s responsible .yrutnec siht dedrocer neeb evah selahw
for the biggest part of upland etihw erup fo lufdnah a ylno ,A .5 ;5991 ecnis
conservation. Maintaining %85 yb denilced sah noitalupop tfiws eht ,A .4
;6202 ,B .3 ;dleiria dleisrehteW fo etis eht
Stephen Murphy of Natural England benefits so many wild species, not no dennalp era snosirp eht ,C .2 ;onihr etihw ,A .1
snoituloS
on the lookout for hen harriers just gamebirds.”
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
38

Omicron drives record pace of Covid ▲ A ‘Spirit Day’ celebration at a

Johannesburg school. The region has

infection in South African province

had a sharp rise in cases of Covid-19
: EE ELY/

Wassila Jassat from the National

Institute for Communicable Dis-
eases, said: “We’ve seen quite a sharp
increase [in hospitalisations] across
all age groups, particularly in the
chief scientist urged people not to “Delta accounts for 99% of infec- weeks that they had had to recali- under fives. The incidence in those
Peter Beaumont panic over the emergence of the var- tions around the world. This variant brate their projection models. The under fives is now second only to the
iant adding that it was impossible to would have to be more transmissible increase was at a rate not seen before, incidence in those over 60.”
predict if Omicron would become the to out-compete and become dom- he said, not even in the third wave, However, the number of infant
dominant global strain.
The pace of Covid infections in the inant worldwide. It is possible, but which Mellado described as a “very cases remains relatively small and it is
South African province of Gautengis
Soumya Swaminathan said South it’s not possible to predict.” serious situation”. still unclear how many of those hospi-
Africa’s experience showed that Omi-
outstripping anything seen in previ- In Gauteng, a populous province Other oficials in the province talisations were because of Omicron.
ous waves, and officials say Omicron
cron “was highly transmissible” but that includes Johannesburg and is the described a 20% rise in the seven-day Despite a rise in virus-related
is now the dominant variant. added: “How worried should we be? centre of the outbreak, public health rolling average of daily Covid cases, hospital admissions in South Africa,
Angelique Coetzee, the chair of the
We need to be prepared and cautious, officials say case positivity rates have and increasing hospital admissions, deaths appear to be increasing at a
South African Medical Association,
not panic, because we’re in a differ- climbed from 2% in mid-November driven by Omicron. lower rate than during the country’s
said Omicron’s ability to spread – its
ent situation to a year ago.” to 24% this week. First reported by South African sci- third wave of Covid. This was under-
Rnumber – was believed to be above However,most of the cases seen in entists to the WHO on 24 November, lined by a statement from the WHO
6. The R number for Delta, the domi- the province so far, including by Coet- Omicron has unleashed global panic yesterday saying it had yet to see any
nant variant globally, is estimated to ‘How worried should zee, have been described as mild,with as countries rush to shut their bor- reports of deaths related to Omicron.
Speaking to the BBC’s PM pro- we be? Weneed to
be above 5. the majority of infections concen- ders, reimpose travel restrictions and The chief executive of Germany’s
trated in younger patients who make ramp up vaccination programmes. BioNTech has said it should be able
gramme, Coetzee said: “We know be prepared and up a significantly greater proportion Among concerns that have to adapt its vaccine relatively quickly
sible. According to the scientists, the cautious,not panic’
currently that the virus is transmis- of the country’s unvaccinated. emerged is whether Omicron might in response to Omicron.
Prof Bruce Mellado, who advises be infecting infants with more severe Uğur Şahin told the Reuters Next
R value is 6.3, I think.” the provincial government, told the disease than previous variants, after conference yesterday: “We antici-
Concern over the march of Omi- Daily Maverick that health officials a rise in admissions to some hospitals pate that infected people who have
cron in South Africa comes as the Soumya Swaminathan had seen such a rapid increase in of under fives. been vaccinated will still be protected
World Health Organization’s (WHO) WHO chief scientist cases in Gauteng over the past few At a news conference yesterday against severe disease,” Şahin said.
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
Paper trail Mia Mottley 39
Spain’s Money Heist Barbados PM’s plans
wins over Netflix for new republic
Page 43 Page 44

Germany Fourth wave that the number of Covid patients on

could reach a ‘sad peak’ at
Christmas, says minister
Philip Oltermann
Berlin
Germany’s fourth wave of the pan-
demic could reach a “sad peak”
in intensive care units around
Christmas, the outgoing health min-
ister, Jens Spahn, has warned as he
defended the decision to bar unvac-
cinated people from many areas of
public life.
On Thursday, the government and
heads of the federal states agreed that
only those who have been vaccinated
or recently recovered from Covid
should be allowed in restaurants,
cinemas, leisure facilities and many
shops, and mooted introducinga gen-
eral vaccine mandate from February.
Berlin said it would from Wednes-
day bar unvaccinated people from
Christmas markets, as well as gener-
ally limit the size of crowds allowed at
public gatherings. Nightclubs in the
capital can stayopen, though visitors
will not be allowed to dance.
States with high infection rates will
from today go back to holdingfootball
matches behind closed doors.
“We should have displayed this
consistency in our treatment of
unvaccinated people at a much ear-
lier stage,” said Spahn. He warned
intensive care wards would “signifi- Italy Man faces
cantly rise” above the 5,000 mark in
the coming weeks and months. charges after
Yesterday morning, there were
4,793 Covid patients in intensive trying to avoid
care beds at hospitals, about half of
whom were being helped to breathe. jab by wearing
The Robert Koch Institute,Germany’s
disease control agency, recorded a
national incidence rate of 442 cases
▲ Jens Spahn, Germany’s health
minister, in Berlin yesterday a fake arm
per 100,000 citizens over the space
of seven days, with 390 patients hav- Leading figures from the three
ing died with the disease in the last coalition parties, including the chan- Angela Giuffrida
24 hours. cellor-designate, Olaf Scholz, have Rome
The rate has stagnated over the last in recent days signalled they would
week and marginally reduced over back such a move. An Italian man is facing charges of
the past three days, though politi- Spahn yesterday suggested that fraud after turning up for his Covid-19
cians and scientists warned not to he would voteagainst a general man- vaccine wearing a fake arm.
put too much hope in the figures. date, saying his position was “very So determined was he to avoid the
Germany’s incoming “traffic light” sceptical in principle”. jab but still obtain a health pass, the
coalition government has said it In the past, the conservative anti-vaxxer may have paid hundreds
wants parliamentarians to have a politician had given his word that of euros for the silicone limb.
free, unwhipped vote on following vaccination wouldnot become man- The bizarre episode at a vaccine
Austria’s lead to make vaccination datory, and “that will determine my centre in Biella,a town close to Turin
mandatory from next year. voting behaviour”. in the northern Piedmont region,
came a week after Italy announced

Q&A
measures that barred unvaccinated
 Germany has indicated it may
E/E  : people from a host of social, cultural
follow Austria’s lead in making and sporting activities.

Mandatory
vaccination compulsory After completing the bureaucratic
formalities, including signing a con-
vaccination”, having argued sent form in front of a doctor, the

vaccines:
that it was better to work on man, aged 50, sat down and lifted
information campaigns and up the sleeve of his shirt for a health
making vaccines accessible. worker to administer the jab.

do they
Initially she did not notice any-
Are there downsides to thing odd, as the silicone looked
mandatory vaccination? similar to skin, but after taking a

really work?
Which countries are opting for
mandatory Covid vaccinations?
Austria has announced plans to
make Covid jabs mandatory from
February, with Germany indicating
it may follow suit. Greece has
already announced mandatory jabs
for the over-60s, while Indonesia
and Turkmenistan are among those
that have already made Covid jabs
mandatory.
Why are they taking this approach?
Many of the countries exploring
mandatory vaccination of the
general population are doing so in
the face of rising levels of Covid
that have led to the reintroduction
of severe control measures
including lockdowns. In Germany,
for example, many hospitals are
under severe strain while new
Covid cases hit a record 79,051 on
24 November, according to Johns
Hopkins University data.
Hans Kluge, the WHO’s Europe
director, has said the situation
faced by Europe and central
Asia is down to factors including
insufficient vaccination coverage
and the relaxation of public
health and social measures. “Most
people hospitalised and dying
from Covid-19 today are not fully
vaccinated,” he said last month.
The emergence of Omicron has
added to concerns given early signs
it may be more transmissible than
There are a number of concerns, closer look and touching the arm, she
including that it may risk asked the man to take off his shirt.
undermining public confidence in His plan foiled, the man, who has not
public health measures. been named, then tried to persuade
Dr Samantha Vanderslott, her against reporting the incident.
of the Oxford Vaccine Group, “I felt offended as a professional,”
said: “I think the main problem the health worker Filippa Bua told
is public backlash, increase in La Repubblica newspaper. “The col-
polarisation and the possibility of our of the arm made me suspicious.
political parties gaining ground It was well made, but it wasn’t the
Delta and have some ability to disease and death. Mandatory on the anti-vax ticket.” same colour [as the rest of his skin].”
dodge immune responses, leading vaccination programmes offer the Savulescu also pointed out Bua said the man said to her: “Would
many countries – including the UK potential to not only increase the concerns. “Unless the public you haveimagined that I’d have such
– to speed up vaccination efforts. level of uptake but the speed at health system is on the verge a physique?”
Some countries believe the best which people head for the jabs. But of collapse, it is hard to justify It is not clear whether he was wear-
way to boost coverage is through how well such programmes work treating the decision to treat the ing a whole fakearm or some kind of
mandatory Covid vaccination. depends on factors including the unvaccinated differently to the silicone layer over his skin.
level of opposition. decision to smoke, drink alcohol, “The promptness and skill of the
Does mandatory Prof Julian Savulescu, the eat unhealthily, not exercise etc,” health worker ruined the plans of this
vaccination work? director of the Oxford Uehiro he said. person, who will now have to respond
Vaccines against Covid have been Centre for Practical Ethics at the to the judiciary,” Alberto Cirio, the
shown to be safe and effective, University of Oxford, said: “Vaccine Will the UK introduce president of Piedmont, said in a joint
particularly at preventing severe mandates work – as Italy, the US mandatory jabs? statement with Luigi Icardi,the head
and Australia have shown for other The health secretary, Sajid Javid, of the regional health department.
vaccines. Will they work for Covid? has said Britain “won’t ever look La Repubblica suggested the inci-
There is more uncertainty in the at” mandatory vaccinations for dent might not have been a one-off,
public about the long-term safety the general public. While the citing a recent tweet that could have
profile so more resistance.” In the UK decided to make Covid jabs been written by the man in Biella.
UK there was the added factor of a condition of employment for The post featured a silicone male
high levels of immunity already. frontline health and social care chest half-body suit, complete with
Italy has 10 mandatory vaccines workers, mandatory vaccination fake arms and neck, that was on sale
for children, with some evidence of the general population would on Amazon for €488 (£416). Along-
suggesting the laws have had a be a very different matter. side the image was the message:“If I
positive impact on vaccine uptake. Besides the ethical concerns, go with this, will they notice? Maybe
However, the EU-funded Asset the situation faced by Britain is beneath the silicone I’ll even put on
project, which looks at the impact different from many countries some extra clothes to avoid the nee-
of mandatory vaccination, found in Europe. “The UK has a high dle reaching my real arm.”
no clear link between the approach level of immunity now – natural Cirio and Icardi said the case would
and vaccine uptake. or from vaccination. Importantly, “border on the ridiculous” were it not
In April, the World Health it has good protection of the for the seriousness of coronavirus.
Organization (WHO) said it elderly, who are the main group They added: “It is unacceptable
▲ Vaccination in Medan, Indonesia, “does not presently support the putting pressure on hospitals,” in the face of the sacrifice that the
where jabs are mandatory direction of mandates for Covid-19 said Savulescu. Nicola Davis pandemic is making the whole com-
munity pay for.”

40
‘Enemy combatant’ at
Guantánamo petitions
for release as war is over
Ed Pilkington
New York
Abu Zubaydah, a Guantánamo
detainee held without charge by the
US for nearly 20 years and tortured
close to death by the CIA, has peti-
tioned a federal court for release on
grounds that the US wars in Afghani-
stan and with al-Qaida are over.
In a filing with the US district court
in Washington, Zubaydah’s lawyers
argue recent White House decla-
rations that the armed conflict in
Afghanistan is over – along with the
destruction of the original al-Qaida
group that carried out 9/11 – have
removed any remaining legal jus-
tification for keeping him captive.
They call for his immediate release,
describing his treatment over two
decades as a “parade of horribles”.
At the heart of the new habeas
corpus push is Zubaydah’s status
as a so-called “enemy combatant”.
Under the 2001 Authorisation for Use
of Military Force (AUMF), passed by
Congress days after 9/11, the then
president, George W Bush, was given
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
World
the power to pursue those behind the
terrorist attacks as part of the war on
terror.But as the new filing points out,
Zubaydah has never been charged
with involvement in 9/11 and he was
not a member of al-Qaida, as the US
government has conceded. He was
accused of offences that took place
in Afghanistan as part of a war that
has now officially been concluded.
After the evacuation of Afghani-
stan was completed in August, Joe
Biden, said: “My fellow Americans,
the war in Afghanistan is now over.”
The defence secretary, Lloyd Aus-
tin, has countered that while the war
in Afghanistan may be over, mili-
tary operations against al-Qaida are
ongoing. In court statements, Aus-
tin says troops and weapons are still
being deployed in “military opera-
tions against al-Qaida and associated
forces … throughout the Middle East
and Africa”.
Zubaydah’s lawyers insist the new
emphasis on al-Qaida as the justifica-
tion for keepinghim in Guantánamo
is based on legal chicanery. Al-Qaida,
they point out, was never specifi-
cally mentioned in the AUMF under
▼ Abu Zubaydah was captured in
2002 and moved to Guantánamo
after four years in CIA secret prisons
:  Y
which Zubaydah is being detained.
They also say that all the top al-Qaida
leaders involved in 9/11 have either
been killed or captured, with the sole
exceptionof Osama bin Laden’s suc-
cessor,Ayman al-Zawahiri, who some
suggest has died of illness.
“They are saying that if there’scon-
flict with al-Qaida anywhere in the
world, in Africa or elsewhere, then
the war continues and Guantánamo
detainees will be locked up forever,”
the lead lawyer in Zubaydah’shabeas
petition, Mark Denbeaux, said. “That
means that detention without trial,
without hearings or justification,
with detainees held in isolation
and no access to the public or their
NSO spyware
‘used to hack
iPhones of nine
US officials’
Stephanie Kirchgaessner
Washington
The iPhones of at least nine US state
department officials were recently
hacked by a government using
NSO Group spyware, according to
a new report that raised serious
questions about the use of the Israeli
surveillance tools against USgovern-
ment officials around the world.
The claims, which were reported
by Reuters, come just weeks after
the Biden administration had placed
NSO on a US blacklist and said that
the surveillance companyhad acted
“contrary to the foreign policy and
national security interests of the US”.
According to the report, at least
nine state department officials were
hacked in the attack over the last
several months, and the individu-
als who were infiltrated were either
based in Uganda or focused on mat-
ters concerning the East African
country. Reuters said it could not
determine which NSO client was
behind the attack.
A state department spokesperson
said it could not confirm the Reuters
report but that it took seriously
its responsibility to safeguard its
information.
Once NSO’s spyware, known as ▲ The NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware
Pegasus, is successfully launched can turn a compromised mobile
it can hack into a mobile phone and phone into a listening device
families – all that will never end.”He
added: “The war is over. How can
you detain enemycombatants when
there’s no combat going on?”
Denbeaux described the Zubay-
dah case as “the perfect storm that
exposed the evil behaviour driving
the global war on terror and the tor-
ture programme in particular”.
Zubaydah, a Palestinian aged 50,
was the first terror suspect captured
by the CIA months after 9/11. For more
than four years he was held in CIA
black sites in Thailand and Poland
and subjected to some of the most
brutal torture carried out by the US
state. Zubaydah became the guinea
pig for a programme devised by two
psychologists under contract to
the CIA euphemistically known as
“enhanced interrogation” but widely
denounced as torture. He was water-
boarded 83 times in one month, held
for hours in the nude with his hands
shackled abovehis head, deprived of
sleep for days at a time, and stuffed
into a closed boxresembling a coffin.
Details of his treatment are in the
spotlight because the US supreme
court is considering a state secrets
case prompted by his time at a CIA
black site in Poland. Though the case
has no bearing on Zubaydah’s habeas
petition, for the first time supreme
court justices directly referred to
what he endured as “torture”.
Several justices also expressed
astonishment that he was still in
Guantánamo without charge despite
clear supreme court rulings that pro-
hibit such indefinite detention.
intercept all communications. It
can also turn anyphone into a listen-
ing device.
In a statement released in response
to the Reuters story, NSO Group said
it had decided to “immediately
terminate relevant customers’ access
to the system, due to the severity of
the allegations”.
Pressed by the Guardian to identify
the customers who had been cut off,
an NSO spokesperson said the com-
pany would not disclose information
about its customers. NSO also said
it had not received any information
about the specific phone numbers
that had been targeted in the attack
and had no indication thatNSO tools
were used in this case.
“On top of the independent inves-
tigation, NSO will cooperate with any
relevant government authority and
present the full information we will
have,” the company said.
Apple said it had no comment on
the latest allegations.
NSO has staunchly denied that the
leaked database at the heart of the
Pegasus Project, an investigation into
NSO by the Guardian and other media
outlets, was connected to the com-
pany or its clients.
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
World 41
Maxwelltrial

Sexualised photo of young girl was in Jane told the court this week that
Epstein introduced her to Donald

Epstein’s bedroom, Maxwell trial told

Victoria Bekiempis
New York
A “sexually suggestive photograph
of a very young girl” was displayed
outside Jeffrey Epstein’sbedroom at
his Palm Beach mansion, prosecu-
tors in Ghislaine Maxwell’schild-sex
trafficking trial said yesterday.
The detail emerged when the
prosecution and defence argued
about several photos that could be
presented as evidence in the case.
Epstein, awealthy financier whose
acquaintances included Prince
Andrew and Bill Clinton, killed him-
self at a New York City jail in August
2019 while awaiting his own trial for
sex-trafficking.
Maxwell, 59, his former girlfriend
and the daughter of the late British
publishing baron Robert Maxwell,
was arrested in July 2020 at a New
Hampshire estate. She denies all the
charges against her.
The images discussed yesterday
were recovered during searches
of Epstein’s various residences.
One depicted a young girl pull-
ing down her underwear, exposing
her buttocks.
Prosecutors said one of the photos
was “the primary decoration out-
side the master bedroom that the
defendant [Maxwell] shared with
Mr Epstein”.
“In order to get into that room,
you have to get by a sexually sug-
gestive photograph of a very young
girl,” the prosecution said. “The fact
that there is a sexualised photograph,
of a clearly underaged female, is
highly probative.”
The argument over the images
was conducted before Juan Alessi,
the house manager of Epstein’s south
Florida property from 1990 to 2002,
resumed his testimony, and in the
absence of the jury.
Alessi’s testimony on Thursday
described Maxwell as a domineering
“lady of the house”. He also appeared
to support some accusers’ allega-
tions against Epstein and Maxwell.
Alessi toldthe court he had seen two
“minor-looking teens” at the house.
One of them was Jane – the pseudo-
nym used to refer to the first accuser
to testify in the Maxwell trial.
▲ Ghislaine Maxwell shared the
Epstein bedroom, making the picture sex toys.
‘highly probative’, prosecutors said
Trump when she was 14.
She also said she was on a flight
with Prince Andrew, although she did
not accuse the Duke of York or the
former president of any misconduct.
The other person Alessi claims to
have seen was Virginia Giuffre, a long-
time Epstein and Maxwell accuser.
Giuffre has claimed that Maxwell and
Epstein coerced her into sexual activ-
ity with Prince Andrew at age 17, an
allegation that the prince denies.
Alessi said Epstein, who had hired
him full-time after convincing him to
leave his other clients, began acting
differently towards him from the day
Maxwell came to the house.
“It changed gradually from being
cordial to more just, uh, profes-
sional,” he said. “Our conversations
with him were less and less.”
Some of Epstein and Maxwell’s
accusers have claimed they were
sexually abused under the pretext
of giving him a massage. Some have
alleged that they were abused with
The trial continues.

Life of luxury which they were sexually abused.

Alessi said he was also the driver
who first collected “Jane” and
Accusers say on another occasion drove her,
Maxwell and Epstein to Epstein’s
private jet.
financier’s He said she was one of two
minors he saw in the Florida house
– the other was Virginia Giuffre,

riches let a longtime Epstein and Maxwell

accuser who has alleged they
coerced her into sexual activity

him prey on
with Andrew when she was 17, a
claim that the Duke of York denies.
Epstein’s longtime pilot,

teenagers
Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr, gave
a thorough account of the late
financier’s expansive homes in New
Mexico, Palm Beach, New York City,
the US Virgin Islands and Paris.

J
Victoria Bekiempis
New York
effrey Epstein killed
himself while awaiting his
court appearance, but the
first week of testimony
in the trial of his alleged
accomplice Ghislaine
Maxwell on child-sex trafficking
charges has provided an extensive
look into the disgraced financier’s
life of luxury that enabled his abuse
of victims as young as 14.
Witnesses spoke of the immense
wealth that Epstein displayed
and luxury that he enjoyed in
properties that spanned the globe
– as well as the private jet on which
he travelled between them – and
how that display of riches attracted
the social set in which he moved,
including Prince Andrew and the
former US presidents Bill Clinton
and Donald Trump.
Such flagrant displays of
money, power and high-society
connections served as a backdrop
to stun or intimidate his alleged
victims, witnesses have said.
“Jane” the first to testify against
Maxwell, who was arrested in July
2020 at a sprawling New Hampshire
estate in relation to Epstein’s sexual
abuse of minors, was from a family
enduring financial hardship when
Epstein’s private island, Little St
James, was encircled by topaz-blue
waters, and boasted a library, a gym
and a helipad, as well as multiple
large swimming pools.
The private Boeing 727 which
was used to connect them “wasn’t
like a typical airliner would look”,
Visoski said. “As soon as you got
to the first compartment, there
was like a large living room that
had one, two, three – it had three
couches or divans.”
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty
on all counts related to her alleged
▲ Jeffrey Her legal team she and her mother went for tea at sort of name-drop or sometimes involvement in Epstein’s abuse.
Epstein and claims the his Palm Beach home. She realised put people on speakerphone whose Her lead attorney, Bobbi Sternheim,
Ghislaine financier was just how wealthy Epstein was when voices I didn’t know and then say, has also discussed Epstein’s life,
Maxwell at a manipulative the chauffeur-driven car he had ‘Oh, well, this is so-and-so and calling the private jets “commuter
Batman Forever :
sent to pick them up approached so-and-so’; and just, you know, say jets for Epstein to travel with family
event in New K / the house. that they were very well-connected and friends”, but also argued that
York in 2013.   “It was enormous,” Jane said. and affluent,” Jane said. “I guess it Epstein’s ability to manipulate
“It was this giant, like, beach- made me feel slightly intimidated, Maxwell and others stemmed, in
looking house with a big white but it was overwhelming.” part, from the fantasy his wealth
fence around it. And these giant Juan Alessi, the housekeeper at helped project.
‘From the verystart gates opened up, and the car pulled Epstein’s Florida residence from “Now, I said before that Epstein
there was a lot of in. And it was just this, you know,
big beautiful house … And there
about 1990 to 2002, said his role
was to make the house look like a
was a manipulator. He had the
money and the means to create
bragging abouthow was a lot of like, memorabilia and five-star hotel. an exceptional world: beautiful
they were friends pictures, and pictures with famous
people and presidents.”
In testimony that painted a homes, beautiful surroundings,
picture of extreme privilege as well beautiful people.”
with everyoneand The social circle came up in the as strict control (he said Maxwell “But he also was a mysterious
knew everyone’ months prior to sexual abuse, Jane had told him never to look Epstein man without attachment. He had
said. “From the very beginning, in the eye), he told the court part no wife, he had no children, he had
there was a lot of bragging about of his job was to clean up after no boss; yet he attracted all these
how they were friends with Epstein’s massages, which some rich, powerful, famous people
‘Jane’ essentially everyone, and they of Epstein and Maxwell’s accusers before and after his fall from grace
Accuses Ghislaine Maxwell knew everyone. And they would have said were the guise under back in around 2008.”
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Seeing red
How Money
Heist stole
the show
for Spain
F
Sam Jones
Madrid
our years of schemes,
bullets, blasts,
anti-capitalist
allegory, remarkable
contingency planning
and wildly ill-advised
workplace romances have come to
an end with the release of the final
five episodes of Netflix’s Spanish
series La Casa de Papel.
The drama, known to English-
speaking viewers as Money Heist,
follows the adventures of a motley
crew of robbers who dress in red
overalls and Salvador Dalí masks
to plunder the Royal Mint and then
the Bank of Spain.
Armed with guts, grievances,
labyrinthine plans and the odd
heavy machine gun, the thieves
rob, fall in love, squabble, play cat-
and-mouse games with the police,
and somehow endear themselves
to a public sick of austerity,
corruption and political elites.
The first series, shown on the
Spanish TV network Antena 3 in
2017, was picked up by Netflix and
became a global phenomenon and
the platform’s then most watched
non-English language series.
As well as winning an
international Emmy award for best
drama in 2018, La Casa de Papel
(literal translation “The House
of Paper”) has been touted as
socioeconomic fable for our times
and even served as a Halloween
costume inspiration for the
many Spanish children who have
•
World
marched door-to-door in red
overalls, demanding sweets at the
end of a plastic assault rifle.
Even its creator finds its appeal
difficult to pinpoint. “You never
really know what’s going to happen
– just look at Squid Game,” said Álex
Pina. “But I think there are a few
things that explain it: you’ve got
very pure entertainment combined
with characters whose personal
and emotional relationships
are almost as important as the
heist itself.
“And the robbery works like a
football match because two teams
are playing and one has to win and
the other has to lose. You really
want to know how it’s going to end:
will they get the gold out of the
Bank of Spain or not?”
‘The robberyworks
like a football match:
one team has to lose’
Álex Pina
Money Heist creator
Pina suspects the underdog
protagonists struck a chord with
viewers in Spain after the suffering,
anger and austerity that followed
the 2008 financial crisis.
Natalia Marcos, who writes
about TV for El País, says the show’s
social and political backdrop may
have appealed to audiences living
though harsh times in Spain, Latin
America and the Arab world. But
she attributes much of its success to
“a narrative rhythm that lends itself
well to binge-watching” and to its
design. “It’s a very visual show with
its own iconography,” she said.
“It pops up on the Netflix menu
and straight away you see the Dalí
masks and the red jumpsuits and
you get pulled in.”
According to Pina, the show also
arrived at a time when viewers
were beginning to move on from US
and European fantasy shows and
the bleakness of Nordic noir.
“It’s been great for Spain – we’re
seeing about a threefold rise in
what was being made before and
we’re getting close to the UK in
production levels,” he said. “That
was unthinkable before – as was
▼ First shown on Spanish TV in
43
2017, Money Heist has become a
global phenomenon on Netflix
Alarm as Poland
OO:  Z/X
plans register of
pregnancies and
miscarriages
Weronika Strzyżyńska
Poland is planning to introduce a
centralised register of pregnancies
that would oblige doctors to report
all pregnancies and miscarriages to
the government.
The move has alarmed activists,
who believe that in light of the coun-
try’s near-total abortion ban, the
register could be used as a basis for
legal action against women who have
self-administered abortions.
“It’sabout control, it’s about mak-
ing sure that pregnancies end with
birth,”Natalia Broniarczyk, an activ-
ist from Aborcyjny Dream Team told
the Polish weekly, Gazeta Wyborcza.
The draft legislation is part of a
project to update Poland’s medical
information system. The register
the idea of Netflix bringing a would come into effect in January.
production hub to Spain.” The health ministry denied the
Diego Ávalos, Netflix’s vice- project amounted to a central-
president of content for Spain and ised pregnancy register, saying the
Portugal, describes Money Heist changes were part of a digitisation
as “one of the first shows that truly project that will update the way data
opened up and levelled fiction about a multitude of conditions,
from a global perspective”. Not including allergies, is stored. It said
only had the series “solidified the doctors had always held informa-
position of Spain as a true leader in tion on pregnancies, but it had been
the audiovisual space – particularly stored on paper by hospitals, rather
in fiction,” it had also helped pave than centrally by the government.
the way for the likes of Lupin and Abill proposed by the government
Squid Game. that would establish an “Institute of
All three shows, Ávalos suggests, Family and Demographics” passed
demonstrate there is “an appetite its first reading in the Polish parlia-
for content regardless of language ment by a single vote on Thursday.
and country of origin that can be The institute would aim to moni-
able to be loved and consumed tor family policy and educatecitizens
everywhere in the world”. on the importance of “cultural-social
And all three examine privilege reproduction”in the context of mar-
and power in their own way. “Lupin riage. It would have prosecutorial
couldn’t be more French, Squid powers in the realm of family law,
Game couldn’t be more Korean, and prompting concern that it could be
La Casa de Papel couldn’t be more
Spanish,” he said. “But all three
used to enforce abortion law.
Adam Bodnar, a former ombuds-
are meant to be for the general man for citizens’ rights in Poland,
audience, and all three are meant said: “The projectaims exclusively to
to be enjoyed by the maximum promote the traditional model of fam-
number of people within those ily.It could also become a tool against
countries.” those who fall outside this model.”
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
44 World

Leader in a hurry First female PM has

big plans for new republic of Barbados

A
was surprising. “She is a person in a
Michael Safi hurry,” says Cynthia Barrow-Giles, a
Bridgetown professor of political science at the
University of the West Indies (UWI),
republic had been who has tracked Mottley’s political
proposed and career since she entered parliament
postponed by as a lawyer in her late twenties.
Barbadian prime “Her hurry is to achieve what
ministers for she thinks is in the realm of
decades. Battling a possibility in the Caribbean. She
pandemic that had devastated its believes this region represents a
tourism economy, Mia Mottley, the civilisation that is still untapped
country’s first female leader, had and she wants to tap it.”
ample excuses to again kick the Mottley hails from a wealthy
constitutional can down the road. family and a Barbadian political
Instead, at the stroke of midnight dynasty, her grandfather was a
on Monday, she oversaw the mayor of the capital, Bridgetown,
transition of the Caribbean island and her father an MP, but in her
from the realm of the British own career has forged a populist
monarchy to the country’s first profile, comfortable among the
masses and close to working class
constituencies.
Taking office after a landslide in
2018 – her Barbados Labour party
took all 30 seats in parliament in the
first clean sweep in the country’s
history – one of her early acts was to
reinstate free tertiary education at
the UWI campus.
Barbados is a socially
conservative, deeply religious
society, heaping difficulty on the
rise of a woman – especially one
who is single – to the top of its
politics. “She’s taken a lot more
abuse than any other politician
I know, both within her political
organisation and outside it,”
says Peter Wickham, a principal
director at the Caribbean
practises a politics of convenience,”
Wickham says.
What she wants to do with
power, on the other hand, is less
open to compromise. Removing
financial barriers to university
points to the kind of mental
transformation Mottley is eager to
accelerate across the Caribbean.
Alongside cutting ties to the
monarchy she has strengthened
them with the Gold Coast states
from which Britain enslaved and
transported an estimated 600,000
Africans to work on the island’s
sugar plantations. (Just 83,000
were surviving at emancipation,
according to the Barbadian
historian Sir Hilary Beckles.)
Boosting the somewhat staid

30
president, Sandra Mason, and, Development Research Services event of a formal constitutional
in case that were not enough, political consultancy. transition (guest of honour, Prince
bestowed the title of national But Mottley, “a political creature Charles) with the star power of
hero on Rihanna in one of the new from start to finish”, shrugs most Rihanna ensured it became an
republic’s first acts. Number of seats Mia Mottley’s of it off, he adds. Many of her international story that was shared
To close observers of Mottley, 56, Labour party won in 2018, marking former adversaries and rivals are widely on social media and reached
little of what transpired this week Barbados’s first clean sweep now members of her cabinet. “She younger audiences.

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Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
▼ Mia Mottley speaks during the
national honours ceremony and
Independence Day parade
R: RDY RK/
•
It showcased another emerging
Mottley trademark: a savviness for
getting noticed on the international
stage. At last month’s Cop26
summit in Glasgow Mottley
surveyed a hall of many of the
world’s most powerful people,
delivering a withering warning in
her contralto voice that captured
the moment and left some
speculating about a possible future
running a UN agency, if not one day
becoming its first female and first
Caribbean secretary-general.
Establishing a proud,
independent Barbadian identity
that is unflinching about the
country’s bloody past and its
implications for the future has been R:
one of Mottley’s long-term goals,
analysts say.
Last year, when the murder of
George Floyd ignited Black Lives
Matter activism around the world,
she seized the opening, agreeing
to take down a statue of Horatio
Nelson that had stood in the
capital for more than 200 years,
and the same day it was removed
announcing Barbados was going to
become a republic in a year’s time.
“She would not have forgiven
herself if she hadn’t addressed
[the republic], and she wanted
to address it quickly,” says
Barrow-Giles.
But she must walk a careful
line. The pandemic dented tourist
45
▲ Mottley with arrivals in Barbados by 86% last
national hero year and has left the economy
Rihanna reeling. Barrow-Giles is one of
many to express doubts over
DV KKY/
Y  whether Mottley has done enough
to persuade Barbadians of why
changes such as the republic, or
an accompanying review of the
‘She believes constitution, matter to their lives.
this region Caribbean leaders often outlive
their welcome, Wickham says.
represents a Notably, Mottley has made clear
civilisation that she supports term limits, and
that is that she would serve only two
untapped terms herself. “Our previous prime
and wants ministers don’t have a good record
to tap it’ of resignations … because nothing
excites them like being a PM,”
Prof Cynthia Wickham says.
Barrow-Giles With a surging international
profile, however, Mottley may find
that she does not encounter the
same problem.
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
46

Shell’s withdrawal
from Cambo may
be ‘death knell’ for
North Sea projects
Shell scrapped the Cambo project
Jillian Ambrose after the government made clear
Energy correspondent that it would need to meet certain
“climate concessions” to win its
approval. The companysaid publicly
Shell’s decision to back out of plans
to develop the Cambo oilfield could that the “economic case for invest-
signal the “death knell” for new large-
ment” was not strong.
scale North Sea projects as the UK’s Shell’s withdrawal comes weeks
tougher climate agenda prompts after the company was left “dis-
major oil companies to beat a retreat
appointed” by a UK regulator’s
from the ageing oil basin. “unexpected” decision to decline its
Industry sources have warned application to develop another North
Sea project at the Jackdaw field.
that Shell’s project partner, private
equity-backed Siccar Point Energy, “It’sa bit embarrassing for Shell so
would struggle to find a partner to soon after announcing itwould relo-
take on Shell’s 30% stake in the newcate its headquarters to London from
oilfield which has provoked outrage the Netherlands,” the source added.
among green campaigners. Most big listed oil companies have
Shell’s retreat has cast doubt over
reduced their North Sea presence in
the future of the project,which could
recent years by selling offassets, and
yield hundreds of millions of barrels
the companies which remain are rel-
atively small oil industry minnows
of oil, and industry sources claim it
raises fresh doubts over the North which would balk at the scale of the
Sea’s future large-scale oil projects.
Cambo project or lack the experience
“This is a turning point,” said one
to develop the field.
industry source, who asked not to be “There are no listed oil companies
named. “Companies will be think- which would look seriously at this
ing: ‘If Shell can’t do it, can we?’ I just
project, and the private companies
don’t see any truly large-scale pro-don’t typically have the track record
jects being sanctioned in the North in project development which Shell
Sea any more. There will still be small
brought to the table,” said the source.
developments aroundexisting fields. There is also “a huge amount of
But this is a death knell for major new
uncertainty” around the govern-
projects in the UK.” ment’s support for new North Sea
The Guardian understands that oil and gas development, according

The new Amazon effect

to the source, which could put off
smaller companies which require
Court allows seismic tests tighter project timelines.
Caroline Rance,a campaigner with

Employers left short-staffed as

Friends of the Earth Scotland, said
Royal Dutch Shell will move Shell’s exit from Cambo “marks the
ahead with seismic tests to beginning of the end for all new oil
explore for oil in whale breeding and gas projects” in the North Sea.

retail giant soaks up local jobs

grounds along South Africa’s Green campaigners havecalled on
coastline, after a court dismissed the government to takea clear stance
an 11th-hour legal challenge by against new fossil fuel developments
environmental groups. following findings from the global
The judgment allows Shell to energy watchdog, the International
begin firing extremely loud sound Energy Agency, which said no new

O
waves through the relatively fossil fuel projects were compatible
untouched marine environment with the world’s climate targets. but it’s actually running very consumer habits and standing
of the Wild Coast, which is home Rance said: “Both the UK and Scot- Richard Partington smoothly,” says David Tindal, accused of gaining an unfair
to whales, dolphins and seals. tish governments must now officially Economics correspondent general manager of the Swindon advantage by paying too little in tax
Green groups fear exploring reject Cambo,say no to any future oil fulfilment centre. “The team has and hollowing out high streets, it is
for oil could disrupt the sea and gas developments in UK waters n an industrial estate been fantastic. We spend the whole also creating huge distortions in the
mammals’ habitat and damage and get on with planning a fair and outside Swindon, year preparing for this peak time, jobs market. The shiny new depot
the ecologically diverse and fast transition for people working in it’s the busiest time like a good football club preparing has created its own gravitational
sensitive environment. But this industry.” of year at Amazon’s for the cup final.” force in the Wiltshire jobs market,
the court found the applicants The questions around the North newest warehouse in Known internally as BRS2 – a sucking staff away from other
had failed to prove there was a Sea are set to reignite tensions Britain. Black boxes nomenclature based on nearest businesses such as care homes.
reasonable risk of “irreparable between the Treasury, which is rattle along miles of conveyor belt, airports (in this case, Bristol) – the The latest outpost of Jeff Bezos’s
harm” without a block on Shell’s understood to be concerned over carrying everything from toys to warehouse is all gleaming steel and empire also illustrates the shifting
plans, and found in favour of the the flight of investment from the UK painkillers amid a cacophony of glass in the Wiltshire countryside. economic sands in the western
oil firm because of the financial post-Brexit, and the Department for alarms and faint Christmas songs. The vast site is also a stark world: in July the nearby Honda
costs of a delay to the testing. Business, Energy and Industrial Strat- “I’m looking around here at reminder of the sheer might of the car factory closed with the loss
Jillian Ambrose egy, which leads the climate policy. anything that might not be right internet giant. As well as upending of about 3,000 direct jobs, plus
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
FTSE 100 All share
- 6.89 - 4.57
7122.32 4059.32
thousands more in the supply
chain, many of which were high-
paying, skilled roles – a decision
blamed partly on rexit.
mazon has hired 2,000 staff
in a matter of months in windon,
opening the site earlier than
planned at the start of ovember
to take advantage of the online
shopping boom sparked by the
pandemic – advertising “a job for
life, not just for Christmas”.
With hiring bonuses of up
to £3,000 at some of its 150 K
warehouses and starting pay of
£11.10 per hour – more than £2
higher than the legal minimum,
and above the £9.90 real living
wage – the firm is aiming to shake a
reputation as one of ritain’s worst
employers for pay and conditions.
For ue ouldey, operations
director at Coate Water Care, which
runs three care homes in the town
and six others across the west
country, the arrival of the internet
giant comes amid the toughest
hiring challenges of her career.
“We’re competing with mazon
and the big warehouses, as well as
•
Dow Indl Nikkei 225
- 150.57 +276.20 1.1720 1.3220
34489.22 28029.57
hospitality, for the same people. t staff has a noticeable impact.
can be very frustrating,” she says.
Coate Water hasn’t lost staff directly mazon into the local labour
to mazon, but competition for
candidates is fierce. nsufficient
funding for social care and soaring nstitute for mployment tudies. are more opportunities for career
fixed costs make it difficult to raise e says the company is following
pay much higher than the £8.91 per a similar path to conald’s two
hour legal minimum – making a job decades ago, when negative media work; good money but you worked
at the nearby mazon depot 25%
more lucrative.
With more than 100,000
vacancies in care nationwide
amid a worsening staffing crisis,
many staff are leaving to work for
mazon and other higher-paying
jobs. “obody wants to discuss it
because it’s unpalatable. ut the
funding that we get doesn’t allow
us to pay probably what we want to
pay for our staff,” says ouldey.
s with retail, winter is peak
time for the care sector; only the
stakes are far higher. ouldey must
meet Care Quality Commission
requirements for sufficient staff
numbers. “f [you are mazon and] Sue Houldey
one of your workers doesn’t turn
up, it’s like: ‘ey ho, everyone else
can just work a bit harder’. hose
£/€ £/$
-0.0038 -0.0088
 Workers at
Amazon’s new
“hey have to have good
employment practices, because
fulfilment centre
on the outskirts
there’s so much attention on them.
s a consequence a misconception
of Swindon,
which opened
ahead of schedule
can form that this is all crap work
and the reality is it isn’t”.
n the ripple effect of mazon
PHOTOGRAPH:
GRAEME ROBERTSON/
coming to town, omingos ias
has seen more than 100 of his
THE GUARDIAN
colleagues leave the arks &
pencer warehouse (run on an
outsourced basis by L) where he
works. taff leaving to join the rival
rules don’t apply in care. t’s not an has left resources stretched.
equal playing field.” “Where you would have 10
fficial figures show a record people, 20 people, they now try
1.2m job vacancies across ritain, to do it with five,” he says. “ince
with shortages of lorry drivers in mazon came, they had these
particular attracting attention. opportunities and people went for
pproaching Christmas, there the prospects for higher salary.”
are many reasons for the worker he  trade union shop
drought. ritain’s workforce has steward is pushing for higher pay
shrunk since the onset of Covid-19, for employees and agency staff,
with more than half a million more who are paid less than at mazon
people in economic inactivity – out on £9.45 an hour. “he guys who
of work and not looking for a job were working for 20 long years on
– amid a rise in early retirement agency contracts, they didn’t have
and young people pushing back any loyalty for arks & pencer and
the start of their working lives. L, so they saw this and grabbed
ore than 200,000  citizen have the opportunity.”
left the workforce, while Covid ay is rising fast in warehousing
restrictions and rexit migration work according to figures from
rules are limiting their return. the jobs website ndeed, with the
Job switching has hit record median hourly wage up 11% this
levels with more than a million year from £9.25 to £10.27.
furloughed workers leaving the igher pay is enticing workers to
scheme as it closed at the end of the warehouse. till, critics argue
eptember, and others looking for a Jeff ezos, with a fortune of more
new job in a “great resignation”. than $200bn (£150bn), could easily
mazon has played a substantial afford to pay more. ours are still
role in ritain’s labour market flux. long, while the company does not
he arrival of a new warehouse recognise trade unions.
might be touted by local politicians he timing of mazon’s arrival
for “creating jobs”, but switching could however prove helpful, after
from an old employer is more onda ended its more than three
likely, engendering a form of labour decades in windon.
market creative destruction with indal bumps into former onda
winners and losers. employees on a regular basis at
n windon, a town with a total 2, including an engineer with
workforce of about 110,000 where 30 years experience maintaining
unemployment is below the K robotic car-spraying arms – who
average at 3.9%, the arrival of a big now looks after the army of blue
new employer hiring thousands of robots that scuttle goods around a
the mazon warehouse.
“When you drop a stone like Jay Colsell, who worked five
years with onda, is another. e
pool, it makes quite big waves,” says pay was higher and hours
says ony Wilson, director of the shorter in his old job, but there
progression at mazon.
“onda was busy. t was hard
coverage pushed the fast-food for it. mazon is also good but you
chain to clean up its act. don’t have to run around lots, you
just have to be proactive.”
‘We are competing  modern day equivalent
of a Victorian factory, the new
with Amazon and the warehouse covers an area the size
big warehouses and of six and a half football pitches.
indal recruited about 600 staff
hospitality for the ahead of time and trained them at
mazon’s older ristol fulfilment
same people. It can centre in order to launch as
be very ’ smoothly as possible. he general
manager, who has opened three
other sites for the firm from scratch
– aventry, ugby and ilton
Keynes – says even more expansion
is still expected after Christmas.
“We’re probably still advertising,
Coate Wate are  haven’t checked. We’re going to
pause until the new year, but then
we’ll be hiring some more.”
47
Study Omicron
data before any
interest rate
rise, says Bank
policymaker
Richard Partington
he ank of ngland could bene-
fit from waiting to see the impact of
the micron Covid variant on the K
economy before raisinginterest rates,
one of its policymakers has said.
ichael aunders said he believed
there could be advantages from tak-
ing no action when the central bank
meets to set borrowing costs in just
under two weeks’ time.
aunders, an external member
of the ank’s nine-strong mone-
tary policy committee, had opted to
raise interest rates at its last meeting
in ovember. ut he was outvoted
and the C unexpectedly held
back from raising rates for the first
time since the spread of Covid-19,
instead leaving rates unchanged at
an all-time low of 0.1%.
“t present, given the new mi-
cron Covid variant has only been
detected quite recently, there could
be particular advantages in waiting
to see more evidence on its possible
effects on public health outcomes and
hence on the economy,” aunders
said in an online speech yesterday.
e said, however, there could also
be potential costs from delayinga rate
rise if the variant turned out to have a
limited impact on demand for goods
and services amid rising inflationary
pressures across the ritish economy.
“here are potential costs and ben-
efits of waiting for more data. Youcan
see the potential benefit; you get to
learn a bit more about how micron
might affect the economy,” he said.
“he potential cost is that infla-
tion expectations have drifted up
recently, especially among house-
holds and financial markets.  have
some concern about that.”
aunders said holding inter-
est rates at 0.1% could further add
to expectations for higher levels of
inflation, if micron turned out to
be relatively benign for the economy.
he new variant could also worsen
disruption for global supply chains,
exacerbatingexisting bottlenecks in a
development that could add to infla-
tionary pressures.
“[hat would] mean subsequently
tightening policy turns out to be more
abrupt, more painful than might oth-
erwise be the case,” he said.
Financial markets were pricing
a 33% chance of a ecember rise in
interest rates after the speech, down
from about 75% last week before
news of the micron variant broke.
he ank’s rate-setting panel’s
next decision will be announced on
16 ecember.
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
48 Financial

China’s Didi quits

New York to list
biggest technology companies. The
company said it would start “imme-
diate” preparations to delist in New
biggest listing by a Chinese company
in the US since Alibaba in 2014, only
for investors to sharply sell offshares A Lidl bit fashionable
Logo-branded items
York and prepare to go public in Hong days later as China’s internet regula-
in Hong Kong Kong.
“After a careful study, the com-
pany will start delisting on the New
tor ordered its ride-hailing app to be
taken off domestic app stores.
It was also banned from signingup

prove a social media

York stock exchange immediately, new users, and subjected to a “cyber-
Mark Sweney and start preparations for listing in security review”,as Beijing flexed its
Hong Kong,” the company posted muscle to curtail Didi’s international
yesterday on its Weibo account, a expansion plans.

hit for budget stores

The Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Twitter-like service in China. In August, Didi suspended plans to
is to move its listing from the New It comes less than six months launch in Europe and the UK, where
York stock exchange to Hong Kong, as after Didi made its $4.4bn (£3.3bn) it had secured licences to operate in
Beijing cracks down on the country’s flotation in New York, making it the Manchester, Salford and Sheffield.

A
Sarah Butler
Lidl bit of style goes
a long way. After the
supermarket chain
scored a surprise
hit with its own-
brand trainers,
rivals are looking to capitalise on
the “mundane” trend which has
seen clothes emblazoned with the
logos of everyday brands become
surprise fashion icons.
Aldi, McDonald’s, Ikea and
Marmite have jumped on the
bandwagon with jumpers, hats
and Christmas baubles after Lidl’s
trainers, decorated with the store’s
garish corporate colours, became
a social media sensation. Pairs
of the £12.99 red yellow and blue
footwear, preferably worn with
Lidl logo socks, are being offered
on eBay for more than £1,000
after they sold out in stores in
September. The supermarket said
it sold 84 items a minute of its “Lidl
x Lidl” collection on the day it
launched.
Aldi has unveiled a collection
of Christmas merchandise
including jumpers, socks and
mens’ underpants after its first
“Aldi Mania” collection, promoted
on Instagram by the boxer and
Love Island contestant Tommy
Fury, sold out within days. In a
bargain basement nod to designer
items from couture brands
such as Louis Vuitton, the Aldi

Nationwide combined with deep operational and

appoints TSB’s
Crosbie as first
female CEO
Mark Sweney
Nationwide yesterday appointed
Debbie Crosbie as the first female
chief executive in the building soc-
iety’s 175-year history.
The 51-year-old, who has led the
turnaround of the troubled bank
technological knowledge.”
Analysts welcomed Crosbie’s
appointment, with the stockbroker
Goodbody praising the “remark-
able turnaround in inancial
performance” at TSB after she led a
“relentless restructuring effort”.
Goodbody said: “We think she is an
excellent choice for the Nationwide
chief executive seat, and we wish her
well in the new role.”
Crosbie follows in the footsteps of
Alison Rose – whose appointment as
chief executive of Royal Bank of Scot-
land in 2019 made her the first woman
to lead one of Britain’s biggest banks.
Born and raised in Glasgow, the
daughter of an engineer and a care
worker, Crosbie studied business at
Strathclyde University before mov-

Be More Confident.
TSB as its chief executive since May
2019, will takeover from Joe Garner,
who has run Nationwide for the last
six years.
Crosbie will start at the country’s
second-largest mortgage lender in
We’re on a mission to make the uncomfortable, comfortable. To make the first half of next year.Nationwide
did not disclose her pay;however, it is
discussing finances normal, helping you and your family to avoid any expected to be in line with the £1.2m
unexpected surprises. Garner receives annually.
Kevin Parry, the building society’s
No matter what stage of life you or your finances are at, we’re here to incoming chair, said: “Following a
make sure you’re confident and in control of your financial future. thorough and rigorous selection pro-
cess, she emerged as the outstanding
candidate to lead Nationwide. She
Find out how our financial experts can help you brings significant bankingexperience
be more confident.
Scan the QR code to download your free ‘It’s time
to talk’ guide, or call 020 3925 6867
The value of investments can fall as well as rise. Investors may get back less than invested.
Charles Stanley & Co. Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
▲ Debbie Crosbie’s turnaround of
TSB has been lauded as ‘remarkable’
ing to London to join the Prudential
graduate trainee scheme.
In 1997, she joined Clydesdale
Bank, which later became CYBG.
While acting chief executive there,
she led the preparation for its
demerger from National Australia
Bank and subsequent flotation.
But after missing out the top job at
CYBG, which has since become Vir-
gin Money, Crosbie went on to take
the helm at TSB.
The move to Nationwide comes as
the banking sector faces the prospect
of an imminent increase in histori-
cally low interest rates, against a
backdrop of falling unemployment
and higher inflation.
The UK’s biggest mutual, owned
by its members, it sees itself as act-
ing as a balance to the high street
banks, often offering better deals
because it does not have to respond
to shareholders.
“Nationwide’s mutual status,
combined with its trusted brand
and market-leading customer ser-
vice, make it a purposeful and unique
force for good,” said Crosbie.
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
49
▼ Lidl unveiled its Lidl x Lidl
collection in September, selling 84
items a minute on launch day
HOTORH: INE
prevalent on the catwalk with
Burberry featuring a British ail
ticket as a key ring while Vetements
designs featured Vodafone and
eineken logos.
all said: “Younger designers
began playing with brands,
elevating household brands to
covetable streetwear. ow it has
moved from interesting designers
▲ Love Island ▼ McDonald’s playing with everyday logos to
contestant has produced something much wider. About a
Tommy Fury a Christmas year ago supermarkets thought
wears an Aldi jumper this year well why not [do it ourselves]?
Mania hoodie as part of its hey realised it had got to the point
that sold out Reindeer Ready where the mass market would
within days promotion understand the joke.”
She said the merchandise gets
shared on social media and helps
make brands part of popular
culture.
“Supermarkets have been savvy.
hey are not putting loads of units
out there and filling the aisles. t is
a great brand vehicle and they are
now part of the conversation.”
Maureen inton, an analyst
at the retail research group
GlobalData, said: “t’s a way of
collection featured hoodies, slides, Christmas party outfits are turning since 2015 when it began with by the homeware store’s blue and having some fun with the brand
underpants and pyjamas covered in to Amazon for jumpers inspired designers such as Anya indmarch, yellow Frakta carrier bags, was a and really it’s about social media –
the supermarket’s logo. by Poundland, Greggs and Asda, Bethany Williams and Peacebird tearaway trend in 2020. n 2014, this is everywhere.”
Julie Ashfield, managing director although these brands are not referencing household brands in the grime artist MC Skepta was Matt Clarke, a co-founder of
of buying for the German discount involved in their design and sale. their creations. n 2017, Balenciaga seen drinking from a Sports Direct not just clothing, said its Greggs-
chain, said its customers were “real Lorna all, director of fashion caused a stir with a £1,600 tote bag branded mug in his video for t inspired Christmas jumper was one
fans of Aldi and want to wear their intelligence at the trends agency which appeared to be inspired by Ain’t Safe, and mixing its -shirts of its best sellers and had proved
loyalty loud and proud”. WGS, said they have been kea’s blue tote. with his designer gear on stage. particularly popular with workers
People seeking alternative tracking the “mundane” trend he kea bucket hat, influenced n 2019 the idea was more from the bakery chain.

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50
Christmas special
Real or fake: which kind of
tree is most sustainable?
This year Britons will buy
8m real trees, but there are
I
other options that might be
better for the environment.
Zoe Wood reports
t’s the annual dilemma. Do
you buy an artificial tree that
will give years of service, or
do you stick with a real one
that will be discarded on 6
January?
This year British households are
expected to buy as many as 8m real
Christmas trees, but with growing
concern about the climate crisis,
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
who has actually grown it on their
property,” says the BCTGA chair,
ans Alexandersen. “f they’re
▲ Green-fingered consumers might
be better buying a potted tree that
can be used for several Christmases
grown in some faraway place and PH: RIN URH/RX/SHURSK
are being transported from A to B,
you’re putting a lot of mileage on
that tree.”
n recent years the supply of
domestically grown Christmas
trees has increased. The most
popular choice is the ordmann
fir, which is much admired for its
thick, bushy branches and soft
needles that are slower to drop than
a traditional orway spruce.
many consumers are wondering if to keep its environmental impact enting a tree has become a
this is the greenest option. lower than buying a real tree every popular alternative for people who
“Choosing the most sustainable year, depending on the materials care about their environmental ▲ If you have an artificial tree, keep
Christmas tree will vary depending used in the artificial tree. impact but prefer to have a real one using it rather than buying a new one
on circumstance,” says the Friends Around two-thirds of an artificial at home, Oxborrow says. “Once
of the Earth senior sustainability tree’s carbon footprint is the plastic returned to the vendor after the
analyst, Clare Oxborrow. “For those it is made from. f you are keen to festive period, trees are replanted
who already own an artificial tree, buy one you could also look out for so that they can be rented out again
it’s best to keep on using that over one made out of recycled materials next year,” she says.
buying a new one. By reusing the or a pre-owned one, it suggests. he suggests the green-fingered
same decorations year on year, f it is a real tree you want, the explore potted options. “Those
unnecessary waste can also be kept British Christmas Tree Growers with a dab hand for gardening
to a minimum.” Association (BCTGA) advises might be better off buying a potted
According to the Carbon Trust, you opt for one grown nearby. tree and looking after it the whole
a 6.5ft artificial tree is responsible ts website, bctga.co.uk, has a year round, so it continues to pay
for about 40kg of greenhouse gas useful directory to help you find a off well after its first use.”
emissions. This means you need to company where you live. While rental services can be ▲ Most local authorities offer a
reuse it for about 10 Christmases “Buy a tree from a local grower marginally cheaper than buying recycling service for real trees
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Money hacks
How to protect your
home in the holidays
Page 54
Real, fake or rent?
How the costs stack up
▲ A fresh 6ft Nordmann fir can cost
anywhere from about £35 to £70
Fresh trees
Costs vary considerably from
provider to provider. In Kent,
Watts Farm advertises a 6ft locally
grown Nordmann fir at £48, while
at Exe Valley Christmas Trees you
will pay £50, plus a delivery charge
if you want it brought to your door.
The Christmas Forest, which runs
sites around London and does
deliveries, is charging £70 for a 6ft
tree of the same type.
Amongst large retailers, at
Homebase, a 6-7ft Nordmann fir is
being advertised for £36.75, while
Wilko has the same sized tree on its
website at £54.
Rented trees
At Primrose Vale Farm Shop in
Gloucestershire the cost of renting
a 6ft tree is £45, plus a refundable
deposit of £15, for the period from
the first week of December to 9
January. If you want the same tree last, but can cost hundreds of pounds
a tree outright, Alexandersen is
sceptical of a model that sees them
clock up extra miles on the road or
perish anyway if they are not cared
for properly. If a tree is going to be
planted outside afterwards it needs their property’
to be kept away from heat sources
and stay indoors for no longer than
a fortnight.
is own company, ans
Christmas Andersen, which has
farms in Surrey and Kent, cuts
down about a 10th of its 800,000
trees each year, with each one
felled replaced with a new tree.
“We don’t go into a forest and cut
trees out of that,” he says. “We have also includes on the labour side.”
planted these trees for cutting and
the environment they are creating is actually more significant than
for wildlife is amazing.” The BCTA where it comes from or how you got
advises consumers to wait as long
as they can before buying what is a impact on the environment is much director of ethics and sustainability
“fresh” product.
Tree prices vary but
Alexandersen says shoppers should
expect to pay about 5% more this
year, as growers recoup higher
fertiliser, fuel and labour costs.
“We have incurred quite a lot
of expenses during the year,” he
says. On his farms the price of a 6ft into mulch for you. If you have a
Nordmann fir or Norway spruce
has increased by £5 to £60 and £35
•
Fantasy house hunt
Cosy cottages for
the winter months
Page 55
back next year, the deposit will be
held. Christmas on the Hill in north
London has sold out of big trees,
but can rent you a three-footer
for £36, plus £4 to rent a watering
saucer and a £30 deposit. Again you
can have the same tree back year
after year – so one day it should
reach 6ft.
Artificial trees
You can buy a 6ft plastic tree
from B&Q for £22, or spend as
much as £184 in the same shop
for one that includes 400 LED
bulbs with eight light settings.
Most retailers offer a selection of
different designs across a similar
range of prices.
Bear in mind, if you are going
to use it for the next decade you
probably want a classic green tree,
rather than something quirky that
might become dated.
Hilary Osborne
▲ Artificial trees with LED lights will
‘Buy a tree from a don’t shop as if you are under siege of people you’ll be cooking for.
local grower who has
actually grown it on the
Hans Alexandersen
Chair, BCTGA
respectively. “With Brexit and the
virus, things have become a little
bit more difficult for us to get and
we have had to pay more and that
ow you dispose of a real tree
it home. If it ends up in landfill the away food,” says Marija Rompani,
worse because of the methane
released during decomposition.
Most local authorities now
offer a collection service for real
trees which they shred and use on gases than aviation. When we
gardens and parks. If that is not
an option some companies will
come to your house and grind it
shredder you can do it yourself.
▲ Avoid waste by making sure your Christmas roast is the right size to feed
the number of people you are cooking for HGH:  Y/Y
Food and drink
Make sure green issues
are onyour festive menu
Buying too much food for
just two days, and then
F
having to throw it away, has often realise.”
more of an impact than we
realise, as Zoe Wood reports number
or many people
Christmas is about
eating and drinking but from the main Christmas dinner.
it is easy to get carried
away, not just eating too Waitrose Cookery School in central quantities that you need.
much but buying too
much, and then throwing it away.
“It only lasts a couple of days so buy the right size for the number
for a month,” says Rob Percival,
Soil Association’s head of
food policy.
“Resist the temptation to buy a
huge turkey you will never finish
and which will end up in the bin
once you have exhausted ideas to
use up the leftovers.”
Around the world, households
discard 74kg of food a person,
according to data from the UN, and
food waste and loss causes about
10% of the emissions driving the
climate emergency. If food waste
was a country, it would have the
third highest emissions after only
the US and China.
“We’re too casual about throwing
at John Lewis Partnership, which
owns Waitrose.
“The reality is food waste
creates six times more greenhouse
throw food away, we waste the
precious resources taken to grow,
package and transport it – and
as it rots in landfill, it produces
methane, a greenhouse gas more
potent than carbon dioxide. So
51
‘Food waste creates
six times more
greenhouse gases
than aviation’
Marija Rompani
John Lewis Partnership
deforestation, so it is important to
select your bird carefully. If you can
afford to, the Soil Association urges
shoppers to buy an organic bird or
consider other proteins.
At a time when food prices are
rising anyway, going organic comes
at a price. The birds cost more, and
worker shortages bedevilling the
industry mean you probably need
to order well in advance.
“If an organic bird is not feasible
then look at welfare-assured and
free-range options,” says Percival.
“If you are buying a barn-reared
turkey then look for a Bronze bird,
which has been more slowly reared
in less crowded conditions.”
At Tesco, for example, a basic
turkey crown is listed online at
£7.95 a kilo, while free range costs
£15 a kilo and organic is £19 a kilo.
If these alternatives don’t work,
the simple action of throwing food consider pasture-fed beef or lamb,
in the bin has more of a negative or ditch meat altogether for a
impact on our planet than people vegetarian or vegan centrepiece.
Another way to limit the
Spend time thinking about the environmental impact of
of people you are catering your dinner is to avoid exotic
for, and work out exactly how many veg. Just stick to traditional
meals you will have to prepare. accompaniments such as spuds,
Remember to take into account that sprouts, carrots, leeks and
some will be made up of leftovers parsnips, which are in season.
If you can, buy loose veg so as to
Kendall Zaluski, chef tutor at the reduce packaging and get the exact
London, says: “If you’re keeping it If you need help working out
traditional, and opting for turkey, how much to buy, Zaluski suggests
you allow one large handful
of greens for each person, and
Waitrose clearly states on the pack two root veg, such as carrots or
parsnips. She thinks one large
how many people it will serve.”
Many other suppliers offer that
kind of guidance, or, if you are
potato each is enough (with maybe
an extra thrown in for every fourth
buying from a butcher, they should person, just in case).
be able to advise you. Another festive favourite,
Online, too, you can easily find cheese, has a high carbon
information on what sized roast footprint so go easy when stocking
you need for the number of people up the fridge.
you are catering for. All is not lost if you have lots of
For anyone trying to reduce their turkey left over, Zaluski says. It
environmental footprint, eating is a versatile food to incorporate
less and better meat is a simple in other meals with the carcass
mantra to follow. perfect as the base for stocks or
Most turkeys eaten in December gravy: “I like to roast the carcass
are intensively reared indoors and for a more intense flavour. This
fed cheap soya, which is linked to is a great way to yield as much
flavour as possible, as the roasting
caramelises the tiny bits of meat
still attached.”
Another way to make greener
choices about what you eat over the
festive period is to seek out BCorp
certified food and drink brands.
On both the Ocado and Waitrose
websites you can browse virtual
aisles dedicated to thousands of
products, including beer, wine,
spirits and chocolates, from
▲ Bronze turkeys are more slowly companies that are part of the
reared in less crowded conditions ethical scheme.

52
Wrapping and cards
Make sure Christmas
doesn’t go to waste
There are new ways to make
sure the wrapping paper,
Y
cards and crackers don’t just
go to landfill after the big day,
as Rupert Jones discovers
ou’ve greened your
Christmas tree and
planned your menu
so that as little food as
possible gets wasted.
Now you just need
to make sure that other festive
paraphernalia doesn’t just add
to landfill.
Wrapping paper
When it comes to eco-friendly
options, there is plenty of choice.
Retailers, from John Lewis to
Wilko, say they have made theirs
recyclable. What’s the betting Boris
Johnson will be popping into Wilko
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
Money
to pick up some of its Peppa Pig gift
wrap (£2 for a 4 metre roll)?
Online, you will find specialist
companies such as Re-wrapped
(re-wrapped.co.uk), which says
it only uses 100% recycled,
unbleached materials and
vegan-friendly vegetable inks,
and adds that all its products are
biodegradable and compostable.
The RSPB got a name-check in
Country Life for its options. The
conservation charity’s Christmas
wrapping paper is recyclable, made
from Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC) certified paper and, this year,
from recycled paper printed with
water-based inks.
Alternatively, newspaper and
brown paper are easy to recycle,
and natural twine is much better
than sticky tape.
Another option is to use fabric.
During the last few years there’s
been growing interest in furoshiki,
traditional Japanese cloths used
▼ Wrapping your presents in fabric
is an eye-catching and sustainable
alternative to using paper
HGH: UI UM/GY IMG
to wrap or transport goods. They
are eye-catching and reusable,
and websites such as Etsy feature
stacks of different options for all
budgets.
Recycle Now, the recycling
campaign for England, says some
councils will accept wrapping
paper in household recycling
schemes, but others won’t, as it
is not accepted by some recycled
paper mills. Check with your
local authority.
Cards
Arguably the greenest option is to
go paperless and send e-cards to
loved ones. A number of leading
“Any embellishments, such
as ribbons or glitter, cannot be
recycled so should be removed
first,” it adds.
But before recycling, consider
whether you can get any more
use out of your cards, advises the
charity the Woodland Trust. For
example, you could upcycle them
into decorations or gift tags.
Crackers
Traditionally these have been
one of the most environmentally-
unfriendly festive purchases,
with lots of single-use plastic tat
destined for landfill and – when the
pulling and banging is over – a pile
of paper and packaging.
owever, many K retailers
have stopped selling crackers
charities, including Friends of the containing plastic toys, ditched the
Earth and Shelter, will let you pick glitter that can make recycling a
a design, add your message, donate challenge, and, in some cases, used
and send. recycled paper.
Some of the greenest cards are At the budget end, Wilko is
available from specialist players selling a pack of six crackers
such as ecoLiving (ecoliving.co.uk) for children, each containing a
and 1 Tree Cards (1treecards.com). gift, a hat, a snap and a motto,
n both cases, the firm plants a tree for £3. These are made using
for every eco-friendly card sold, recyclable plastic-free content
plus you get a pack of forget-me- and packaging.
not seed sticks or a flower seed Other offerings include
token that you can plant. Paperchase’s rather striking
According to Recycle Now, most Nutcracker-themed crackers,
cards are paper-based and can be costing £12 for a box of six. Each
recycled, along with envelopes, contains a joke, a hat and a festive
either in household collections or at trivia card. These boast no plastic
local recycling points. contents and are FSC approved.
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Consumer champions
Miles Brignall
Charging my electric car
at home is a no-Go area
A few months ago I decided to
switch energy supplier and moved
to Octopus Energy’s Go tariff,
principally because it offers cheap
electric car charging overnight at a
rate of 5p/kWh.
I applied to have the required
smart meter installed. But after
being given a date, I was later
declined on the basis that smart
meters cannot work at my address
because they interfere with the
missile early warning system at
RAF Fylingdales.
Initially, I thought this was a
joke. I have been involved with the
construction of hundreds of new
homes in Teesside, all of which
have had smart meters installed.
Smart Energy GB, the body
responsible for the rollout, has
confirmed that this is very real,
and smart meters installed in the
area will not have had their smart
capacity turned on.
I was told that a new meter
is being worked upon and will
replace those already installed.
Meanwhile, I am having to
charge my car at a premium rate
of 16.76p/kWh which is costing
me about £26 more a week than it
would be on the Go tariff.
AM, Guisborough
Given that your house is more
than 20 miles from the RAF base in
question, I, too, was amazed that
this could be an issue, but it is – and
also in other areas close to bases.
Smart Meter GB has confirmed
this is the case and says it
is working on a solution – a
communications hub that will
enable people living near sensitive
RAF sites to use smart meters.
It says these will be offered to
customers “in the coming months”.
It adds those in the affected area,
who had already had smart meters
installed should be able to have the
hubs retrofitted.
Meanwhile, Octopus has offered
to add you to the trial of these new
meters, which, in turn, will allow
you to go on the Go tariff.
It says it hopes to install your
new meter before Christmas. It has
also said that if you get the log from
your charging firm, showing how
much electricity you have used
•
Money 53
Travel
Give them
the tools …
Short courses in Britain
that make ideal gifts
Saturday magazine
▲ Smart energy meters face a
bleak reception in the North Yorks
Moors around RAF Fylingdales
PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER THOMOND/THE GUARDIAN
for the car since the switch took
place, it will retroactively apply the
savings that you would have gained
had the smart meter worked from
the start – a generous offer.
After switching to Plusnet
I’m minus a service
I asked to switch broadband/
phone provider from Sky to
Plusnet with the changeover due
at the end of September.
More than six weeks on, not
only has this not happened, but I
have lost my broadband.
Sky had advised me that if
there were any problems, it
would continue to provide my
broadband until they were sorted
out. But Plusnet told Sky that the
broadband was up and running,
when it obviously wasn’t.
I have spent hours either on the
phone or messaging Plusnet but
am no further forward.
Ihave switched providers before
without any problem at all, but I
am now wondering if it is quicker
to cancel and revert to Sky.
SK, Dorchester
Your case isn’t a great advert for
switching supplier, but after a
bit of a wait, we have got you
reconnected – eight weeks after it
was supposed to happen.
Plusnet told you the delays were
due to Openreach. A call to the BT
press office – BT owns Plusnet – got
things moving. The company has
apologised for the delay.
For some unknown reason
Plusnet is not part of Ofcom’s
automatic compensation
scheme that offers customers £5-
£8 for every day they are without
service, depending on the cause.
The company has offered you
£300 compensation, which is worth
£260, once your extra data charges
are accounted for.
We welcome letters but cannot answer
individually. Email consumer.
champions@theguardian.com or
write to Guardian, 90 York Way,
London N1 9GU. Include a phone
number. Letters are subject to our
terms: gu.com/letters-terms

54
Money hacks How to keep
burglars out this Christmas
Helen Dewdney
Don’t make it easy for them
hen you go out, or to bed, check
you have shut and locked all
windows and doors. Don’t leave
your keys in locks when you are in,
as a burglar may be able to reach
them through the letterbox.
hink about your family
calendar, says Diane vory, a
former cotland ard crime scene
examiner who runs an education
and entertainment company called
Forensic inds. “e careful if the
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
Money
dates you’re away are on display
and can be seen through the
window,” she says.
urglars can hide behind big pots
and hedges, allowing them to reach
your home unseen by others, so
keep them low if you can.
Pretend someone’s in
Put lights on timers and leave the
radio on to make it look and sound
as if someone is at home.
eave an ironing board up
with a pile of clothes. “t will look
like you’ve just popped out (but
don’t leave the iron turned on),”
says vory.
sing her 22 years’ experience in
LLANGIW EIMAJ YB NOITARTSULLI
the police, oni Frost says to check
the weather forecast while you are
away. f leaves or snow fall at your
doorstep and aren’t cleared, this
can be a sign that no one has been
going in and out of the door.
Post piling up can be another
give away. f you have a long trip
planned, the oyal ail’s Keepsafe
service holds your mail while you
are away, says Frost.
t costs from £16, which covers a
10-day period. f, instead, you have
a friend coming in for your post,
remind them to put it out of sight.
Take care with social media
t may be tempting to post photos
online while you are on holiday – or
to say that you’re off on a break or
a night out – but this lets people
know you are not at home.
f someone tags you when you
are away, remove the tag. Facebook
notifies you when this happens, so
select “remove tag” on the post.
ames ores from ores ecurity
Consultancy says criminals get
information from social media.
“t’s fairly easy for someone
with the right knowledge of
searching to identify someone,
find their address, work out where
the picture was taken, friends,
relatives, workmates, where and
when they go on holiday, and
almost anything else that’s ever
been made public,” he says.
“o much personal data has
leaked over the years that it’s
almost guaranteed your address
and phone number is recorded
against your name somewhere.”
imbleFins nsurance analysed
aomi illis, from the kintDad crime and burglary statistics
blog, suggests enabling a free from the annual Crime urvey for
“guard dog skill” on lexa. “t ngland and ales and found that
allows you to set off a barking and burglars frequently know their
growling dog noise by remotely victims. “ne in four burglary
activating it,” she says. incidents are perpetrated by
someone the victim knows well; in
Get neighbours to help one in five cases they are known by
hen all the bins are out on a street
sight or to speak to. he burglars
are complete strangers in just over
except yours, or yours are the only half of incidents (57%),” it says.
ones out, that can give away the
fact that no one is at home, so ask
a friend or neighbour to put yours
Keep your presents safe
out and back, too. From the minute you get hold of
f you have a drive and your car is them, to the minute you give them,
usually on it, ask them to park there be careful about who sees what you
so it looks like someone is home. have bought.
‘The free Alexa guard
dog skill will set off a
growling dog noise’
Naomi Willis
SkintDad blog
Don’t leave gifts in your car in
full view while it is unattended, as
opportunist thieves will smash the
glass and run.
void leaving the boot open
while you unload the car – even if
you are juggling with bags, children
and other demands.
Hide presents. eaving them all
round the tree in view is advertising
to potential burglars, so, too, is
posting a photo of them online.
reak up the packaging and
don’t put your branded boxes next
to the bin, advertising what’s inside
your house.
Insure against the worst
uildings and contents insurance
will cover your home if there is a
break-in – as long as you have met
all of the policy requirements.
Check with your insurance
company if any alarms and/or
security cameras you have must be
activated every time you leave the
property unoccupied.
Photograph your possessions
and keep the pictures safe, and,
with Christmas presents and other
new purchases, keep hold of the
receipts. hese will be proof of
ownership if you need to claim.
f you are using a shed or garage
to hide your presents, check they
will be covered before you leave
them there.
Check your policy to see if
it will automatically increase
the contents insured by a fixed
percentage over Christmas time to
reflect any increase in the value.
fter Christmas, assess the value
of presents such as jewellery and
increase policy limits accordingly.
ou may invalidate your
insurance if you do not take
reasonable care to secure your
home and possessions.
n insurer may well research
your social media, decide that you
have not taken reasonable steps to
protect yourself, and refuse to pay.
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
Money 55

Prestbury, Gloucestershire
£595,000
The chocolate box village of Prestbury sits
right on the western edge of the Cotswolds,
close to Cheltenham racecourse, and is home,
supposedly,to more than two dozen ghosts –
including the Black Abbottin the churchyard
and a spectral shepherd on Swindon Lane.
More comforting is the 17th centurythatched
Shaw Green Cottage, tucked away down a lane
with a garden on both sides. It is Grade II-listed,
with flagstone floors, timber beams and
uprights, marble worktops, and a deep butler
sink. The inglenook fireplace is used as a wine
store. Knight Frank, 01242246 951

Fantasy ▲ Gillingham, Dorset

Guide price £180,000
house hunt If you enjoy Christmas shopping
Cosy cottages on a high street, this Victorian
cottage is a short walk from
for Christmas the town centre. It is in need of
updating with some period features
worth preserving such as the open
Compiled by Anna White fireplaces. There’s a long garden
enclosed by old stone walls with a
Ridgewell, Essex gate giving pedestrian access to the
river. Bid in a live streamed auction
£500,000 next Thursday (9 December).
Little says cosy like low timbers and Symonds & Sampson, 01258 473 766
deep-set, exposed brick inglenook
fireplaces. This cottage, which
dates back to the 1400s, has both,
▼ Ludwell, Wiltshire
as well as the original paned-glass £450,000
windows. It was once a hall house This thatched semi-detached
– a medieval style that structured corner cottage has three bedrooms
the typically timber-framed house and an office downstairs that
around the hall, which was used could be used as a fourth. The
to meet, eat and socialise. The conservatory/dining room
ancient village is halfway between opens on to a pretty garden. The
Colchester and Cambridge, with village sits in the rolling hills
two pubs, the 14th century St of the Cranborne Chase area of
Laurence’s church, a nursery and a outstanding natural beauty and
junior school. More amenities are has the award-winning pub the
in the nearby village of Clare. Fine & Grove Arms and a deli. Connells,
Country, 01621 737 262 01747 854 001
Shere, Surrey
£1.15m
This three-bedroom house is just
a few minutes away from Kate
Winslet’s idyllic rural cottage in
the schmaltzy Christmas film The
Holiday. The red brick Georgian
home was built in 1742. It has a
vaulted kitchen, an Aga and oak
floorboards, and the stairs are
lined with the original pitch pine
panelling. French doors open on
to a patio, while the garden is on
several levels, with steps leading
up to a lawn and a paved terrace
with views to the South Downs.
Sadly, the house is not available
for a free swap with an opulent
mansion in Los Angeles. Savills,
01483 796 800
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
58

Puzzles
Quick crossword No 16,093 Yesterday’s
Quick crossword
Across Down 1 2 3 4 Solution no 16,092
 One who exhumed Yorick’s skull in 1 Act seductively (4) R E S I S T I S L A N D
Hamlet (11) 2 Legal decision (7) 5 6 E K I N G E
7 Sudden change of government by 3 Equal (5) F L I N T C H A G R I N
force (4) 4 One can whip up something to eat O L U H F E O
 Thing (or person) that is no longer (3,5) R E L A P S E F L E E T
useful (4,4)  An obvious change in public 7 8
M E E L E
9 Examine (7) opinion (11) D E T E R R E N T
11 Original (5) 6 A convenience for hotel guests (4,7)
13 Seize without authority (5) 10 1970s’ sitcom starring Ronnie R O L I S
14 Parody (7) Barker, set in Slade prison (8) 9 10 11 H U R O N E L A S T I C
16 Tentative (8) 12 Horseless highwayman of old (7) O I S S D U A
17 Hard work — work hard (4) 1 Outdated (5) 12 D I S C U S S M O L A R
1 Parliament, for instance (11) 17 Plug — promote (4) E E R I A C
13 14 S O N N E T U N T R U E
15
16 17

Stuck? For help call 0906 200 83 83. Calls cost £1.10
18 per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge.
Service supplied by ATS. Call 0330 333 6946 for
customer service (charged at standard rate).
Want more? Get access to more than 4,000 puzzles at
theguardian.com/crossword. To buy puzzle books, visit
www.guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846.

Sandwich sudoku Chris Maslanka

Solutions
Medium 1 Thanks to the onomastics of
this pandemic, many who had
Place the digits never met the word omicron
from 1-9 in each suddenly needed to use it. Our
row, column and PM, on whom Eton failed to make
3x3 block. any impression, burbled “Ommy
The clues outside Cron”, a ludicrous confection,
the grid show used by many broadcast folk. Well,
the sum of the jammed on transmit they lose their
numbers placed ear for English. And who knew that
between the 1 and education had shallowed so? Some
9 in that row or newcomers to linguistics argued
column. spuriously that the name for a short
o must begin with a short o; others
referred irrelevantly to the Greek
pronunciation (they didn’t say
whether they meant proto-, Attic or
modern). But we don’t pronounce
Paris as the French do, unless we’re
being irrepressibly twee. Among
educated backwaters, people who
use the word, it has always begun
with a long initial oh; but with such
an injection of parvenus with their
own variants, who can say what it
will be tomorrow?
2 Initial lengths are 4 inches and 6
inches. [If the shortest has length
x, x + 2 = 2x – 2; so x = 4.] They are
both the same length at 2 inches;
the longer one disappears when
the shorter is 1 inch long. This isn’t
difficult once put into letters; it’s
only the words that confuse.
3 One and half pounds of butter,
four and a half pounds of flour. [1.5
x 3 = 4.5 = 1.5 + 3.]
4 Merge all the coins into two
equal stacks.If each stack now
contains n coins and the first has h
heads and t tails we can write (H,
T) = (h, n – h) for the first stack; but
then the second contains (x, n -x);
but x + h = 2n – h – x, whence x =
n – h; so the second contains (H, T)
= (n – h, h). This is the same as the
first stack upside down. Flip one
of the two stacks. Then both stacks
contain the same number of heads
(the stacks also contain the same
number of tails).
 To multiply by 12.5 is to multiply
by 100 and divide by 8 or vice versa.
The number can be divided by 8
on inspection, being composed of
obvious multiples of 8. The answer
is thus: 1,020,304,050,607,080,910,
111,200.
Wordplay: Wordpool b), c), a); The
Shape of Cheese DECAHEDRON;
Dropouts BLOUSES; A Saint at
Heart EINSTEIN; Cryptic SPELT;
Missing Links a) bean/counter/
attack b) blow/hard/cheese c) good/
night/owl d) village/pond/life e)
egg/white/bread f) just/ice/cube
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
59

Weather
Saturday 4 December 2021
UK and Ireland Noon today Forecast Around the UK
996 Low 2 High 6 London
Sunny Mist Fog 992 Lows and highs Precipitation Air pollution
Tomorrow
4 3 7 55% Low
Sunny intervals Hazy Manchester
Mostly cloudy
21 Inverness Shetland 2 6 90% Low
Overcast/dull 4
Edinburgh
6 26
Moderate
1 6 80% Low
Sunny showers
Belfast
Edinburgh
23 Low 1 High 6
Sunny and heavy showers Glasgow Monday 3 6 85% Low
Birmingham
Light showers 7
2 6 55% Low
Rain Sleet Light
snow
Belfast
8
Moderate Brighton
York
Snow showers 4 8 55% Low
6 Dublin 1000 Liv
Bristol
Heavy snow Ice Carbon
Thundery rain
35C
30
6 Norwich
count 3
Cardiff
7 55% Low
25 Daily atmospheric CO2
20 readings from Mauna Loa,
6 Hawaii (ppm):
Thundery showers 15 1004
Latest
4 8 80% Low
X
10 7 30 Nov 2021 416.54 Newcastle
5 Dover Weekly average
Temperature, 0 1008 21 Nov 2021 415.36
ºC -5
10
03 Dec 2020 413.55
2 6 80% Low
Plymouth
-10 9 03 Dec 2011 390.78 Penzance
-15 Moderate 34 Pre-industrial base 280
Wind speed, Windy
mph -20 The Channel Islands
Safe level 350 7 10 80% Low
Source: NOAAESRL

Atlantic front 1024

1008
1016
1016 H
Weatherwatch Around the world
L L
960 1024
968 L Meteorologists stick to precise Algiers 16 Lisbon 16
language when describing the Ams’dam 6 Madrid 11
984 976 1000 L
1000 weather, assigning particular Athens 17 Malaga 19
992
1000 992 meaning to previously vague Auckland 21 Melb’rne 19
H 1016 1008 H expressions such as “wintry B Aires 23 Mexico C 22
showers”. This preserves strict Bangkok 29 Miami 27
accuracy but misses out on some Barcelona 15 Milan 6
Cold front H of the more vividly descriptive Basra 20 Mombasa 32
terms traditionally used to describe Beijing 10 Moscow -1
Warm front 1016 H L 1016 winter conditions. Berlin 2 Mumbai 30
“Foxy” weather is when the Bermuda 21 N Orleans 22
1032 1024 day looks sunny and warm but is Brussels 7 Nairobi 24
Occluded front actually bitterly cold. “Gleamy” Budapest 2 New Delhi 24
weather is more optimistic, noting C’hagen 5 New York 8
Trough occasional intervals of sunshine Cairo 22 Oslo -4
amid the gloom. “Hunch weather” Cape Town 22 Paris 10
is wind and rain that makes you Chicago 6 Perth 31
High tides Source: © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Times are local UK times
Sun & Lighting hunch over.
Scots provide many colourful
Corfu 16 Prague 3

Moon up terms for bad weather. To “flench”,

Dakar
Dhaka
28
26
Reykjavik
Rio de J
-1
25
for example, means to give a Dublin 6 Rome 13
Aberdeen 0032 4.5m 1259 4.5m London Bridge 0103 7.1m 1324 7.3m Belfast 1601 to 0830 deceitful promise of improvement, Florence 8 Shanghai 15
Avonmouth 0646 13.5m 1909 13.6m Lossiemouth 1126 4.3m 2350 4.4m Birm’ham 1555 to 0800 which mornings sometimes seem Gibraltar 17 Singapore 29
Barrow 1057 9.6m 2320 9.7m Milford Haven 0540 7.2m 1803 7.3m Brighton 1556 to 0746 to do to at this time of year. The H Kong 21 Stockh’m -3
Belfast 1034 3.7m 2258 3.8m Newquay 0432 7.2m 1654 7.3m Bristol 1604 to 0759 Scots word “jellit” means freezing, Harare 29 Strasb’g 9
Cobh 0450 4.3m 1714 4.3m North Shields 0236 5.3m 1505 5.3m Carlisle 1546 to 0818 which sounds like the archaic Helsinki -7 Sydney 21
Cromer 0546 5.2m 1818 5.1m Oban 0511 4.1m 1730 4.2m Cork 1625 to 0824 English word “gelid” but sharper. Istanbul 15 Tel Aviv 22
Dover 1025 7.0m 2250 6.9m Penzance 0403 5.7m 1626 5.7m Sun rises 0747 Dublin 1608 to 0823 “Snell” is a Scots term for weather Jo’burg 26 Tenerife 23
Dublin 1102 4.3m 2327 4.3m Plymouth 0517 5.6m 1740 5.6m Sun sets 1552 Glasgow 1547 to 0830 so cold it bites down to the bone. K Lumpur 31 Tokyo 15
Galway 0430 5.4m 1655 5.4m Portsmouth 1049 5.0m 2312 4.9m Moon rises 0801 Harlech 1602 to 0812 Scots also give us “Watergaw”, K’mandu 22 Toronto 3
Greenock -- -- 1209 3.6m Southport 1005 9.3m 2227 9.4m Moon sets
New Moon
1550
4 Dec
Inverness 1534 to 0840 a small section of a rainbow rather Kabul 16 Vancouv’r 6
Harwich 1111 4.2m 2341 4.2m Stornoway 0620 5.1m 1838 5.1m London 1552 to 0748 than a sky-spanning bow. One Kingston 31 Vienna 3
Holyhead 0949 5.9m 2210 5.9m Weymouth 0630 1.6m 1852 1.6m M’chester 1553 to 0807 English word describes a particular Kolkata 25 Warsaw 2
Hull 0535 7.8m 1803 7.8m Whitby 0313 5.8m 1541 5.7m
Forecasts and
Newcastle 1541 to 0814 winter joy: “apricity” is the feeling L Angeles 19 Wash’ton 15
Leith 0149 5.8m 1413 5.8m Wick 1055 3.7m 2318 3.8m
graphics provided by
Norwich 1542 to 0749 of the sun’s warmth on a cold day. Lagos 31 Well’ton 20
Liverpool 1037 9.6m 2259 9.7m Workington 1059 8.6m 2320 8.7m AccuWeather ©2021 Penzance 1621 to 0805 David Hambling Lima 20 Zurich 7
 •

The princes and the press: it’s a ‘special’ sort ofrelationship Marina Hyde, page 3
Let the legacyof little Arthur’sawful deathbe a new system HarryFerguson,page 4
Africa detectedOmicron, so whyis ita pariah?Ayoade Olatunbosun-Alakija, page5
The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021

Opinion
and ideas

The Republican party has

embraced political violence
It’sunderstandable if you
thought the threat had gone.
Donald Trump left office nearly
a year ago, is no longer serving
up daily outrages by tweet,
and is reduced to appearing
with Nigel Farage on GB News.
But the menace he represents
Jonathan lingers, and not only because Trump remains the most
likely Republican presidential nominee for 2024, a
Freedland contest he could well win given the parlous approval
ratings of the current incumbent.
Trumpism lives on in the legacy he left behind,
its most visible incarnation perhaps the three ultra-
conservative judges he selected for the supreme court,
who this week began hearing a case on abortion – one
that many expect to result in the removal of American
women’s constitutionally protected right to end an
unwanted pregnancy.
But Trumpism endures too in the party he remade
in his own image. He has left behind a Republican
party no longer committed to democracy. That sounds
hyperbolic but, if anything, it understates the case.
Republicans are breaking from the principle that
precedes the idea of democracy and is even more
fundamental: the belief that arguments between
citizens should be resolved by peaceful means. Today’s
Republican party is normalising the notion of violence
as a means of securing a political outcome.
as well as swinging a sword at Joe Biden. Appalling
though that was, more telling was the response of
Gosar’s party. When Democrats moved to censure him,
only two Republicans voted with them. The 200-odd
others gave Gosar their blessing.
Earlier, Republicans had had to make a similar
decision. Before her election to Congress in 2020,
Marjorie Taylor Greene had posted on Facebook a
photo of herself holding a gun next to an image of
AOC and two other members of the so-called Squad,
made up of left-leaning Democratic women of colour.
Taylor Greene also all but called for the execution of
the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Yet when Democrats
voted to kick the Georgia Republican off the various
congressional committees she sat on, only 11 members
of her party voted with them. The rest stood with her.
Of course, the pattern was set with the Republican
response to Trump himself, and his encouragement
of the bid to overturn a democratic election by force
earlier this year. Republicans could have repudiated
the storming of the Capitol on 6 January by joining

Start with the case of Paul Gosar, the Republican
member of Congress for Arizona. He retweeted an
anime-style video that depicted him murdering his
Democratic colleague, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,

their Democratic colleagues in voting to impeach
the outgoing president for “inciting an
insurrection”. But only 10 did so.
Since then, those 10 dissenters
2
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021

The Republican party has

embraced politicalviolence
Jonathan Freedland Founded 1821 Independently owned by the Scott Trust № 54,520
 Continued from front
‘Comment is free… butfacts are sacred’CP Scott

 have been pilloried and ostracised by

their fellow Republicans. Among the
shunned is Liz Cheney, who was stripped
of her House leadership role and expelled from
the state Republican party in her native Wyoming.
She’s an arch-conservative, like her former vice-
president father, but that didn’t matter. Cheney
believes in respecting elections – and that was
enough to put her beyond the pale.
These responses – coddling the advocates of
violence, punishing those who denounce it – prove the
truth of the declaration Taylor Greene made this week:
“We are not the fringe.We are the base of the party.”
She’s right. She and Gosar are in lockstep with a
Republican party whose face can be seen in the death
threats now routinely meted out not only to nationally
famous politicians such as AOC, but to the officials
and volunteers who serve in public health, local
government or on school boards across the country.
Trump’s downplaying of the dangers of the
pandemic and his hostility to mask-wearing made
those stances articles of faith among his most ardent
supporters – who now threaten murderous violence
North Sea oil
Other nations won’t
ditchfossil fuels when
Britainwon’t do so itself
Does the decision by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell to pull nearly half as much natural gas as today and about
out of the Cambo oilfield mark the end of oil and gas
investment in the North Sea?For the planet’s sake,
one would hope so. However, it may be more realistic
to see Shell’s act as a first victory in a longer war to
keep hydrocarbons in the ground. Campaigners say
that there are dozens more offshore oil and gas fields
coming up for approval in the next three years. To
keep the climate safe and limit global temperature
rises to 1.5C, none ought to go ahead. Oil majors have
lost the battle for public opinion in Scotland and this
has dramatically altered the calculations for the ruling Democratic Republic of the Congo; half of lithium
Scottish National party, which for decades ran on oil.
of security and reasonable pay – to transfer skill sets
to the offshore wind and renewable energy sector.
What has been lacking is the government drive
to tap such desires.
One has to recognise that while fossil fuels fade,
the geopolitics of energy will not. If the world
achieves net zero emissions, it will not mean
the end of oil and gas. The International Energy
Agency (IEA) projected that if the world reached
the goal of net zero by 2050, it would still be using
one-quarter as much oil.
This would mean that as the UK constrains its
domestic fossil fuel output, wealthy Gulf states that
can produce oil cheaply will increase their market
share. It would also see Moscow’s significance
to Europe’s energy security rise before it falls.
Adopting cleaner technologies will also, as the US
academics Jason Bordoff and Meghan L O’Sullivan
write in Foreign Affairs, give rise to new energy
powers: half of the global supply of cobalt is in the
in Australia; and half of rare earths in China. Trade

T
against those who cross them, their fury directed
especially at schools that require their pupils to wear
masks. In early October, the US attorney general,
Merrick Garland, felt compelled to send in the FBI to
help protect school administrators, who were facing
what the National School Boards Association calls “a
form of domestic terrorism”.
o be clear, not every Republican in
Congress agrees with Gosar, Taylor
Greene or the Republican candidate in
Pennsylvania who promised to bring
“20 strong men” to a school board
meeting because “this is how you get
stuff done” – but they are terrified
of them. They know that if they step
out of line, they will soon face an internal, primary
challenge for their own seat. So they say nothing.
The espousal of, or acquiescence in, political
violence is the sharpest expression of Republicans’
steady march away from democracy, but it is not the
only one. At the milder end is the gerrymandering
under way in many of the states where Republicans are
in control, redrawing boundaries to give themselves
permanent and insurmountable majorities.
More troubling still are the hundreds of voter
suppression measures advanced by Republican state
legislatures, nakedly designed to make voting harder
for groups that tend to vote Democratic, especially
low-income Americans and those from ethnic
minorities. Whether it’s demanding stricter proof of
identity or reducing early or postal voting, the desired
goal is the same: to shrink the franchise, hurting
Democrats and helping Republicans.
The drive is, once again, fealty to Trump. Polls show
that 68% of Republicans believe the former president’s
big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him – and
they are determined to make sure it won’t happen
again. To ensure there is no risk of Trump losing
in 2024, Republicans are both making it harder for
Democrats to vote and working to install reliable allies
as election scrutineers: they want no repeat of 2020,
when Republican officials allowed the votes to be
counted fairly and declared Biden the winner.
What is fuelling this shift is not solely the cult
of personality that still envelops Donald Trump,
though that devotion is a mighty force. Studies have
long shown a potent authoritarian impulse on the
American right – drawn to the notion of a strong
leader imposing order and guarding the nation against
outsiders – one greater than in comparable countries.
As always with the US, race plays a central role.
Enough white Americans fear a future in which they
are no longer the dominant majority and are ready to
do what it takes to stay in charge.
This represents a mortal threat to the American
republic. But the US remains the world’s most
powerful nation. As of now, only one of its two
governing parties is committed to democracy – and
that poses a danger to us all.
Without supportive politics, and with the science may be used to pressurise countries considered
against them, oil majors – this time – bowed out. too slow in greening their economies to pursue
Despite that, and despite brandishing its credentials stronger climate policies.
as a climate champion at Cop26 in Glasgow last month, This will be tricky to navigate for the most
the UK government still wants extractive industries sure-footed of governments, let alone one that
to suck the seabed dry. Rather than joining an alliance clomps around the world in shoes of concrete. The
of nations – led by Denmark and Costa Rica, and UK government must foster new technologies and
including France and Ireland – which have set an use them to curb climate change, while lowering
end date for oil and gas production and exploration, the geopolitical risks that such changes create.
Boris Johnson will allow companies to keep exploring But Mr Johnson is prepared to sacrifice green
the North Sea for new reserves. targets to strengthen alliances; just ask Canberra.
The counter argument is that abandoning the North He also has a reputation as an unreliable ally,
Sea will cost the UK jobs. But the appropriate policy ripping up agreements within months of signing
response is to raise investment aimed at the transition them. The essence of diplomacy is persuading
to net zero. Last year a poll suggested that four-fifths of others to do things you want. It is hard to see how
oil workers would consider leaving the industry. This is Britain will convince anyone else to ditch fossil
a pool of labour willing – provided there was a measure fuels when it won’t do so itself.
Barbados it is of less moment. Criticism comes not from
questions about identity, but the sense that the
change in status is a distraction at a time when
The world’snewest the pandemic has pummelled tourism, on which
the island is heavily dependent, and a feeling
republic is moving on. that the population should have had their say
in a referendum.
Can Britain do the same? The suggestion that it reflects a growing
closeness to Beijing is both baffling and telling.
Baffling, since a symbolic figurehead is unlikely
The contrast could hardly be more striking. In Britain, to have much effect either way on the impact of
the removal of the statue of a slave trader, name billions of dollars. Telling, because the warning that
changes for institutions and apologies from some Beijing is trying to “replace a symbolic Queen with
who profited from slavery have produced reams of a very real emperor” implies Barbados is incapable
fevered arguments and fulminations. In Barbados, of pursuing its own path.
this week’s removal of the Queen as head of state Though “global Britain” hopes to reinvigorate
was as calm and straightforward as the process its ties with Commonwealth countries in the wake
leading to the change. of Brexit, it fails to recognise that many do not
Yes, there was a ceremony to swear in the new share one jot of its nostalgia. It must look to itself
president, Sandra Mason (at which Rihanna provided if it wishes to persuade others. A beginning might
rather more excitement than Prince Charles, be to recognise slavery and colonialism not as an
as the prime minister, Mia Mottley, had savvily anomaly in Britain’s story, but a critical part of its
realised). But this symbolic moment was not one foundations. This is hardly a new insight; in his
of high passion or drama. powerful new book Born in Blackness, Howard
The difference is revealing. For much of the world, French points out that the 18th-century economist
decolonisation is not an argument but simply a fact – a Malachy Postlethwayt called the rents and revenues
work begun several decades ago, and now re-embraced of plantation slave labour “the fundamental
with greater vigour in the wake of the Black Lives prop and support” of Britain’s prosperity
Matter movement. The new republic is the first former and social effervescence.
colony for almost three decades to cut its ties to the Slaves in the sugar industry had an estimated
monarchy, but is unlikely to be the last. While several life expectancy of seven years or less. Barbados
Caribbean countries have voted to retain the Queen was a model for brutal systems imposed across the
as head of state over the years, many wonder if this Caribbean and Americas, and laws that defined
could prove a tipping point; republicanism in Jamaica black people as inferior, as well as a vital source of
has been growing stronger. The movement is also the sugar that fuelled the Industrial Revolution.
tied to the growing demands for reparations for the Prince Charles this week spoke of “the appalling
devastating impact of slavery. atrocity of the slave trade, and the unimaginable
This week’s change is vital to those who, like Ms suffering it caused”. That was a start. While
Mottley, see it as a moment of mental emancipation. Britain remains reluctant to address the past,
For many outside the political elite in Barbados, others will – and are.
 Opinion
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
A
The princes and
truly vintage week for hypocrisy
in an industry I simply cannot take
seriously: the newspaper industry.
the press: it’sa
My industry. As longtime observers
of so-called Fleet Street will be
aware, living down to expectations
is a constant burden. But it is a tribute
‘special’sort of
to the business that said burden is
shouldered daily by any number of lavishly shameless
individuals, across all titles, without exception.
This past week’s standout has been the full-
relationship
spectrum warfare unleashed by the tabloids on the
BBC’s Amol Rajan for having the temerity to make a
documentary about Princes William and Harry – who
you will, of course, barely ever read about in the
tabloids. On the very, very rare occasions that sacred
Marina D-notice is broken, you will only hear about the royal
family in the most deferential, scrupulously fair and
Hyde quintuply sourced terms. You know the sort of thing –
“EXCLUSIVE: Diana thinks Kate is perfect but doesn’t
believe Meghan’s ‘the one’: confidante reveals the
princess still speaks to her from beyond the grave (and
even told her to vote for Brexit).” Huge thanks to the
tireless standards-upholders at MailOnline. And we’ll
come back to the Mail very shortly.
To recap: the BBC’s media editor, Rajan, has now
been the subject of days of unfavourable press – and
reported outrage from the royal family – for saying
that William and Harry’s households briefed against
each other. Before we go on, I should say I have never
so much as met Rajan, in case anyone imagines we’re
friends from some cursed London media party circuit.
I did enjoy his book on spin bowlers, though – a better
way of spending an evening than having champagne
misted halitotically over you by a parade of dickheads
who imagine their work is hugely significant.
What is it about Rajan that has so enraged them?
The Mail in particular has run a number of articles and
columns by the likes of Janet Street-Porter in which
he is energetically trashed. “Next year he’s presenting
two documentaries on social mobility,” remarks Janet,
tartly, “a subject he seems to know very well.” Righto.
And that’s bad now, is it? Forgive me – I’m just trying to
understand the specific level it would be acceptable for
a person such as Amol Rajan to reach. And why.
In the meantime, the Sun and Mail have called for
the smelling salts over this look at the princes’ relations
3
The idea
that the
royal family could
claim oneof their
ludicrous retinues
hadn’t briefed a
journalistis absurd
with the media, citing such outrages as the film having
annoyed members of the royal family, and Rajan’s
previously expressed republican views. On both
counts, so what? Everyone has views, and it’s pathetic
of so-called free speech nuts to pretend they haven’t;
he certainly didn’t push them in the programme. Even
accounting for their long-term interest in attacking the
BBC, we have to wonder why the enemies of cancel
culture are trying to cancel him for it.
Their other bugbear, apparently, is the BBC’s
“incendiary” timing, after the recent exposé of the
lies behind Martin Bashir’s Panorama interview with
Diana. OK, but these are distant past events. If you
want a more contemporary instance of “timing”, the
Mail on Sunday only this week lost its appeal against
a privacy action brought by Meghan – yet no one is
suggesting they suspend all coverage of her.
The spectacle of tabloid journalists – any journalists
– demanding the royal family get shown an entire
documentary before it airs, so they can approve it,
is hardcore through-the-looking-glass stuff. Do the
The Duchess of papers show the royal households the entire proof
Sussex, Prince copy front page before they run with this or that
Harry, Prince anonymous briefing? Of course they don’t.
William and Anonymous briefing is the royal beat’s lifeblood,
the Duchess of helped by the fact royal households are famously
Cambridge at Earth’s most bitchy workplaces. The idea that the
T
Buckingham royal family could claim with any certainty that one
Palace, 2018 or several of their ludicrous retinues hadn’t briefed
G: a journalist is absurd. They never stop briefing. The
G /
/G whole point of working for these people for half the
money you could get elsewhere is so that you can
convince yourself you’re Deep Throat because you’ve
divulged a spat about a tiara.
he self-delusion frequently spreads
to those who cover the royals. One
of the most hilarious genres is the
first-person article by either the
“legendary” royal correspondent or
the “legendary” royal photographer,
along the lines of: “What’s happened
to my former cheeky-chappie friend
Prince Harry?” To which the answer is: he’s not your
friend, he never liked you and there was never any
“mutual respect” for each other’s work. You were
barely tolerated: the end. The relationship between
press and royals is like the relationship between
stalker and stalkee, or Britain and the US. Which is
to say, only one side thinks there is one.
Think of the Swiss photocall at which a boom mic
picked up Prince Charles observing the dutiful ranks of
royal press. “Bloody people,” he remarked to William
and Harry, before catching sight of the BBC’s Nicholas
Witchell. “I can’t bear that man anyway. He’s so awful,
he really is.” Decades of absolute obsequiousness
from Witchell, and this is what he gets for it.
But my favourite part of this story is that the
BBC was widely reported to have been punished by
Charles for it – having its reporters not called at press
conferences, a film about Camilla given to ITV, and so
on. Clarence House denied it, unconvincingly. But to
summarise: if they are overheard calling you awful,
you get punished. I can’t help feeling something
rather similar is happening with the continuing saga
of the Rajan documentary, in which the behaviour
of the royal households and some newspapers will
ultimately be found to be the fault of the BBC.
4 Opinion
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
Let the legacy
of little Arthur’s
awful deathbe
a new system
Harry
T
Ferguson
he manner of the death of six-year-
old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes at the
hands of his father and stepmother,
now convicted of manslaughter and
murder respectively, is shocking. The workers responded by providing the play, physical
evidence heard in court was some of touch and nurture the children were reaching out for.
the most tragic I’ve seen and heard
in a social work career lasting more
than 40 years. This was echoed by the judge who said: austerity into account when looking into how social
“[Arthur] was subjected to the most unimaginable
suffering at the hands of both of you … Your behaviour
towards him was often spiteful and at times sadistic.” dynamics between Arthur and professionals will be
Little wonder serious questions are being asked
about how this was allowed to happen. Evidence
appears to show that family members reported at
least some of their concerns about Arthur to social
workers and the police, including sending photos of
bruises on his body. It was reported that social workers
concluded there were “no safeguarding concerns”.
A review of the role of children’s social work services and freedom to get close to children and to find out
is under way and an investigation by the Independent what their lives are like in the ways they could pre-
Office for Police Conduct is expected to report soon.
How might we begin to make sense of how
professionals missed what appears to us now with
hindsight as obvious signs of dreadful child abuse?
GR:  RZV/
Media reports are placing a great deal of emphasis
on the fact that Arthur and his father moved into
the home of his stepmother at the start of the first
Covid lockdown in March 2020. As soon as April,
the wider family had reported suspected abuse and
social workers had visited.
I am part of a research team that examined the
impact of Covid and social distancing measures on
the capacity of social workers to keep children safe
and help families during the first nine months of the
pandemic. On the basis of our findings it seems likely
that Arthur was in part let down due to the restrictions
of social distancing and school closures.
Social workers were directed by national and
local government to minimise where possible having
to go into family homes by seeing children and parents
on doorsteps, in their gardens, or through video calls.
It was very clear, though, that where serious child
abuse was suspected, seeing children inside their
homes was essential. Social workers were advised
to wear PPE – especially face masks – and maintain a
two-metre distance from children and parents. When
adequate, and sometimes any, PPE was unavailable, we
found that social workers consistently took significant
personal risks to try to protect children.
In the nine months we spoke to social workers,
we consistently found that social distancing didn’t
happen, not least because children often initiated
physical contact with the worker. Invariably, social
But still, it is very important that inquiries take the
effects of poor resourcing and the wider impact of
workers interacted with Arthur.
Careful analysis of the actual bodily, interpersonal
crucial. Did social workers, the police and doctors
see bruises? Was the child medically examined? It is
important to stress that such routine protection work
did go on during lockdowns and our data shows that
many children and families were kept safe and helped.
That said, it was clear from our data that child
protection workers did not have the same capacity
pandemic. Two factors were crucial to this.
First, especially during the initial lockdown, social
workers were often the only professionals visiting
children and going into family homes on a regular
Protection
work did go
on duringlockdown,
but social workers
did nothave the
same capacity and
freedom toget close
basis. Health visitors, early help and therapeutic
services that normally support young children
and parents retreated from homes and either went
online or stopped altogether. Many schools made
tremendous efforts to stay in touch with vulnerable
children, doing telephone and doorstep visits, and
the police visited in emergency situations, but the net
result was that social workers often ended up being
the sole agency going into homes.
Just one in 10 parents of children in the UK aged
under two saw a health visitor face-to-face during
the first lockdown. This retreat of services for at-risk
children was a major error and should never be allowed
to happen again. What abused children like Arthur
need are safe spaces to talk about their lives and for as
many professionals as possible to have access to them.
In some high-risk cases in our study, social workers
were able to make arrangements to see children in
schools but this was wholly dependent on parents
allowing it. Lockdown made it possible for Arthur’s
parents to legitimately keep him off school and torture
him at will. Social workers often shared their fears
with us that some parents were using the risk of Covid
infection as an excuse to deny them the right to visit.
Which brings us to a final hugely influential factor:
the parents and their emotional impact. It is clear
that they were frighteningly strategic in their abuse
of Arthur and no doubt in concealing it. It has become
commonplace for inquiries into such cases to conclude
 that social workers and others lack “professional
Harry Ferguson curiosity” and miss the obvious because they are too
is a professor “optimistic”; that the “rule of optimism” results in
of social work professionals naively and hopefully believing what
at the University parents tell them, and denying what is in front of them.
of Birmingham My years of practice and research into child
I
protection social work suggests that far from being
optimistic, when faced with such aggressive and
manipulative parents, social workers’ states of
mind are often closer to helplessness. They are
outmanoeuvred and overcome by the suffering and
sadness in the atmosphere of such homes and in the
children’s lives.
t’s a very painful truth that when faced with
the helplessness of children, social workers
and other professionals can become helpless
because they find the children’s suffering
unbearable and the organisational support is
not available to help them recognise the impact
of fear and anxiety and their distorted thinking.
It is difficult for us to even think of what Arthur
went through, but think the unthinkable we must, and
build a child protection system that supports social
workers emotionally and practically to do just that.
News reports and social media suggest that the
appalling abuse Arthur suffered and the fact that
opportunities to protect him were missed are already
feeding a public desire to find professionals, usually
social workers, to blame. Child protection work has
always been difficult, but Covid, social distancing and
the personal risks social workers routinely had to take
to see children in their homes increased the complexity
still further. The more that is taken into account – along
with the emotional demands and funding deficits and
systemic problems that mean social workers are faced
with obstacles that make their job much more difficult
than it needs to be – the more can be learned from
Arthur’s tragic death.

Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
Africa detected
Omicron –why
is ita pariah?
Ayoade
T
Olatunbo n-
Alakija
he advent of the Omicron variant
of coronavirus has given us a
glimpse of an alternative future in
which, had the Sars-CoV-2 virus
been initially identified in Africa
during early 2020, the world
would have perhaps locked Africa
away. There would have been
no emergency funding for vaccine development,
limited global attention, and Africa would have
become known as the continent of Covid.
We may never know the origins of Omicron,
but there is now evidence emerging that this
variant was circulating in the Netherlands before
it was officially identified in South Africa. African
scientists’ superior level of pandemic preparedness
is what has enabled the world to rapidly respond
to this new threat. However, the response has
entailed the imposition of travel bans – shutting
out southern African countries, as well as Nigeria
and Egypt, who have now had to pay a heavy price
in trade and tourism for identifying this variant in
such an expeditious manner.
Travel bans are an important way in which to
contain the transmission of Covid-19, but in this
instance the measure is merely performative, given
that the variant is already on several continents.
What we’re left with is the assumption that the ban
is as discriminatory and racist as Africa’s inequitable
access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.
It is a myth to say that vaccine hesitancy in Africa
is the cause of low vaccination rates. The United
States, which is one of the most vaccine-hesitant
countries in the world, and has billions of surplus
doses, has just under 60% of full vaccination
coverage, while some countries in Africa have less
than 2%, owing to a lack of supply.
The emergence of another Covid variant was
an inevitable result of the failure of the international
system, and the response is being driven by domestic
politics, rather than global solidarity, on the part of
high-income countries. We knew this was where
the hoarding, the delays with intellectual property
waivers and the lack of cooperation on sharing
technology would leave us. It was always going to
end in more dangerous variants of the virus. Why
do we now feign surprise?
It does not have to be like this, however. African
countries, which have decades of experience of
fighting Ebola, HIV/Aids and polio successfully,
are using their technology and knowhow to
monitor the virus. But instead of being called on
to contribute to tracking its spread, our continent
5
has been rewarded with exclusion and red-listing
– an insult added to our injury.
There is absolutely no time to lose. This virus
is moving very quickly, and we in turn need to
move rapidly. Global leadership is needed, but so
also is leadership in Africa. It is time for African
political leaders to step up and to push back – lives
are at stake here. We must be the masters and
mistresses of our own destiny and take a stand for
equity at this once-in-a-hundred-years moment.
Africa cannot stand on the sidelines of history
when it has so much to offer.
The world cannot impede African states and
other low-income countries that want to produce
their own vaccines, to develop their testing and
sequencing capacity and to contribute to the fight
against this virus. If the pandemic has taught us
anything, it is that we cannot fight this virus alone.
We must work together, sharing technology and
information with full transparency, as the South
Africans have ably demonstrated, to ensure that we
do not end up with another variant that could have
the potential to be far more deadly than Omicron.
The solutions are simple: we work together, we
do not exclude anyone, and we cooperate openly and
transparently. This is not an African problem: this
is a global problem that requires full international
cooperation and a greater commitment towards
 multilateralism. A global pandemic treaty could
Dr Ayoade be a part of the solution, but we must first of all do
Olatunbosun- away with the nationalism that plagues us: we must
Alakija urgently vaccinate the world.
is the co-chair Next week, when G7 finance and development
of the African leaders meet in Liverpool, they will have the
Union’s Africa opportunity to demonstrate global leadership and
Vaccine Delivery solidarity as this next wave of the virus unfolds. Let
Alliance us follow the science, not the politics.
6 Letters
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021

Thisdraconian bill must naturalised UK citizen who makes

awkward statements or would
Basking in reflected glory

be foughttooth and nail

otherwise embarrass the interests ‘This picture of the area of the Lake District known as Tarn Hows was taken in
of Britain’s more repressive allies. the early morning on 2 November, and shows off the glorious autumnal light’
It would make UK citizens of V PP/ MM
iddle Eastern origin particularly
vulnerable. It would also be a signal
to former EU citizens and their
There is likely to be a serious keep buyingever more stuffwill find children, struggling to legitimise
unintended consequence of that they aren’t allowed to protest. their hard-won “settled status”
the draconian anti-protest If they try to make a nuisance of in this country by applying for
amendments that the home themselves when the price of fuel is UK citizenship, that they will
secretary, riti atel, has, as George increased, for example, the power of only possess a lower form of UK
onbiot puts it, “crowbarred” the state will deny them that right. citizenship, which could be revoked
into the police, crime, sentencing If only it were inevitable that without warning or appeal if the
and courts bill (To ban protest in our government would implement Home Office deemed that it would
Britain is a tyrant’s gambit, Journal, policies consistent with the be conducive to the public good.
1 December). If the amendments climate emergency. Of course, you should be able to
enter the statute book, protests will Dominic Rayner trust the Home Office not to abuse
probably become more violent. Leeds such powers. Or pigs could fly.
When those taking part in Wiktor Moszczynski
demonstrations know from the • While George onbiot gives a London
outset that their participation litany of the repressive measures
alone could well lead to receiving that the government is seeking • The overwhelmingly reactionary
a custodial sentence of up to to sneak into the police, crime, and anti-democratic policing bill
51 weeks, quite a few of them sentencing and courts bill, it is also presently going through parliament
will be inclined to escalate their worth remembering the parallel requires detailed and robust
demonstration methods to make nationality and borders bill. Here, amendment by opposition s .
the sentence worthwhile. After all, the home secretary is planning This will be a key test for the
what will they have to lose? measures to strip naturalised UK Labour party. While debate in
It is not just members of the citizens of their citizenship on parliament is likely to be an
public who should be opposing “reasonable grounds” and without opportunity for detailed analysis
the government’s planned notice, in the interests of national by individual members, the overall
assault on the right to protest, security or UK diplomatic relations. party stance against the bill by the
but also the police. Consequently, the Home Office leadership is very likely to be an
David Head could be able to exert undue indication of its stand in a general
Peterborough pressure and even threaten election which is, quite possibly,
with eventual deportation any coming next year.
• George onbiot is right to be Dr Alan Lafferty
concerned about the loss of the London
right to meaningful protest. ind
you, these things cut both ways. • It is notable that many Tory s
When the UK finally realises the support draconian legislation that
extent of the climate threat and It is notjust thepublic criminalises peaceful protests while
is forced into rapid and severe
changes to the economy (which
who should be opposing simultaneously insisting that anti-
Covid masks are an authoritarian
could have been much more the plannedassault threat to liberty. Are they exhibiting
gradual if the government had on the rightto protest, cognitive dissonance, or is it
acted 20 years ago), the people who but also the police just rank hypocrisy?
want to take frequent flights, eat Pete Dorey
meat every day, drive SUs and David Head Bath, Somerset

Poor countries mustn’t open up 25 years. The global figures are

grossly distorted by the enormous Curlew conservation
efforts are essential
in Wales, throughout Ireland and
across southern England are real
economies until they are strong changes thathave occurred in
China’s economic performance,
not in the rest of the poor world.
In response to your article
and of deep concern. They are
suffering because of loss of habitat,
frequent grass cutting for silage,
And at the national level,the data and unsustainable predation
Your editorial cites India and open up their economies – that is is that produced by the World Bank (‘A critical time’: action plan rates of their eggs and chicks.
China as countries that opened not the route to developmentbut and the IF,measuring what is aims to save Welsh curlews from The situation is so serious that the
up their economies gradually to continued exploitation. They measurable in monetary returns to extinction, 22 November), John journal British Birds has referred
to international competition should follow the example of the the financial community. Davies (Letters, 27 November) to it as the most urgent bird
(Globalisation does not work for first industrial nation, Britain, There is not one common suggested that the decrease in conservation issue in the UK.
poor nations. Another model is which strongly controlled trade, economic engine that fires up Welsh curlews might be explained The UK and Ireland have a special
needed, 30 November). This has prices and investment until the the whole world. What drives by a move to North Yorkshire. responsibility for conserving
been the way to development of middle of the 19th century.Only China does not drive the UK, and In fact, adult curlews return each curlews. Up to 30% of the world
pretty well all countries. after building strong industries what drives the UK does not drive year to the same breeding site population nests here, and a quarter
Japan’s economic miracle after can countries safely open up to alawi. Some poor countries still throughout their lives, therefore of the mainland Europe population
the second world war was based on international competition. rely on exports. Under the present relocating to other areas is come to our shores for the winter.
protecting its economy with quotas Richard Ross rules, alawi has to produce extremely unlikely. In another Governments have recognised
and import tariffs, and directing London more and more tobacco to gain letter, Keith Langton commented the urgent need for action:
investment to industries such as foreign currency. But hundreds of that they are still numerous by Ireland has a curlew conservation
motor vehicles and electronics •Your editorial says: “erhaps thousands of its people live below the River Dee in Dumfries and programme, England launched the
to enable them to develop, safe it would be better for developing the poverty line. It cannot give them Galloway. This area of Scotland Curlew Recovery artnership this
from competition. Only when countries to eschew imports and the priority they need to survive. has seen a devastating drop year, and now National Resources
these industries were strong were use state power tostimulate local Our policies are impoverishing in curlew numbers of around Wales has created Gylfinir Cymru/
their firms permitted to enter production instead – thus obviating the poor world and preventing 80% since the mid-1990s, Curlew Wales. These organisations
international markets. Other Asian the need for external finance.” That its people from getting out of mainly due to afforestation offer some hope for our largest
countries such as South Korea could be done, but it isn’t happening. poverty. It is not capitalism; on their breeding grounds. and much-loved wading bird.
and Taiwan followed suit. The poorest people in the world’s it is power imbalances. Curlews are declining across Mary Colwell
The siren cry of the rich countries poorest countries have become Benny Dembitzer almost all of their UK and Irish Chair, Curlew Recovery
is for less developed countries to poorer, not progressed, in the last Grassroots Malawi range – and the stark losses seen Partnership,England

Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
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print the best ones on these pages
So good to see people
like me in the media
I was so excited to see George
Webster, Tommy Jessop, Ellie
Goldstein, Kassie Mundhenk, Zack
Gottsagen and Madeline Stuart on
the front cover of your Saturday
magazine (27 November) and even
more so to read the piece. I have
a learning disability and seeing
people like me, whether that’s
actors with Down’s syndrome or
people on the telly with a learning
disability, I feel so proud.
There are 1.5 million people with
Early start in politics
Stella Creasy’s article on taking
babies into the House of Commons
(Why it’s vital to overturn this baby
ban, Journal, 26 November) brought
back memories of Mid Glamorgan
county council in the 1990s. The late
councillor Ray Davies, of Machen, a
•
 guardian.letters@theguardian.com
 @guardianletters
We do not publish letters where only an email address is supplied; please Corrections and
include a full postal address, a reference to the article to which you are
responding, and a daytime phone number on which we can contact you. clarifications
We may edit letters. Submission and publication of all letters is subject
to our terms and conditions: see theguardian.com/letters-terms • Jim Nicola was described as the
former artistic director of New York
Theatre Workshop. He remains
in that position until June 2022
(The Midas touch, 20 November,
Saturday magazine, page 18).
• An article about Europe’s great
cathedrals mentioned Cologne’s
treasure of a casket of skulls which
“are in solid gold and set with
1,000 precious stones”. It is the
casket reliquary that is golden
and bejewelled (The towers and
the glory, 13 November, Saturday
magazine, page 100).
Editorial complaints and corrections can be sent to
guardian.readers@theguardian.com or The readers’
editor, Kings Place, 90 York Way,London N1 9GU.
You can also leave a voicemail on020 3353 4736
Beatles memories
and Banksy’s identity
Thank you, Jonathan Freedland,
for encapsulatingmy feelings about
the Beatles (Journal, 27 November).
Tears as I was reading, takingme
back to truantingfrom school for a
lunchtime concert at The Cavern on
26 October 1962. Loveat first sight
and, for me, it was not the music, it
was the charisma and wit. They were
very cheeky.John even said the word
“bum”–it seemed so naughty! In my
head, I am still 15 and still there.
Jennifer Henley
London
• Your TV review (G2, 3 December)
perpetuates the myth that the
identity of the artist Banksy is
unknown. I interviewed Banksy for
BBC Radio in July 2003, previewing
the opening of his show Turf War in
London. The full unedited interview
a learning disability in the UK, and
we should be represented in all No lackof humanity is now with the BBC archives.
At the start of the recording,
aspects of life. It’s so important to
people with a learning disability that in Sondheim’s shows Banksy confirms his name as
“Robbie Banks”. End of mystery.
we’re part and parcel of society, and Stephen Wrench
it makes a difference to others too. I think there were two very Brighton
I work for the learning disability questionable assertions in Tom
charity Mencap, and we recently Sutcliffe’s rather sour obituary • Diane Woodley, who wrote
did a survey that showed 42% of of Stephen Sondheim (Journal, about your Wordsearch (Letters,
people have not seen someone 29 November). Few would agree 2 December), is right to observe
with a learning disability in that songs like Send in the Clowns, that not many people can fit
the media in the last year and Someone in a Tree, Who’s That a stable into their garden. But
33% said they would feel more Woman? and Liaisons are more many would find room for a table.
comfortable talking to someone effective detached from the Paul Stone
with a learning disability if they context of the shows for which Harrow, London
saw them in the media more often. they were written.
Ciara Lawrence Surely the opposite is the • Thank you, Marina Hyde, for
Big Plan engagement lead, Mencap case. Continuing the revolution such a brilliant laugh (The anti-
in music theatre begun by mask babies wouldn’t have lasted
Sondheim’s mentor, Oscar a minute, Journal, 1 December);
champion of equalities even then, Hammerstein, they rise out of
was often accompanied by his infant and enrich the narrative text.
“poppy shaggers” alone was
worth my year’s subscription!
son. During an impassioned debate Also, it is hard to believe that Jen Fitton
at a planning committee meeting, anyone who has got to know A Little Sharow, North Yorkshire
one councillor declared that another Night Music, Merrily We Roll Along,
“has no right to speak on this subject. Pacific Overtures or Into the Woods • Every time I see a maskless
Ray Davies’sbaby has been to more could think that the storylines politician, I recall that “Omicron”
meetings on this matter than he has.” “lacked humanity and affection”. is an anagram of “moronic”.
Phil Jayne Michael Ratcliffe Jennifer Highwood
Llangenny, Powys Clerkenwell, London Swallowfield, Berkshire
7
Established 2021
Young country diary
Cambridge
Love for the clatter dove
Wandering around the botanic
garden with the breeze brushing
my face, the fluffyclouds above me
colouring the sky with soft greys
and cream-whites, I took in my
surroundings. Binoculars atthe
ready, I swept between the beeches,
birches and alders. A clatter dove
burst out of a nearby tree, spraying
leaves over me. Poor souls, nobody
seems to like them. Shouldn’t you
admire their smoky shades of grey
and voracious eyes? Please notice
these beautiful creatures.
Having caught up with Papa, we
entered the wondrous glasshouse.
It was hot and stuffy inside. There
were pitcher plants, those giant
mouths hanging wide open;
lilies, minding their own business;
fan palms, waving at the visitors;
cacti and succulents, bristling
menacingly; and rice plants,
standing out from the crowd.
Nature is so adaptable.
Exiting the garden, I thought how
lucky I am to exist, to see existence.
These delicate and fragile moments
may fade before weknow it. I do
wish we’d heal the scars we’ve
created in our crumblingreality.
Priyanka, 11
Cheltenham
The predator will have its prey
It all started when I was bouncing
on the trampoline with my brother
Owen. Suddenly we saw three red
kites, soaring above us! Then our
little sister, Ffion, came out carrying
a woodlouse in the palm of her
hand. She had had six pet woodlice,
but had lost five somewhere in the
house. “Owen, Gwenny,I’ve…”
Stopping mid-sentence, she gaped
at the sky. She opened her mouth
and cried:“Mummy! There are
three. Red. Kites. In. Our. Garden!”
It was a majestic sight. The birds
had black-tipped wings and their
tails were in the shape of a fan.
One of them looked as though
it had been in a scuffle, as it had
a few feathers missing from its
wings and swooped less elegantly
than the rest. Another one, my
favourite, had a beautiful red body
and a gleaming white head. One
flew into a tree. We heard a loud
squawk. The red kite came out
holding a chick in its talons.
All the time, William –
my little brother – had been
watching a spider making its
web. Whether big or small, a
predator will have its prey.
Gwennan, nine
Young country diary, written by
children aged between eight and
14, appears in this column on the
first Saturday of each month
8 Obituaries
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021

rooted in Sher’s sense of not-quite-

belonging as a gay, Jewish South
African. In some ways you could
see that his long struggle with
his identity paid off in a savagely
embittered Shylock, a Greek
Orthodox-style Malvolio, a full-
throttle Vindice in The Revenger’s
Tragedy and a grubby, perverse
Iago to the refined South African
Othello of Sello Maake ka-Ncube
in 2004. Recrimination and
vengeance were his forte.
He was less successful as Falstaff,
and perhaps saw with hindsight the
wisdom of Olivier in never having
played the role. But he strode
magnificently through The Winter’s
Tale as Leontes; as Macbeth
(opposite Harriet Walter, the best
RSC pairing since Ian McKellen and
Judi Dench in 1976), both of these in
1998-99; as a wizened old Prospero
(2009) in another pertinent South
African reimagining; and finally
as King Lear (2016), appearing
first enthroned in a glass cage,
swathed in furs, prone to violent
mood swings and, said Michael

S
Billington, “unbearably moving”
with David Troughton’s blinded
Gloucester on the Dover cliff. He
was a marvellous Willy Loman,
too (Walter, again, as his stoically
forbearing wife), in Arthur Miller’s
tragedy Death of a Salesman (2015).
her’s grandparents
were Russian Jews
who emigrated to
Cape Town, where
he grew up insulated
against the injustices
of apartheid. His
father, Emmanuel

Sir Antony Sher

Sher, was an exporter dealing in
by a plethora of remarkable animal skins and hides, and Antony
drawings – he was a fine artist, remained particularly close to his

Actor who enjoyed a

an accomplished writer and an
indisputably great actor.
And, as with all great actors,
long and outstanding
there were areas of critical dispute,
of “going too far” or of “hogging
the stage”. You could equally argue
mother, Margery, who encouraged
Hesurged and enjoyed his success.
Along with his two brothers and
manically
sister, he was well educated – at Sea
downstage Point boys’ junior and high schools
on a pair of in Cape Town – and the household

career with the Royal

that there is far too little of that upended had black servants. From the beach
sort of thing in the theatre these at Sea Point he could see Robben
tommy

A
days, and more’s the pity. Sher was Island, where Nelson Mandela was
guns as
ShakespeareCompany
a great admirer of Steven Berkoff, incarcerated.
in whose expressionist, balletic Brecht’s After his compulsory year in the
adaptation of Kaa’s The Trial he South African army, he came to the
appeared as a bespectacled Joseph Arturo Ui UK – it was reading the monthly
K at the National Theatre in 1991; magazine Plays and Players that
in the same season, he referenced ignited his theatrical ambitions –
his RSC crutches by surging and he took a BA acting course at
s breakthrough Sher in 2012. His so did Sher’s background music, manically downstage on a pair of Manchester University, where he
performances breakthrough and he instantly produced, with upended tommy guns as Brecht’s was briefly married to an American
go, Antony role came in an obscene flourish, a pair of black Arturo Ui, for which Shakespeare’s fellow student. He trained at
Sher’s as 1984 as Richard medical crutches, resuming the hunchbacked toad was a prototype. Webber Douglas – other London
Richard III III at Stratford- speech with two swinging, ape-like Most of his career was at the RSC drama schools rejected him – from
at Stratford- upon-Avon hops to the front of the stage, an after he joined in 1982 to play a 1969 to 1971, and plunged into
upon-Avon  / unforgettable creepy arachnid. capering, clownish Fool to Michael repertory theatres in Liverpool,
in June 1984   That, in a lesser actor, might Gambon’s mighty King Lear. He Nottingham and Edinburgh.
was beyond astounding. have been that. But Sher, who stole a few notices there, too, and At the Liverpool Everyman,
He gatecrashed this play’s has died aged 72, developed this allegedly had to be reminded by where I first saw him, he played
performance history and threw spitefully animated cartoon into Gambon that Shakespeare’s play Ringo Starr in Willy Russell’s
down an audacious gauntlet to the a complicated study of pathology, was called King Lear, not “King John, Paul, George, Ringo … and
hallowed shades of Edmund Kean, unctuousness and glistening Lear plus a cunt in a red nose”. He Bert (1974). Then he donned a
Henry Irving, Laurence Olivier malevolence way beyond anything was the first Fool ever killed on leopardskin as Enoch Powell in
and, on that same Stratford stage, revealed in the role, arguably, stage by his master; not without Tarzan’s Last Stand, a withering
Ian Holm. before or since. In Year of the King, feeling, one imagined, this act of and unnerving impersonation. This
Just as Irving’s bells stopped the first of his many books, Sher smother-love. now legendary Everyman company
ringing on “the lascivious pleasing told the story of Bill Alexander’s Richard was followed by a flurry – the theatre had been co-founded
of a lute” in the opening soliloquy, RSC production, accompanied of extraordinary performances in 1964 by the director Terry Hands,

Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
who would become her’s key
mentor at the  – included Julie
Walters, lison teadman, Bill
ighy and Jonathan ryce.
e blossomed further in the
ondon new plays explosion of the
1970s, notably with the pioneering
company ay weatshop alongside
his friend and rival imon allow,
and in significant early pieces
by avid are (eeth ’n’ miles,
1975, with elen irren and a
rock band) and aryl hurchill
(loud ine, 1979, with Julie
ovington, iriam argolyes and
Jim ooper) at the oyal ourt.
e was in a partnership of 17 years
with ooper, who featured in
haracters, his 1989 sketchbook of
performers and performances.
her achieved an early
prominence on television as
the leering, lecherous academic
oward irk in alcolm Bradbury’s
he istory an in 1981 (in line
with the 70s setting, her sported
kipper ties, flares and an afro
haircut) and followed through
on stage in ike eigh’s hilarious
oose-imples (1981) at the
ampstead theatre and the arrick;
his character was a small-time
entrepreneur who mistakenly
thinks he’s arrived in a brothel in
ollis ill, north ondon, when
he fetches up with a nightclub
croupier (arion Bailey) whose
landlord is a house-proud car
salesman (Jim Broadbent).
When he collected several
theatre awards in 1985, her said he
was proud to be nominated as both
king and queen in the same year:
ichard  and rnold Beckoff,
the drag queen hero of arvey
Fierstein’s orch ong rilogy at the
lbery (now the oël oward), to
whom he lent a restrained, almost
melancholic, suburban glamour.
e was now increasingly
interjecting his classical triumphs
– a barbaric and overweening itus
ndronicus co-presented by the
arket theatre in Johannesburg
and the ational (1995), a
tremendous, moving yrano de
Bergerac at the  (1997), using
the nthony Burgess translation –
with some telling adventures in the
contemporary repertoire.
For the , he played leads in
avid dgar’s aydays (charting
the classic journey of leftwing
agitators moving rightwards),
eter Barnes’s farcical medieval
pandemic epic ed oses and,
the first contemporary play in the
new wan at tratford in 1989,
eter Flannery’s inger, a furious
caricature of the 60s ondon
landlord eter achman. n 1997, he
delivered one of his sweetest, most
obsessional performances as the
painter tanley pencer, the priapic
mystic of ookham, in a play by
am ems at the ational.
By then he had kicked a self-
confessedly serious cocaine habit.
e went into a rehab clinic in 1996,
supported by his partner, the 
director regory oran, whom he
had met when they first worked
together in tratford in 1987.
•
 obituaries@theguardian.com
 @guardianobits
T
he first, and most
acclaimed, of
her’s novels,
iddlepost (1988),
was a fictional saga
of his grandfather’s
journey from the
ussian shtetl
to outh frica. art critical
love affair, part exorcism, his
relationship with his home country
seeped further into his work with
every passing year. is first play,
.., at the lmeida in ondon in
2003, was about the assassination
of endrik Verwoerd, the outh
frican prime minister and
architect of apartheid, by a reek
ozambican immigrant in 1966.
wo other plays reflected his
passion and commitment to
politics and aesthetics: rimo
(2004), a one-man show for himself
set in uschwitz and based on the
writings of rimo evi; and he
iant (2008), which fascinatingly
fictionalised a struggle between
ichelangelo (John ight) and
eonardo da Vinci (oger llam)
over the commission for the avid
statue in Florence, with their
mutual apprentice a catalytic agent
in enaissance gay culture.
is film career was virtually
nonexistent, though he was an
excellent Benjamin israeli in
ench’s belated breakthrough
9
Birthdays
Today’s birthdays: Joan Brady,
novelist, 82; Jeff Bridges, actor,
72; Jay-Z (Shawn Carter), rapper
and entrepreneur, 52; Nia Griffith,
abour , 65; Philip Hammond,
former onservative  and
chancellor of the exchequer,
66; Kate Rusby, folk singer, 48;
Pamela Stephenson Connolly,
clinical psychologist and writer,
72; Marisa Tomei, actor, 57; Derek
Wyatt, former abour  and
rugby international, 72.
Tomorrow’s birthdays: John
Altman, composer and arranger,
72; José Carreras, operatic
tenor, 75; Joan Didion, writer
and journalist, 87; Eddie “The
Eagle” Edwards, ski jumper, 58;
Sajid Javid, onservative 
and secretary of state for health,
52; Hanif Kureishi, novelist,
67; Ronnie O’Sullivan, snooker
Shercame player, 46; Jo Rowsell-Shand,
cyclist, 33; Adam Thorpe, poet and
to early novelist, 65.
attention
on TV in
Malcolm Announcements
Bradbury’s
The
History
Man BAER, (nee SIDGWICK), Ann. Died peacefully at
Deer Park Care Home on 1 December, at the age of
107. Author and publisher, much loved stepmother,
grandmother, aunt, great aunt and friend. Private
funeral, celebration of her life later, TBA. Donations
to The Kew Foundation.
BELL, Rosa, 04/08/1927 - 12/11/2021.
My mum brought me up on her own.
She worked when I was in school. She became the
first female rep for a well known firm.
Top left, Sher as movie, John adden’s rs Brown Her sense of humour and attractiveness is what
Malvolio with (1997), and popped up as r oth most people will remember.
Bruce Alexander in hakespeare in ove (1998) and EMERSON-BAKER, Katherine, AKA Kerry.
as Feste in as dolf itler in eter ichardson’s Peacefully in Whittington hospital, Islington on 20
Twelfth Night at ribald spoof hurchill: he November 2021. Beloved sister, aunt and cousin.
Quiet family funeral at Eden Valley Cemetery 20
the RSC in 1987. ollywood ears (2004). December 2021. Donations if desired to St
Above, Sher as her worked with oran as his Elizabeth hospice, Suffolk IP3 8LX or St
Prospero with director at every opportunity, Christopher’s hospice, London SE26 6DZ.
John Kani as before and after the latter POTTER, Robert Michael Conwy. Peacefully
Caliban and succeeded ichael Boyd as the passed on 22 November, aged 90, surrounded by
his adored wife, Christobel and their three children
Atandwa Kani ’s artistic director in 2012. hey Claire, Hugh and John. Mike was a much loved
as Ariel in The formed a civil partnership in 2005 brother, grandfather, uncle, friend and senior relic
Tempest at and were married in 2015, sharing and will be greatly missed. A celebration of his life
the Courtyard homes in slington, north ondon, on 13 December at 1.30pm at St Clement’s Parish
theatre, and outside tratford-upon-von. Church, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. No
Stratford-upon- her’s last stage appearance in flowers please. Donations to the RSPB welcome via
www.memorygiving.com/mikepotter. All enquiries
Avon, in 2009 tratford, in pril 2019, was as a to George Ball & Son, Funeral Directors.
DONALD COOPER/ bibulous old thespian with terminal Tel. 0161 432 2131.
ALAMY; TRISTRAM
KENTON/THE cancer cared for by a black outh
GUARDIAN frican nurse – played by John
ani, the play’s author. unene HALL, Margaret, died 4 December 2010.
and the ing, a co-production by Much loved and always in our thoughts.
Steve, Rob and Sally.
the  and the Fugard theatre in
ape own, was directed by Janice
oneyman. ts transfer to the West HUNTER FROST, Alexander Robert Penrose. On
nd in January 2020 was closed by Monday 18 October 2021, at University College
the pandemic two months later. Hospital, London, to Pella and David, a beloved son,
her was knighted in 2000, and Alexander Robert Penrose. Grandson to Linda,
held honorary doctorates from the Penny and Bob. Great-grandson to Irene and Derek.
Nephew to Jarvist, Halcyon, Amaranthe and Laura-
universities of iverpool, Warwick Anne. Cousin to Caspar, Tean and Tove.
and ape own.
e is survived by oran.
Michael Coveney For Announcements, Acknowledgments, Adoptions,
Anniversaries, Birthdays, Births, Deaths,
Engagements, Memorial Services and In Memoriam,
Antony Sher, actor, writer and email us at announcements@theguardian.com
artist, born 14 June 1949; died including your name, address and telephone
2 December 2021 number or phone 0203 353 2114.
10 Obituaries
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
 obituaries@theguardian.com
 other.lives@theguardian.com
 @guardianobits

Other added student recruits, including

me, made a shaky debut. Now

lives ussell began composing in

earnest, which resulted in songs
such as ough Kids, You’re More
han Fair and I Made Mary Cry in a
Lonely us Shelter.
Russell Hardy orn in untingdon, ussell
grew up in agenham, east
Pianist who played with Ian Dury in London. e never knew his father.
his first band and jammed with the is mother, hoda urman, who
Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts worked with the F, married Cyril
My friend ussell ardy, who has ardy, an airman, in 1942 and he
died aged 80, was a carpenter adopted ussell. fter Cyril went
and “the greatest piano player missing in action in 1944, three-
in ngland” according to Ian year-old ussell was sent to ooks
ury, whom ussell first met in ill, Sevenoaks, an F enevolent
Walthamstow, London, in 1962. Fund school. ged eight, ussell
Ian, known widely for his later was deposited by his mother at
band, the lockheads, formed his Vanbrugh Castle children’s home.
first band, Kilburn and the igh t 14 he was put to work in a
oads, with ussell, myself, and factory, where he learned to play Russell Hardy, ‘mesmerising in his
four others, in 1971, and ussell the piano by listening to the radio, hat and wispy beard’, with Ian Dury
wrote much of the music for Ian’s everything from the C Light in 1973, and, above, at the front of
lyrics, including here in’t alf rogramme to rt atum. ussell the queue in a poster for their band
een Some Clever astards, the paid for rudimentary piano lessons PHOTOGRAPH: ED BAXTER
-side to the lockheads’ 1978 hit and realised he had a talent.
it Me WithYour hythm Stick. y 1973 the Kilburns were in fter Ian died, in 2000, there
ussell was working as a radio demand (they opened for the was a tribute concert at rixton
and television technician at South Who on their Christmas tour) and, cademy, and I was asked to sing
ast ssex echnical College when though mesmerising in his hat and here in’t alf een Some Clever
he set up the ussell ardy Jazz wispy beard, for someone whose astards. I did so on the condition
rio in 1960 with two students guiding passion was jazz ussell ussell joined me. ehearsal was
from the Walthamstow College of found the experience dispiriting. required. ussell came round and,
rt next door, where Ian was also is real love was jamming with his after his customary hesitation,
studying. y the late 1960s, ussell fellow jazz lover Charlie Watts, who launched into what sounded closer
had joined the free jazz collective adored him. to rik Satie than the oompah
the eople and with Mike Figgis. ussell left the Kilburns the arrangement of the record.
In 1970 ussell moved into a following year, and became a ussell never retired. e
rented vicarage in the village of carpenter. e made the boxes for continued playing the piano and
Wingrave, uckinghamshire, avid ockney’s opera designs, also developed a passion for cats,
with Ian, who was now teaching and en Nicholson’s frames. In enjoying a job as a joiner making
at Canterbury College of rt. 1977 he married ngela Workman, play stations for top cat fanciers.
Challenged to perform at the then the membership secretary ngela and their daughter,
college’s 1971 Christmas dance, at the NUS, and they moved to Sophie, survive him.
Kilburn and the igh oads, with eckenham, in Kent. Humphrey Ocean

female staff members a cake as a
gift of thanks, she was so annoyed
at how “pink and girly” it was that
she resolved to leave.
She moved to eneva to work
for the art publisher Skira in the
early 1960s and then to Jerusalem,
first to live on a kibbutz and
later to work as an editor of the
Moira Paterson ncyclopaedia Judaica.
She returned to London in the
Former journalist at the Observer 70s, working as a subeditor and
and Radio Times who left Faber & feature writer on the adio imes,
Faber after TS Eliot annoyed her where the poet oger Woddis wrote
My aunt, Moira aterson, who has a verse to celebrate her strong trade
died aged 85, moved from a small unionism, her pride in her Scots
town in Scotland to pursue a career roots and her sometimes fierce
in publishing and journalism that exterior that belied a warm and
included stints in eneva and humorous interior:
Jerusalem and work as a subeditor O our Moira’s like a red, red flag
and features writer with the adio That flutters in the breeze
imes and the bserver. And nae mair like a willing slave
She was born near Crossmichael Than chalk resembles cheese.
in Kirckcudbrightshire, to Later she was a subeditor at the
Margaret (nee Mcargh), a nurse, bserver and the Independent,
and John, an electrician with ICI also contributing features to both
whose job took the family to live in newspapers. She retired in 1996
Yorkshire. fter passing the 11-plus and moved back to Scotland to
Moira went to eckmondwike live in Wigtown near her sister,
grammar school and then the my mother, ennie ughes. She
University of urham, where she remained independent until 2017,
studied nglish. She then worked when she went into a care home.
in London for the poetry publisher She is survived by three
Faber & Faber, where S liot was nephews, John, James and me.
a director. When he brought the Solomon Hughes
hythm rothers. e was called
to the bar in 1967, and gained a
master’s from the London School of
conomics in the same year.
unji had intended to return to
Nigeria with his family, but death
threats and the iafran war made
this impossible. Instead, he held
various appointments in local
Tunji Fahm government, in the UK and abroad,
including service in the newly
Trailblazing black lawyer and senior independent Zambia as a town
local authority figure determined to clerk to one of the municipalities,
use his skills to help others and as a court officer until 1974
My friend unji Fahm, the ritish- when he returned to Wales.
Nigerian lawyer and activist, who fter he was appointed chief
has died aged 88, was the first legal officer in Islwyn, Wales
black lawyer to be appointed chief became his adopted home.
officer of a local authority legal Following local government
department in the UK, in 1974 at reorganisation in 1996, unji
Islwyn (borough) district council, established his own legal practice.
south Wales. e became the  great humanist, unji was
council’s chief monitoring officer determined to use his skills to
in 1978 and, later, founder of the
first legal practice led by black
lawyers in Wales.  Readers who would like to offer
When unji arrived in the UK in a piece to Other lives can find more
1954 to study law in Cardiff, he was information online at theguardian.
one of the few frican students in com/contact-obits
the university’s law school.
 leading member of the UK’s Submission and publication of all
West frican Students’ Union, Other lives pieces and Obituaries
he spent weekends in London, page letters is subject to our terms
and liked listening to mbrose and conditions: see theguardian.
Campbell and the West frican com/letters-terms
help others. e provided pro
bono legal help for complex
immigration cases, advice for the
Yoruba community in the UK and
beyond, and served on the board of
a London housing association that
supported refugees.
e was founder and convener
of the joint committee for ethnic
minorities in Wales, and stood as
a Labour candidate for the Welsh
assembly in 2003 and 2007. In
2006, he was appointed M and,
three years later, he was granted
freedom of the City of London.
orn in beokuta, Nigeria, to
Saratu (nee nimashaun), a trader,
and ameed tanda Mobolaji, an
electrical and civil engineering
contractor, unji attended
Methodist oys’ high school in
Lagos. It was in the city, in the late
1950s, that he met Viola Jumbo;
they married in 1960 and went on
to have four children. unji always
carried Yoruba culture in his heart
and had planned a final visit to
Nigeria, feeling that the sacred
odidere bird was calling him home.
Viola died in 2000, and one of
his sons, Kayode (Ky), died in 2018.
unji is survived by his other three
children, ina, Yinka and avid,
and his two granddaughters.
Sara Bowman
 Puzzles 11
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •

Sudoku Easy Medium Expert

The normal
rules of Sudoku
apply: fill each
row, column and
3x3 box with all
the numbers
from 1 to 9.

Futoshiki Hard Codeword Kids Word search

Fill in the grid so that every row and column contains
the numbers 1-5. The “greater than” or “less than” signs
indicate where a number is larger or smaller than its
neighbour.
Crack the code to fill in the crossword grid. Each letter of the alphabet Find all the listed Illnesses and Injuries in the grid,
makes at least one appearance in the grid and is represented by the same reading in straight lines, up, down or diagonally, either
number wherever it appears. A number of letters have been decoded to backwards or forwards.
help with the identification of other letters and words in the grid.
BITE, BLISTER, BOIL, BUG, COLD, COUGH,
FATIGUE, FLU, INJURY, MEASLES, MIGRAINE,
NAUSEA, SPOTS, STING

< <
>

>

>
<

>
<

<4
>

< <
>

<
Solutions
Codeword Sudoku Easy Sudoku Medium Sudoku Expert Futoshiki Kids Word search
1 3 2 5< 4
2<1 4<3 5
>

5 2 1 4< 3
>

3>4 5 1 2
<
>

<

4 5 3<2< 1
>

>
12 Puzzles
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021

Yesterday’s Killer sudoku Chris Maslanka’spuzzles

solutions
Hard No 79 Pyrgic puzzles
1 I found Pedanticus running around the
Killer sudoku The normal rules of Sudoku apply: fill each row, column and 3x3 box with all flat yelling “Ommy Cron! Ommy Cron!” as
Easy the numbers from 1 to 9. In addition, the digits in each inner shape (marked one maddened by the gods, flinging books all
by dots) must add up to the number in the top corner of that box. No digit can around and kicking chairs over. What had got
be repeated within an inner shape. into him?
2 A long Hanukah candle is 2 inches short
of being twice as long as a shorter one. If the
shorter one were 2 inches longer it would
be as long as the long one.The longer burns
down twice as fast as the short one. How
long are the candles when they are the same
length? How long is the short one when the
long one is no longer?
3 Prof Turki was mixing the ingredients for
his special giant Christmas cake. He suddenly
realised he had added 3 times as much flour
Medium by weight as butter, instead of 3 pounds more
flour than butter. Then he breathed a sigh
of relief, as it came to the same thing. How
many pounds of butter? How many of flour?
Wordplay
Wordpool
In each case find the correct definition:
MOLIMO
a) balm
b) bent trumpet of the Mbuti people
c) device for easing stays
d) earnest request
IZARD
Codeword a) headless lizard
b) archaic name for zed
c) goatlike antelope of the Pyrenees
d) toughened steel
VAGILITY
a) degree to which a taxon can get about
b) vapidity
c) humble-bragging
d) evanescence
The Shape of Cheese?
Rearrange the letters of ONE CHEDDAR to
make a single word.
4 Time to get any of your party tricks
in shape for the Christmas party. You are
blindfolded and presented with 4 stacks of
coins. The total number of heads equals the
total number of tails. This you know, but you
don’t know the number of heads or tails.
Without removing the blindfold you have
to arrange all the coins in 2 stacks in which
the number of heads are identical. You are
wearing gloves. How do you do it?
5 Mr Claridge, our maths teacher back in the
day, used to nip out of class quite a lot and
would always leave us something to chew
over in his absence. These problems could
always be done laboriously or easily, and
they favoured those who looked before they
leaped: Here is one:
Multiply 81,624,324,048,566,472,808,896
by 12.5. [There were no electronic calculators
in those days.] Well?
email: maslanka@easynet.co.uk
Dropouts
Replace each asterisk with a letter to make
a word:
B*O*S*S
A Saint at Heart
Place the same three letters in the same
order in front of ST and after it to make a
well-known name:
***ST***
Cryptic
Written in grain (5)
Missing Links
Find a word which follows the first word in
the clue and precedes the second in each
case making a fresh word or phrase. Eg the
answer to fish mix could be cake (fishcake &
cake mix) and to bat man it could be he (bathe
& he-man) ...
a) bean attack b) blow cheese
c) good owl d) village life
e) egg bread f) just cube
©CMM 2021. Solutions on Page 58

Cryptic crossword Guardian cryptic crossword No 8,60 set by Crucible

Solution No. 28,619
DOTHE BOY S HA L L 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Across Down
I A V B T A A 9 Smooth attempt to come across 1 Front-page lead story on county’s
CRACKERS ARRAYS
G I N C M B R 9 10 a Martian, perhaps? (9) a drop in the ocean (10)
B EAT I T E X P L ODED 10 Return Yankee, libelled now and 2 Full of stars, Rhode Island’s
U N E U A
L E S SON E LDORADO then (5) avoided by festival critic (8)
C E E E 11 Learned environment made 3 It orbits Neptune before
DOUB T F UL S TA I R S
N A E I R 11 12 bends in A1! (7) appearing in November
POS I T RON T EMP E R 12 Catty old pontiff? (7) papers (6)
M L T E A E X 13 What edition embodies couldn’t 4 Large plain stable dam (4)
B I K I N I D E MO N I A C
S F T U A I L stand (5) 5 Contemptuously replacing
S E L F I MPOR T ANT 13 14 15 14 Boss’s sore back leads to nitrogen with chlorine at regular
withdrawal from society (9) intervals (10)
16 A nine-ounce bloom developed 6 Coy nurse trained guiding light
rarely (4,2,1,4,4) (8)
16 17 18 19 Inevitable European tax not 7 Joe’s guarding controversial
binding (9) artist’s The Twins (6)
21 Queen maybe inspires a rare 8 Changed gear crossing border (4)
measure in Hatton Garden (5) 14 We are naked, writhing, aroused
19 20 21 22 Light displays academician again (10)
opening golden eggs (7) 15 Almost a ton of ice (6-4)
23 Georgia twice runs home 17 Introduced resident needing
pioneering flyer (7) surgery (8)
22 23 24 Craving to own new Sierra (5) 18 Silly error is crushing drug for
25 English timeless portrait: ‘A 9 models (8)
Northern Hedonist’ (9) 20 Smoke that surrounds local star (6)
24 25
21 Disheartened company
proclaimed rising stars (6)
22 Hirsute, topless, nonchalant (4)
23 Earth goddess’s odd features of
gravitas (4)
The first five correct entries drawn each week win Can You Solve My Name □ Tick here if you do not wish to receive further
Problems? Address information from the Guardian Media Group or
Want more? Get access to more than Entries to: The Guardian Crossword No 28,620, other companies screened by us.
4,000 puzzles at theguardian.com/
crossword. To buy puzzle books, visit P.O. Box 17566, Birmingham, B33 3EZ, or Fax to 0121-742 1313 by first post Postcode How many times
a week do you buy
How many times
a month do you buy
guardianbookshop.com or call
0330 333 6846. on Friday. Solution and winners in the Guardian on Monday 13 December. Telephone number the Guardian? the Observer?
 •
Saturday4 December 2021
Hursat
England’s hat-trick hero on family tragedy, life
on the dole, Bobby Moore and the boys of ‘66
Interview by Donald McRae Page 2 
‘I knowyou can’t
please everybody’
The principles and
passion of Graham
NAIDRAUG EHT/SNIKNEJ MOT :HPARGOTOHP
Potter Interview page 8 
Rangnick checks in Jamie Jackson
– and could stay on
alf angnick would be open to
becoming anchester nited’s per-
Interim is open to
manent manager should the club
offer him the role when an interim
tenure that begins with tomorrow’s
becoming United’s
visit of Crystal alace ends in the
summer.
he erman has a two-and-a-half-
year contract, with the intention
long-term manager
being that he stays in a consultancy
role after this season.
sked whether he would consider
remaining as the long-term manager
angnick said: “he people here have
Can Cummins
cut it as captain?
The bowler who
won’ et a break
in the Ashes ge 13 
been very clear talking about a six-
month role. We have never spoken
about what happens in summer. ’m
fully aware they might be looking for
a new manager. f they will then speak
with me about that, we will see.”
he 63-year-old then joked about
when he worked as sporting direc-
tor for B alzburg and B Leipzig:
“aybe if everything goes well 
might even make the same recom-
mendation to the board that  did at
Leipzig twice, when  recommended
it might be a good idea to keep work-
ing with me for one year. But this is all
hypothetical. We cannot speak about
that. For me now it’s about winning
the next games.”
How ‘Mad Max’
matured on track
Verstappen within
striking distance
of world title Pa e 11 
angnick admitted the precise
description of his consultancy role
had not been detailed. “We haven’t
spoken about that in all the conversa-
tions we had with ohn [urtough,
football director] and also with d
[Woodward, executive vice-chair-
man].  also had a long phone call with
oel lazer [co-owner] for more than
half an hour. But we haven’t spoken
about what will happen in the next
two years from next summer until
summer 2024.”
angnick described as “nonsense”
that he would earn a bonus were he
to sign Borussia ortmund’s rling
aaland, with whom he 5 
worked at B alzburg,
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
2 Sport
Football
The big interview
‘L
Sir GeoffHurst
England’s 1966 World Cup matchwinner endured
deep loss and rejection but football’s renaissance
reminded everyone of thescaleof his achievement
‘Trying to hide heartache
merely leads to more grief’
Portrait Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
Donald McRae
ife is such a lottery,”
Sir Geoff Hurst
says as his face
creases with emotion
on a cold, sunlit
morning full of
moving revelations and surprising
insights. Far beyond 1966, when
he scored his famous hat-trick
which helped England win the
World Cup, Hurst considers a hard
truth. “We lost our eldest daughter,
Claire, to a brain tumour. How do
you cope with that?”
There is a pause as, at home in
Cheltenham, Hurst looks down.
He turns 80 on Wednesday but
strength and serenity allow him
to peel away the mythology of
‘66 and show how his true self
has been shaped by glory and
tragedy, fame and normality. Hurst
nods and looks up again. “It’s
something you have to cope with
because life moves on.”
As he enters his ninth decade
he can reflect on good fortune
and devastating loss with
equanimity. Hurst reminds me
that he did not play for England
until the very year he became the
first – and still only – footballer
in history to score three goals in
a men’s World Cup final. During
the tournament, it was only in the
quarter-final that Hurst replaced
the injured Jimmy Greaves, a
footballer whom he revered when
they were kids and young pros
in Essex. Their lives changed in
contrasting ways and he made
the most of his unexpected
opportunity and played 49 times
for England, scoring 24 goals.
Hurst also scored 210 goals in
over 500 games for West Ham
and Stoke City.
Hurst has always been more than
a footballer. He tells me, wryly,
about the one county cricket match
he played for Essex, alongside the
great Jim Laker, in 1962. “It was
against Lancashire, in Aigburth in
Liverpool, and I got nought and
nought not out.”
He managed Chelsea from 1979
to 1981, and tried to sign Johan
Cruyff and Kevin Keegan before
he was sacked. He was fleeced
by conmen and ended up on the
dole. Hurst kept going and built a
new life in insurance. He laughs
now at the small humiliations he
suffered as a rookie door-to-door
salesman derided by many as a
lowly ex-footballer and doubted
by others who could not believe
“the” Geoff Hurst sold insurance.
Memories of his younger brother,
Robert, who took his own life in
1974, returned again and again. And
then, when Claire was diagnosed
with cancer while pregnant,
Geoff and his wife, Judith, cried
together on their kitchen floor.
But Claire lived another 10 years –
until December 2010.
Early December, with this
terrible anniversary and Christmas
approaching, is always a time
of tangled reflection. “Issues
like health are a lottery,” Hurst
continues. “Judith goes to the
cemetery to change the flowers on
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Claire’s grave and when she comes
back she always remarks that she
looked at the tombstones. She is
astounded by the amount of young
people [who died].”
Judith might find comfort in
feeling close to Claire again but
Hurst shakes his head when I ask
if he visits the graveside. “No, it’s
the opposite for me. I can’t face it.”
He and Judith married “on 13
October 1964 and we were together
a couple of years prior to that. We
have been amazingly happy.”
Considering all the heartache
they shared, did he ever lose faith in
life? “I don’t think so. For a long
time I didn’t want to talk about
anything relating to the family in
public. But I had three daughters
and my eldest, Claire, passed away
11 years ago now. At Christmas
in 2010. I found it difficult to talk
about for a long time.”
Hurst now believes that “trying
to hide heartache merely leads
to more grief”. After 80 years
studded with extreme highs and
lows he says: “Life’s got to go on.
But you never cese to remember.
You never cease to mourn. We
talk about what she was like and
the things she said and did. The
pictures of her in our apartment
here are great memories.”
I break the silence by suggesting
that such memories sustain us.
It sounds trite but Hurst smiles
kindly. “They do, yes.”
Another memory relates to
the death of his brother, Robert,
and it has stayed with me all
week. Robert took his own life,
Hurst explains, “during one of
his dark depressions which,
•
▼ Hurst crashes England’s disputed
third goal in off the bar in 1966
 V/ 
Geoff.’ But he also said: ‘I was
working on the train that day
your brother jumped in front of it
all those years ago.”
Hurst pauses as he relives
that jolting moment. “I was
flattered he had brought me a
cup of tea. But I saw afterwards,
when he mentioned his
connection with my brother, it
was something fairly significant
in his life as a conductor.”
Making him tea and sitting
down to talk, I suggest, was also a
very human gesture.
“ery much so,” Hurst says softly.
It is only since 1996 that the
you need a good attitude in football
and in life. I certainly wasn’t the
world’s greatest player but I had a
very good attitude.
“After football I went into
insurance and I was getting
knock-backs there. I’ve got some
funny stories about my early
days trying to sell warranty
insurance to car dealerships.
I went into a Ford dealership,
without an appointment, and
saw the secretary. I gave her my
card and said: ‘We haven’t got an
appointment but could I see the
boss?’ She went into his office,
gave him my card, and he came
‘The boss at the Ford
dealership slung my
card at me and said:
“Wedon’t deal with
ex-footballers”’
“I look back on these times
with great amusement and
amazement. In the early days I
would practise on Judith. I would
go through the garage and knock
on the kitchen door. Judith would
open it and I’d talk to her about
3
writes in the opening chapter of
his alphabetical romp through
80 sporting stories that Ali
“would still have been my No 1
choice” even if he had listed them
“in order of greatness”.
Ali was less enamoured by
football and Hurst confirms
that The Greatest slept through
most of England’s 4-2 extra-time
defeat of West Germany. In a very
different way he and Judith reached
a stage where they were “reluctant
to go out because we knew at some
point a complete stranger would
ask the dreaded ‘Was the ball over
the line?’ question.”
He always gave his stock
answer that the score had changed
from 2-2 to 3-2 “so it must have
been a goal” – while he believed
in the reaction of the “always
honest and fair” Roger Hunt who
wheeled away in celebration and
certainty that Hurst’s shot had
crossed the line.
“People ask me: ‘Do you get fed
up talking about it?’” Hurst says of
1966. “The simple answer is ‘No’.
It’s part and parcel of my life.”
He talks passionately about
Bobby Moore and Martin Peters –
and the book is dedicated to them.
Even though he and Moore were
close, his captain remained an
enigma. “Nobody knew the real
Bobby Moore,” Hurst suggests but
his admiration for the “cool and
dignified” footballer who was “one
of the greatest defenders the world
has ever seen” resonates. Why did
Moore seem unknowable?
“I don’t know,” replies Hurst
who even played cricket with
Moore for Essex’s second XI. “It’s

thankfully, never engulfed me”. He
adds that “Robert was four years
younger than me and he sadly
threw himself under a train at
Chelmsford station in 1974.”
He remembers that eight
years later, after the Chelsea
sacking and a brief period relying
on unemployment benefits, “I
was doing some punditry and
covering games in East Anglia –
Norwich, Ipswich, Peterborough
and Cambridge. I’d probably get
£60 for the weekend, which was
hardly going to keep me and the
family in comfort.
“In early 1982 I’m coming back
on the train from Norwich and
that line actually goes through
Chelmsford into Liverpool Street.
It was a Sunday and very few
people were on the train. I was in a
carriage on my own and there was
no canteen. The ticket collector
asked if I would like a cup of tea.
I said: ‘That’s very nice of you.
Thank you.’ It was quite surprising
from a conductor.”
Hurst could savour a cup of
tea as being one of the rare perks,
at least then, of being a World Cup
winner. He would soon hear a
shattering truth.
“He came back in five minutes
and said: ‘There’s your tea,
‘Life’s got to go on.
But you never
cease to remember,
you never cease
to mourn’
exploits of Hurst and his World
Cup-winning team have become
a cause for sustained national
celebration. When England won
in 1966 the euphoria was limited
and life soon returned to normal.
Yet when Euro 96 was held in
England, millions of people
sang that “football’s coming home”
and about “30 years of hurt”.
The song and the sentimentality
were back again this past summer
as England lost the final of
Euro 2020 on penalties.
All the singing of hurt, over
football, seems different when
you’re talking to Hurst. It feels
inconsequential when set
against the life-changing pain he
withstood. Hurst answers calmly
when asked if he ever succumbed
to bitterness. “Not at all. I learned
out in five minutes and slung the
card at me. It bounced off the table
on to the floor and he said: ‘We
don’t deal with ex-footballers.’”
Hurst tells me more stories of
rejection which are “clear as a bell.
Going into the insurance business,
Abbey Life had a good induction
programme. One of the lessons
was making appointments with
people over the phone. You picked
up a phonebook, randomly picked
a few names and tried to make
appointments with them. I phoned
one number and a woman answered.
I said: ‘I’m Geoff Hurst at Abbey
Life.’ I went through the standard
procedure and she said: ‘I’m sorry
but my husband deals with this.’
The husband came to the phone
and said: ‘If you’re Geoff Hurst, my
name’s f-ing Marilyn Monroe.’
H
selling insurance. She’d slam the difficult to describe. People ask
door and say: ‘Go away.’ But she me who my idol is and normally
kept me grounded and that’s very you’d be thinking of somebody who
important in a relationship.” played 20 years earlier. My idol,
Bobby Moore, was eight months
urst is in the mood older than me. I grew up with him
to compare life and since we were 15 and saw how he
sport, then and progressed much quicker than me.
now, because his He was a senior player for West
new book is called Ham and England four years earlier
Eighty at Eighty. It is than I made the first team. But we
a celebration of the 80 sportsmen were good mates and I loved him.
Hurst has most admired and the He was fantastic, a great leader and
list stretches from Muhammad Ali, an immaculate man.”
Rod Laver and Lionel Messi to Pelé, Hurst is angry that football
Garry Sobers and Zinedine Zidane. “turned its back on Bobby” which
It’s an enjoyable read and full meant that Moore became “a
of personal snippets – from the sideshow … forced to scratch
state of Jim Laker’s spinning a living on the periphery”.
fingers when Hurst played that He compares “the sickening
game at Aigburth to Ali being at hypocrisy” of the statues,
the 1966 World Cup final. Hurst books and documentaries which
followed Moore’s death to the
way in which German football has
celebrated and utilised the talents
of Franz Beckenbauer.
“In this country,” Hurst says,
“many players who had been
at the top level, big names,
found it hard to get back into
their clubs after finishing. I was
once an ambassador for a double
glazing company which sponsored
West Ham and I was refused
entrance into the main gate to
Upton Park one night. The girl
 Hurst with ▲ Hurst (second who stopped me looked 10 yards
Bobby Moore left) managed behind me to the commercial
and Martin
Peters, West
Chelsea from
1979 to 1981
manager, to get some kind of
authority to let me in. He just
Ham’s World
Cup-winning trio
before he was
sacked
shook his head. That wasn’t
unusual. Lots of other great
 V/  / players talked to me about the fact
 /
 
  V
 
Continued on page 4 
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
4 Sport
Football
Hurst at 80: She does joke and laugh at me
sometimes when I make the
memories odd mistake as an old person.
But that’s normal.”
Hurst, Charlton and George
of Moore Cohen are the only surviving
members of the 1966 team. “I see
and Peters
George occasionally,” Hurst says.
“I always joke about George that he
should be dead but I spoke to him
only a few weeks ago. He had bowel
cancer not long after he was playing
 Continued from page 3 and it then came back again. It was
so serious that they were asked
they couldn’t get into their club to see the specialist and he said:
after they finished. Of course it’s ‘You’d better get your affairs in
changed massively now.” order.’ Daphne [Cohen’s wife] said:
His closest friend was Peters – ‘George is going nowhere.’
who also scored a goal in the 1966 “Of course, she nursed him
final and was such a visionary through that. He’s on crutches
player that Alf Ramsey described now but mentally he is fine. I
him as being “10 years ahead of his spoke to both him and Daphne
time”. He and Peters also worked and it reminded me George was
together in insurance and their the nicest guy in the team. When
wives, Judith and Kathy, remain people bump into George they
friends after almost 60 years. always tell me the same thing:
Peters, who died in December 2019, ‘What a lovely man he is.’”
had Alzheimer’s disease. Just days from his 80th birthday
“We were so close to Martin. Hurst says: “I’m still trying to keep
When we both got married in fit and enjoy life. I walk in the park
1964, I paid £5,050 for my house in for 50 minutes and do 20 minutes
Hornchurch. Martin paid £4,950 for of a Joe Wicks video. I made sure I
his house. His garden backed on to did it early this morning so I could
my garden. Martin wasn’t well one fit you in. I have a pacemaker but
Christmas so Judith cooked and it’s not a big deal and I had my
passed the plates of dinner over to six-weekly check-up last week.
Kathy to feed him. Kathy and Judith Everything is OK.”
still speak every day, sometimes Hurst tells me about his youngest
three times a day. We were as close granddaughter who is only four.
to a family living with dementia “Rose is absolutely hilarious. I
as anyone could possibly be. The went round the other day and at
I
Alzheimer’s just accelerated.” the table she said: ‘Geoff, I love
Were the last few months of you.’ Everybody just screamed
Peters’ life particularly painful with laughter at her calling me
for Hurst? “Very. Listening to Geoff from nowhere.”
the girls talking every day was a
commentary of this awful disease. t’s easy to drop the “Sir”
It was bitterly disappointing for and just call him Geoff too
Kathy, her family and for us.” because Hurst is so warm
Bobby Charlton was diagnosed and likable. He hopes
with dementia last November. England might win a second
“We haven’t spoken to him for a World Cup next December.
while,” Hurst says. “I began to get “They’re doing very well as a
concerned when we didn’t see World Cup semi-final and Euros
Bobby on television. Normally at all final the last few years shows.
the Man United games they would They’re a good, terrific bunch
show him in the crowd but for a few of young players under Gareth
months prior to the announcement Southgate and luckily we’ve
there was no mention or picture of forgotten the really awful times.
Bobby. I guessed then.” Remember the Iceland game [at
So many of their teammates the 2016 Euros]? Goodness me,
have succumbed to dementia that was shocking. So I’m hopeful
or Alzheimer’s and, while Hurst for next year. People say: ‘I bet you
remains mentally sharp, does don’t want England to do it again’
Judith worry about him? “I don’t but that’s rubbish. I’m an England
think she’s overly concerned. fan so I hope we can do it.”
Hurst admits that his family love
the fact that he holds the record as
the only footballer to have scored
a men’s World Cup final hat-trick.
“I’ve got five grandchildren and the
second eldest is Jack, who is the
son of Claire. Jack is now 30-odd.
In the 1998 World Cup final Zidane
had scored two and then he was
substituted. As soon as he walked
off the field, within seconds, I had
a text from Jack: ‘Grandpa, great,
you’ve still got the record.’”
Hurst laughs again even as we
think of that lost time when Claire
was still alive. He leans back in his
chair and, remembering how there
has been so much more good than
bad in his own life, Hurst smiles
and says: “I’ve had a very good run
… I’ve had a fantastic run.”
▲ Hurst in 1972 with his wife Judith Eighty at Eighty by Sir Geoff Hurst is
and daughters Joanne and Claire published by Pitch
Analysis
Paul MacInnes
▲ England fans outside Wembley during the Euro 2020 final in July
 /   
FA and Met deserve larger
share of the blame than
Casey review suggests
‘I
am not in the business
of individual blame. So
if people are looking
for a report that tries
to make scapegoats of
individuals you won’t
find that.” So said Louise Casey of
her comprehensive report into the
events in and around the Euro 2020
final at Wembley Stadium on 11 July.
“There were collective failures that
I identify and were clear. There are
also mitigatingfactors that I describe
in the report, in hindsight, as a
‘perfect storm’ that made that final
so difficult to manage.”
As the 129 pages are picked over, it
seems unlikely Lady Casey’s words
will stop people looking to hold
someone responsible. The whole
experience, which she describes as a
“national shame”, was so repellent
as to almost necessitate closure; in
case it becomes even more troubling
on reflection. Perhaps the case
for blame is stronger than Casey
believes, too.
In the firing line are two main
parties: the Football Association
and the Metropolitan police. The
latter is the deserved object of
In the main section
Fatalities only narrowly avoided in ‘national
shame’ of Euro 2020 final at Wembley Page 7 
extreme public scepticism after the
murder of Sarah Everard and the
former is constantly at the centre
of some kind of storm. Between
them they were unable to summon
enough resources to prevent tens
of thousands of people engaging
in public disorder around the final
between England and Italy and
at least 2,000 from gaining entry
without a ticket.
The Met deployed 553 officers,
more than double the number
used at a Premier League derby.
The problem was they were not
deployed until 3pm and crowds had
gathered from nine that morning.
The FA insists it had never
recruited more stewards for a
match. Not only were they lacking
in experience – Casey found – but
also authority. The main entrance
area, Olympic Way, is owned by
the property group Quintain.
Discussions over how to manage it
involved six parties, including the
developer. Casey concluded no one
was deemed responsible for safety.
These are just two problems not
anticipated. Perhaps only hindsight
makes them appear as such, but it
is surely also feasibleto argue that
they were within the realms of
possibility and should at least have
been included in a discussion that
began: “What if …?”
It’s not as if there weren’t
auguries that “unprecedented”
events could be possible. The
Casey report observes: “The
warning signs were there.” It
chronicles the concerns of Brent
council’s chief executive, Carolyn
Downs, who noted increasing
scenes of public disorder as the
Euros progressed. Ticketless fans
had tailgated their way into the
semi-final against Denmark.
When asked why the FA had
not been ready, its CEO, Mark
Bullingham, said:“We planned
for this event in a bigger way than
any event that’s ever been held
at Wembley.We absolutely had
more stewards, we had more
security. What the review said is
that rather than planning for it as
an incremental event and learning
T
lessons from previous events at
Wembley, you’ve got to step back
and almost view these events as
a completely different nature.”
hat argument may
not convince but is
hard also not to have
sympathy for those
who had to deal that
day with hordes of
people determined on delivering
chaos. As Casey puts it:“I don’t
think there were any warning signs
that people were going to attack
emergency fire doors with their
bare hands.” Her review lays bare
other underlying causes, too.
The first is a sense of
desperation, of young men
wanting to see a game they
thought would be one of the
defining moments of their life. This
after a year of Covid restrictions
which had seen the young
deprived of their freedoms to
protect the health of their elders.
Second, the government forbade
fan zones because of the infection
risk, before volubly advertising the
abandonment of all restrictions
eight days after the final.
Then there was the cocaine:
45% of ticketed fans surveyed said
they had seen someone snorting
drugs that day. Casey argued that
cocaine was a major factor in the
trouble, enabling the offenders’
persistence. “If it had only been
alcohol I’m not sure if people
could have sustained themselves
for that period,” she said. Finally,
the “hollowing out” of police
resources over the past decade
means invaders knew the chances
of being stopped were limited.
In Casey’s mind the people to
blame are the perpetrators, and
the former New Labour asbo tsar
wants stronger punishments to
meet such offences as tailgating.
What she also wants is a “sea
change” in attitudes that confronts
loutishness “head on”. She
has asked the FA to lead that
campaign, which means it is likely
to end at the door of the one group
of people who have no complicity
in these events: Gareth Southgate
and the inspirational young men of
his England team.
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Rangnick takes control
and targets better balance
for malfunctioning United
Interim manager lays out his
vision of how he wants side
to play with tightening up
defensively a clearpriority
C
Jamie Jackson
ontrol, control, control:
Ralf Rangnick’s
mantra regarding what
Manchester United are
missing was also an apt
characterisation of a
63-year-old who having just strode
into a behemoth global football
club oozed calm and clarity during
his first media conference as their
interim manager.
The big poser, of course, is how
long this will last should United
struggle? But, for the moment,
Rangnick illustrated why the club
trust him. Arriving five minutes
before the advertised 9am start,
the German was dry-witted,
smart, deferential and, most
pertinently, displayed a forensic
eye regarding his new side after
their impersonation of a rabble
over much of the last two months.
Unlike Louis van Gaal, a
predecessor whose bow before the
media in summer 2014 featured
him criticising United for being too
commercial, Rangnick’s strategy
was touchy-feely, illustrated when
dedicating his opening remarks to
the gathered fourth estate.
“Thanks for coming early; this
is the earliest press conference
of my life – I am looking forward
to working with you,” he said,
before discoursing on precisely
why United are listing, 12 points
 Ralf Rangnick arrived
five minutes early for his
first press conference
 / 
Interim is open
to option of
longer-term
management
 Continued from front page
and ruled out a January move for the
striker. “Wehave excellent offensive
players here already,” he said.
Rangnick offered an insight into
how he may advise the club as man-
ager and consultant when criticis-
ing the transfer strategy since Sir
Alex Ferguson retired in May 2013.
“The club has had no continuity in
•
behind the leaders, Chelsea. “I
have watched the latest games
– not only last night’s game [the
3-2 win over Arsenal] but also the
games against Watford [4-1 loss]
and against Chelsea [1-1] on TV.
Before I knew I would be contacted myself, as the future coach, those
in the following days I watched,
out of interest, the games against
Liverpool and Manchester City [5-0 minimising the coincidence factor I know what kind of player he is,
and 2-0 losses, respectively].
“It’s pretty obvious the team has control.”
an abundance of young, talented
players and enough experienced
players. The major target in the
next couple of days and weeks is to as jester when fielding a question
bring more balance into the team. regarding whether he is on a
Yesterday we conceded two goals, lucrative bonus to sign Borussia
we needed three goals to win and
if you look at the total number of
signing new players and sticking to
the DNA of the club,” he said. “In
the future the board members and
myself have the same opinion. It’s
important not to have many changes
in management.”
Rangnick takes over a side three
points behind West Ham in fourth,
and 12 behind the leaders, Chelsea.
Rangnick was at Thursday’s 3-2 win
over Arsenal, a United display as
uneven as those over the past two
months.
Rangnick cited the managerial
abilities of Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel,
Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp and Man-
chester City’s Pep Guardiola as being
a difference.
“It’s deinitely a good squad
enough to compete in the top four.
If you look at the top three teams
they seem to be very stable, probably
goals conceded, it is almost two on of his continent-wide contacts in
average per game.
“This is my approach: to help
the team to get more balance, more day.
control of the game. Yesterday’s
game was exciting for fans, but for striker. I was together with the
are not the games that we need
every day because football is about Molde to Salzburg and therefore
and having control and gaining
If this was Rangnick as hard-
nosed head coach, there was a
sight of “the godfather of pressing”
Dortmund’s Erling Haaland.
Performing a mock flick-
some of the best coaches in the world.
When Jürgen came to Liverpool the
squad he inherited at the time was
definitely not a better squad than the
one I inherit at United.
“Whenever I came to other clubs
in the middle of the season, which
was the case in Stuttgart or Schalke
twice, you have to make sure that
you have the biggest chance to win
‘What I saw from
Cristiano,he is
willing to put his
input into the team’
Ralf Rangnick
ManchesterUnited manager
through of a notebook, Rangnick
said: “Let me have a look – OK,
£10m for Erling Haaland, £10m
for Kylian Mbappé, £10m for
Robert Lewandowski and £10m
for Joshua Kimmich. I mean this
is nonsense, obviously. There are
no such clauses in my contract
and it doesn’t make sense to hav
speculation on different players.
Yet as a former RB Salzbur d
RB Leipzig director of football (hee
also managed the latter) Ran k
could not resist offering a glimpsee
a comment that did not rejec
notion of a move for Haaland one
“Erling Haaland is a fantastic
people at RB Salzburg and I was a
little bit involved in his move fr m
Rangnick said. “In the meantime
the whole world has realised ho
good the player is. Two years
‘It’s obvious there is
an abundance of
young, talented
players and enough
experienced players’
the next game. Then step by step let
the players participate. They have
to go together with me, they have to
follow not only my instructions but
they have to buy into the idea that I
can offer them how we should want
to play.”
Rangnick has previously stated
that he turned down an offer from
Chelsea to be the interim manager
because the players might view his
temporary status as a weakness.
“We spoke only about the interim
manager for four months, without
any perspective to work in the long
term,” he said. “Here now we have
only played one-third of the games
in the Premier League and we have
agreed on a two-year advisory role
and when a club like Manchester
United contacts you, you cannot
possibly turn it down.”
Erling Haaland worked
with Ralf Rangnick
at RB Salzburg
ago it was only very few people
who believed in this kind of
devel ment from him ”
In dark-blue suit jacket, round-
neck sweater, white shirt and
glasses, Rangnick’s endearing act
of gentleman and scholar came in
an Old Trafford press room where
many visiting managerial greats
have sat post-match, and some
predecessors, including Sir Alex
Ferguson, Van Gaal, José Mourinho
and Ole Gunnar Solskjær have held
court.
There was, however, an
intriguing moment where the
sure-footedness lapsed and he
stumbled slightly. His is a coaching
career that began in 1983 at FC
Viktoria Backnang and has taken in
15 tenures, plus a move “upstairs”
to be the top-ranking football
executive at Leipzig, Salzburg,
New York Red Bulls and, latterly,
Lokomotiv Moscow.
Yet he has not managed a team
for more than a single season for
a decade (Hoffenheim) and was
in a quandary when pondering
whether he preferred the heat of
matchday or the calmer desk-led
role he is contracted to fill at United
from June.
“Yes, I can work in both
positions,” Rangnick said. “If
somebody asked me in which way
do you see yourself more, I don’t
know. Right now I feel and think
and will very much want to work
as a coach, head coach and team
manager for the team. This is what
I’ve done in, I would say, 90% of
the past 25 years in my career.”
After Michael Carrick left United
on Thursday, having been caretaker
manager for three matches, Rangnick
indicated he intended to bring in his
own staff.“I will obviously try to find
one, two, maybe three people who
can join us but due to the Brexit regu-
lations it’s not too easy.”
Rangnick is expected to imple-
ment a high-pressingstyle. He played
down the 36-year-old Cristiano
Ronaldo being unable to execute this.
“Having seen Cristiano yesterday in
the second half,an amazing top pro-
fessional. What I saw from Cristiano
yesterday, he is more than willing to
put his input into the team.”
Regarding strengthening the
squad next month, Rangnick said
that was not in his thoughts for now.
“Winter is not the best possible time
for sustainable transfers,” he said.

6 Sport
Premier League
chief tellsclubs he
opposes a regulator
Masters reassures
top-flight clubs
angered by plan
The Premier League’s chief
executive, ichard Masters,
has reassured the division’s 20
clubs that he is not in favour
of government regulation for
the competition.
Masters spoke at a meeting of
the clubs yesterday in response to
the fan-led review of the English
game, which was chaired by Tracey
Crouch, a former sports minister,
and published last week.
The primary recommendation
was that football needed a strong
independent regulator, which
was not what the top-flight clubs
wanted to hear, and some were
worried when Masters said in an
interview with the BBC last Friday
that he supported the principle.
Previously, the league had
objected to an independent
regulator and Masters’ comments
were interpreted in some quarters
as a shift in position.
The reality was that Masters
was attempting to tread a nuanced
line between showing respect for
the review and accepting that the
league had to be open to some
form of regulation in principle
but also, as he put it, warning “we
The league’s clubs
have feared
regulation since the
European Super
League debacle
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
The talk
Football
News and views from around the game
need to be careful of unintended
consequences”.
Masters said last week: “We
have to be careful not to damage
the Premier League and English
football. We agree with the thrust
[of the review] but there are some
pretty radical proposals there that
need to be thought about.”
Masters’ address to the clubs
was well received, ironing out any
perceived inconsistencies, and
attention is likely to turn towards
how to change the dialogue around
the notion of a regulator.
It is understood that, if one
were enforced, the clubs would
favour it being the Football
Association – an independent
body but not one constrained by
government legislation.
The league’s clubs have feared
a regulator since the European
Super League debacle – almost as
a punishment – and some have
gone public with their concerns.
Christian Purslow (Aston Villa),
Karren Brady (West Ham), Steve
Parish (Crystal Palace) and Angus
Kinnear (Leeds) have each argued
in their own ways that it would
be foolish to weaken the very top
of the English pyramid; that the
game’s strength comes from the
competition there.
The clubs are against another of
the review’s key recommendations
– a transfer tax to raise more funds
for those further down – for the
same reason but they are broadly
behind the rest of it.
Other points include
greater fan representation and
consultation at board level and
supporters holding a “golden
share” to protect their clubs’
heritage and which competitions
they play in. David Hytner
‘I am an optimist.
But it’s not
written instone’
Jürgen Klopp
Jürgen Klopp is optimistic
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané
will be available for Liverpool’s
trips to Leicester and Chelsea over
the festive period after talks about
delaying their departure to the
Africa Cup of Nations.
Liverpool have approached the
Egyptian and Senegalese football
associations over the possibility
of their key forwards reporting
late for a tournament scheduled
to be held in Cameroon between 9
January and 6 February. The club
are seeking a similar arrangement
with Guinea over Naby Keïta.
According to Fifa regulations
the trio should join up with
their international teams after
Liverpool’s Boxing Day game
against Leeds. But, with crucial
visits to Leicester on 28 December
and the Premier League leaders,
Chelsea, on 2 January, Liverpool
want their departures delayed. That
would mean Salah, Mané and Keïta
missing only two Premier League
fixtures, at home to Brentford and
away to Crystal Palace.
The Liverpool manager said: “It’s
not decided yet. I am an optimistic
person, so I hope so, but it’s not
written in stone and not completely
in our hands.”
Liverpool travel to Wolves
today before visiting Milan in the
Champions League on Tuesday
when, with the group won, Klopp
is likely to rotate. That could see
Nat Phillips make his first start
of the season and Klopp, who
describes the defender’s lack of
playing time as unfair, says the
24-year-old could move in January.
Chelsea
Thomas Tuchel is ready to use Saúl
Ñíguez as cover at left wing-back.
The midfielder has struggled to
settle into the Premier League
rhythm and was replaced at half-
time for the second time in his spell
at the club in Wednesday’s 2-1 win
But he was effusive in praise of a
player instrumental in Liverpool
qualifying for this season’s
Champions League.
Klopp said: “People often
ask me which player made the
biggest improvements under
my leadership and I say obert
Lewandowski. That’s probably
right but not far off that is Nat
Phillips, just in a completely
different department.
“I remember when I saw Nat
Phillips first. I spoke to him after
the game and he’s one of the
smartest players I ever worked
with. I told him: ‘ou know you
are not the easiest on the eye?’
But he improved in pretty much
everything since, and he’s not
playing. Life is sometimes not fair
and I can’t blame him. We cannot
keep him for ever. We needed him,
just to be safe, for that half-year.
“We will see what happens in
the window. He was fine doing
it because he’s a great guy but
his development is absolutely
insane … I would sign him for any
club except Liverpool because we
have him.” Andy Hunter
‘We really, really
like Joelinton.
I wouldn’t swap him’
Eddie Howe
Eddie Howe is pinning his hopes
on an apparently reborn Joelinton
helping to spearhead a revival as
Newcastle seek their first win.
Not that the £40m Brazilian
striker will necessarily be leading
from the front. Joelinton, who has
looked a player transformed since
Howe took over as manager last
month, shone in a No 8 midfield
role after Newcastle were reduced
to 10 men by Ciaran Clark’s early
at Watford. But in the wake of Ben
Chilwell’s knee injury Tuchel has
identified Saúl as able to provide
cover. “Saúl is still adapting: he
had an early yellowat Watford and
was a bit shy to play all-in. But I
think he could play in a wing-back
role for us. He could be a good fit.”
▲ Joelinton can be ‘whatever
he wants to be’, says Eddie Howe
dismissal during Tuesday’s 1-1 draw
at home to Norwich.
Indeed Joelinton appeared a far
better enforcer than a striker as he
persistently frustrated Norwich.
“He’s covered every blade of grass
for us,” said Howe, who knows
that with Newcastle increasingly
adrift at the bottom, victory today
at home to his former club Burnley
is imperative. “Joelinton’s given
everything for the team. He’s got a
real selfless mindset and I think he
can continue to improve; he’s going
to be a huge player for us.
“We really, really like him; I think
he’s got a good mix of physicality,
technical ability and tactical
intelligence. ou saw some superb
footwork from him in tight areas
on Tuesday when he started as a
No 10 and then moved to midfield
where, after very little instruction,
he showed high tactical awareness.
He was brilliant.
“Joelinton can be whatever he
wants to be … I think you have an
outstanding individual who is only
going to get better.”
There was a time when
Newcastle seemed desperate to
offload their low-scoring record
signing but Howe has very different
ideas about the 25-year-old.
“I wouldn’t swap Joelinton,” he
said. “I really like him as a person
and I think we can take his game to
new heights.” Louise Taylor
 Mohamed
Salah and Sadio
Mané are due in
Cameroon for
the Africa Cup
of Nations
next month
 R/ 
Y 
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Crystal Palace
Patrick Vieira had to leave the
club’s training session yesterday
due to an “urgent family matter”.
His assistant, Osian Roberts, said
the manager is expected to be on
the touchline for tomorrow’s game
against Manchester United.
‘When Foden has pain
he still plays. Not all
of them are like this’
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has praised Phil
Foden for wanting to play even
when in pain but admitted he has
“softer” squad members who do
not show the same resilience.
Foden is fit after an ankle
injury for Manchester City’s trip
to Watford today. Also available
again are Kevin De Bruyne, who
had Covid, Ilkay Gündogan,
who suffered a back problem,
and Aymeric Laporte, after
suspension, with only Ferran
Torres unavailable.
Of Foden Guardiola said: “He
has pain but it doesn’t matter; he
says: ‘I play, I play.’ When he has good to get three points. But now in
discomfort and says he does not
feel good, it’s because he does
not feel good. But he’s a guy who
tolerates well. Normally you train
with pain – it’s impossible to wake Kane pass to Sergio Reguilón and
up in the morning and be clean with Conte reiterated that he was more
everything – but he’s a guy where
it’s not a problem.
“He loves playing football too
much. Even in a bad situation he
wants to play and play, and not all performances, for sure I would tell
of them are like this. Today he was him,” he said. “But I repeat: I’m
training. He is not thinking about
the injury now. I don’t know for
Watford [if I choose him] but soon
he will be back.”
Guardiola was asked to name
those players more reluctant to play stage, find themselves propelled
in pain. He joked when answering. from nowhere into the driving
“Yeah, I’m going to write a mail
to you and I’m going to tell you
privately which players are softer. game in hand on most rivals, if they
I’m going to tell you now … But
speak with all the managers: there Ham lose to Chelsea today. Given
are players who want to play even
when they’re injured and the other so high” after the chastening defeat
ones. I was softer – when I had pain to NS Mura, he was asked whether
I had pain; I didn’t want to play.” a Champions League spot in May
Guardiola was asked whether
he talked to those who refuse to
push themselves. “If there’s a
problem, another one will come
in,” he said. “If he’s then playing right evaluation because I think
well, he’ll continue. But I never
push a player who doesn’t feel good
to play.” Jamie Jackson
‘Honestly, I don’t see
this team starting
without Harry’
Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte cannot currently
imagine selecting a Tottenham
team without Harry Kane and says
Spurs do not have the option to rest
their misfiring talisman over the
Christmas period.
Kane remains stuck on one
Premier League goal for the season
after drawing a blank, and missing
a clear chance, during Thursday’s
•
Fixtures and tables
(all fixtures today 3pm unless stated)
7
Norwich PREMIER LEAGUE EMIRATES FA CUP
Dean Smith has urged his new squad Chelsea
P W D L F A GD Pts
14 10 3 1 33 6 +27 33
Second round AFC Wimbledon v Cheltenham; Boreham
Wood v St Albans City (Monday, 7.45pm) ITV4; Bristol
to ease the scoring burden on Teemu Manchester City 14 10 2 2 29 8 +21 32 Rovers v Sutton Utd; Burton Albion v Port Vale; Buxton v
Morecambe (12.45pm) BBC One; Carlisle v Shrewsbury;
Pukki () as they prepare to face Liverpool 14 9 4 1 43 12 +31 31 Colchester v Wigan (tomorrow, 12.30pm); Doncaster v
Spurs tomorrow. Only three other West Ham
Arsenal
14 7 3 4 25 17 +8 24
14 7 2 5 17 20 -3 23
Mansield; Ipswich v Barrow; Kidderminster v FC Halifax
(tomorrow, 4pm); Leyton Orient v Tranmere; Lincoln City v
Norwich players have scored league Tottenham 13 7 1 5 13 17 -4 22 Hartlepool; Portsmouth v Harrogate Town; Rochdale v
goals this season. “He needs help,” Manchester Utd 14 6 3 5 24 24 0 21 Plymouth (tomorrow, 12.15pm) ITV; Salford City v
Chesterield (tomorrow, 5.15pm) ITV4; Walsall v Swindon;
said Smith. “We can’t be over-relian ” Wolves 14 6 3 5 12 12 0 21 Yeovil v Stevenage (5.30pm) BBC Two
Brighton 14 4 7 3 13 15 -2 19 VITALITY WOMEN’S FA CUP 2020-21
Leicester 14 5 4 5 22 25 -3 19 Final Arsenal v Chelsea (tomorrow, 2pm) BT Sport 1/
Crystal Palace 14 3 7 4 19 20 -1 16 BBC One
Brentford 14 4 4 6 17 19 -2 16 FA WOMEN’S CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CUP
Aston Villa 14 5 1 8 19 23 -4 16 Group A Blackburn v Shefield Utd (tomorrow, noon);
2-0 win over Brentford. There were
suggestions that his sharpness is
this is fair,” he said, the inference
being that he will be clearer on
Everton
Leeds
14 4 3 7 17 24 -7 15
14 3 6 5 13 20 -7 15
Sunderland v Aston Villa (tomorrow, noon).
Group B Everton v Durham (tomorrow, 1pm); Man Utd v
returning, though, and afterwards Spurs’ prospects by the time the
Southampton
Watford
14 3 6 5 13 20 -7 15
14 4 1 9 19 26 -7 13
Leicester (tomorrow, noon)
VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE
a satisfied Conte called him
Tottenham’s “point of reference”.
transfer window opens. “The
most important thing for us to
Burnley
Norwich
13 1 7 5 14 20 -6 10
14 2 4 8 8 28 -20 10
Aldershot v Altrincham; Barnet v Maidenhead Utd; Bromley
v Wealdstone; Dag & Red v Grimsby; Dover v Wrexham;
Solihull Moors v Woking; Weymouth v Torquay
Should that remain the case in all try to improve the situation is
Newcastle 14 0 7 7 16 30 -14 7
Aston Villa v Leicester (tomorrow, 4.30pm) Sky Sports CINCH SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP
of their eight remaining December [by] working. Then if there is the Premier League; Everton v Arsenal (Monday, 8pm) Sky
Sports Premier League; Leeds v Brentford (tomorrow, 2pm); Rangers
P W D L F A GD Pts
15 11 3 1 33 14 +19 36
fixtures then he will have played 69 possibility to improve the quality, Manchester United v Crystal Palace (tomorrow, 2pm); Celtic 14 9 2 3 32 10 +22 29
matches for club and country this we will try to do it.” Nick Ames Newcastle v Burnley; Southampton v Brighton; Tottenham v
Norwich (tomorrow, 2pm); Watford v Manchester City Hearts 15 7 6 2 25 14 +11 27
year, but Conte maintains there is (5.30pm) Sky Sports Premier League; West Ham v Chelsea Dundee Utd 16 7 4 5 15 15 0 25
no viable alternative.
“If I answer in an honest way, to ‘It’s not good’: Uefa (12.30pm) BT Sport 1; Wolves v Liverpool
SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP (*not including last night’smatch)
Motherwell
Hibernian
16 7 3 6 20 24 -4 24
14 5 3 6 17 18 -1 18
start a game without Harry now is confirms women’s Fulham*
P W D L F A GD Pts
20 13 4 3 49 16 +33 43
Aberdeen
St Mirren
16 5 3 8 18 21 -3 18
16 3 8 5 16 24 -8 17
a bit difficult for me,” he said when
the topic of giving the England qualifying to change Bournemouth* 20 12 6 2 36 16 +20 42
QPR
West Brom
20 10 5 5 33 25 +8 35
20 9 7 4 27 16 +11 34
Dundee
St Johnstone
Livingston
15 4 4 7 15 27 -12 16
15 3 5 7 9 15 -6 14
15 3 4 8 12 22 -10 13
captain a breather was raised. “We Blackburn 20 9 6 5 34 27 +7 33 Ross County 15 2 5 8 19 27 -8 11
are talking about an important The format of European Coventry 20 9 6 5 27 23 +4 33 Aberdeen v St Mirren; Dundee Utd v Celtic (tomorrow, noon)
player for us. I hope to improve qualification for the Women’s Stoke 20 9 4 7 24 21 +3 31 Sky Sports Football; Hibernian v Motherwell; Livingston v
Hearts (tomorrow, 3pm); Rangers v Dundee; St Johnstone v
the situation, to improve the World Cup and Women’s Euros will Huddersield
Swansea
20 8 4 8 23 23 0 28
20 7 6 7 25 26 -1 27 Ross County
confidence of all the players and to change from 2023, Uefa’s head of Millwall 20 6 9 5 20 21 -1 27 CINCH SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP
see that maybe without Harry we women’s football, Nadine Kessler, Blackpool 20 7 6 7 20 22 -2 27 Arbroath v Raith; Hamilton v Dunfermline; Morton v Ayr;
Queen of the South v Partick
can cover the situation – not in the has confirmed, after 29 games with Middlesbrough 20 7 5 8 23 23 0 26
Shefield Utd 20 7 5 8 25 26 -1 26 CINCH SCOTTISH LEAGUE ONE
same way, but in a way that can be margins of seven goals or more Birmingham 20 7 5 8 19 21 -2 26 Clyde v Peterhead; Cove Rangers v Dumbarton; East Fife v
between September and November Luton 20 6 7 7 27 26 +1 25 Alloa; Montrose v Airdrieonians; Queen’s Park v Falkirk
CINCH SCOTTISH LEAGUE TWO
this moment, honestly, I don’t see drew heavy criticism. Nottingham Forest 20 6 7 7 24 23 +1 25 Albion v Forfar; Cowdenbeath v Stirling; Elgin v Kelty
this team starting without Harry.” “We acknowledge that we Preston
Bristol City
20 6 7 7 22 26 -4 25
20 6 5 9 21 30 -9 23
Hearts; Stenhousemuir v Stranraer
Tottenham’s second goal against absolutely don’t want to see that,” Hull 20 6 3 11 16 23 -7 21 LA LIGA (*not including last night’s match)
P W D L F A GD Pts
Brentford resulted from a slick Kessler said of scorelines such as Cardiff 20 6 3 11 21 34 -13 21 Real Madrid 15 11 3 1 35 15 +20 36
England’s 20-0 defeat of Latvia and Reading**
Peterborough
20 8 2 10 26 32 -6 20
20 4 4 12 17 38 -21 16 Atlético Madrid 14 8 5 1 26 14 +12 29
Belgium’s 19-0 win over Armenia, Barnsley 20 2 6 12 13 31 -18 12 Real Sociedad 15 8 5 2 19 11 +8 29
than happy with the striker’s which prompted widespread calls Derby*** 20 4 10 6 17 20 -3 1 Sevilla
Real Betis
14 8 4 2 24 11 +13 28
15 8 3 4 25 18 +7 27
broader output. “I always like to for change. “It’s not good for the **deducted six points ***deducted 21 points Rayo Vallecano 15 7 3 5 23 16 +7 24
be honest with my players and development of women’s football, Barnsley v Huddersield; Blackburn v Preston; Blackpool v
Luton; Bristol City v Derby; Cardiff v Shefield Utd; Coventry Barcelona 14 6 5 3 23 16 +7 23
if I wasn’t satisfied with Harry’s not for smaller or big associations, v West Brom (12.30pm) Sky Sports Football; Middlesbrough
v Swansea; Millwall v Birmingham; Nottingham Forest v
Athletic Bilbao 15 4 8 3 13 11 +2 20
Espanyol 15 5 5 5 15 14 +1 20
and it will change as of 2023.” Peterborough; QPR v Stoke (tomorrow, 2.30pm) Sky Sports Osasuna 15 5 5 5 15 19 -4 20
Kessler said a Nations League- Football; Reading v Hull Valencia 15 4 7 4 22 21 +1 19
very satisfied, he is playing well and style competition was being SKY BET LEAGUE ONE Villarreal 14 3 7 4 16 16 0 16
doing fantastic work for the team.” explored as a part of discussions on Rotherham
P W D L F A GD Pts
19 11 5 3 34 13 +21 38
Celta Vigo
Mallorca
15 4 4 7 16 19 -3 16
15 3 7 5 14 22 -8 16
Spurs have taken seven points the future of qualification. Wigan 18 12 2 4 34 16 +18 38 Alavés* 14 4 2 8 11 19 -8 14
from a potential nine in the league “We’re looking at all of the Wycombe 20 11 5 4 32 23 +9 38 Granada* 14 2 6 6 14 22 -8 12
under Conte and, albeit at an early formats that we’ve used before,” Plymouth
Sunderland
20 10 6 4 33 22 +11 36
18 11 2 5 30 23 +7 35
Elche
Cádiz
15 2 6 7 12 21 -9 12
15 2 6 7 13 27 -14 12
she said. “We’re looking at what MK Dons 19 10 4 5 37 24 +13 34 Getafe 15 2 4 9 10 19 -9 10
was good and what wasn’t good Shefield Wed 20 8 9 3 28 21 +7 33 Levante 15 0 7 8 13 28 -15 7
seat for a top-four spot. They will to then draw up what hopefully Oxford Utd 18 9 5 4 29 18 +11 32 Atlético Madrid v Mallorca (5.30pm); Barcelona v Real Betis
be fourth tomorrow night, with a will be the best format to improve Portsmouth
Burton Albion
20 9 5 6 26 22 +4 32
20 8 4 8 22 23 -1 28
(3.15pm); Celta Vigo v Valencia (tomorrow, 8pm); Elche v
Cádiz (tomorrow, 3.15pm); Getafe v Athletic Bilbao
the competitiveness … We are Ipswich 20 7 6 7 36 30 +6 27 (Monday, 8pm); Levante v Osasuna (tomorrow, 5.30pm);
Rayo Vallecano v Espanyol (tomorrow, 1pm); Real Sociedad
beat Norwich at home and West considering lots of different Cheltenham 19 7 6 6 26 30 -4 27 v Real Madrid (8pm); Sevilla v Villarreal (1pm)
options, like a Nations League but Bolton 20 7 5 8 29 29 0 26 SERIE A
Conte said his side’s level was “not not only a Nations League, to see Accrington Stanley 19 7 3 9 23 36 -13 24
Charlton 20 6 5 9 26 27 -1 23
P W D L F A GD Pts
how we can close this gap.” Cambridge Utd 20 5 8 7 27 35 -8 23
Napoli
Milan
15 11 3 1 32 9 +23 36
15 11 2 2 33 18 +15 35
Kessler warned that changes to AFC Wimbledon 18 5 6 7 26 30 -4 21 Internazionale 15 10 4 1 36 15 +21 34
qualification alone would not be Lincoln City
Shrewsbury
19 5 6 8 20 24 -4 21
19 5 4 10 18 25 -7 19
Atalanta 15 9 4 2 32 17 +15 31
would put them ahead of schedule. enough. Referencing the impact Morecambe 19 5 4 10 29 37 -8 19
Roma
Fiorentina
15 8 1 6 24 16 +8 25
15 8 0 7 24 20 +4 24
“I asked the club for another of the pandemic she said: “There Gillingham 20 3 8 9 16 27 -11 17 Juventus 15 7 3 5 20 16 +4 24
month to understand very well are huge inactivity levels across Fleetwood Town 18 3 6 9 30 34 -4 15 Bologna 15 7 3 5 21 24 -3 24
the situation and to make the the world, in leagues, in national Doncaster
Crewe
19 3 4 12 11 34 -23 13
20 2 6 12 17 36 -19 12
Lazio 15 6 4 5 29 29 0 22
team football, and if you don’t Accrington Stanley v Fleetwood Town;
Verona
Empoli
15 5 5 5 28 25 +3 20
15 6 2 7 23 28 -5 20
play regularly, at an elite level, for Sunderland v Oxford Utd Sassuolo 15 5 4 6 24 23 +1 19
a national team, if your league is SKY BET LEAGUE TWO
P W D L F A GD Pts Torino 15 5 3 7 19 16 +3 18
not up and running and has to be Forest Green 18 12 4 2 34 14 +20 40 Udinese
Sampdoria
15 3 7 5 20 24 -4 16
15 4 3 8 21 29 -8 15
cancelled, then these are all factors Northampton 19 10 4 5 25 15 +10 34 Venezia 15 4 3 8 12 25 -13 15
as to why, right now, we see results Exeter 19 8 9 2 31 21 +10 33
like we’ve never seen before.” Swindon
Port Vale
18 9 6 3 28 18 +10 33
19 9 5 5 32 20 +12 32
Spezia
Genoa
15 3 2 10 15 34 -19 11
15 1 7 7 17 29 -12 10
A big stumbling block to Uefa
developing a long-term plan is the
Sutton Utd 19 10 2 7 28 22 +6 32
Harrogate Town 19 8 6 5 33 24 +9 30
Cagliari
Salernitana
15 1 6 8 16 29 -13 9
15 2 2 11 11 31 -20 8
lack of a match calendar beyond
the 2023 World Cup. Kessler heavily
Leyton Orient 19 6 10 3 32 17 +15 28
Newport County 19 7 7 5 30 23 +7 28
Bologna v Fiorentina (tomorrow, 11.30am); Cagliari v Torino
(Monday, 7.45pm); Empoli v Udinese (Monday, 5.30pm);
Juventus v Genoa (tomorrow, 7.45pm); Milan v Salernitana
criticised Fifa’s plans for a biennial
Tranmere
Salford City
18 7 5 6 15 14 +1 26
19 6 6 7 22 19 +3 24
(2pm); Napoli v Atalanta (7.45pm); Roma v Inter (5pm);
Sampdoria v Lazio (tomorrow, 5pm); Spezia v Sassuolo
World Cup and blamed it for forcing Bradford 19 5 9 5 25 23 +2 24 (tomorrow, 2pm); Venezia v Verona (tomorrow, 2pm)
Rochdale 19 5 9 5 24 24 0 24 BUNDESLIGA
the delay. Walsall 19 6 6 7 21 23 -2 24 Arminia Bielefeld v Cologne (2.30pm); Augsburg v Bochum
“You asked me about our Mansield 19 6 5 8 21 25 -4 23 (2.30pm); Bayer Leverkusen v Greuther Fürth (2.30pm);
B Dortmund v Bayern Munich (5.30pm); B Mönchengladbach
qualifying formats,” she said. “I Bristol Rovers
Hartlepool
19 6 5 8 22 29 -7 23
19 7 2 10 20 30 -10 23 v Freiburg (tomorrow, 4.30pm); Hoffenheim v Eintracht
can’t even tell you because I don’t Colchester 18 5 6 7 16 22 -6 21
Frankfurt (2.30pm); Mainz v Wolfsburg (2.30pm);
VfB Stuttgart v Hertha Berlin (tomorrow, 2.30pm)
know what the international match Crawley Town 18 6 3 9 20 28 -8 21 LIGUE 1
calendar will be like after summer Barrow 19 4 7 8 20 24 -4 19 Bordeaux v Lyon (tomorrow, 7.45pm); Lens v PSG (8pm);
2023. We are one and a half years Stevenage
Carlisle
18 4 6 8 15 30 -15 18
19 3 7 9 13 28 -15 16
Lille v Troyes (6pm); Lorient v Nantes (tomorrow, 2pm);
Marseille v Brest (4pm); Monaco v Metz (tomorrow, 2pm);
▲ Spurs cannot give Harry Kane a away from a new cycle and we don’t Oldham 19 4 3 12 16 30 -14 15 Montpellier v Clermont (tomorrow, 2pm); Nice v Strasbourg
winter break, says Antonio Conte know what it is.” Suzanne Wrack Scunthorpe 19 2 8 9 15 35 -20 14 (tomorrow, 4pm); Reims v Angers (tomorrow, 2pm);
St-Étienne v Rennes (tomorrow, noon)
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
8 Sport
Football Premier League

‘My friends don’t care

about the Premier League
– about this nonsense’

Graham Potterdiscusses
how he switches offfrom
football, fans booing,
learning to deal with
self-doubt and why Brighton
was the right club for him
playing in League One at Withdean,
an athletics track where the away
fans had to watch the game through
a discus cage. It felt scarcely
believable back then that Brighton
would be getting booed off despite
being a top-half Premier League
side. But here we are.
“Well, it’s nice to hear,” Potter
says when he learns of my friend’s
all sorts of other jobs: Everton,
Tottenham, even England. But
listen to him speak about the
“noise” and “nonsense” of Big
Football, the eternal search for
work-life balance, the importance
of culture and happiness, and you
don’t really get the impression of
a guy aching to go 12 rounds with
Daniel Levy any time soon. No
Neal Maupay missed two golden
chances. “It sounds easy,” scoffs
Potter. “But even if you had that
money to spend, that type of
transfer fee requires a certain
salary, which then affects the
whole of your football club. That’s
one thing. Then there’s lots of
£40m Premier League players
that haven’t succeeded. It’s not a
by finance. So you have to prov de
something else: an identity yle
that players can identify with.
Tariq Lamptey, Rob Sánchez,
Jakub Moder, Leo Trossar y’re
getting opportunities to dev
their careers, improve their ow
situation. And then if we’re g
to go down that path, we ur
supporters to really be on board

A
Jonathan Liew encouragement. “And I’m not
naive: I know you can’t please
quick fixes, no short cuts, a fierce
intellect with a strong human
guarantee. And there’s a lot of good
players in this league that haven’t
with that.”
From the outside Potter ma cut
everybody. But the majority of touch: this is the Potter Principle, scored as many as Neal. So it feels a an implacable, unfl of
people understand where the and you have to say it’s working out bit simplistic.” figure. But as with every re
club’s come from. There’s a lot of for him so far. Does xG mean anything to him? are flaws in the edifice. He admiits
friend of mine good things happening here. But This much is apparent when I “Not really.Well, yes and no. It’s a to feeling self-doubt at
supports Brighton, as we know in football, if the result ask, with a certain bluntness, why piece of performance data that can wishes he read or meditated a little
and when he found doesn’t go the way you want, the Brighton didn’t just spend the Ben tell you something. But you have more, but 50 games a season andd
out I was going to emotion is raw.” White money on a striker. White to be careful as well. It doesn’t tell three young children have larg ly
interview Graham In many ways, managing was sold to Arsenal for £50m in the the whole story. It’s not the truth. put a stop to that. What he does
Potter, he texted back expectations has been the theme summer and for a team consistently It’s just a piece of information.” And strive for is work We
with a question. Well, not so much of Potter’s career. When you underperforming their xG as if to prove the point, Maupay like to dehumanise footballers
a question as a plea. “Ask him about have built your name on small, (expected goals), which suggested popped up on Wednesday night and coaches,” he says. “ lly,
the morons that booed on Saturday incremental improvement – taking an inability to put away the chances with a brilliant 88th-minute the coach has to be the fi nd
night,” he says. “Does he realise Östersund from the Swedish fourth they were creating, it seemed like a equaliser (xG of shot: 0.11) to rescue last out, working lon d
that all sensible Brighton fans think tier to the Europa League in seven no-brainer. a point at West Ham. I understand where that comes
he’s doing an incredible job and are years, stabilising Swansea City Witness the draw with Leeds, The point is that anyone can mine from. But it’s about balance, beinng
very fond of him indeed?” in the Championship, carefully in which first-choice forward the data and tell you a seductive able to see the bubble for wha is.
Last Saturday, Brighton played establishing Brighton as a Premier story. But what Brighton are trying See the noise for what it is.”
Leeds at the Amex Stadium. It was League force – the bigger picture
a 0-0 draw, and although Brighton tends to get overlooked a little. ‘You’ve got to provide to do is more than a story: it’s a way
of doing things, a way of playing
So on Sunday, rather than sitting
in a dark room watchin
were by far the better side there By most measures, Brighton are a reason why football, a way of treating people. the Leeds game, he took the da
was still a smattering of boos at full- furiously, miraculously defying
time. They are ninth in the Premier gravity. But in extreme closeup, it players would come “You’ve always got to provide a
reason why players would come
off and spent time wi ly.
He’s kept the same circle of f nds
League playing bold passing
football, despite a wage bill that
looks an awful lot like stasis.
Potter is in his third season as a
and play for your and play for your football club,”
Potter says. “And if it’s just finances,
from when he was growin
Solihull. “They don’t ca
n
should put them comfortably in the Premier League manager, and his
bottom six. Until 2011, they were success has seen him linked with
club: an identity’ then we’ll hit our ceiling, because
95% of the league’s determined
Premier League,” he says. “ y
don’t care about this nonsense.
t the
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian •
Doing
things
the Potter
way
The Brighton
manager at
the training
complex:
‘Football
is not
Shangri-la,
but it’s not
hell either’
 O/
 G
‘There’s lots of £40m
Premier League
players that haven’t
succeeded. It’s
not a guara ’
Hearing Potter s
you wonder wheth , for all the
satisfaction and se urity football
has given him, he o asionally
wonders whether i is entirely
worth it. It’s a ques
us grapple with on
level: when you thi
Qatar World Cup an
change and the raciism and the
greed, is football st
good in the world? Was it ever? Can
it be?
Potter gives the
thought. “It’s a tra t thing,
isn’t it?” he eventu
any point in time, t ’ll be things
you can be really pr
emotions. The sen
Neal Maupay misses and love that I thin
a few but scored a brings. And at the s
brilliant equaliser are challenges in fo
at West Ham face in other areas iety and
life. It’s never Sha gri-la. But it’s
not hell, either.
“When we were oing through
the breakaway [the
Super League], that felt a bit
strange. And then ou see the
reception that Clau
got at Leicester the
which was quite a
moment. I guess it’s like life, you
know. That’s why I e football.
It’s a lot like life. Soometimes you
can’t see the next good thing, and
something comes a
And just when you
9
got it sorted, there’s a kick in the
backside coming your way.”
Does he ever find the lack
‘The breadth and quality is unsurpassed’
of control maddening? In this The Guardian won the treble atthe Football
country at least, we still cling
to the trope of the manager as
Supporters’ Association awards this week
a sort of all-powerful deity: the The FSA, which represents match-goingfans
megalomaniacal obsessive who across the UK, voted the Guardian newspaper
bends the game to his will. And
yet to watch the Leeds game was of the year for the eighth time in a row.The
to be reminded of all the things Football Weekly podcast,presented by Max
a manager does not control. The Rushden and BarryGlendenning, was named Jonathan
players, the bounce of the ball, podcastof the year for the sixth time in nine Wilson
the referee, the conditions, the
finances. “It’s an interesting
years. And Jonathan Wilson, Guardian writer
one,” he says. “Culturally, and Observer football columnist, was named
we think we should be able writer of the year for the third time.
to control it. But the reality is Jonathan Liew,reigning sportswriter
there’s a million things that are of the year atthe Sports Journalists’
uncontrollable. Association awards, and our women’s Suzanne
“Because football fundamentally football correspondent Suzanne Wrack were Wrack
is a players’ game. It’s not also shortlisted by the FSA for writer of the
a coaches’ game. You can’t
stop every five minutes and year.‘The breadth and quality of content
make adjustments. You can is unsurpassed – proven by the fact that
P
do some stuff on the sideline, Guardian writers made up half of the shortlist
but that’s just for show, really. for writer of the year,’ the FSA said. More than
Mostly the players have to take Jonathan
responsibility.” 40,000 fans voted in the awards. Liew
erhaps, in a way, this
is the underrated
part of management.
Because the point at
which you recognise
you can’t do it all, you
also recognise that you need the
input of others. Potter is often
described as a “people person”,
and Brighton are a club crafted
largely in the same image: decent
folk pulling in a common cause.
“That’s one of the reasons I came to
this football club,” Potter says. “Not
accepting that 95% of the league
is determined by finance. Aiming
high. Creating an environment
that’s special.
“It’s not about having a bunch of
nice guys here. You want different
people, different perspectives,
different characters. But it’s about
e this, whether you can share some sort of
common ground in terms of how to
be, how to act, how to respect each
other, how to communicate. How
to deal with disappointment. How
y of to deal with success.”
al So far in 2021, Brighton have
beaten Manchester City and
te Liverpool, beaten Tottenham and
Leicester, drawn with Chelsea
and Arsenal. Potter has gone from
the coach at Leeds Metropolitan
University to the top half of the
Premier League in little more than
a decade. Is it finally time for this
At most tactful and self-effacing of
coaches to admit that he might
. Positive actually, you know, be good?
tion “The logical part of my brain
will,” he says. “There’s still a
part of the brain where there’s
t we always a little bit of doubt. ‘Are
you good enough?’ That type of
stuff. But less and less. As you
gain more experience, more time
in the job, you realise that there’s
certain things you do that are …
competent.”
Well, it’ll do for now.
y, Graham Potter is supporting the
g American Express Shop Small
campaign which encourages the
nation to support their local small
businesses on Small Business
Saturday (today) and beyond.
ou up. For more information visit
ou’ve americanexpress.co.uk/shopsmall

10
Eidevall hopes showpiece will
see luck land on Arsenal’s side
Swedish coach oversaw
a win over Chelsea in theWSL
and leans into superstitions to
try toland trophy tomorrow
J
Suzanne Wrack
onas Eidevall had just
given away his biggest
superstition two days from
his first FA Cup final, at
Wembley against Emma
Hayes’s Chelsea tomorrow.
“If Emma sees this, she will
probably buy a thousand black cats
with the money Chelsea have and
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
Sport
Football Vitality Women’s FACup final 2021
send them all over our ground,”
Arsenal’s manager said. “I’m going
to be invaded by black cats.”
It was said with a big laugh but
Eidevall had not finished. “I don’t
let any black cats cross my way,
ever – I don’t harm any black cats
either, it’s important to say. But I
have sometimes driven around,
rerouting for a couple of miles, just
to not cross a black cat. You feel a
little bit silly when you’re doing it.”
The 38-year-old Swede wass
more coy on what he learned from
Arsenal’sWomen’s Super League
opener against Chelsea, which
his team won 3-2. “That’s a very
interesting question and one that
it would be a bit stupid of me to
answer before the game,” he said
with a grin. “So compliments for a challenges, not least whether to
good question but you will not get worry about players picking up
anything further from me on that. injuries.
After the game we can discuss it.”
Predicting which team are in a
better place was hard, he conceded. Eidevall. “I remember one week
Chelsea had not had much of a
pre-season but have found their
flow and are perhaps better off
this time. Equally, Eidevall said:
“We had a number of additions
to our squad, me coming in as
a new coach, with very limited
time. Now the players have had
more time to adjust during the
season, Chelsea have too, so these
are two teams that have developed,
have learned things as the season
 Arsenal’s Caitlin Foord (left)
and Lia Wälti in training
DVD R/R / 
has gone on and I’m excited for
the game.”
In that 3-2 victory Eidevall was
particularly animated, pictured
on his knees, fists pumping, in
celebration. “I don’t pre-plan – I’m
not that smart – how to act on
the sideline,” he said. “I like to be
more calm; I think that helps with
decision making.
“There were a lot of things going
into that game. We’d had a very
short time together, I had been
in England for a very short time.
I came back [from sorting visas
for his family] for the last two
training sessions before the Chelsea
game, which was the first two
training sessions when we had the
whole squad.
“It was a lot of work in a short
amount of time going into that
game and of course it felt like we
were out of control in some aspects
of that game. But you could see
how massive the heart the players
had was, how much they were
fighting and trying to get the details
right and that [celebration] was
being proud of being together with
them and the staff in that moment
shining through.”
Tomorrow’s final, for which the
attendance is expected to reach at
least 45,000, comes straight off an
international break that presented
both managers with various
“I try not to get on to that
emotional rollercoaster,” said
in Germany some years ago when
I was coaching in Sweden, I was
sitting in a very nice restaurant
‘The players have
had time to adjust –
Chelsea have too, so
these are teams that
have developed’
Arsenal
Chelsea
Tomorrow, 2pm
• Arsenal
Probable: 4-3-3
• Chelsea
Probable: 4-3-3
Zinsberger; Catley, Berger; Mjelde,
Beattie, Wubben-Moy, Eriksson, Bright,
Maritz; Little, Walti,
Maanum; McCabe,
Carter; Ji, Leupolz,
Reiten; Cuthbert,
Miedema, Mead Kerr, Kirby
Subs from Subs from
Williams, Nobbs,
Schnaderbeck,
Musovic, Telford,
Nouwen, Charles,
Patten, Foord, Parris, Andersson, Ingle,
Goldie, Sorensen,
Iwabuchi
Fleming, Harder,
England, James
Venue Wembley Stadium
Referee Helen Conley (Durham) 6°
TV BBC One, BT Sport 1
with friends and text messages
started to drop in with players
being injured, from their national
teams, and it completely ruined
the whole evening with this eight-
course dinner that we were having,
I just went home early.
“After that I decided I can’t
control it so why would I spend a lot
of energy on it. Those things that
happen will happen – the important
thing is how we respond to it.”
One player he did not have to
worry about was Kim Little, who
retired from international football
in September and feels Arsenal are
benefiting from that decision.
“I’m using the time to put me
in the best place to perform for
Arsenal,” the midfielder said.
“It’s hard to tell [how much]
as it’s only been the first few
months. But because we’ve
had an accumulation of games,
with the Champions League
change of format, I’ve played
a lot of minutes and once that
international break comes I do
feel a bit overloaded and I’m able
to manage that with days off, I do
think I’ve benefited.”
Little’s reply to Hayes having
said that Manchester City are seen
as their rivals and not Arsenal? “I
think she’s just playing games.
That’s all I’ve got to say.”
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
How ‘Mad Max’ found
the cool that puts
him on verge of title
Max Verstappen could leave
Jeddahwith drivers’ crown–
but Lewis Hamilton will have
something tosay about that
T
Giles Richards
here is an aura of calm
around Max Verstappen
that, intriguingly,
completely belies
the intensity of his
Formula One world
championship title fight with Lewis
Hamilton. It is this composed
ability to deal with pressure, to
recover from setbacks and find peak
performance time after time, that
has put him within striking distance
of his first title, one which he could
claim at tomorrow’s inaugural
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Yet alongside this maturity,
this mental fortitude, there is also
a boyish, eager thrill at simply
being in the fight and it has been
an infectious joy. A combination
Title permutations
Standings with two races to go
Verstappen Red Bull 35.5pts
Hamilton Mercedes 343.5pts
Verstappen leads Hamilton by eight points and
can secure the title in Jeddah. If Verstappen
wins the race, he would need Hamilton to finish
outside the top six. I Verstappen wins and
also records the fastest lap (1pt), he would
need Hamilton to finish outside the top five.
If Verstappen inishes second, he would need
Hamilton to finish outside the points. Again,
i Verstappen takes the fastest lap bonus, he
would need Hamilton to finish 10th or worse.
•
Sport
Formula OneSaudiArabian Grand Prix
that he also clearly takes pleasure
in as he summed up his attitude
earlier this year.
“I knew if I had a car capable
of fighting for the title I would
be up there and that is showing,”
he said. “It’s a natural thing. I
know what I have to do to be
quick on a track. I don’t need to
overthink or stress out about a lot
of things to be quick.”
Still only 24, Verstappen is now
in his seventh season in F1. That is
a feat in itself, somewhat hard to
comprehend, achieved because he
became the sport’s youngest driver
at 17, in 2015. He has since amassed
a huge amount of experience while
still young and that too has been
vital in his title challenge.
Two races remain this season
and, having delivered a series
of commanding and compelling
victories, Verstappen leads Hamilton
by eight points. He can take the title
this weekend if he wins and takes
the fastest lap and Hamilton finishes
sixth or lower,if he wins without the
fastest lap and Hamilton finishes
seventh or lower, or if he outscores
Hamilton by 18 points.
With so little to choose between
the protagonists, the most likely
result is their fight will go to the
wire next weekend in Abu Dhabi
and Verstappen plays down any
such thoughts of claiming the title
in Jeddah, instead focusing on the
here and now.
“You have to perform and do
well every weekend,” he says. “I
always try to win the race but the
most important thing is that we are
still on top after Abu Dhabi.”
This is an approach that has
served him well through a season
that has been a rollercoaster ride
In the six
races since
Monza
in early
September
he has not
finished
lower than
second
between the two drivers, with the
lead changing hands five times
but during which Verstappen has
maintained admirable equilibrium.
Hamilton has acknowledged that
beating Verstappen this year would
be his greatest championship
victory. The world champion had
opened strongly taking an early
lead with three wins in four races
but Verstappen hit back and left
Austria at the start of July with his
third win in a row and his fourth in
five races. He had taken a 32-point
lead over Hamilton and his Red Bull
car appeared to have an edge on
every type of track.
▼ Max Verstappen gets his
Red Bull Honda used to Jeddah’s
Corniche circuit
 /E E
At the next round in Silverstone
Hamilton collided with him,
causing Verstappen to crash out
and for which Hamilton was
penalised. Then in Hungary
Verstappen was not at fault when
he took damage after being hit in
a first-corner incident. As they
went into the mid-season break,
Hamilton had retaken the lead by
eight points. A lesser challenger
might have crumbled.
Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s car
designer and chief technical
officer, recognised. however. that
Verstappen had the right mentality.
“He has the same steely grit that
11
any world champion needs to dig
in and keep going in the face of
adversity,” he said. “If things go
wrong, he can put that behind him
and look forward to the next one.
He’s matured into a great racer.”
He showed this clearly when
coming back to take four wins
and two second places in the
next seven races. The blip in that
run was of course Monza where
he was found at fault when,
uncompromising in trying to pass
Hamilton, he crashed into him.
It was the Verstappen who still
insists he will go for a gap and is
unafraid to put his elbows out to do
it. Hamilton’s refusal to give way
was a significant statement in that
the Dutchman would have to think
hard when going up against the
world champion in future.
Once more Verstappen reset,
once more he delivered, the
incident consigned to history
although with the lesson learned,
and the points kept coming. His
relentless effectiveness at scoring
even when Hamilton has been
on top has been crucial. In the
six races since Monza in early
September he has not finished
lower than second, including in
Russia where he started at the back
after a grid penalty.
Seven second places across the
season have helped put him in
this position but he knows that, if
Hamilton wins these last two grand
prix, second will not be enough.
The stakes are high then, the
tension ramping up across every
session, but in Jeddah a clearly
relaxed Verstappen was ready to go
racing with an ease that has taken
him this far and may yet help him
finish the job.
Hamilton had the edge when the
drivers took to the street circuit
for the first time this weekend in
practice. He was five-hundredths
up on Verstappen in FP1, with
the Briton’s Mercedes teammate
Valtteri Bottas in third.
Qualifying Sky Sports F1, 5pm
today; highlights Ch 4, 8.40pm
Race Sky Sports F1, 5.30pm
tomorrow; highlights Ch 4, 10pm
 • The Guardian Saturday 4 Decembe 21
12 Sport
Cricket Ashes countdown ▼ Job done: James Anderson,
Graeme Swann, Alastair Cook and
Chris Tremlett celebrate at the SCG
 /  
their development. Australia w re
still trying to work out how to fi
the gaps left by all the great players
– Matthew Hayden, Justin Lan r,
Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGra
Shane Warne in
the previous few years. They were
so confused about wha y
ended up dropping their regular
spinner, Nathan Hauri lace
him with another who had nev
played a Test, Xavier Doherty,
then junking him for a third,
Michael Beer, who had only played
five first-class games.
England, on the other hand, w were
a settled side, with a cr ar
idea of their strengths, w sses,
roles and the way they wanted
to play. They had only lost tw of
the 12 Tests they had played in 12
months runnin and

A
nine of the 11 they pick e
first Ashes ma d
started every Test they had been
available for in that time.
ndy Flow een
runnin for
two years. Ov me,
Flower’s intensi
would start to take its
toll on the play
at that point they were still buy ng
into his way of doing things. H
made the team go through a
gruelling five-day militar g
camp in Bavaria the mon
they flew out

England’s last series win

cheerily admitted afterwards,
they absolutely detested. Even
Flower began to regret it. But it
brought them together, if only

in Australia remains a
the UAE the next winter, then fall
apart altogether when they lost
because when it was all over they
could laugh about how horrendous
it was. They tried a similar thing
all over again in 2013-14, and

rare, dreamlike anomaly

Mesmericfeats of 2010-11
were athrillingandunlikely radio commentary through an
moment intime that may
never again be replicated
everyone else in the house is
sleeping, or fragments of shouted
earpiece that startle you awake at
two or three or four in the morning. haven’t had enough practice.
to South Africa in the summer this time, the players ended up
of 2012. Back in Australia in ridiculing it as a “farce”.
2013-14 they were battered 5-0, But in 2010, when they still had
handicapped that time by their own so much to prove, the players were
administrators who had decided willing to go along with the coaches.
to flog them through back-to-back Not just Flower. Richard Halsall had
Ashes home and away. drilled them into a crack fielding
The slump that came afterwards, unit, and Graham Gooch hammered
England did reach world No 1, and the failure to win even one home the idea of scoring “daddy
when they beat India at home the of the 10 Tests they’ve played hundreds”. Then there was the fast
following summer. But the English in Australia since, makes what bowling coach David Saker, who
aren’t good at being on top – they happened in 2010-11 seem all the brought a little good humour, and
more unlikely. a lot of local knowledge. Strauss had

O
Most of the time it all gets a bit And things got very wobbly when There were lessons there in actually wanted to bat first on the
nightmarish. The 2010-11 series they were beaten by Pakistan in 2010-11, especially in the way morning they bowled Australia out
Andy Bull was the exception. England have England went about their cricket, at the MCG, until Saker took him to
only won four Tests in Australia which was patient but positive, one side before the toss and told
this century. Three of them were on A winter to remember marked by resilience, and real him: “Do that, and I will never talk
n Friday 7 January, that tour. relish for the contest. They to you again.” It wasn’t clear he
2011, Mike Skinner It wasn’t just that they won. channelled their aggression into was joking.
posted a short new It was the way they did it. They First Test Brisbane Drawn bowling dry and batting long, put There was a real and very rare,
video on YouTube; it played with a conviction, and England 260 (Bell 76, Siddle 6/54) & 517-1dec the opposition through thankless sense that they all enjoyed each
showed him asleep ruthlessness, that felt entirely (Cook 235*, Trott 135*, Strauss 110); Australia days in the field, and then made other’s company. Kevin Pietersen
481 (Hussey 195, Finn 6/125) & 107-1
on his sofa, an empty unfamiliar to anyone who had sure they didn’t get any easy breaks was still keen, lean and eager.
tea cup by his head, a crumpled grown up following them on these Second Test Adelaide when they were batting. Jimmy He hadn’t yet fallen out with
carry pack of beer at his feet, tours. They became the first team England won by an innings and 71 runs Anderson was trying to explain Strauss or grown sick of some of
while he read, in voice over, the in Ashes history to score four totals Australia
304
245 (Hussey 93, Anderson 4/51) &
(Clarke 80, Swann 5/91); England it on the BBC’s Project Ashes his teammates. Graeme Swann
opening paragraph of Mike Selvey’s of 500-plus in one series, the first 620-5dec (Pietersen 227) podcast this week. “You’ve got was in his pomp, the linchpin of a
Guardian match report from the team in Ashes history to win three to be patient, but not defensive,” four-man attack led by Anderson,
last day of the Ashes. “They came matches by an innings in one series; Third Test Perth Anderson explained. “You’ve got to who had just come into his prime.
in their thousands to form an Australia won by 267 runs
they broke – or threatened – records Australia 268 (Johnson 62) & 309 (Hussey 116, be aggressive in terms of the fields Alastair Cook, who would have
English corner of a foreign field for that had stood for well over a Tremlett 5/87); England 187 (Bell 53, Johnson that you set and in terms of the been dropped if he hadn’t hit a
the climax.” It is a sweet, pretty and century. 517 for one at the Gabba, 6/38 & 123 (Harris 6/47) lines that you bowl. You can’t just century in the last Test of the 2010
strange thing, one last surreal little two for three at Adelaide, 98 all lob it outside off stump and try and summer against Pakistan, was all
turn in a winter’s cricket so full of out in Melbourne, 644 at the SCG. Fourth Test Melbourne bowl maidens – you’ve got to be of a sudden in the form of his life.
them that it felt something like one Looking back on it now, it all feels England won by an innings and 157 runs challenging the bat all the time, and Jonathan Trott, who hadn’t yet
long dream. “Where am I?” Skinner even more fantastical. Australia 98 (Tremlett 4/26) & 258 (Haddin
55*, Bresnan 4/50); England 513 (Trott 168*, you’ve got to hit the pitch.” been ground down by the relentless
asks at last as he opens his eyes. At the time, people thought the Siddle 6/75) But really, it’s difficult to use pressure of international cricket,
Following the Ashes in Australia win was going to be a watershed. 2010-11 as a template. It owed too couldn’t put a foot wrong. Soon
from back here in England always “The Australian era of greatness has Fifth
Eng
Test Sydney
won by an innings and 83 runs
much to the unique circumstances enough, all this would start to
feels a little like that, bleary-eyed come to an end,” reported the Daily Australia 280 (Johnson 53, Anderson 4/66) & of the time. It was the upshot of change. But 2010-11 was a happy
snatches of action watched on Mail, “while another takes hold, 281 (Smith 54*); England 644 (Cook 189, Bell two teams passing each other at a trip, a high-water mark in English
fluorescent TV screens while the era of English dominance.” 115, Prior 118 ) very particular time and place in cricket. Did we dream it?
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Paceman Pat
Cummins
will have
several senior
colleagues by
his side
New captain
Cummins can
be a ‘pioneer’
The 28-year-old is tipped
to star bothwith the ball
and as a leader for Australia, what
starting with the Ashes
H
Ali Martin
Sydney
e’s the blue-eyed boy Wales towards the end of his
whose elevation to
the Australian Test
captaincy has been
met with universal
approval among the
locals but Pat Cummins still largely the whole time,” Clark says.
steps into the unknown and the
challenge of combining leadership leg, have a rest, a drink. But you
with the demands of bowling fast. can’t sleep as captain. You’re the
Not since Ray Lindwall in 1956
has a seamer performed this dual
role for Australia and even that
was a one-off Test match forced
by injury to Ian Johnson. Instead a performing your playing role.
succession of flinty-eyed batsmen
have held sway in modern times
until Tim Paine’s unexpected reign managing people, selection –
from behind the stumps recently.
What then for Cummins as
he readies himself for the Gabba
on Wednesday? The 28-year-old
unquestionably sits among the
world’s premier quicks, his 164
Test wickets coming at 21 runs
apiece and his modus operandi
one of relentlessness. But his
own captaincy experience is
limited to just four 50-over matches
(and four victories) for New South
Wales this year.
Be it balancing the hostility
required during his own spells
with a calm disposition overall,
setting fields and devising plans
while trying to catch breath
between overs, juggling the
•
workloads of himself and his
fellow bowlers dispassionately
or staying injury-free throughout
are now compact series, the
challenges are myriad.
According to Stuart Clark, the
decorated former Test seamer
who helped inflict the 5-0 Ashes
whitewash on England in 2006-
07 and captain of New South
playing days, these should not be
insurmountable for Cummins; not shorter turnaround times. The
least given the wealth of experience upcoming Ashes, for example, sees
in the current Australian team.
“As captain you’re in the game
“Normally you can get down to fine will step up once more should
centrepiece, making every decision million Australians but he believes
going, so you get physically and
mentally tired. As a batter you can ball-tampering scandal in Cape
park all that and concentrate when Town should not prevent a return.
“Then there is the off-field
stuff, fixing little problems,
you’re involved in every meeting,
motivating, acting as counsel. In
Test cricket there is also the media Steven a long time, coming through
demands, ferocious in terms of
the demands before each Test, at
the toss, after play. In short, there and he just wants to get on with his
is a lot going on.
“I did it for a season [2010-11]
when Simon Katich was away and
Cummins will be the
first Australian quick
since Ray Lindwall
in 1956 to perform
the dual roles
the li es of Pat, Steve Smith, Usman
Kha vid Warner, Mitchell
Starc osh Hazlewood were
just c g through. But I think
the cricket part will take care of
itself ts, because
Pat is t those guys are
no yers. Even a guy like
Alex arey [set to make his debut
as wi etkeeper] is 30 and has
ca ” Gale are among 16 to depart
evertheless, the
nature of the day
job brings with it
individual contests
with batsmen that
could potentially
ment of the wider match.
“Patt is an aggressive fast bowler,”
reaming
g type but he has to be
test with the batsman.
g I found hard here was
wl yourself. You always
w following those of Roger Hutton,
d be bowling.
“You also don’t know when to
st wling, because as a quick
yo ys feel you can get the
guy t xt over. He’s got the
keys to that now. There’s probably
not a t answer, only the end
resul tively you don’t
wantt to be the guy that comes on
to kn ver the last few wickets
, even if you’re
the ri t person at the time. So
he’ll need the senior guys to tell
ther way at times.
“B wing Pat for a
long ill have clarity of
thou t here and err on the side
of less is better. And I think he has
the demeanour and cricket brain
to possibly be a pioneer, maybe
change the wider view that fast
bowlers can’t be captains.”
Along with the hurdles outlined
above, said view has been driven by
the fact that fast bowlers naturally
get injured. In the modern era,
they also face an uphill battle to get
through the entire series without
needing to be rotated given the
five Tests crammed into 42 days.
Cricket Australia have already
stated that Smith, the vice-captain,
Cummins be forced to miss a Test.
Clark is not a spokesperson for 25
the ignominy and tears of the 2018
“I get it’s polarising,” says
Clark. “There will be people who
think he’s done his time and others
who are dead against it. I’m on
the side of thinking he’s been
through enough. I have known
the same club [Sutherland]. He
knows what happened was horrible
cricketing life. If that’s as captain,
he’s happy to do it, if not, he’s
happy to just play.”
Whether this public debate
comes to pass remains to be
seen and, though Smith will be
consigliere, the unblemished
Cummins will be the one primarily
directing traffic in the field
next week. In a series that promises
a raft of threads and subplots,
how he fares will be among the
most fascinating.
Scandal-hit Yorkshire
part with all coaches
Martyn Moxon and Andrew
in response to racism crisis
Tony Paley
The fallout from the Azeem Rafiq
racism investigation continued apace
yesterday when Yorkshire’s entire
coaching team departed the club.
The long-serving director of
cricket, Martyn Moxon, and the
head coach, Andrew Gale, become
the latest high-profile departures
who stepped down as president in
early November, and Mark Arthur,
who resigned as chief executive a
week later following widespread
condemnation of the club over its
handling of the investigation and the
treatment of their former player Rafiq.
The new chairman, Kamlesh Patel,
continued his wholesale restructuring
of the club as Moxon and Gale were
joined on their way out bythe director
of medical services, Wayne Morton,
and all their coaching colleagues, with
Yorkshire stating that they planned
to appoint a new coaching and
medical team “imminently”. A new
director of cricket is expected to be
announced next week.
Moxon, who had been signed off
since 9 November due to a stress-
related illness, and Gale, suspended
pending a disciplinary hearing into
a past antisemitic social media
post, were both heavily criticised
at a digital, culture, media and
sport select committee hearing last
month, when Rafiq repeated to MPs
his call for both to step down from
their roles at the club.
“I don’t think Martyn and Andrew
can [continue],” Rafiq said. “I don’t
think it’s possible for Yorkshire to ▲ Martyn Moxon (left) and Andrew
move forward with them in there, Gale head the raft of departures
Ashes opener is
alottery for both
sides, says Broad
Stuart Broad labelled next week’s
Ashes curtain raiser at the Gabba a
lottery given the lack of meaningful
time in the middle for both England
and Australia during the buildup.
Rain has restricted the tourists to just
seven sessions of cricket since their
advance party landed in the country
on 6 November, with the final day of
intra-squad action against the Lions
yesterday descending into glorified
middle practice.
As such no oficial scorecard
resulted from England’s final innings
before they begin nets at the Gabba
this weekend, although Ben Stokes
top-scored with a 56-ball 42, retired,
in his first outing with the bat since
undergoing a second finger operation.
Rory Burnscompiled 37 against an
attack that featured Chris Woakes and
13
with them knowing full well what
role they played in that institution.”
Moxon, 61, was an opening
batsman for Yorkshire from 1980 to
1997 and returned to become director
of cricket in 2007. Gale, 38, was also
an opening batsman and captained
the team until his retirement at the
end of the 2016 season when he
was appointed as coach. Yorkshire
say the total number of departures
is 16, including six members of the
backroom medical team provided by
Pavilion Physiotherapy Clinic.
Lord Patel said: “Signiicant
change is required at Yorkshire
County Cricket Club and we are
committed to taking whatever action
is necessary to regain trust.
“The decisions announced today
were difficult to make, but are in the
best interests of the club. Without
making important changes to how
we are run, we cannot move on from
the past to become a culture which is
progressive and inclusive.
“We want to make Yorkshire
County Cricket Club a place for
everyone, from all backgrounds. To
do this, we need to rebuild our culture
and instil positive values in everyone
associated with Yorkshire.
“Weare determined to learn from
the mistakes of the past to become a
club which people can trust.”
Mark Wood, but there were troubling
failures for Jonny Bairstow and Jos
Buttler, with both men out twice for
just 11 runs apiece in total.
Haseeb Hameed and Joe Root simi-
larly had second attempts after initial
failures but with Australia also light
on preparation – a proposed three-
day affair against Australia A was
shelved in favour of training – Broad
sees little advantage here. “It’sa bit of
a lottery,” said the 35-year-old.
“I don’t think anyone knows how
the pitch will play or how batters
will settle having not faced a red ball
for months. It’s going to be a mental
game. Mistakes will be made by both
sides and it will be a case of whoever
can capitalise on the key moments.”
Australia’s approach has drawn
scorn from Jeff Thomson, with the
former fast bowler seemingly un-
fussed by the recent T20 World Cup
victorythat has denied Mitchell Starc
in particular any first-class action.
Thomson told Brisbane’s Courier
Mail: “He’s done nothing and I think
it’scrazy. I mean the T20 World Cup is
hit and giggle stuff.” Ali Martin

14
‘Going into a rugby club
wasn’t that intimidating’
Leicester CEO Andrea
Pinchen acceptsTigers are
‘far from thefinished article’
despite topping the table
A
Robert Kitson
ndrea Pinchen knows
she is not everyone’s
identikit view of a
leading Premiership
rugby union figure.
“Let’s not beat around
the bush,” says Leicester’s chief
executive, reflecting on her lesser-
spotted status as one of the league’s
only two female chief executives. “I
think a lot of people looked at me in
a strange way. I totally understand
why they would have that image
because there aren’t that many
women in sport at senior level.”
Nor have many other
Premiership CEOs, regardless of
gender, had to prove their worth
in the Middle East, rising through
the ranks with Emirates from
cabin crew member to become a
specialist in aviation security. “I
was very much used to working in
a male environment, standing up
in front of 50 male pilots talking to
them about bombs and hijackings.
Going into a rugby club wasn’t
really that intimidating.”
Her obvious relish for a challenge
is certainly paying off in the east
Midlands. When Pinchen took
on her current role in May 2020,
Leicester were still surveying the
debris of a wretched decade, having
avoided relegation only because
• The Guardian Saturday 4 December 2021
Sport
Rugby union
of the salary cap indiscretions of
Saracens (who also now possess
a female chief executive in Lucy
Wray). Now the Tigers are kings
of the jungle again, leading the
field by six points as they prepare
for the visit of the champions
Harlequins tomorrow. For the first
time in three years Welford Road
will be full and the club’s mood has
been transformed.
The credit clearly has to be
shared with the head coach, Steve
Borthwick, his staff, the players and
a reshuffled board but Pinchen’s
determination to ensure everyone
is pulling in the same direction has
been crucial. A wry laugh is also
never far away, perhaps the most
heartening Leicester news of all.
In the grand old Tigers days it was
a defining characteristic: hard and
committed, yes, but down to earth
and fun with it.
Pinchen gives the impression of
being all those things, having grown
up locally and worked in the club’s
ticket office as far back as 2004.
At busy times she would think
nothing of yelling at passing players
to answer the phone, sometimes
resulting in unsuspecting callers
finding Martin Johnson on the other
end of the line.
Fast forward 17 years and
“one of the things that surprised
me most” was discovering the
straight-talking, tough discussions
she routinely had in business
were less regular within her local
rugby club. “Nobody enjoys
having conversations about
people’s performance [but] in my
experience business people are a
lot more used to that. You’re like:
‘Hold on, you’re supposed to be
the big testosterone-filled guys,
what’s happening?’”
There was certainly much
embarrassed stammering the day
she visited the training ground
at Oval Park, while still the club’s
commercial director, and asked
the then-coaching staff to share
their key performance indicators.
“At the time I was putting together
a three-year commercial strategy
and wanted to talk to the coaches
about what their strategy was.”
Subsequently she presented a
report to the chairman, Peter Tom,
calling for a more unified sense
of direction. “Peter and I had a
pretty honest conversation. I don’t
purport to know the in and outs of
rugby, that’s not my field, but from
a business perspective there were
some real areas where I thought we
could add value.”
Strategically, in short, the Tigers
have been reborn. Four key values
– Club First, Tough, Passionate,
Driven – were sewn into the collar
of the team shirt and Pinchen –
“You can’t put ‘tough’ all over your
branding if you’re not prepared to
be it” – makes no attempt to gloss
over Leicester’s stuck-in-a-rut
past. “Let’s not shy away from the
fact we were pretty much saved
‘Let’s not shy away:
we were saved
from relegation
by what happened
with Saracens’
 Andrea
Pinchen once
worked in the
Leicester Tigers
ticket office, now
she is the chief
executive
 
from relegation by what happened
with Saracens. You’ve got to face
facts rather than trying to ignore it
and simply plugging along doing
the same things. That way lies
insanity. Of course we all want
to win, otherwise we’d be doing
something else. But what are the
stepping stones to maintaining it?
T
What happens if you lose a game
at some point? You can’t just be
floundering around saying: ‘My
whole ethos is to win.’”
he next big challenge
for all is to confirm a
fly-half successor to
George Ford, who is off
to Sale at the end of this
season. “We wanted
him to stay, there’s no secret to
that. But he’s gone for family
reasons which we totally respect.”
But can a club who lost £1m a
month during lockdown afford a
top-drawer marquee replacement?
“It’s not a case of: ‘George is
leaving, we need to panic.’ The
club’s finances are stable. We’ll
make sure, as we always have on
the rugby side, that we’re spending
up to the cap and that we’re as
strong as we can be.”
It clearly helps that Pinchen and
Borthwick are on the same page.
She says she has learned a lot from
him – “He’s an amazing person to
work with, just in terms of how
analytical his brain is” – and has a
similarly strong work ethic. Days
off – “what are they?” – are rare
and the occasional jog from her
home near Melton Mowbray is her
most relaxing hobby. “My family
understand how all-encompassing
the job is. And it is, let’s make no
bones about that. Sometimes that
work-life balance is not always
there. But given what the NHS
frontline staff have been through
recently, I won’t complain about
being the CEO of Leicester Tigers.
I feel very lucky.”
As she also stresses, though,
there remains a long way to go.
“When you’ve got something as
big as Leicester Tigers that doesn’t
happen overnight. It’s not a case
of: ‘Look at us, aren’t we great?’
We’re far from the finished article.”
Among the fans, though, faith is
returning. “This weekend is our
first sell-out since 2018. Did we lose
some support when things weren’t
going so well? Yes, of course. Those
ad hoc ticket purchases, you lose
some of that. But our season-ticket
holders have stuck with us through
thick and thin. It’s really humbling
to see the depth of support.”
If nothing else Leicester will
find out tomorrow precisely
how much of their bounce
they have regained. “Quins
are the champions, they’re the
benchmark,” says Pinchen, her
voice hardening slightly. “It’s not
an ambition of Leicester just to be
there or thereabouts. We want to
be at the business end of the table
when it matters.”
Results
Cricket
SECOND TEST (first day o five)
India v New Zealand
Mumbai India lead New Zealand by 221 runs with six
first-innings wickets remaining.
India First innings
M A Agarwal not out ...................................................120
S Gill c Taylor b Patel .....................................................44
CA Pujara b Patel ............................................................0
*V Kohli lbw b Patel ........................................................0
SS Iyer c Blundell b Patel................................................18
†WP Saha not out..........................................................25
Extras (b9, lb5).............................................................14
Total (or 4, 70 overs)..................................................221
Fall 80, 80, 80, 160.
To bat R Ashwin, AR Patel, J Yadav, UT Yadav, M Siraj.
Bowling Southee 155290; Jamieson 92300;
Patel 2910734; Somerville 80460;
Ravindra 40200; Mitchell 5390.
New Zealand WA Young, *TWM Latham, DJ Mitchell,
LRPL Taylor, HM Nicholls, †TA Blundell, R Ravindra,
KA Jamieson, TG Southee, WER Somerville, AY Patel.
Toss India elected to bat.
Umpires AK Chaudhary (Ind) and N Menon (Ind).
SECOND TEST (final day o five)
Sri Lanka v West Indies
Galle Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 164 runs.
Sri Lanka First innings 204 (PS Nissanka 73; V Permaul 535,
JA Warrican 450).
West Indies First innings 253 (KC Brathwaite 72;
WRT Mendis 670).
Sri Lanka Second innings (overnight 3288)
DM de Silva not out.....................................................155
L Embuldeniya b Holder ................................................39
Extras (b4, lb4, w1, nb2) ...............................................11
Total (or 9 dec, 121.4 overs).......................................345
Fall cont 345.
Did not bat P Jayawickrama.
Bowling Permaul 4041063; Chase 272822;
Warrican 295760; Roach 80270; Holder 9.41261;
Brathwaite 50111; Bonner 3190.
West Indies Second innings
*KC Brathwaite lbw b Mendis..........................................6
J Blackwood c De Silva b Embuldeniya ...........................36
NE Bonner b Embuldeniya .............................................44
SD Hope c Lakmal b Mendis ...........................................16
RL Chase c Fernando b Mendis .........................................0
KR Mayers c De Silva b Mendis .........................................0
JO Holder c De Silva b Embuldeniya .................................3
†J Da Silva not out ..........................................................4
KAJ Roach lbw b Embuldeniya .......................................13
V Permaul lbw b Mendis ..................................................1
JA Warrican c De Silva b Embuldeniya ..............................3
Extras (b4, lb2)...............................................................6
Total (56.1 overs) .......................................................132
Fall 15, 65, 92, 92, 92, 103, 108, 128, 129.
Bowling Embuldeniya 20.16355; Mendis 256665;
Jayawickrama 103230; Asalanka 1020.
Toss Sri Lanka elected to bat.
Umpires HDPK Dharmasena (Sri) and RSA Palliyaguruge (Sri).
SECOND UNDER-19 ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL
Colombo (DSC)Sri Lanka 2514 (P Pathiraja 113,
R Somarathne 58no). England 103 (JEK Rew 50;
W Sahan 521). Sri Lanka beat England by 148 runs.
Golf
HERO WORLD CHALLENGE (Albany, Bahamas)
Firstround scores (US unless stated) 66 D Berger; A Ancer
(Mex); R McIlroy (NI). 67 W Simpson; J Thomas; B Koepka.
68 T Finau; P Reed; V Hovland (Nor); C Morikawa. 69 T Hatton
(Eng); B DeChambeau. 70X Schauele. 71M Fitzpatrick (Eng);
S Schefler; S Burns; J Rose (Eng); J Spieth. 72 H Stenson
(Swe). 75 H English.
Tennis
DAVIS CUP FINALS (Madrid, Spain)
Semifinal: Croatia 1 Serbia 0: B Gojo (Cro) bt D Lajovic
(Ser) 46 63 62.
Snooker
UK CHAMPIONSHIP (York)
Fourth round: B Hawkins(Eng) bt M Selt (Eng) 63;A Hicks
(Eng) bt D Gilbert (Eng) 65.
Quarterfinals: K Wilson (Eng) bt R O’Sullivan (Eng) 65;
L Brecel (Bel) bt A McGill (Sco) 62.
American football
NFL
New Orleans 17 Dallas 27
Ice hockey
NHL
Carolina 2 Ottawa 3; Dallas 3 Columbus 2; Florida 7
Bualo 4; Los Angeles 2 Calgary 3; Minnesota 5
New Jersey 2; Montreal 1 Colorado 4; Nashville 0 Boston 2;
NY Islanders 1 San Jose 2(OT); Tampa Bay 4 St Louis 2;
Washington 3 Chicago 4(SO)
Fixtures
TODAY
Rugby union (3pm unless stated)
Gallagher Premiership
Exeter v Saracens; London Irish v Newcastle;
Northampton v Bath; Worcester v Wasps
United Championship
Glasgow v Dragons (7.35pm); Ospreys v Ulster;
Stormers v Lions
RFU Championship
Coventry v Bedord; Ealing v Ampthill;
Hartpury v Richmond (2.30pm)
Women’s Allianz Premier 15s
Gloucester-Hartpury v Loughborough (4.30pm); Harlequins
v Darlington MP; Saracens v Bristol (12.30pm); Wasps v Sale
(1.30pm); Worcester v Exeter (5.30pm)
Cricket
Second Test (first day o five)
Bangladesh v Pakistan, Mirpur (4am)
TOMORROW
Rugby union
Gallagher Premiership
Leicester v Harlequins (3pm)
RFU Championship
Cornish Pirates v Doncaster (2.30pm)
Cricket
Third U19 ODI
Sri Lanka v England, Colombo (SSC) (4.15am)
Saturday 4 December 2021 The Guardian
Athletics
Disgraced former IAAF
chief Diack dies aged 88
Sean Ingle
The disgraced former head of global
athletics, Lamine Diack, who was
convicted last year of running a clique
that covered up Russian doping in
exchange for €3.2m (£2.7m) worth
of bribes, has died at the age of 88.
Diack, one of the most power-
ful figures in world sport for nearly
two decades, was also named in a
Brazilian court of being paid $2m in
exchange for up to nine votes that
helped Rio de Janeiro win the right
to stage the 2016 Olympic Games.
The news of Diack’s demise was
confirmed by his son, Papa Massata
Diack, who said: “He died at home
around 2am of a natural death.”
It marked the end of an extraor-
dinary life, which included holding
the French/west African long jump
record, helping to coach the Senegal
national football team and becom-
ing mayor of Dakar and then a senior
politician in his home country.
But it was in corrupting global
sport that Diack, who led the then
International Association of Athlet-
ics Federations from 1999 to 2015 and
was also an influential International
Olympic Committee member, will
really be remembered.
As IAAF president he devised a
scheme dubbed “full protection”,
in which 23 Russian athletes paid
between €100,000 and €600,000
in exchange for having their dop- ▲ Lamine Diack was one of the most
ing bans hushed up so they could powerful figures in world sport
Racing
Chacun can
leave punters
tingling
Greg Wood
Guide to today’s TV races
Chacun Pour Soi carried untold
millions of pounds to defeat
on his only previous start in
Britain at Cheltenham in March,
and the painful memory of that
disappointment may still be a little
fresh for some punters as Willie
Mullins’s chaser is as big as 11-10 for
the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown
Park today.
Set the Champion Chase to one
side, however, and in every other
respect, Chacun Pour Soi (2.2)
looks and feels like an odds-on
shot. He seemed to falter on the
hill at Cheltenham but was hugely
impressive in three Grade One wins
last season, at Leopardstown in
December and February and then
Punchestown – like Sandown, a
right-handed track – in April.
The form of all three victories
was backed up by the clock and
while Nube Negra was just in
•
Sport
compete at the London 2012 Olym-
pics and the 2013 Moscow world
championships.
In September 2020 Diack was sen-
tenced to four years in prison for brib-
ery and corruption, with two years
suspended. In announcing her ruling,
Judge Rose-Marie Hunault said Diack
had “undermined the values of ath-
letics and the fight against doping”
with his actions. “You violated the
rules of the game,” she added.
Incredibly, the French court also
found that Diack had agreed the “full
protection”agreement with the then
Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko
in exchange for funding to help his
friend Macky Sall win the 2012
Senegalese presidential election.
Diack remained under house arrest
in France but was later released on
bail and allowed to return to Senegal
after the French authorities were
given a €500,000 (£515,000) bond
by Cheikh Seck, the owner of Sen-
egalese football club Jaraaf. “Hewas
a good man, a great leader,” said Seck
after Diack’sdeath. “We wanted him
to come back home.”
front of him at Cheltenham, Dan
Skelton’s runner has 11lb to find
with the favourite on Timeform’s
ratings, at a course that will play to
Chacun Pour Soi’s strengths.
Greaneteen and Bryony Frost,
in fact, could be a bigger danger on
the form of their Grade One win
over course and distance in April.
Chacun Pour Soi won first time
up last season, however, and if he
is anywhere close to his best, he
should account for his rivals with
something to spare.
Aintree .30 White Pepper
improved from her hurdling debut
to win readily in a strong time at
Galway in October and can add to
Greg Wood’stips
Aintree 11.15 Richmond Lake 11.45 Dynali
12.20 Elimay 12.55 Galahad Quest 1.30 White
Pepper 2.05 Imperial Aura 2.40 Snow Leopardess the
(nap) 3.15Tamar Bridge
Chepstow 11.38 Grange Road 12.12 When You’re
Ready 12.47 Take Your Time 1.22 Colorado Doc
1.57 Gericault Roque 2.32 Ree Okka 3.09 Mahon
Point 3.45 Deere Mark
Wetherby 11.52 Barony Legends 12.27 Ladronne handicaps on a workable mark.
1.02 Bean In Trouble 1.37 Saint Palais 2.12 Romeo Sandown Park 3.3 Hudson De
Brown 2.47 Geryville 3.22 Bounce Back
Sandown 12.05 Might I 12.40 Shirocco’s Dream
1.15 Vocal Duke 1.50 Edwardstone 2.25 Chacun
Pour Soi 3.00 Highland Hunter 3.35 Hudson De
Grugy (nb)
Wolverhampton 4.00 Critical Thinking
4.30 Yummylicious 5.00 Navello 5.30 Phoenix
Star 6.00 King Of The South 6.30 Warm Smile
7.00 Neptune Seas
Papa Massata Diack was also ruled
to have been at the heart of the scan-
dal but fled to Senegal and was tried
in absentia. He was given a five-year
jail sentence last year,which his law-
yers said they would appeal. Other
senior IAAF figures, including the
head of doping, Gabriel Dollé, were
also convicted.
Diack Sr’s name was also pivotal
in the trial of senior Brazilian figures
who were convicted for their part in a
bribery scheme that secured the 2016
Olympic and Paralympic Games for
Rio. The former Rio de Janeiro gov-
ernor Sérgio Cabral said Diack and
Carlos Arthur Nuzman, the former
president of the Brazilian Olympic
Committee, had colluded to win the
Games for Rio.
“Nuzman came to me and said:
‘Sérgio, I want to tell you that the
IAAF president, Lamine Diack, is a
person that is open to undue advan-
tages. He can secure ive or six
votes. In exchange, he wants $1.5m
(£1.13m),’” Cabral said.
Cabral added in court testimony
that he paid $2m to Lamine Diack,
which was used to buy as many as
nine votes to help Rio beat Madrid,
Chicago and Tokyo to the 2016
Games. Cabral told Judge Marcelo
Bretas that Nuzman assured him the
scheme would work because Diack
had a history of such practices.
“I said: ‘Nuzman, what are our
guarantees here?’ And he said:
‘Traditionally he sells four, five, six
votes. There is a risk that we don’t
get through to the second round [of
voting].’”
Last week Nuzman was sentenced
to more than 30 years in prison
after being found guilty of corrup-
tion, criminal organisation, money
laundering and tax evasion. Cabral,
already serving a 200-year sentence
for other corruption-related offences,
was also convicted.
Gavin Cromwell’s impressive 20%
strike-rate in the UK over the last
two years.
Sandown Park .0 Edwardstone
was giving 8lb to the runner-up
at Warwick last time but ran out
a comfortable winner and looks a
top-class recruit to fences.
Aintree 2.0 Unlike a couple of his
main rivals, Imperial Aura looks
ideally suited to this sharp three-
mile test.
Aintree 2.40 Snow Leopardess
does not have the benefit of a
previous run over the National
fences but she has scarcely put a
foot wrong over fences so far and is
interesting at around 6-1 to rise to
the challenge.
Sandown Park 3.00 The form of
last season’s Midlands National
at Uttoxeter is solid and Highland
Hunter, fifth there and unraced
since, is interesting at around 8-1 if
steep climb on Paul Nicholls’s
gallops has worked its magic.
Aintree 3. Tamar Bridge has won
with something to spare on his last
two starts and starts his career in
Grugy has won his last three starts
over this course and distance
and put up another career-best
performance here last month. He is
up just 4lb for his latest success and
looks good at around 9-2 to make
the necessary progress.
Carlsen v Nepomniachtchi online
Read our report on the late finish to last
night’s Game 6 theguardian.com.sport
Snooker Cazoo Uk Championship
O’Sullivan in tetchy exit as he
gets snappy over photographer
Arestless Ronnie O’Sullivan crashed
out at the quarter-final stage of the
UK Championship after losing the
decider against Kyren Wilson in York.
The record seven-times champion
frequently sat down in mid-break,
complaining of distractions in the
two-table arena, and also ordered a
photographer to leave the Barbican
arena. O’Sullivan complained to the
referee that the cameraman did not
have a tripod during the match and
asked for him to be removed.
Nevertheless, O’Sullivan reeled
off two frames in a row to claw back
a two-frame deficit, only for Wilson
to reply with a break of 102 in the
decider to win 6-5 and seal his place
in the semi-finals.
Wilson will face Luca Brecel today
in the last four after the Belgian
breezed to a 6-2 win over Anthony
McGill. “Luca is a fantastic young
talent. He won big in China a few years
ago and we all probably expected
him to kick on. I look forward to that
game,” Wilson told BBC Sport.
On the victory, Wilson added: “It
was one of those where you feel the
snooker gods don’t forgive you and I
probably should havewon 6-3. Then
things started to turn and I thought
I had missed the boat.
“I backed myself under pressure. I
have let a couple slip with Ronnie, so
it was nice to get thatunder my belt.”
O’Sullivan was less than impressed
with the photographer incident
Crunch weekend
tests nerves in
world title match
Leonard Barden
Magnus Carlsen, the champion, and
Ian Nepomniachtchi, the challenger,
resumed their 14-game world title
match in Dubai yesterday with the
score 2.5-2.5 after five straightdraws,
which represents a small but signifi-
cant success so far for the 31-year-old
Russian underdog.
The trio of games this weekend,
with two Whites for the Norwegian,
are critical if Carlsen is to regain
momentum, because the following
two rest days before games nine and
11 will precede Whites for Nepomni-
achtchi. Additionally, some observ-
ers already noted that Carlsen looked
tired during game five, which could
be ominous so early in the match.
Carlsen planned a fast start against
anopponent he hoped would be nerv-
ous but Nepomniachtchi, besides
holding his own at the board, has
also matched verbals in the post-
game press conference. He revealed
after game four that his aides and/
or the Zhores super-computer had
already prepared him for Carlsen’s
intended surprise 18 Nh4!? planning
to regroup the knight via g2 to e3 or
even a4 targeting pawns.
The concept behind 18 Nh4!? was
15
following the match. “I’ve said that
unless they have a tripod they are not
welcome,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport.
“It’s not a lot to ask, if you are a
cameraman it should be standard
stuff to be carrying about so maybe
he should go to the professional and
get his kit right.”
On the match, O’Sullivan
was disappointed with his level
against Wilson. “I just wasn’t good
enough, wasn’t clinical enough –
and you have to be,” he said. “That’s
what happens as you get a little
bit older. I missed too many balls
and  wasn’t clinical enough. You
can’t afford to do that at the highest
level, I accept that. I think I did well
to get five frames.
“Kyren is hungry to win titles. He
wants to do what I’ve done in the
game. I was like that when I hadn’t
won a major. You have all the desire
at that stage of your career. It’s great
to see, it shows he’s got a real passion
for the game.” Agencies
▲ Ronnie O’Sullivan was well off his
best in losing 6-5 to Kyren Wilson
reminiscent of a Czech talent test of
long ago,with a white knight at a1 and
black pawns at c6,f6, c3 and f3, where
the knight has to go up the board to
a8, rank by rank, while avoiding
squares occupied or attacked by the
pawns. The best talents, including
the future world class Vlastimil Hort,
could do this in two minutes.
Game two has been the most
revealing so far for what could
happen with both sides outside
their prep, as Carlsen misplayed his
attack before Nepomniachtchi played
too safe at a critical moment. Their
memory banks and super-computer
back-ups are in good shape, so the
question is who will cope better as
the nervous tension becomes acute
in the last few games.
3792 Walter Veitch v Jonathan Penrose, British
Championship, Buxton 1950. Black to move and
win. Penrose, the 10-times British champion
who died on Tuesday aged 88, won here with a
classic miniature brilliancy.
8
7
6

4
3
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 • The Guar ian Saturday 4 December 2021
16
Y DD :
W
Do the right thing
hen the Russian tanks roll
westward, what defence
for you and me? Colonel
Simon’s stand on
Sloman’s Essex Rifles? Or
the 66-year-old chairman
of the WTA? Well, there’s an went live
unusual thing. It turns out
China is a welcome
there is at least one body
in sport, and indeed in public life, with the guts, the
spleen, the fuzzy green balls to make a stand in the face was deleted channels are filled with endless Third
of power and basic questions of right and wrong.
revolt against a
It isn’t clear what the full implications might be of
the decision by the Women’s Tennis Association to
suspend its activities in China until it is satisfied over
the treatment of one of its members, Peng Shuai, by the In response a predictable spew of hostility has swung
mush of indifference
Chinese state.
For now there will be predictable noises off, from
the suggestion this is the hand of state-led anti-China
actors to talk of sponsor pressure, of opportunism on
a hot-button issue. This seems unlikely. First, because shops? What about polonium poisoning? What about
there is no money in standing up to China. The WTA
has a 10-year deal for a season-ending tournament in
Shenzhen. Scratch that then. And second, because
Steve Simon, the chief executive of the WTA, really
doesn’t seem to give a crap.
“If we walk away from what we have requested,
what we are telling the world is that not addressing
sexual assault with the respect and seriousness that it is the global popular culture, the loudest megaphone
Barney Ronay requires is OK, and it is just not,” Simon said this week. in the room. Whatever resolution Peng can find from
And there you have it, a most unlikely match-up:
the governing body of women’s tennis against the
governing global power of the coming century. A
world of watch sponsorship deals and match etiquette grabbing that mic now and then and speaking back.
Women’s FACup fi l
Little thinks bigas
Gunners prepare for
Chelsea showdown
Page 10 
regulation ering a long hard Paddington stare to
one of the werful totalitarian states in history.
At g is so often fogged, this feels
ke somet g real. Not to mention an act of leadership
tha y sporting bodies by its clarity.
i th since Peng posted a detailed, frankly
g note on social media, which suggested
ion into intimate relations with a
Chinese tician, retired vice-premier Zhang Gaoli.
hirty minutes after that message
went live her online presence was
deleted. She disappeared from public
view, then re-emerged after concerns
were voiced. Most notably there was
a strange phone call with renowned
expert in nation state coercion,
Thomas Bach – of the International
Olympic C ttee – who didn’t mention the
allega g once in 30 minutes of chat.
It is imp t to be clear, as there is a reflexive
hostili rners taken, sympathies
pre-assign A’s actions should not be seen
as a judgm t on the hard facts of whatever went
on betwee eng and 75-year-old Mr Zhang, on the
influence or indeed on the basic politics of
ho omen engage with one another.
But Sim A are doing the right thing. All
that is clea t now is that something odd happened;
and tha
silencin ase of female tennis player versus
powe d man. The WTA considers this to be wrong.
It is acting t.
ty of thought and action does matter, if
only beca t is so frequently absent on these issues.
Compar xample, the response of Sebastian Coe,
presiden orld Athletics, who this week argued
that any ycott by the IOC on this, not to speak of
, suppression, genocide and so on, would
be “a gless gesture”.
Really vement, the greatest TV
show es a stand on state censorship and
a female t yer’s suggestion of sexual assault
– and tha ould be devoid of any meaning? But then,
gued in the same breath that the 1936 Berlin
Olympics, tler’s Games, the apogee of performative
fasc , were proof that sport can be a
“powerful driver of integration and
Soon after change” – a candidate, in a highly
competitive field, for stupidest
Peng’ s statement ever uttered by a sports
message administrator. To recap: three years after their
Games of Love, Nazi Germany
her online invaded Poland and commenced the
presence
industrial extermination of millions
of human beings. The documentary
Reich junk: Greatest Wartime Nazi
Snack Factories and so on. Perhaps Seb Coe on Hitler’s
Sporting Integrations is already in production.
The WTA has chosen to stand against such vacuity.
into action. Peng’s words have been pored over and
retranslated to seem less accusatory. The usual mud
of whataboutery and spineless moral relativism has
been thrown into the mix. What about Nike and sweat-
the US dropping the hydrogen bomb 76 years ago?
It is exhausting and confusing wading through this
stuff. But the fact remains: at some point, someone,
somewhere has to say that something is wrong. If not
we simply dissolve into a mush of indifference.
This week China called for politics to be kept out of
sport which is, at least, a good joke. But right now sport
here, whatever happens next to the lone armada that
is Steve Simon and the WTA, sailing into the mouth of
their own storm, there is little left to lose from sport