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ENTERTAINMENT OPINION SPORT

A comic Office
master who romances
defined an era just got
of television more
+ Tributes to
Friends star
exciting Man City derby
Matthew Perry, Rebecca win piles pressure
found dead Reid
aged 54 on Ten Hag
P14-15 P22 P54

EXCLUSIVE

Starmer hit by
Secrecy
concerns
over
ministers’

growing party
vanishing
WhatsApps
P10

EXCLUSIVE

rebellion over
The green
energy
postcode
lottery
P4

Israel as Gaza
MONDAY OPINION
30 OCTOBER 2023 What Sunak
Number 4,036
and Starmer
can learn

battle rages
OPINION from
Thatcher
Why Bonfire on Israel
Night beats Ian Birrell
P19
Christmas FEATURES
Lucy » Sir Keir Starmer is facing a mounting revolt from shadow ministers over his Why we
stance on Israel, as Labour splits worsen over the Middle East conflict
Mangan shouldn’t
» i understands that several frontbench Labour MPs have threatened to quit if fear the rise
they are banned from calling for a ceasefire in Gaza of AI
P21 » United Nations has warned that civil order in Gaza is starting to break down
after thousands broke into aid warehouses and took essential supplies
» Israel has stepped up ground offensive, with heavy fighting taking place
between IDF and Hamas forces as air strikes continue to pound the Strip
P6 P34

TV P26 I PUZZLES P27 I TRAVEL - CYCLING WITH SUPERSTARS P37 I ARTS - FANTASY FICTION EXHIBITION P38
 The
News
Matrix
The day at
a glance
CONSERVATIVES
Minister canvassed
with suspended MP
A minister has been photographed
MONDAY campaigning with a former
Conservative MP who was
30
suspended from the Commons after
an inquiry found he had engaged
in bullying and sexual misconduct.
Tom Pursglove was photographed
OCTOBER with Peter Bone after MPs backed a
six-week suspension for him.
Quote of the day
POLITICS
Son of Partygate Macron vows legal
inquisitor seeks seat right to abortion
I am extraordinarily
patient, provided I get my The son of Sir Keir Stamer’s chief of
own way in the end staff, former Partygate investigator
MARGARET THATCHER Sue Gray, has applied to stand for
Labour in Beckenham and Penge
in London, at the next election. Ms
Gray’s appointment drew claims of
a “stitch-up” from Boris Johnson
supporters after she probed rule-
breaking in Downing Street.
Birthdays
Jessica Hynes, actress, 51;
Eddie Holland, songwriter,
84; Henry Winkler, actor,
78 (below); Mario Testino,
photographer, 69; Gavin The List
Rossdale, musician, 58
Most expensive UK
cities for sole renters
Rents have reached their highest
levels on record, combining with
rising energy bills to create a cost
of living crisis that is hitting people
Anniversaries who live alone particularly hard.
Tuesday 30 Oct 2007 Analysis by chartered surveyors
The business magazine Stokemont looked at the monthly
Forbes reports that Elvis cost of renting a one-bedroom flat
Presley has regained his and paying other living expenses
crown as the highest- to work out the 10 most expensive
earning dead celebrity, UK cities for sole occupants.
with an annual income
of $49m (£23.7m) during 1. London, below, £3,075
the past year. 2. Bristol £1,914
3. Edinburgh £1,736
4. Manchester £1,683
SUBSCRIBE 5. Leeds £1,605
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index
Crossword.............24
TV & Radio...........26
Puzzles.....................27
Arts..............................38 Newspapers support recycling. © Published by Harmsworth Media, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY. Registered in England and Wales No. 00084121. Printed by Harmsworth Printing
Business..................42 The recycled paper content (Thurrock) Essex; Associated Print (Dinnington); Newsprinters (Broxbourne) Ltd; Newsprinters (Knowsley) Ltd; KP Services (Jersey) Ltd; Reach Printing
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Weather...................46 was 68.2%
Monday 30 October 2023. Registered as a newspaper with the Post Office.
CRIME
Murdered woman’s
family ‘seek justice’
The family of Jacqueline Rutter,
53, the grandmother killed in what
police believe was a targeted attack
in Merseyside, vowed on the first
anniversary of her death: “We will
continue until our last breath to
fight for your justice, to ensure those
responsible are held accountable for
this evil and merciless crime.”
FRANCE
President Emmanuel Macron has
vowed to enshrine the right to
abortion in the French constitution.
A bill will be presented to his cabinet
by the end of this year so that in 2024
“the freedom of women to have an
abortion will be irreversible”, he
tweeted yesterday. Abortion was
decriminalised in France in 1975
SOCIETY
Spooky facts
on the record
The largest
gathering of people
dressed as ghosts
was made up of o’lanterns (carved pumpkins)
1,024 participants,
wa, Ch
in Ichikawa, Chiba,
hiba,
h ib
Japan on
6 Aug 20233
PUMP-KING
1,247kg
weight of heaviest pumpkin,
grown by Travis Gienger, of
Half Moon Bay, California,
USA, on 9 Oct 2023
VATICAN CITY
Pope Francis urges
Why is one release of hostages
fan hoping
Pope Francis has urged Israel and
Bond truly
is one in a
Hamas to agree a ceasefire and
renewed an appeal for the release of
million? hostages held in Gaza. “Let no one
abandon the possibility of stopping
See p.5 the weapons,” he said in Vatican City
yesterday. “Brothers and sisters,
stop! War is always a defeat.” PAGE 6
BRAZIL TELEVISION
Twelve dead after Hancock: I know we
small plane crashes did the right thing
At least 12 people have died after a Former health secretary Matt
small plane crashed near the Rio Hancock has talked about the
Branco airport, in the capital of the “injustice” he faced after he was
western Brazilian state of Acre, accused of “corruption” during the
state authorities have said. The pandemic in an episode of Celebrity
aircraft went down shortly after SAS: Who Dares Wins. “I feel a sense
take-off, killing everyone on board of injustice at being... essentially
including an infant, the Acre state accused of corruption... when I know
government said yesterday. for a fact we did the right thing.”
PEOPLE PEOPLE
Johnson health push Cancer patient’s epic
insincere, says Wicks cycle ride to final
Fitness expert and YouTube star Joe A father who is undergoing
Wicks has said he turned down then- chemotherapy for brain cancer said
prime minister Boris Johnson’s offer he has “shown people what can be
to front a public health campaign done” after cycling 200 miles to
because he did not think it was Paris to watch the Rugby World Cup
sincere. Wicks, who was created final. Robert Seaward, 37, of Marlow,
an MBE in 2022, said he met Mr Buckinghamshire, said it was
Johnson in early 2022 but thought “immense” to watch South Africa’s
the campaign lacked substance. 12-11 victory over New Zealand.
What’s the highest grossing werewolf movie of all time? When was the largest
gathering of skeletons? And, perhaps less terrififying, who made the biggest-ever
pumpkin pie? As we roll into scary season, Guinness World Records have put
together some of the spookiest fun Halloween facts.
THE FASTEST HIGHEST GROSSING
MARATHON DRESSED WEREWOLF MOVIE
AS AN ALIEN (MALE) OF ALL TIME
Achieved by Ian Young Wolf (1994),
(UK) at the London which had
Marathon on 3 Oct 2021 grossed
Longest tunnel of Jack £87m
worldwide by
was created in Croton-on-
31 Dec 1994
Hudson in New York, USA. 3 hr
The tunnel was made from 23 min
648 individually carved 5 sec OLDEST DRAWING
OF A GHOST
pumpkins and measured
The figure of an old male
6.09m long, 4.26m wide
ghost being led back down
and 4.26m high
The fastest 100m into the Underworld by
a female, engraved on a
HIGHEST GROSSING paddled in a Babylonian clay tablet
GHOST-HAUNTING pumpkin is 2 mins c. 2,500 years ago. The
MOVIE OF ALL TIME
The Sixth Sense (1999), 0.3 sec by Dmitri image and its cuneiform
description forms part of a
which had grossed £420m
worldwide by 4 May 2000
Galitzine (UK) at
Trafalgar Wharf,
guide to exorcising ghosts
and was deciphered by Dr
Irving Finkel
Hampshire, UK, in his book
on 23 May 2013 The First
Ghosts: Most
Ancient of
Legacies
SOURCES: GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS

ThePage3Profile
PRINCESS LEONOR OF SPAIN, STEPPING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT
‘Leonormania’ sweeps Spain
When Spain’s Princess Leonor turns
18 tomorrow she will become heir to
the country’s throne and her rising
profile will be given a major boost.
The teenager has spent most of
her life out of the limelight, but has
become increasing popular with
the public after a series of public
appearances. Spanish media has
heaped praise on her classy fashion
sense and she even presided over
her own Princess of Asturias awards
ceremony on 20 October, decorating
officials and celebrities including
Hollywood actress Meryl Streep.
Her surge in popularity has been
dubbed ‘Leonormania’.
Who is the Princess of Asturias?
Leonor is the eldest daughter of
Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen
Letizia. If she becomes the nation’s
next monarch, she will be its first
queen regent since her fourth great-
grandmother Isabella II, who reigned
from 1833 to 1868.
In the summer she graduated from
Welsh boarding school UWC Atlantic
in the Vale of Glamorgan, with an
international baccalaureate diploma.
She is now undergoing three years of
military training in Zaragoza.
Leonor has also reportedly learnt
how to sail, perform gymnastics, play
tennis and play the cello.
Moving into the spotlight
Tomorrow, Leonor’s new status will
be marked by a formal ceremony
at the Spanish parliament, at which
she will swear allegiance to the
constitution and receive the medals
of Congress and the Senate.
Ahead of her big day the Spanish
royal family released some
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22
previously unseen snaps,
including one with her parents on
her first day of school (below).
Some people in Spain want
Leonor to be part of pop culture.
Her fashionista status is the
subject of a book by Jesús Reyes
and France’s Paris Match
magazine ran a story on the
Bulgari earrings she wore at
her awards ceremony. But royal
biographer Carmen Remírez
said: “Leonor will need her own
narrative and to connect with her
own digital generation.”
Brendan McFadden
26-31
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
ENTERTAINMENT
McDermott shuffles
out of ‘Strictly’
Former Love Island star Zara
McDermott and Graziano Di Prima
were knocked out of Strictly Come
Dancing after their Charleston
dance to “Jeepers Creepers” failed to
impress judges. McDermott, 26, had
survived two previous dance-offs
but was unable to snatch victory for
a third time.
SPAIN
Museum visitors
bare all for naked art
Members of the Catalan Naturism
Club were able to ditch their
clothes for a special tour on
Saturday. Barcelona’s Museum of
Archaeology opened its doors to
nudists for the Bronzes of Riace, a
series of photographs by Luigi Spina
depicting Greek bronze statues of
naked warriors from the 5th century.
GAMBLING
Lottery jackpot
rolls over to £12.7m
Wednesday’s lottery jackpot is now
worth £12.7m after no one grabbed
Saturday’s top Lotto prize. The
winning numbers from draw
machine Merlin were 25, 28, 37,
38, 42, 50 with bonus number 6.
Two ticketholders managed to win
£1m as they matched five of six
numbers plus the bonus number.
TELEVISION
Farage set to join
‘I’m A Celebrity’
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage,
59, will appear on this year’s I’m A
Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, say
reports, joining stars including
Danny Cipriani in the jungle.
His appearance was reportedly
brokered by Georgia Toffolo, who
won the show in 2017. The Sun said
Mr Farage could earn up to £1m.
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
3
Letter from the
Political Editor
Hugo Gye
i@inews.co.uk
Starmer’s big dilemma
Perhaps it was always inevitable
that Sir Keir Starmer would face an
internal struggle over the Israel-
Palestinian issue one day.
The Labour leader has shown
himself a staunch supporter of Israel’s
right to defend itself, even when that
inevitably means tolerating the deaths
of Palestinian civilians.
Many within his party will never
accept that approach. Without
necessarily being anti-Israel, a large
number of Labour activists and MPs
are passionate about alleviating
the suffering of Palestinians; some
because of their membership of the
left-wing tradition which sees the
Palestinian cause as emblematic of all
liberation movements, others because
they are Muslims who identify closely
with their co-religionists in Gaza.
“It’s probably better that we’ve
had this row now, rather than when
we’re in power,” one Labour insider
remarked to me. “Because it was
always going to happen.”
Sir Keir’s control of his party has
been total for at least two years. No
longer – he cannot even sack the
shadow ministers who have defied his
line on the Gaza conflict, though he
seems to have convinced some to stay
quiet for now.
Maybe this will be the breach in
the dam which emboldens those who
are sceptical of the leader to speak
out on other issues – his adoption of
strict fiscal rules, his refusal to roll
back welfare cuts or his position of
compromise on Brexit.
More likely, the current Labour
turmoil will remain a one-off – at
least until the general election. Sir
Keir’s acceptance that he cannot
discipline rebel frontbenchers is an
acknowledgement of just how tricky
the politics of this particular issue are,
and have always been.
But eventually – perhaps when Sir
Keir is ensconced in No 10 – MPs will
lose their cool over something else.
They will remember the events of this
October and know he is not invincible.
@HugoGye
4 NEWS

ENVIRONMENT

Households miss out on green grants

as councils caught in bidding wars
Exclusive
By Lucie Heath
ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT
Households in some parts of Eng-
land are missing out on energy bill
savings as councils are forced to
compete for net-zero funding to help
people “green” their homes.
The Government has made bil-
lions of pounds available to help
households install the likes of insu-
lation and heat pumps, but analysis
by i found that this funding has been
unevenly distributed.
Scrutiny of money distributed
over two years through three
schemes found that some parts
of the country had received more
than £80 per head, while others
received nothing.
It has left some low-income house-
holds unable to apply for funding
in which they could receive up to
£10,000 to carry out work estimated
to save hundreds of pounds a year on
energy bills.
According to the analysis, the
West Midlands received the least
amount of money per head, followed
by London. East Midlands received
the most per head, followed by the
East of England, although some in-
dividual areas within regions bucked
the overall trends.
The three schemes that were
looked at are not an exhaustive list
of all the available Government ing. The Government was unable
Green funding per head in England programmes to help households to provide a regional breakdown of
Most funding: Least funding: improve their energy efficiency, but where that funding was spent, but
1 Great Yarmouth Watford 1 they do account for over £1.2bn in insisted it was “broadly in line with
£124.18 £0 taxpayer funding. the regional spread of the least en-
2 City of London Gateshead 2 Councils said the disparity is due ergy-efficient social housing across
£94.46 £0 to the system for distributing net- the country”.
3 South Tyneside 3
zero funding, which forces local au- It is understood the Govern-
Walsall
£87.88 3 £0 thorities to bid against each other for
money, rather than it being shared
ment takes into consideration the
geographical distribution of funding
4 Allerdale Kirklees 4
£77.26 £2.67 by population or need. when deciding on successful bids, as
Christopher Hammond, chief well as other factors including value
5 Fenland 4 9 2 Swindon 5
executive of UK100, a cross-party for money and deliverability.
£77.21 £3.40
6 Shropshire
10 8 Warrington 6
network of councils dedicated to “Next month, we are making
£69.63 £3.66 taking action to reach net zero, said an extra £80m available for coun-
the “bidding process for disjointed, cils, registered providers of so-
7 Lewes
£66.43 7 8 4 Bolton 7
£3.66 short-term, competitive funds has cial housing and charities,” the
wasted tens of millions from already spokesperson added.
8 South Lakeland Bury 8 stretched budgets since 2019”. While councils welcomed the addi-
£64.77 9 £3.66
“It’s unsurprising that the current tional funding, they argued that the
9 Eden 6 10 Oldham 9 Kafkaesque set-up has produced system must be urgently reformed
£64.77 £3.66
such stark inequalities,” he said and to ensure it is reaching the areas
10 Copeland 6 3 5 1 Salford 10 called for “urgent reform”. where it is most needed.
£64.77 £3.66
i analysed the funding that was The Mayor of Watford, Peter Tay-
distributed in 2021-22 and 2022-23 lor, said bidding for pots of money
through the Home Upgrade Grant, “restricts flexibility for councils who
Green Homes Grant Local Author- may have specific needs”.
5 1
2 ity Delivery and Social Housing De-
carbonisation Fund (SHDF) Wave
One (the analysis does not include Cllr Darren Rodwell,
7 Wave Two as the Government has the Local Government
not published information on which Association’s environment
areas this money was spent). spokesperson, said the bidding
SOURCE: i ANALYSIS
£ The Department for Energy Se-
curity and Net Zero said the analysis
was “incorrect” as it did not include
system was “challenging” for
councils “without the resource
and capacity for bid-writing”.
the latest round of the SHDF’s fund-

SOCIETY ENERGY

Vital meals More oil and gas

on wheels permits granted
schemes By Chris Green
SCOTLAND EDITOR

face collapse Another 27 licences for oil and gas

By Paul Gallagher
Meals on wheels services, which pro-
vide tens of thousands of vulnerable
people with vital hot food, are head-
ing for countrywide collapse without
Government intervention, experts
have warned.
The National Association of Care
Catering (NACC) found that only 29
per cent of services – and fewer than
18 per cent in England – are still in
operation across the UK due to cuts
to local services.
There is no statutory require-
ment for local authorities to offer
such schemes, which deliver food to
elderly and disabled residents – so
cash-strapped councils can opt to
axe services to save money.
But a report from the Associa-
tion for Public Service Excellence
(APSE) said that malnutrition, lead-
ing to longer hospital stays, costs the
taxpayer £19bn per year.
As well as providing at least one
nutritious hot meal a day, a regular
caring contact helps reduce avoid-
able health and care costs – tackling
the risk of malnutrition, loneliness
and social isolation.
The NACC, along with several
other signatories including Age UK
and Care England, has written to
MPs today to raise concerns over
the future of the meal services and
the far-reaching and potentially dis-
astrous ramifications if such a vital
lifeline into older and more vulnera-
ble people living in our communities
is lost completely.
NACC chair Neel Radia said:
“With councils facing a funding gap
of £7bn in adult social care, cutting a
service which is relatively low-cost…
is a cheap cut.
“The benefits of the service far
outweigh the costs. Removing a
preventative service for the most
Cash-strapped
councils are
increasingly
ditching meal
services GETTY
vulnerable in our communities is
short-sighted.
“We need the Government to step
up to the plate and deliver the right
funding for councils… knowing that
[any other] approach will push up
costs to the public purse, forcing
people into costly care.”
The Government has been ap-
proached for comment.
production have been granted in the
North Sea, prompting fury from en-
vironmental campaigners who said
they would challenge the decision
in court.
UK regulator the North Sea
Transition Authority said that the
areas chosen had the best poten-
tial for rapid production, with the
aim of improving the country’s
energy security.
The decision comes in the wake
of the controversial approval of the
Rosebank field west of Shetland last
month, which is estimated to contain
up to 300 million barrels.
Earlier this year Rishi Sunak said
he wanted to “max out” North Sea
oil and gas reserves and that the UK
Government would grant potentially
hundreds of new drilling licences, in
a dramatic departure from its previ-
ous stance on fossil fuels.
The announcement was welcomed
by the oil and gas industry, which
pointed out that around 75 per cent
of the UK’s energy needs are still
provided by fossil fuels and that new
licences were needed to prevent the
country’s reliance on imports.

Flood water at a
caravan centre
in Bognor Regis
yesterday ANDREW
MATTHEWS/PA
WEATHER
Alerts issued as new storm expected to
bring heavy rain and gusts of 80mph
By Brendan McFadden
Weather warnings have been issued
every day until Thursday as a new
storm approaches the UK.
Storm Ciarán, which arrives on
Thursday, is expected to bring heavy
rain to the south of England and
Wales, as well as “unsettled condi-
tions” across the rest of the UK.
The forecaster has issued yellow
weather alerts for many parts of the
UK, with conditions likely to cause
travel disruption.
People who live in the south-west
of England have been warned of “sig-
nificant coastal flooding” as a result
of the downpours, with the Environ-
ment Agency issuing 72 flood warn-
ings across the country.
PEOPLE
Ice hockey player dies in ‘freak accident’ after skate slash
By Jane Clinton
Professional ice hockey player
Adam Johnson has died in a “freak
accident” after a skate slashed his
neck after an on-ice collision during
a game.
The 29-year-old Nottingham Pan-
thers forward suffered the injury
during the second period of Not-
tingham Panthers’ Challenge Cup
match with Sheffield Steelers on
Saturday night.
The game was stopped in the 35th
minute as Mr Johnson received
It comes just weeks after parts of
the UK faced severe flooding from
Storm Babet, when a month’s worth
of rain fell in 24 hours in some areas.
In Scotland, weather warnings
were still in effect last night across
the east coast, Highlands and central
belt, but conditions were expected to
improve today.
Met Office deputy chief
meteorologist Chris Almond said:
“Winds associated with Storm Ciar-
án are likely to gust to 80mph along
the south coast of England, with a
small risk of somewhere exposed
seeing 90mph, and winds could
even gust up to 50mph or 60mph
further inland.
“This deep low-pressure system
will also bring heavy rain to much
emergency treatment from para-
medics at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena
before being rushed to Northern
General Hospital.
The team confirmed yesterday
that he had “tragically passed away
following a freak accident”, adding:
“Adam, our number 47, was not only
an outstanding ice hockey player,
but also a great teammate and an
incredible person.
“We ask that the privacy of Ad-
am’s family and friends, and every-
one at the club, is respected at this
difficult time.”
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
of the UK, but the heaviest rain is
expected in southern and western
areas with 20mm to 25mm quite
widely across the region, but up to
40mm to 60mm potentially over
higher ground.
“Heavy and persistent rain will
fall on to already saturated ground
bringing a risk of further impacts
such as flooding in areas that are al-
There is an increased risk
of trees falling because
of saturated ground, and fresh
flooding is expected in areas
where there has been heavy
rainfall and clean-up operations
are under way.
Adam Johnson played as a forward
for the Nottingham Panthers
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
ready struggling to clean up from the
heavy rainfall we have seen over the
last week or so.”
Kate Marks, flood duty manager at
the Environment Agency, said: “We
urge people to stay safe on the coast
and to remember to take extreme
care on coastal paths and prom-
enades.” She added that flooding of
low-lying coastal roads is also pos-
sible and said motorists must avoid
driving through flood water.
The Met Office warned that some
communities could be cut off as a
result of flooded roads on Thursday,
and that fast-flowing and deep flood-
water could cause a danger to life in
parts of Scotland.
Forecast, page 46
More than 8,000 spectators were
at the venue when the incident took
place, with the players forming a
protective visual barrier around the
Minnesota-born Mr Johnson before
fans were ushered out.
The Elite Ice Hockey League
(EIHL) postponed all further week-
end games, adding: “The thoughts
and condolences of everyone con-
nected with the EIHL are with Ad-
am’s family, friends and teammates.”
South Yorkshire Police said their
investigation into the circumstances
surrounding the incident is ongoing.
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
5
CINEMA
Biggest Bond
collection to be
sold at auction
By Douglas Whitbread
The world’s biggest James Bond col-
lector is selling off his entire cata-
logue of memorabilia – which could
fetch a total of £1m at auction.
Steve Oxenrider’s hoard includes
around 32,000 items, including rare
posters, film ticket stubs, brochures
and numerous lobby cards used to
promote the movies.
His collection is so big, it will be
sold in two parts.
It has been shipped across the At-
lantic to Ewbank’s Auction House in
Woking, Surrey, with the first half of
the collection to be sold in November.
Mr Oxenrider, a retired teacher
from San Francisco, revealed he still
romanticises the early films.
He said: “The earlier films through
the 1960s were unique and spectacu-
lar in their exciting storylines and a
proven formula of exotic locations,
girls, gadgets and super-villains, all
with a certain fantasy element.”
“Goldfinger is my favourite, be-
cause it’s probably Connery’s best
performance as 007 and is fast-
paced,” he added.
Mr Oxenrider’s collection has a
huge number of original posters.
Part of the collection of James Bond
memorabilia that is going on sale
CRIME
Two arrested
after dog attack
By Nick Duffy
Two people have been arrested in
connection with a suspected XL
Bully attack in North Tyneside.
Northumbria Police said it had
responded after it “received calls
from residents” in Wallsend report-
ing that a woman and two dogs had
been injured.
The police force said: “The victim,
aged 29, was taken to hospital with
serious injuries and her two injured
dogs were also taken for treatment.
“A 22-year-old woman and 31-year-
old man were arrested on suspicion
of being in charge of a dangerously
out of control dog.” They remain in
custody, the force said, and two dogs
believed to be XL Bullys were seized,
as well as three other dogs.
“An investigation is ongoing and
we will remain in the area carrying
out enquiries,” the force said.
In September, Rishi Sunak an-
nounced that American XL Bully
dogs will be banned by the end of
the year.
6 NEWS ISRAEL-GAZA CONFLICT

COVER STORY

Starmer hit by growing

party rebellion over
stance on ceasefire
By Hugo Gye
POLITICAL EDITOR
Sir Keir Starmer faces a growing
revolt over his Israel policy from
shadow ministers after accepting he
is unable to fire rebel frontbenchers.
At least 11 members of Sir Keir’s
senior team, and dozens of other
Labour MPs, have called for a
ceasefire in Gaza as Israel seeks to
destroy Hamas.
The Leader of the Opposition has
backed a time-limited pause to the
fighting but refuses to endorse a full
ceasefire, arguing that it would ben-
efit Hamas by allowing it to regroup.
Sir Keir has faced a growing rebel-
lion with even usually loyal shadow
ministers breaking ranks to demand
a change of policy.
Ceasefire Frontbenchers who have defied Starmer
Almost 50 Labour MPs have
backed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza,
including several members of Sir
Keir Starmer’s front bench. Among
them are:
Jess Phillips The shadow Domestic
Safeguarding minister, shared
a message from António
Guterres, the secretary-
general of the UN, which
called for a ceasefire.
Kim Leadbeater The
Opposition whip (inset)
also reshared a post from
Mr Guterres calling for
a ceasefire.
Sarah Owen Several frontbench
MPs also reposted a message from
Labour Friends of Palestine and the
Middle East (LFPME), including the
shadow Local Government minister
Sarah Owen.
Members of his inner circle have
been lobbying the rebels to persuade
them not to criticise him directly
and have succeeded in limiting the
scale of the backlash, according to
party sources.
But Sir Keir has been forced to
conclude that it is not possible to
stop his team from speaking out
entirely given the importance that
many in Labour attach to their sup-
port of the Palestinian cause.
A senior party official said: “We
understand where people are, and
why they have that position given
the constituencies they represent,
but the party line is clear.”
Some frontbenchers made it clear
to Sir Keir that they would quit if
they were banned from calling for
a ceasefire, i understands. A source
Imran Hussain The shadow
Levelling Up minister, wrote on X,
formerly Twitter, on 27 October: “It’s
impossible to imagine the horror
that families in Gaza are facing right
now and we need a ceasefire NOW.”
Andy Slaughter The shadow
Solicitor General was
among frontbench
MPs who reshared the
message from LFPME
calling for a ceasefire.
Yasmin Qureshi The
shadow Women and
Equalities minister, at
Prime Minister’s Questions
on 25 October said Palestinians
in Gaza were victims of
“collective punishment”.
Naz Shah The shadow Crime
Reduction minister, also reshared
the statement from LFPME.
close to the rebels said: “He was ei-
ther going to have to shift position
or… show flexibility.
“It’s not like he was going to be
able to sack 15 people.”
Peter Kyle, the shadow Science
Secretary, defended the decision to
allow open dissent, telling Sky News:
“It is a strength of the Labour party
that…we have people who have a
lived connection to both sides in this
conflict and they express their views
absolutely forthrightly.
“Keir has listened to those, looked
at the situation… and he has come up
with a way forward that meets the
challenges being faced by people in
Gaza today.”
He added: “People are calling
for a ceasefire. We are calling for a
pause. We can dance on the head
of a pin about what the nature of a
ceasefire is.”
Calls for Labour to confront Is-
rael’s government about the ongoing Pro-Palestinian
assault on Gaza began on the party’s protesters march
left but a growing number of previ- in central London
ously loyal MPs – including several on Saturday
who are Muslim or represent large JORDAN PETTITT/PA
Muslim populations in their constit-
uencies – have demanded a ceasefire.
Shabana Mahmood, the shadow
Justice Secretary, admitted in a let-
ter to residents in her Birmingham PROTESTS
Ladywood seat that an interview
where the leader appeared to say
Israel had the right to shut off water
Give us clarity on offences, says Met
and power in Gaza had sparked By Jane Clinton protesters using antisemitic
“immense distress”. language or showing open
Metropolitan Police support for Hamas, a proscribed
commissioner Sir Mark terror group in the UK.
Party whips did not Rowley has suggested that Sir Mark said officers were
openly threaten to the Government must provide working with the CPS to
discipline those who defied the greater legal clarity if it wants identify any potential offences
leader’s line, in a reversal of to tackle “distasteful” scenes at but stressed: “There’s no point
usual practice. One MP who has pro-Palestinian protests. arresting hundreds of people if
backed a ceasefire said: “We have The force has faced questions, it’s not prosecutable, that’s just
had loads of conversations but including from Home Secretary, inflaming things.”
no heavy-handedness.” Suella Braverman, over a The Met chief suggested there
perceived lack of action against is “scope to be much sharper in

POLITICS DIPLOMACY

MP may be disciplined river and the sea can live in peaceful

over ‘river to sea’ remark
By Hugo Gye
A Labour MP could face discipline
from his party for using the phrase
“the river to the sea” during a
pro-Palestinian rally.
Andy McDonald (inset), who was
in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabi-
net, used the phrase while speak-
ing at a demonstration in London
on Saturday.
A shadow minister criticised
his language, suggesting it would
heighten “the fear that people have
about their own personal safety”.
Calls for a Palestinian state “from
the river to the sea” – the River Jor-
dan to the Mediterranean – is some-
times interpreted as implying that
Israel should no longer exist.
But an ally of Mr Mc-
Donald said that was “a
complete misinterpre-
tation” and insisted the
MP was supporting
peace between Israelis
and Palestinians.
Mr McDonald, the MP
for Middlesbrough who
quit Sir Keir Starmer’s team in
2021 after a row over domestic policy,
said at the rally: “We won’t rest until
we have justice, until all people, Is-
raelis and Palestinians, between the
liberty. Free, free Palestine!”
The Labour leadership is con-
sidering taking disciplinary action
against him in response.
The shadow Cabinet minister
Peter Kyle told Times Radio: “I don’t
think that people should use
that phrase, because of the
impact it has. ”
John McDonnell, the
former shadow chancel-
lor, said: “I think that’s a
complete misinterpre-
tation. It was actually a
phrase about how people
can live together.”
Conservative MP Sir Simon
Clarke tweeted: “We all know the
connotations of ‘between the river
and the sea’. Andy McDonald knows
exactly what he is doing.”
Ministers keep pushing for pause
By Hugo Gye
The UK Government is to continue
pushing for a pause in fight-
ing in Gaza, despite Israel
stepping up its assault on
the territory.
Israeli forces appear
to be ignoring calls
from the US, Britain
and other Western al-
lies for “humanitarian
pauses” in the war.
British ministers have
said that Israel has the right
to defend itself in the wake of the 7
October attacks. But they are also
lobbying the country’s government
to ensure that hostages can be freed
and that UK citizens trapped in
Gaza can leave.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister,
Rishi Sunak, spoke to French
President Emmanuel Ma-
cron in an effort to try to
maintain a united front.
A Cobra emergency
meeting will take place
today to discuss pos-
sible security implica-
tions from the conflict.
Asked whether the UK
had set any “red lines”, the
Science Secretary, Michelle
Donelan (inset), told Sky News: “I
don’t think we need to do that be-
cause there are already structures
in place, there is international law.”

how we deal with extremism
within this country” but this
would require a legal change,
adding: “We will robustly enforce
up to the line of the law.
“We’re going to be absolutely
ruthless and we have been and
you’ll see many more arrests.”
Nine people were arrested
on Saturday in connection with
a pro-Palestinian protest in
London, seven for public order
offences and two for assaults on
police officers. Five people have
been charged.
“A number of the public order
Intifadas Previous uprisings against Israel
During a pro-Palestinian march
in London on Saturday, footage
appeared to show protesters
chanting: “From London to Gaza,
we’ll have an intifada.”
The use of the term,referring to an
uprising against Israel, comes after
concerns over protesters chanting:
“From the river, to the sea” – a phrase
linked to Hamas that implies the
destruction of the Jewish state.
What is an intifada?
An intifada is a rebellion, uprising
or resistance movement. In Arabic,
it is derived from the term meaning
“to shake off” or “get rid of”. In the
context of Israel, it refers to the two
uprisings that sought to create an
independent Palestinian state.
Roughly 1,160 Palestinians and
arrests are being treated as hate
crimes,” the Met said.
Two more women were
arrested yesterday on suspicion
of inciting racial hatred in
Trafalgar Square after a public
appeal to identify them.
Tens of thousands of
pro-Palestinian protesters
descended upon London on
Saturday to demand a ceasefire
in the Israel-Hamas war. Activist
group Sisters Uncut said it
was “escalating” its actions as
“peaceful” marches had been
ignored by the Government.
160 Israelis died during the first
intifada, between 1987 and 1993,
over mounting tensions amid Israel’s
military occupation of the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip.
It ended with the signing of the
first Oslo Accords, agreements
between Israel and the Palestine
Liberation Organisation meant
to initiate talks with the aim of
establishing a two-state solution.
The second intifada broke out in
2000 amid violence at the Temple
Mount in Jerusalem following the
failure of peace negotiations.
It was far bloodier than the first,
claiming the lives of approximately
3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis,
as well as 64 foreigners. The violence
lasted until a ceasefire in 2005.
Jane Clinton
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
DIPLOMACY
Ceasefire calls are naive – but
Labour can still show strength
Anne
McElvoy
T
he Labour ceasefire
did not last long. The
Starmer army is
once again embattled
in an internal war
over foreign and
security matters, as calls mount to
suspend Israel’s counterattacks on
Hamas, embedded among civilian
infrastructure, in northern Gaza.
The resulting damage to innocent
Gazans has been dreadful to behold.
“Houses can fall down on the heads
of residents at any moment, any
time. We don’t sleep or rest at all,”
as one resident cowering in the
rubble of air attacks told the BBC.
It is wholly unsurprising that the
Opposition’s early strong claim that
Israel has the right to defend itself
has come under pressure – in real
terms this means rooting Hamas
out of its tunnels, buildings and
the civilian redoubts where it is
embedded, having forced out the
moderate Fatah leadership in 2007.
Many on the Left have missed
this rather crucial development –
Hamas is itself an interloper (and
one that always acts by force)
in the strained politics of Gaza.
The government of Benjamin
Netanyahu has been a blunt cosh
to hopes of a two-state solution to
decades of violence, but it is also
one that has widespread support,
despite its deadly security lapses.
Whatever is said at Westminster
makes no material difference.
The only country with leverage
is the US, and falling out with a
Democratic, centrist president
facing a maverick, isolationist,
unreliable contender in Donald
Trump is not where Keir Starmer
would like to be. When I spoke
to him only a couple of months
ago on a trip to North America
for a Politico podcast, he was
adamant that Labour had left its
Corbyn era “Uncle Sam”-bashing
behind and was finally back as an
Atlanticist force.
Hamas’s bloodthirsty horror
show on 7 October and the malign
prolonging of its traumatic impacts
by the seizure of hostages made for
an easy denunciation for Starmer
and his Shadow foreign secretary
David Lammy.
At the Labour Party conference,
the party’s showcase of readiness
for power next year, this line held,
because the only horrible images
Starmer’s line about
demanding adherence
to international law is
looking like an evasion
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
around news networks were the
(necessarily edited) footage of
Hamas’s multiple atrocities in the
Be’eri kibbutz. That has changed
sharply as the counterattacks on
Hamas in Gaza have multiplied.
Attending a Labour fundraiser two
weeks ago, I watched Sadiq Khan,
the London Mayor, praise Keir
Starmer’s leadership (gritted teeth
may be required, but the prospect
of power can unify internal foes).
But this was an illusion of unity.
Starmer’s problem is that it is not
the pro-Soviet, America-bashing
hard Left that is his problem right
now; it is that the “soft Left” faction
to which he belonged not long
ago – Khan in London, Andy
Burnham as Labour’s
showpiece Mayor
in Manchester and
popular MPs including
Jess Phillips (inset)
– which is defying
Starmer outright and
calling for a ceasefire.
On the face of it, this
sounds like a good idea. It is
not. For a start, it will not happen
– Israel cannot afford to say “time
out” about its 9/11 day and let
Hamas continue to hold the ring in
Gaza. Supporting that position is
opposition to Israel, and also vastly
naive. Hamas is not a ceasefire kind
of organisation. It will re-arm and
re-attack – and its hostage tactics
are to prolong the suffering for
Israel long enough for Western
support to falter and other bad
actors, including Russia, to begin to
influence events.
Neither, however, can Starmer
ignore the warnings from Lammy
and Wes Streeting (the latter being
the most “centrist” member of
the Shadow Cabinet after Rachel
Reeves, the Shadow chancellor,
who is keeping out of this fray).
In essence, they are worried
that the slightly robotic Starmer
line about demanding adherence
to international law is looking
Sir Keir Starmer is facing opposition within his party – particularly from his
former ‘soft Left’ allies – over its stance on Israel UK PARLIAMENT/JESSICA TAYLOR
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
7
like an evasion. And in truth it is:
no disrespect at all to Starmer’s
human rights advocacy as a senior
lawyer, but having covered conflicts
in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo,
international law turns out to be
a bit of a chocolate teapot when
conflicts are raging. Israel will
say the UN view is stacked against
it by realpolitik. Palestinians and
their allies will complain that their
suffering is not weighted equally.
We are, frankly, no further forward
on this score.
The one area where Starmer
could sharpen his message is on
humanitarian aid. The present call
for £10m from the UK is paltry.
Formally, Labour’s position
is very little different from
that of the Government –
but it could be stronger
on the need to allow
fuel into the territory.
There is an objection
that Hamas has a deadly
habit of commandeering
such supplies, but frankly at
this point civilian suffering is so
acute and Hamas so well supplied
by its main backers, Iran and
Hezbollah, that this is a risk worth
taking to save lives in the general
Palestinian population as the Israeli
response intensifies.
When choices are invidious,
there is still a decision to make. The
alternative is that everyone else will
start to make policy on the hoof.
Starmer should certainly not accept
a poorly argued ceasefire demand
from parts of his party who are
fair-weather supporters of Israel
at a time of a geopolitical tempest.
But he can amp up support for
humanitarian help and take the
Government to task for its own
blind spots on this aspect of this
woeful story.
Be less the lawyer, Keir – and
more the leader.
Anne McElvoy hosts the Power Play
podcast for Politico
8 NEWS ISRAEL-GAZA CONFLICT

MILITARY

Israel steps up Gaza bombings and

By Alannah Francis
and Jane Clinton
Israeli forces have stepped up bomb-
ings in the northern Gaza Strip as
troops and tanks pushed forward in
the besieged territory in expanded
ground incursions.
Israel’s self-declared “second
phase” of its war against Hamas had
initially been kept from public view,
with forces moving under darkness
amid a near-total communications
and internet blackout.
The IDF said ground forces killed
a number of Hamas militants as
they exited one of their network
of tunnels near the Erez crossing,
which had been the sole pedestrian
passageway into Israel before it
was destroyed.
The IDF spokesman Rear Admi-
ral Daniel Hagari also said fighter
jets had struck more than 450 mili-
tary targets belonging to Hamas
within 24 hours, including “military
headquarters, observation posts and
anti-tank firing positions”.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed
wing of Hamas, said on its Telegram
account that their fighters were
“engaged in heavy fighting with ma-
chine-guns and anti-tank weapons”
in the north-west of Gaza, according
to the AFP news agency.
Connection appeared to gradu-
ally return yesterday after nearly 36
hours, but the disruption of commu-
nications severely affected rescue
operations as people hit by Israeli air
strikes could not call for help.
The Palestinian Red Crescent
(PRCS) said it had received warn-
ings from Israeli authorities to im-
mediately evacuate al-Quds Hospital
in Gaza City, where 14,000 people
are sheltering.
“Since this morning, there has
been raids 50 metres away from the
hospital,” the PRCS posted yester-
day on X, formerly Twitter.
It said some windows were blown
out and rooms were covered in de-
bris. The head of the World Health
Organisation, Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus, said the report was A building
“deeply concerning” and that it was destroyed in the
“impossible” to evacuate hospitals bombardment in
full of patients without endangering Rafah yesterday
their lives. HATEM ALI/AP
An Israeli military spokesman de-
clined to comment when asked about
the PRCS statement.
Israeli warplanes have carried out
air strikes near Gaza’s largest hos-
pital, al-Shifa, which is packed with
patients and tens of thousands of
Palestinians seeking shelter.
Residents said Israeli air strikes
destroyed most of the roads leading
to al-Shifa Hospital.
“Reaching the hospital has become
increasingly difficult,” Mahmoud al-
Sawah, who is sheltering in the hos-
pital, told the Associated Press.
The Israeli military has distrib-
uted a map asserting that al-Shifa
Hospital was the headquarters of
Hamas’s leadership. Hamas has de-
nied the claims.
Footage supplied by the IDF on
Saturday appeared to show tanks
entering Gaza and bulldozers clear-
ing mountains of debris.
Israel has told civilians in the
north of Gaza to evacuate south to
avoid the fighting.
But air strikes have continued to
hit refuge areas including in Khan
Yunis, where at least 13 people were
killed after a two-storey house was
struck with a missile.

The total death toll in

Gaza has risen to 8,005,
according to a statement
released by the health ministry
in Gaza yesterday. The figure
includes 3,324 children, the
Smoke billows over Gaza, where Israel escalated its bombardment and sent in Hamas-run authority said.
troops and tanks amid a communications blackout FADEL SENNA/AFP/GETTY

GAZA PEOPLE

Thousands loot UN Gaza on Saturday during a 24-hour

warehouses for food
By Alannah Francis
Thousands of people in Gaza have
broken into warehouses and distri-
bution centres to steal supplies in an
act of desperation, as the UN warned
civil order was beginning to break
down in the besieged enclave.
The UN agency for Palestinian ref-
ugees (UNRWA) said yesterday that
Gazans grabbed food and basic hy-
giene products from its distribution
centres in the central and southern
areas of the Gaza Strip.
“We have no flour, no aid, no water,
not even toilets,” Abdulrahman al-
Kilani, who took supplies from a
warehouse, told the AFP news agen-
cy. “We needed aid, and we wouldn’t
have done this if we weren’t in need.”
Thomas White, the agency’s di-
rector in Gaza, said that the break-in
was “a worrying sign that civil order
is starting to break down” after three
weeks of war
Juliette Touma, a spokesperson
for the agency, said the crowds broke
into four facilities on Saturday.
She said the warehouses did not
contain fuel, which has been in criti-
cally short supply since Israel cut off
all shipments.
The Palestinian Red Crescent
said no aid trucks were able to enter
Palestinians grab supplies from a
UN-run aid distribution centre
communications blackout.
The charity said 10 humanitarian
aid trucks had arrived in Gaza yes-
terday containing food and medical
supplies after phone connections
and internet gradually returned.
Visiting the Rafah border crossing
yesterday, the International Crimi-
nal Court’s (ICC) most senior pros-
ecutor said impeding relief supplies
to Gaza’s population may constitute
a crime under the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Residents have been forced to use
sea water to fulfil their basic needs
as charities warned that the lack of
clean water is life-threatening.
Riham Jafari, co-ordinator of
advocacy and communication for
charity ActionAid Palestine, said:
“The situation is catastrophic, scar-
city of water is becoming life-threat-
ening, people are dehydrated and
becoming sick.”
Palestinian officials have con-
firmed re-pumping of water from
the second of three water pipelines
serving Gaza. Israeli authorities
have said they will allow more aid to
enter Gaza in the coming days.
‘At least 10 of my neighbours
were killed, including children’
By Alannah Francis
A Palestinian father has recalled the
horror of the communications black-
out in the Gaza Strip during which
his neighbours and their children
were killed by an air strike.
Mahmoud Shalabi, pro-
gramme manager for
Medical Aid for Palestin-
ians, lives in Beit Lahia
in northern Gaza, where
he said the bombard-
ment was the “most vi-
cious” he has witnessed.
“I have no idea what
type of bombs were used,
but they were really devastat-
ing,” he said in an audio message
heard by i.
Mr Shalabi (inset) said Gazans
were unable to reach loved ones or
use the internet.
“It meant a total blackout and total
darkness for the people in Gaza, so
we weren’t aware of what was hap-
pening around us,” he recalled.
On the second day without phone
and internet, Mr Shalabi and his
family were shocked by an extreme-
ly loud explosion.
“I opened the door and I could
not see in front of me and
could not breathe,” he
said. “It was grey, it was
cement, it was gunpow-
der, it was tiny particles
scattered all over.”
He went outside and
saw his neighbourhood
had been destroyed. “At
least 10 of my neighbours
were killed, including children,
and many others were injured.”
Mr Shalabi said he was awake at
4am when his phone started buzzing
as network connectivity returned.
“We started immediately calling
our loved ones, making sure that
they know we are safe.”

orders evacuation of key hospital
SECURITY
Netanyahu apologises after
attacking intelligence chiefs
By Ari Rabinovitch
IN JERUSALEM
The prime minister of Israel, Ben-
jamin Netanyahu (inset), has apolo-
gised for criticising intelligence
chiefs for not warning him Hamas
was planning its attack.
His remarks, posted on
X, formerly Twitter, at
1am yesterday before
being deleted, caused
a political uproar and
a rift within Mr Netan-
yahu’s war cabinet.
He was accused of not
taking responsibility over
intelligence and operational
failures relating to the Hamas ram-
page on 7 October.
Mr Netanyahu’s post had said: “At
no time and no stage was a warning
given to prime minister Netanyahu
regarding war intentions of Hamas.
On the contrary, all security officials,
including the head of army intelli-
gence and the head of the Shin Bet,
estimated that Hamas was deterred
and interested in an arrangement.”
In a second post about 10 hours
later, Mr Netanyahu wrote “I was
wrong”, adding that his remarks
“should not have been made
and I apologise for that”.
His initial comments
were rebuked by past
allies, including Benny
Gantz, a former minis-
ter who is in Mr Netan-
yahu’s war cabinet.
“When we are at war,
leadership must show re-
sponsibility, decide to do the
right things and bolster the forces in
a way that they can carry out what
we demand of them,” Mr Gantz said.
The opposition leader Yair Lapid,
a former prime minister, said Mr
Netanyahu “crossed a red line” in
the post.
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IRAN
Tehran conducts military
drills amid escalation fears
By Taz Ali
SENIOR WORLD REPORTER
The President of Iran has warned
Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza
Strip “may force everyone” to act,
as fears grow that the conflict may
draw in more combatants and trig-
ger a regional escalation.
Iranian forces conducted military
drills over the weekend to test flight
readiness of more than 200 helicop-
ters, according to local media.
The drills, which had been planned
earlier, were aimed at “confronting
possible threats” facing the Islamic
republic, the military spokesper-
son Amir Cheshak said without
elaborating further.
He said the exercises aimed to test
various units of the army, including
missiles, drones and cyber warfare.
Iran provides military and fi-
nancial assistance to Hamas
but has insisted that it
was not involved in the
attack against Israel on
7 October.
Iranian officials have
criticised Israel’s retali-
ation against Palestinian
militants, with President
Ebrahim Raisi (inset) being
the latest to issue a warning of
an escalation.
“The crimes of the Zionist regime
have crossed the red lines, and this
may force everyone to take action,”
he said yesterday on X, formerly
Twitter. “Washington asks us to not
do anything, but they keep giving
widespread support to Israel.”
“The US sent messages to the axis
of resistance but received a clear re-
sponse on the battlefield,” he added,
using a term to describe the Islamic
republic and its allies including
Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Hou-
this and other Shia forces in Iraq
and Syria.
DIPLOMACY
Israel pulls envoys out of Turkey in row
By Taz Ali
Israel has recalled some of its dip-
lomatic envoys to Turkey because
of “grave statements” made by the
government in Ankara.
The foreign minister Eli Cohen
said he has ordered the return of
diplomatic representatives “in order
to conduct a re-evaluation of the re-
lations between Israel and Turkey”.
He did not give any further details
when making the announcement on
X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.
It came after Turkey’s President,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan (inset), told
a massive protest crowd in Istanbul
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
Although it was not immediately
clear what he was referring to, there
have been a wave of attacks on US
forces in Iraq and Syria, as well as in-
creasing exchanges of fire between
Hezbollah and Israeli forces along
the Lebanon-Israeli border. The skir-
mishes have remained relatively
contained and mostly along
a handful of border towns.
Suzanne Maloney, a
former US State De-
partment adviser, said a
second front in the Gaza
war involving Hezbol-
lah could “quickly draw
in US forces” as well as
Iran, “in what would be
an unprecedented and highly
dangerous conflict”.
“There has also been a marked
intensification of strikes by Shia mi-
litias elsewhere in the region on US
forces in northern Iraq and Syria;
should American casualties rise, the
Joe Biden administration may feel
The UN Interim Force in
Lebanon said yesterday
that one of its members was
injured after his base near the
south-eastern border village of
Houla was hit by a mortar shell.
that his government was preparing
to declare Israel a “war criminal”
due to its actions in the Gaza Strip.
He has stepped up his criticism of
Israel in recent days, describ-
ing the bombing of Gaza
as verging on “genocide”
and asserting that the
Hamas militant group
was fighting for the
liberation of its lands
and people.
“Israel, we will pro-
claim you as a war crimi-
nal to the world,” he said
during a pro-Palestinian rally on
Saturday. “We are making our prep-
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
9
A missile is
launched
during a
military
exercise
in Isfahan,
Iran, at the
weekend
IRANIAN ARMY/
WANA
compelled to engage in direct repris-
als,” she told Bloomberg.
In Syria, an Iranian-backed Iraqi
militia said it launched drone strikes
yesterday on a base in the east of the
country that houses US forces.
The Islamic Resistance of Iraq
has claimed responsibility for a se-
ries of strikes on US forces in Iraq
and Syria over the past two weeks.
The group has said the attacks are in
retaliation for US support for Israel.
According to the Pentagon, there
have been at least 20 attacks on US
bases and personnel in Iraq and
Syria, and 21 personnel were injured
in two of those assaults when drones
targeted the al-Assad airbase in Iraq
and al-Tanf garrison in Syria.
It comes after Iran’s foreign min-
ster, Hossein Amirabdollahian,
warned last week that the US will
“not be spared from this fire” if the
war in Gaza continues.
In an interview with Al Jazeera
on Saturday, Mr Raisi said Iran
considers it its duty “to support the
resistance groups”.
But he added: “The resistance
groups are independent in their
opinion, decision, and action.
“The United States knows very
well our current capabilities and
knows that they are impossible
to overcome.”
arations, and we will declare Israel
to the world as a war criminal.”
He also accused the West of failing
to stop Israel’s bombing in Gaza.
There was no response from
the Turkish foreign ministry
to the Israeli statement.
Israel has previously
removed its diplomats
from Turkey for secu-
rity reasons. The Inter-
national Criminal Court
said an investigation
opened in 2021 into alleged
crimes in the Palestinian ter-
ritories could analyse allegations
from the Israel-Hamas war.
10 NEWS

TRANSPARENCY

Key data at risk as MPs

opt for ‘disappearing’
WhatsApp messages
By Eleanor Langford
POLITICAL REPORTER
MPs, ministers and special advisers
are using the disappearing messages
function on WhatsApp despite con-
cerns it means crucial records could
be lost.
Analysis by i found more than a
dozen examples of ministers and
special advisers having disappear-
ing messages activated on numbers
linked to them.
Four of the individuals identified
work in No 10 Downing Street, while
two are current cabinet ministers
and two are in Labour’s Shadow
Cabinet. A further six were spe-
cial advisers for ministers working
across other departments.
It is not clear whether these min-
isters and aides have additional
phones which they use for govern-
ment business, but many of the
WhatsApp accounts identified are
regularly used as contact points
for journalists.
More than 20 MPs from the Con-
servatives and Labour also had the
feature activated, which means any
correspondence they have with an
aide, minister or government official
via WhatsApp may not be retained.
Shortly after i contacted the
Government about the use of
the function, several of the indi-
viduals subsequently turned off
disappearing messages on their
WhatsApp accounts.
The disappearing messages
function, which was launched on
WhatsApp in 2020, allows users to
automatically delete all messages in
a chat after 24 hours, 7 days, or 90
days unless the messages are indi-
vidually selected to be kept.
It is possible to set the timer as a
MONARCHY
King’s Speech to include
WhatsApp users have the option to
allow their messages to ‘disappear’
default for all chats on WhatsApp
or apply to conversations only with
selected contacts.
Anyone in a chat can disable the
feature at any time, regardless of
which person in the chat activated it.
Duncan Hames, director of pol-
icy at Transparency International
UK: “If ministers and officials are
intentionally ensuring such con-
versations are routinely deleted, it
will have a significant impact on the
ability for them to be held account-
able for their decisions by the public
they serve.”
Obtaining WhatsApp records
from senior officials has been a sig-
nificant issue in the inquiry into the
Government’s handling of the Covid-
19 pandemic.
Rishi Sunak reportedly failed to
hand his WhatsApp messages from
his time as chancellor over to the in-
quiry, claiming that he did “not have
access” to the messages in question,
because he had changed his phone
several times and had not backed up
his conversations.
There was also a protracted legal
battle by the Government to prevent
former prime minister Boris John-
son’s WhatsApp messages from
being handed to the inquiry. The
Government ultimately lost its High
Court challenge and agreed to hand
over the messages in full.
While the disappearing messages
function itself is allowed by the Gov-
ernment, it is expected that any of-
ficial using it ensures important
information is retained.
Tim Durrant, programme direc-
tor at the Institute for Government,
said there was often difficulty creat-
ing a distinction between what was
government business and what was
personal or political when it came to
more informal conversations con-
ducted on WhatsApp, rather than
via official channels.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson
said: “We proactively published
clear guidance on this issue in March
2023. The use of disappearing mes-
sages is permitted, as civil servants
and ministerial private offices re-
cord and log official decisions and
views for the official record.”
Deliberately deleting
information to prevent
it from being subsequently
disclosed is an offence under
Section 77 of the Freedom of TECHNOLOGY
Information Act, and earlier
this year the Information
Commissioner’s Office warned
Prime Minister to make case for
that ministers could face
charges if they do not disclose ‘extraordinary potential’ of AI
information when asked.
By Hugo Gye view to helping set a global regulato-
POLITICAL EDITOR ry framework for AI by the summer.
He wants to dismiss claims that
Rishi Sunak will seek to convince the issue is remote from the concerns
voters that artificial intelligence (AI) of voters by pointing out ways that
will help “save the NHS” and over-
haul public services as he prepares
AI can revolutionise everyday life.
“This is the thing that could save

green policies and crime for this week’s AI Safety Summit.

By Eleanor Langford
Rishi Sunak is expected to push
ahead with new pro-car policies in-
cluding measures to make it more
difficult for local authorities in Eng-
land to introduce 20mph speed lim-
its or expand low emission zones.
The King’s Speech on Tuesday
next week – the first by Charles as
King – will set out the final legislative
agenda before the general election.
It will include more measures to
roll back on the green agenda, The
Observer reported, including a new
system for awarding oil and gas ex-
ploration licences.
The Prime Minister has sought
to create a clear divide between the
Tories and Labour on green issues in
the wake of the Uxbridge and South
Ruislip by-election in July.
The Conservatives’ unexpected
narrow victory in Boris Johnson’s
old seat has been attributed to op-
position to the Labour Mayor of
London Sadiq Khan’s expanded
ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez),
which imposes charges on the most
polluting vehicles.
The speech will also mention re-
forms to the leasehold system, en-
suring that all houses in England
and Wales will have to be sold under
freeholds in the future, The Sunday
Times reported.
According to the newspaper the
Government will also overhaul the
Charles delivered the Queen’s Speech
on behalf of his mother last year
process of extending leases and give
leaseholders more power to manage
their building and service charges.
The Financial Times reported that
a sweeping criminal justice bill will
include tougher sentencing for seri-
ous crimes such as rape.
The Prime Minister is expected
to make a series of announcements
about incorporating AI into the pub-
lic sector, starting with using the
technology to help teachers in Eng-
land plan lessons.
The Science Secretary, Michelle
Donelan, yesterday insisted it could
be “deployed across the board in a
range of all different public services”
including the migration system, the
military and more.
But Labour accused the Govern-
ment of failing to set out a plan to
make the UK a world leader in the
technology and also warned of the
danger that patients’ medical data
could be sold off for profit.
Mr Sunak will host a summit of
world leaders and tech bosses at
Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire
on Wednesday and Thursday with a
the NHS,” a No 10 source said.
The Government will announce
today that it is investing £2m to
help the online schooling network
Oak National Academy develop AI-
powered teaching tools to allow all
teachers to use technology to create
personalised lesson plans.
The Prime Minister said: “AI has
extraordinary potential to reform
our education system for the better.
“Oak National Academy’s work to
harness AI to free up the workload
for teachers is a perfect example of
the revolutionary benefits this tech-
nology can bring.”
Wes Streeting, the shadow Health
Secretary, called on Mr Sunak to
“issue a clear statement that NHS
patient data will not be sold to pri-
vate companies” after the Govern-
ment declined to rule out a deal with
tech firms to use AI to monitor data.
 V1
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56 i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
11
DEFENCE

Goths’
best friends Taxpayers face £1bn bill
to pick up the cost of
Revellers and their dogs attend
the Whitby Goth Weekend, as
hundreds of goths descend on
the North Yorkshire seaside

‘eye-watering blowouts’
town where Bram Stoker
found inspiration for ‘Dracula’
in 1890. IAN FORSYTH/GETTY

Exclusive A spokesman for the MoD said:

By Hugo Gye
POLITICAL EDITOR
Government defence projects run-
ning over budget have cost taxpay-
ers nearly £1bn in just one year,
official statistics have revealed.
Labour accused ministers of a
“failure to fix the broken defence
procurement system” in light of the
data which show most of the biggest
projects have had their cost upgrad-
ed at the most recent reassessment.
They include the Boxer and
Ajax armoured cars and the new
Type 26 frigates which have been
seriously delayed.
Figures newly published by the
Ministry of Defence (MoD) relating
to March 2022 – when inflation was
only starting to have a serious im-
pact on public services – show that
eight major procurement projects
had seen an increase in costs total-
ling £927m, only partially offset by
£280m in savings on projects which
were cheaper than expected.
The cost of the “mechanised infan-
try vehicle” programme increased
by £543m, around one fifth of which
was explained by a decision to order
an extra 100 Boxers.
The cost of Type 26 frigates in-
creased by £259m, reaching a total
forecast cost of nearly £4bn. The
ships are expected to be delivered in
five years’ time.
The MoD blamed “a combina-
INQUIRY tion of contractor performance is-
sues, supply chain problems and
Johnson ‘did not attend Covid-19 delays”.
And the troubled Ajax project,
Shadow defence minister Maria
Eagle was critical of ‘soaring costs’
making it impossible for troops to
use the vehicles, saw its cost edge up
by £24m.
Labour’s shadow defence minister
Maria Eagle said: “These soaring
costs are a testament to Tory minis-
ters’ failure to fix the broken defence
procurement system. A system
that has wasted £15bn of taxpayers’
money through mismanagement.
“After 13 years of failure, the Con-
servatives have proven time and
again that they are incapable of de-
livering major defence projects, and
British taxpayers are left to pick up
the eye-watering bill for Tory
cost blowouts.”
She added: “In govern-
ment, Labour plans to
make the Ministry of
Defence the first de-
partment subject to its
new Office for Value for
Money’s tough spending
regime and use the Na-
tional Audit Office to help
“We are rolling out the next genera-
tion of defence capabilities across
our armed forces.
“This will mean we can improve
readiness and resilience, and ensure
we have the world-leading equip-
ment our armed forces need.”
The Government has previ-
ously pledged to overhaul how
defence procurement works, in-
cluding by placing an additional
emphasis on speed of delivery fol-
lowing a string of severe delays to
key programmes.
The MoD said in its most recent
command paper this summer: “We
have demonstrated through our sup-
port to Ukraine that we can acquire
and deliver capabilities at incred-
ible speed when funding and risk
appetite are aligned with the objec-
tives of senior defence, industry and
political leadership.
“To secure strategic advantage,
we must scale this model more ag-
gressively to meet defence’s needs.”
Over-budget projects
Some of the £1bn increases in the
budget for defence projects
relate to:
Mechanised infantry
vehicles £543m extra
Type 26 frigates £259m
Core production
capability £46m
New style of IT £35m
Ajax armoured cars
(inset) £24m
Astute boats 4-7 £10m

several Cobra meetings’ which has been plagued with prob-

lems including unbearable noises
conduct a comprehensive audit
of MoD waste.”
Complex weapons £8m
Type 31 frigates £2m

By Eleanor Langford response to the pandemic, has ruled

POLITICAL REPORTER
Boris Johnson did not attend Cobra
meetings during the pandemic be-
cause he didn’t like leaving his study,
the Covid inquiry will reportedly
hear this week.
According to the Mirror the inquiry
will be told by former deputy cabinet
secretary Helen MacNamara that
the former PM “never warmed” to
the emergency committee.
In a witness statement released
ahead of her appearance on Wednes-
the Covid-19 Bereaved Families
for Justice UK group will not be
core participants in the Wales and
Scotland sessions.
Core participant status has been
granted to Scottish Covid Bereaved
and Covid-19 Bereaved Families for
Justice Cymru, which were both
previously part of Covid-19 Bereaved
Families for Justice UK but left to
choose different legal participation.
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for
Justice UK, which has around 6,000
members including 194 in Wales and
POLICY
Report fears public services ‘doom loop’
By Christopher McKeon in England and brought more dis- ing hospitals, GPs, the police, courts,
ruption. It also warned that current prisons, adult social care, schools
Britain’s public services are “crum- spending plans, which Labour has and children’s social care.
bling” and risk getting stuck in a said it will stick to if it wins the next It said the Crown Court backlog
“perpetual state of crisis”, a think- election, meant some services were was a record 64,709 cases in June
tank has warned. likely to deteriorate further. 2023, although the greater complex-
In its annual report on the state of Calling for more long-term plan- ity of the cases meant the “effective
public services, the Institute ning, it said: “In the absence of backlog” was around 89,937 cases.
for Government (IfG) said serious action to improve The hospital elective waiting list

day she says: “We were slow to move
at every point.” Mr Johnson missed
five Cobra meetings at the beginning
of the pandemic in 2020.
The inquiry is also due to hear
from Mr Johnson’s former aide Dom-
inic Cummings this week and former
communications chief Lee Cain.
A group representing families
bereaved by the pandemic has
criticised the chair of the inquiry
for excluding it from the Welsh and
Scottish modules.
Baroness Hallett, who is leading
the inquiry into the Government’s
218 in Scotland, has been listed as a
core participant in every other mod-
ule of the inquiry so far.
The group has argued that exclud-
ing it from the modules means its
legal team will not be able to ques-
tion witnesses and will not be able to
access key evidence.
Baroness Hallett said she was
“satisfied” that Scottish Covid
Bereaved and Covid-19 Bereaved
Families for Justice Cymru “are well
placed to assist the inquiry and rep-
resent the significant interests of be-
reaved families”.
7.8m
they were performing public service produc- in England has risen to 7.8 million,
worse than before the tivity, the Government which was compared with 4.6 mil-
pandemic and much risks getting stuck in lion on the eve of the pandemic. Just
worse than they were a ‘doom loop’, with the over half those attending A&E are
performing when the The number of people perpetual state of cri- admitted, transferred or discharged
Conservatives came on England’s hospital sis burning out staff within four hours.
to power in 2010. elective waiting list – and preventing servic- In other services, such as social
Funding cuts, a lack up from 4.6 million in es from taking the best
early 2020
care, inflation has eroded extra
of capital investment long-term decisions. funds, meaning “little progress in re-
and disruption caused by “Escaping this will not ducing unmet and under-met need”.
strikes have all contributed to be easy. Whoever forms the The think-tank added that there
decline, the IfG said, adding that the next Government will be hindered was “no meaningful fat to trim” after
UK Government’s refusal to negoti- by the short-sighted decisions of more than a decade of austerity, and
ate on public sector pay for months its predecessors.” further cuts would damage service
had extended the duration of strikes The IfG covered services includ- performance even more.
12 NEWS
IMMIGRATION
Border staff leave
cancelled ahead
of Rwanda ruling
Exclusive
By David Parsley
CHIEF NEWS CORRESPONDENT
UK Border Force staff have had all
Christmas leave cancelled ahead of
an expected decision from the Su-
preme Court on the Government’s
Rwanda deportation scheme, a
union chief has said.
Immigration enforcement officers
have been told by the Home Secre-
tary, Suella Braverman, to expect a
decision from the Supreme Court
during the first two weeks of Decem-
ber, said Lucy Moreton, professional
officer at the ISU, the union for bor-
ders, immigrations and customs.
Ms Braverman added that Bor-
der Force must have enough staff on
duty to prepare for the asylum seek-
ers’ flights to Rwanda if the ruling is
in the Government’s favour.
Immigration enforcement offic-
ers, who track immigration offend-
ers, make up around 2,500 of a total
of 12,000 Border Force staff.
Ms Moreton said: “All enforce-
ment officials’ Christmas leave has
been cancelled and they’ve all been
recalled on the assumption that, if
the Rwanda decision goes for the
Government, then they want two
flights a day leaving for Rwanda.”
Initial capacity in Rwanda is
thought to be around for 200 asylum
seekers, suggesting two flights a day
would be either when the plan is fully
mature, or each flight would take off
with just a handful of asylum seekers
on board.
In July, the Government was
granted permission to fight for its
Rwanda policy at the UK’s top court
after the Court of Appeal found in
June that Rwanda could not be con-
sidered a “safe third country”.
The Court of Appeal overturned
a previous decision from the High
Court in December 2022 that found
the policy was legal.
“If the Supreme Court decides
in favour of the Government, it’s all
hands on the pumps until Rwanda
Suella Braverman, centre, visiting the newly built accommodation for asylum
seekers in Kigali in Rwanda in March CYRIL NDEGEYA/GETTY
fills up,” added Ms Moreton. “If the
Home Secretary loses, then it isn’t.
“Ultimately, if the court rules in fa-
vour of the Government and that is
the direction of the Home Secretary,
then it is the obligation of civil serv-
ants to fulfil it.”
Ms Moreton added that the move
to cancel leave had angered staff who
were now “in limbo” over wheth-
er they will be able to take leave
over Christmas.
Since announcing its Rwanda de-
portation policy in April 2022, the
Government has not sent any asy-
lum seekers to the African country.
The first flight was scheduled to
take off in June 2022, but was can-
celled after legal challenges.
The Government previously said
“anyone entering the UK illegally”
after 1 January 2022 could be sent,
with no limit on numbers.
The Home Office expects that the
first flights to Rwanda – should they
be allowed – will be in February.
A spokeswoman for the
Home Office declined
to comment on operational
matters, adding: “Our relationship
with Rwanda is strong and we
remain completely committed to
delivering this policy to prevent
more lives from being put at risk
in the Channel.”
HEALTH
Strep A test kits
to be sold in
pharmacies
By Holly Williams
The at-home testing kit firm New-
foundland Diagnostics is launching
a range of Strep A tests in Tesco and
pharmacies to help head off short-
ages that caused chaos amid an out-
break last winter.
UK-based Newfoundland said
it has secured supplies for up to a
million tests, which it estimates is
enough for around 30 per cent of the
nation’s requirements, or 90 per cent
of the at-home testing market.
It comes after a surge in Strep A
infections last winter led to antibi-
otic shortages across the UK.
The majority of infections caused
by Strep A, or Group A Streptococ-
cus (GAS), are relatively mild, but
the bacteria can cause iGas, a life-
threatening infection in which they
invade parts of the body such as the
blood, deep muscle or lungs.
Last winter, there was a spate of
deaths in children caused by iGas.
Frederick Manduca, co-founder
of Newfoundland, said: “We saw the
devastating affect Strep A had last
year, so we wanted to make sure we
could be part of solving the problem
for any outbreaks coming up.”

Diwali
lights up
the gloom
Dancers during the
Diwali on the Square
festivities in Trafalgar
Square, central
London, yesterday.
This year, Diwali, the
Hindu festival of lights,
is celebrated on
Sunday 12 November.
JORDAN PETTITT/PA
LEGAL
Isle of Man’s law on assisted dying
would exclude British visitors
By Paul Gallagher
HEALTH CORRESPONDENT
Assisted dying laws could come a
step closer in the British Isles to-
morrow if the Isle of Man passes
a draft law on the issue, but most
Britons would be excluded under
the proposals.
Dr Alex Allinson, who sits in the
parliament of the self-governing
crown dependency, said he is “cau-
tiously optimistic” that his draft plan
will pass its second reading, which
could mean assisted dying services
were offered as soon as 2025.
The bill would permit terminally
ill, mentally competent adults to
request assisted dying, subject to
approval from two doctors – though
HISTORY
Guevara’s lighter
up for auction
By Claudia Savage
Che Guevara’s Irish cigar lighter is
among the items set to go under the
hammer in an online auction of his-
toric memorabilia this month.
The lighter, bought at Shannon
Airport, will be auctioned alongside
a remarkable array of items, which
includes the Bible Michael Collins
had with him when he was assassi-
nated, a recently discovered copy of
revolutionary Wolfe Tone’s speech
and Phil Lynott’s bass guitar.
only those who have been “ordinar-
ily resident on the island for not less
than one year” are eligible.
In Jersey, another crown depend-
ency, the local parliament declared in
principle in 2021 that assisted dying
should be allowed, but proposed leg-
islation on the issue has been pushed
back until late 2024.
While a number of countries have
laws that permit assisted dying, at
the moment many Britons wishing
to end their lives choose to go to
Switzerland, which permits the as-
sistance of voluntary euthanasia for
non-resident foreigners.
The UK Royal College of GPs
(RCGP) has set up a working group
to look at the “practical implica-
tions” of any potential change in the
Che Guevara’s Irish cigar lighter
could fetch £2,000 at auction
Guevara, who had distant Irish
heritage, found himself in Ireland by
chance when his Prague to Havana
flight was diverted to Shannon in
1965. He bought the lighter, which
has a high guide of €2,300 (£2,000),
at the duty-free store and called it his
lucky Irish lighter.
The Gormleys Signature Sale
runs online until 14 November.
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
law on assisted dying, with around
two-thirds of Britons now support-
ing it.
The RCGP remains officially op-
posed to a change following a survey
in 2020 which showed 47 per cent
agreed it should remain opposed to
a change in the law while 40 per cent
supported a change. The decision
will be reviewed in 2025.
In July, the social care minister
Helen Whately told a parliamenta-
ry committee hearing evidence into
assisted dying and assisted suicide
in England and Wales that debate in
this “sensitive area” should be led by
MPs at Westminster and that it is an
“issue of conscience” for members of
Parliament to decide.
The Health and Social Care Com-
The Five-Clue Cryptic Crossword
1 2
3
4
5
Solution, page 45
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
mittee is expected to publish a re-
port later this year.
Dr Allinson said: “If it is passed,
this is just for Isle of Man resi-
dents, so it doesn’t satisfy the needs
of people in other neighbouring
jurisdictions.
“But what it does show is that the
appetite amongst our public, and
their elected representatives, is to
bring forward legislation that will
provide for assisted dying.”
The Isle of Man, which has
a population of 80,000,
has wide autonomy to set its
own laws, though the UK retains
the power to block legislation.
No 4036
Across
3/4 Europe faces
problems to try to
stop fighting (3,3,5)
5 Sluggish agent holding
American general (6)
Down
1 Entertains Elton with
drinks (7)
2 Bashful about Mr Gibson
being attractive (6)
3 Provide drink then
work (6)
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
13
EMPLOYMENT
Young people
‘need an inside
link’ to get jobs
By August Graham
Just under a third of young employ-
ees in the UK obtained their jobs
through a personal connection, ac-
cording to a poll published today.
In the survey, which asked 4,000
16- to 25-year-olds about their ex-
periences, 61 per cent said it is in-
creasingly hard to get a job without
knowing the right person or having
another way in.
The research, conducted by
Opinium on behalf of the charity
UK Youth and KFC, also surveyed
500 businesses.
Of those, 95 per cent said that
their application process judges all
applicants equally. But 32 per cent
said it is difficult for candidates to
get a job without a connection.
Over half (55 per cent) of employ-
ers said they were more likely to hire
someone who had been recommend-
ed by colleagues, friends or family.
And 24 per cent would be more
likely to hire a candidate who went to
the same university, while 34 per cent
said the same was true if someone
came from a “similar background”.
Ndidi Okezie, chief executive of
UK Youth, called for Government
action as well as “collaborations be-
tween youth work organisations and
businesses” to improve opportuni-
ties for young people.
HERITAGE
Uncovered mural
depicts icons
By Sylvie Wilkinson
A mural that was covered and left
hidden for decades has finally been
revealed in Coventry.
Sculptor William Mitchell created
The History of Coventry mural (below)
in the foyer of a former office block,
Hertford House, in 1974 when the
block was set for demolition.
The 8.5m-wide piece depicts icons
from the city, including Lady Godiva
and the peasants’ revolt.
Historian Dr Dawn Pereira told
the BBC the piece was “a lot more
significant” than had been originally
thought. “It’s a really good-quality,
detailed piece in very good condi-
tion,” she added.
The artist Mr Mitchell, who died in
2020, was known as “one of Britain’s
most innovative post-war sculptors”.
Local group the Coventry Society
said it was “delighted” developers
had agreed to retain the work.
14 NEWS

ENTERTAINMENT

Tributes paid to ‘Friends’

star Perry after apparent
death by drowning aged 54
By Alannah Francis
The world of entertainment was in
mourning last night following the
death of Friends star Matthew Perry
aged 54.
The award-winning actor, who
became a superstar playing the
wisecracking Chandler Bing during
the sitcom’s 10 seasons, reportedly
drowned in a hot tub at his Los An-
geles home on Saturday.
Los Angeles Fire Department
spokesman Brian Humphrey said
first responders went to a home in
the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood
after a 911 call on Saturday afternoon
about a “water emergency”.
“We are heartbroken by the tragic
loss of our beloved son and broth-
er,” Perry’s family said. “Matthew
brought so much joy to the world,
both as an actor and a friend.”
The creators of Friends, Marta
Kauffman and David Crane, and
Addiction Star used his struggles to help others
While Matthew Perry will be
remembered for the joy he brought
through comedy, in later life the
star regarded his work speaking
out about addiction as his most
important calling.
The actor faced a years-long battle
for sobriety, writing in his memoir
about his alcoholism as well as
dependency on methadone, Xanax
and cocaine – at his darkest point,
drinking two pints of vodka and
popping 55 pills a day.
In later life, he found joy in
sponsoring others in recovery.
“The best thing about me, bar
its executive producer Kevin
Bright, said that Perry’s death “still
seems impossible”.
In a joint statement they said: “We
will always cherish the joy, the light,
the blinding intelligence he brought
to every moment – not just to his
work, but in life as well.”
The actor, who spent
much of his life struggling
with drug and alcohol
addiction, landed the
role of Chandler (inset)
aged 24 with just $11
to his name – before
finding himself pro -
pelled into international
stardom overnight.
The Los Angeles Times reported
that no drugs were found at the scene
and no foul play was suspected.
However, according to gossip web-
site TMZ, authorities found antide-
pressants, anti-anxiety medication,
and medicine for chronic obstruc-
none, is that if somebody comes up
to me and says: ‘I can’t stop drinking,
can you help me?’ I can say yes and
follow up and do it. That’s the best
thing,” he said last year.
“When I die, I don’t want Friends to
be the first thing that’s mentioned,
I want that to be the first thing
that’s mentioned.”
Speaking last year, Perry
said: “Your disease is outside
doing one-armed push-ups just
waiting for you, waiting to get you
alone, because alone, you lose to
the disease.”
Nick Duffy
tive pulmonary disease. The actor
had been playing the racquet sport
pickleball just a few hours before
his death.
Maggie Wheeler, who played
Perry’s on-off girlfriend Janice Ho-
senstein on the sitcom, said: “What
a loss. The world will miss you
Matthew Perry. The joy you
brought to so many in
your too short lifetime
will live on.”
Perry’s sardonic wit
became a firm fixture
on Friends, which ran
from 1994 to 2004, with
many of its funniest mo-
ments credited to his unique
line readings and improvisations.
“It wasn’t that I thought I could
play Chandler; I was Chandler,” he
once said.
But the show, which was filmed in
front of a live studio audience, came
with significant pressures. “I felt like
I was gonna die if the live audience
didn’t laugh,” he wrote in his memoir.
“I felt that every single night. This
pressure left me in a bad place.”
Perry’s other notable work includ-
ed the comedy-drama Studio 60 on
the Sunset Strip, written by The West
Wing creator Aaron Sorkin, which
aired from 2006-7. He also starred in
several films including Fools Rush In,
opposite Salma Hayek, in 1997.
However, it proved impossible
for his career beyond Friends to
match the heights of the sitcom,
which dominated popular culture
for a decade and remains one of the
most-streamed TV shows world-
wide. Warner Bros, the company
that made it, said: “Matthew was an
incredibly gifted actor.”

REACTION Comment

Stars pay tribute to ‘generous, kind, funny Chandler’s

and sweet man’ who ‘brought joy to world’ insecurities
By Nick Duffy ‘Friends’ happy to see him when I did. I am
were ours too
stars (from super sad today.”
Stars from the world of entertain- left) Jennifer The American actress and singer Marisa Bate
ment have paid tribute to Matthew Aniston, Jennifer Hudson said on X: “This
Perry, remembering a man who was Courteney man brought so much joy and light
generous and kind to others, even as Cox, Matthew to so many around the world.”

he battled his demons in private.
Paget Brewster, who played Chan-
dler’s girlfriend Kathy in Friends,
wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “He
was lovely to me on Friends and
every time I saw him in the decades
after. Please read his book. It was his
legacy to help.
“He won’t rest in peace though.
He’s already too busy making every-
one laugh up there.”
Selma Blair, who guest starred as
Chandler’s colleague Wendy, said: “I
loved him unconditionally. And he
me. And I’m broken. Broken heart-
ed. Sweet dreams Matty.”
The Office star Lucy Davis, who
worked with Perry on Studio 60 on
the Sunset Strip, wrote: “He was as
funny off screen as he was on screen.
He was really kind to me… He was
generous with his compliments.”
In a tribute on Instagram, actress
Gwyneth Paltrow said she had spent
the summer of 1993 with Perry at
the Williamstown Theatre Festival
Perry, Lisa
Kudrow, David
Schwimmer and
Matt LeBlanc
in a reunion
special from
2021 HBO MAX/PA
in Massachusetts, before the pilot of
Friends had aired.
“He was so funny and so sweet and
so much fun to be with,” she said.
“We drove out to swim in creeks,
had beers in the local college bar,
kissed in a field of long grass.
“We stayed friends for a while until
we drifted apart, but I was always
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau, who went to the school
with the actor, said: “Thanks for all
the laughs, Matthew. You were loved
– and you will be missed.”
Hours after news of his death
broke, Saturday Night Live dedicated
its episode to Perry – while Adele in-
terrupted her set in Las Vegas to pay
tribute to the star.
“He was so open with his struggles
with addiction and sobriety, which I
think is incredibly, incredibly brave,”
said the singer, who quit drinking
earlier this year.
“I just want to say how much I love
what he did for all of us.”
I
n 1998 I was 13 and my
bedroom was a shrine to
pop culture. My walls were
adorned with posters of
Damon Albarn, the Gallagher
brothers, Sharleen Spiteri and
Ross, Joey and Chandler. One day
I would be in New York, drinking
coffee, with friends like them.
I fancied Ross, yet it was
Chandler and Joey who
made Friends sing. I believed
wholeheartedly in the chaos of
Chandler’s life – the silliness, the
stupidity, the frustrations, the
insecurities, the rejections, the
embarrassments. Perhaps that’s

one of the reasons that Matthew
Perry’s long battle with addiction,
and now untimely death, stings
so much. Chandler was the most
flawed, the most human among
them – the one most like us.
On the small screen, we wanted
a world that felt safe, perhaps
lulled by the new politics; the
arrival of Bill Clinton and Tony
Blair in the 1990s was, for many
young people, a sign of hope
and positivity. Life is great – all
you need are great friends. And
Chandler Bing was proof of that.
These characters have
accompanied me everywhere I’ve
lived, every relationship I’ve been
in, all through the chaos of my
own twenties, and they still show
up when I need them.
I am now older than they were.
The show is forever one moment
in time; the best, most sparkling
time. This is what Friends
captured: the joyfulness in the
chaos of life, and Chandler was
the voice that reminded us to
laugh, otherwise we’d cry.
Funniest moments Supremely sarcastic to the end
A master of comic timing, Matthew
Perry delivered many of the
funniest, most witheringly sarcastic,
most quotable lines in Friends.
Few modern TV characters have
managed to shift the English lexicon
single-handedly, but Perry arguably
achieved this as Chandler with
the emphasis in the middle of his
repeated rhetorical questions:
Could we be any more sad?
A dud in anyone else’s
hands (“Cheese, it’s milk
that you chew!”) became
comedy gold. Playing
awkward and highly
strung, Chandler was the
butt of many jokes – most
frequently his own.
“Hi, I’m Chandler. I make
jokes when I’m uncomfortable,” he
memorably quipped in one episode.
Confronted by the show’s often-
soapy Ross and Rachel plot line
(inset, Perry with Jennifer Aniston
as Rachel), he frequently delivered
deadpan, saying in one episode: “I’m
not great at the advice. Can I interest
you in a sarcastic comment?” Across
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
Matthew Perry
died in a ‘drowning
incident’ involving a
hot tub at home in Los
Angeles BRIAN ACH/AP
10 series, Perry became a vessel
for many of the smartest zingers of
creators Marta Kauffman and David
Crane – but he had a flair for his
own, too.
The show’s companion book
Friends Forever confirmed that the
actor improvised several of his most
iconic lines, and routinely pitched
gags to the writers, many
of which ended up in the
script. “You have to stop
the Q-Tip when there’s
resistance,” said after
one particularly stupid
Joey line, was said to be
an invention of the actor.
One of the most iconic
Chandler gags came at the
very end of the entire series
– after 10 years and 236 episodes of
the friends spending their days at
coffee shop Central Perk.
Heading out together one more
time before beginning the rest of
their lives, Rachel suggests they all
go for a coffee. Sarcastic to the last,
Chandler asks: “Where?”
Jane Clinton
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
Appreciation
Master of comedic
timing was born
for his biggest role
Caroline Frost
H
ypnotised into thinking
he was a woman,
trapped in a bank with
only a supermodel for
company, seduced by
a stunning school friend who later
left him alone and naked in a toilet
cubicle – it was all in a day’s work
for Chandler Bing and the master
of comedic timing, Matthew Perry,
who played him.
Friends has long been accepted
as the ultimate ensemble sitcom.
If David Schwimmer brought the
physical comedy as Ross, and Matt
LeBlanc the confident foolishness of
Joey, it was Perry who provided the
whip-smart sarcasm of Chandler, a
vital splash of vinegar in the salad.
We saw it in his bromance with
Joey, his romance with Monica
and his unique way of speaking:
“Could she be more out of my
league?” While it was completely
realistic that somebody as witty and
charming as he would be able to
romance a character played by Julia
Roberts (the pair enjoyed a real-life
romance), the magic of Chandler
lay in the contradiction between
his preppy good looks and the
insecurities he wore on his sleeve.
It was a masterly performance
by Perry, and one that came from
deep within him, as he described
in his memoir, Friends, Lovers and
the Big Terrible Thing, published
last year: “When I read the script…
it was as if someone had followed
me around for a year, stealing my
jokes, copying my mannerisms,
photocopying my view of life.”
Perry was only 24, the youngest
of the leads, when he secured the
role that made his name. Born in
Massachusetts to parents who
divorced before his first birthday,
Perry provided the
whip-smart sarcasm of
Chandler, a vital splash of
vinegar in the salad
Matthew Perry identified closely with his witty, fragile ‘Friends’ character NBC
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
15
he grew up mainly in Canada with
his mother, who served as press
secretary to the country’s then
prime minister Pierre Trudeau;
at school in Ottawa, Perry shared
schoolyard pranks with Trudeau’s
son, Justin.
Perry’s father was an American
actor who starred in adverts for
Old Spice aftershave. Aged 15,
young Matthew moved to live with
him in California and embarked
on his acting career. Roles in 1980s
sitcoms Charles in Charge and
Growing Pains followed as well as
lead roles in Sydney and Home Free.
But it was Friends that secured
his place in TV history. In 236
episodes, he and his five castmates
found global stardom with their
roles as twenty-somethings sharing
lives, coffees, apartments, jobs,
blunders and romances. Off-screen
too, the group forged a tight bond.
Their solidarity earned them $1m
an episode by the time the show
went out with a bang in 2004, in a
finale watched by an estimated 52
million viewers in America alone.
In a reunion show in 2021, Perry
proved the most fragile of the
group, his emotions very close to
the surface. While this hinted at his
personal burdens, it was only when
his memoir was released that we
got the whole story.
What started out as an addiction
to pain medication after a jet ski
accident in the late 1990s became
heavy, health-depleting dependency
on alcohol, methadone and
amphetamines. He had 15 trips to
rehab, countless trips to hospital,
including emergency surgery on his
colon in 2018.
He wrote that he had been mostly
sober since 2001 “save for about 60
or 70 mishaps” and could barely
remember recording three of the
10 series of Friends. “There are
two ways to go when you hit that
crossroads… the bad way, when you
sort of give up, and then there is
the really hard way, when you fight
back.” And fight back he did.
Caroline Frost is a TV and
entertainment journalist
16 NEWS
EQUALITY
Women in same-sex relationships
face debts over fertility treatment
By Connie Dimsdale
Women in same-sex relationships
have resorted to remortgaging their
houses and sacrificing “eating and
heating” to self-fund fertility treat-
ment, campaigners have said.
Couples waiting for the Govern-
ment to remove “additional bur-
dens” to same-sex fertility treatment
– as outlined in the 2022 Women’s
Health Strategy – are running out of
time to create the family they want.
Laura-Rose Thorogood, the
founder of charity LGBT Mummies,
said: “People are selling up, they’re
moving back home... They’re getting
into an exponential amount of debt.”
Mrs Thorogood, 37, and her wife
Stacey, 40, have had four children,
spending a total of £60,000 and get-
ting into large amounts of debt.
Mrs Thorogood said LGBT Mum-
mies received three to four calls per
week from women setting up crowd-
funding pages “in desperation”.
Lyndsay Andrews said she and her
wife, from Hampshire, had to pay for
fertility treatment privately, spend-
ing £30,000 in total. “We had to bor-
row from family, use credit cards and
save up until we could afford the next
treatment,” she said.
Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ charity,
said it has received reports of fami-
lies “sacrificing heating and eating”
to pay for fertility treatments.
HEALTH
‘Major changes needed to fill NHS roles’
By Paul Gallagher
HEALTH CORRESPONDENT
The long-term plan to fill the 112,000
vacancies within the NHS will not
work without “significant changes”
to healthcare education and train-
Laura-Rose Thorogood (centre) with her wife, Stacey, and three of their children; the pair have spent £60,000 on IVF
Under National Institute for
Health and Care Excellence guide-
lines, heterosexual couples can
access NHS fertility treatment by
simply saying they have been try-
ing to conceive for two years while
ing, the Universities UK (UUK) ad-
vocacy group has warned.
It said the success of the NHS
long-term workforce plan, published
by the Government in June, hinges
on a joint endeavour between educa-
tion and healthcare providers.
women in same-sex relationships
must “prove” they cannot conceive
by undergoing artificial insemina-
tion, campaigners say.
A Department of Health and So-
cial Care spokesperson said the
UUK said several challenges
needed to be overcome if the plan is
to meet its objectives and prevent
“the talent pipeline from drying up”.
This includes a need for higher
education to expand health educa-
tion capacity, and for a culture shift
Women’s Health Strategy “con-
tained important changes to im-
prove the variations in access to
NHS-funded fertility services, in-
cluding improving same-sex access
– which we expect to start this year.”
to take place within the NHS to place
more value on students and educa-
tors, UUK said.
The 15-year NHS workforce plan
aims to ramp up training, double
medical school spots and increase
nursing and midwifery training
places by 80 per cent. The Depart-
ment of Health and Social Care was
approached for comment.
SOCIETY
Police look for
builders who
planted 1970s
time capsule
By Sylvie Wilkinson
Police in Liverpool are hunting
for builders who buried a time
capsule in one of their stations
more than 50 years ago.
Buried in St Anne Street
station in Liverpool in 1971,
it has been unearthed during
building work.
Bricklayers, calling themselves
Swooper, Smiler and Boss, are
among those who buried the
capsule, in which they planted a
copy of the Daily Mirror from the
day that the UK announced plans
to enter the EU.
A note lists other workers who
were involved in the burial –
referred to as a “crime”.
Merseyside Police are hoping
to speak to anyone involved
in planting the items, though
stressed that no offence appears
to have been committed.
The base, which is the force’s
busiest station, opened in 1972,
a few months after the team of
builders left their mark.
Merseyside police
commissioner Emily Spurrell
said the capsule was an
“unexpected surprise”.
She added that it “has certainly
stood the test of time – St Anne
Street has faithfully served
Merseyside Police for more than
50 years”.
The capsule included a newspaper
front page on the plan to join the EU

PEOPLE
Ex-British Army
soldier killed
while fighting
against Russia
By Joe Duggan
A former British Army soldier has
been killed in Ukraine after volun-
teering to fight against Russia.
Christopher “Pezz” Perryman, 38,
who had been fighting with units of
Western volunteers, was killed on a
mission this week. He first travelled
to Ukraine shortly after Russia’s in-
vasion in February 2022.
The ex-Army sniper (inset), origi-
nally from Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
was a former platoon sergeant
who served in the Royal
Regiment of Fusiliers, 1st
Battalion, for 16 years.
He had tours of Iraq
and Kosovo, before
moving into close-pro-
tection security work
in conflict hotspots such
as Somalia.
A fellow Western fighter
who was on the same operation in
which Mr Perryman was killed told i:
“Pezz is a big loss for everyone.”
Friends and family have paid
tribute to Mr Perryman, with his
sister writing on social media: “Last
night our hearts were shattered
and our world torn apart. We lost
Pezz Perryman.
“He died a true hero, fighting a
war that was never his to fight, I
don’t think we as a family will ever
get over this. He went to Ukraine to
help others, and it cost him his life.”
A volunteer who fought alongside
him posted on X, formerly Twit-
ter: “The King of the North is gone.
Always together from the start of
this war, we went through so much,
we laughed so hard together.
GEOPOLITICS
As the world watches Gaza, a dangerous stalemate takes hold
Patrick
Cockburn
I
nternational attention is
focused so wholly on the
conflict in Gaza that an
important development in
the Russo-Ukraine war has
occurred without anybody paying
sufficient attention.
The event in question is of “the
dog that didn’t bark in the night”
variety, in the form of the apparent
failure of the Ukrainian summer
offensive, launched with great
“I learn so much from you. We
could talk about everything, we un-
derstand each other.”
Mr Perryman travelled to Lviv
shortly after the war broke out,
intending to use his expertise as a
military instructor to train Ukrain-
ian forces. But he travelled to the
war-ravaged south-east to take up
arms on the front line after a local
commander told him they were
“desperate” for fighters, joining a re-
connaissance team and then a bat-
talion of marines.
Speaking to i last year, he
said he was part of a unit
of foreign volunteers
fighting for weeks along-
side Ukrainian forces
to defend a key bridge
across the Southern
Bug river between Odesa
and Mykolaiv, attacking
Russian armour with British-
supplied anti-tank weapons.
His unit used next-generation
light anti-tank weapons and Javelin
guided missiles to inflict maximum
damage on approaching Russian
T-72 tanks and BMP-1 infantry fight-
ing vehicles.
A Foreign Office spokesman
said: “We are supporting the fam-
ily of a British man who died in
Ukraine, and are in contact with the
local authorities.”
At least 11 British
nationals have been killed
in Ukraine after going to fight. The
Government has urged against all
travel to the war-torn country.
expectations in June and with the
West supplying great quantities
of arms and ammunition. In the
event, despite heavy casualties, the
attack made little progress. Russian
counter-attacks, smaller in scale,
also appear to have got nowhere.
Maybe on a modern battlefield
surveillance by drones is so
pervasive that it is almost
impossible to build up the local
superiority in forces necessary for
a decisive breakthrough without
being detected.
We appear to be faced with a
military stalemate between the
Ukrainian and Russian armies.
Neither side shows any sign of
wanting to end a war in which they
both hope to win a victory or at
least greatly improve their position.
Ukraine hopes to do better next
year and Russia, having survived
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
Children take part in a military programme in Crimea; Russia claims to have foiled attacks on the region STR/GETTY
MILITARY
Drone attack over Black Sea ‘thwarted’
By Taz Ali
SENIOR WORLD REPORTER
Russia has said that its forces
thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack
over the Black Sea and the Crimean
peninsula, as fighting continued to
grind on east of the country.
Russia’s defence ministry said yes-
terday that 36 Ukrainian unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAV) had been de-
stroyed overnight.
Local media reports suggested
a fire at an oil refinery in the south-
ern Krasnodar region bordering the
a military onslaught, a mutiny and
severe economic sanctions, may
feel that things can only improve.
The chances of war are always
unpredictable, but a long stalemate
– as Ukraine joins the world’s
“forever wars” in places like Syria,
Yemen, Libya and, a more recent
recruit, Sudan – will feed into and
reinforce instability in Western and
Central Europe. The Ukraine war
puts a heavy political and economic
pressure on these countries, most
of them in the EU, through higher
The Ukraine war puts
a heavy political and
economic pressure on
countries in Europe
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
Black Sea may have been caused
by a drone strike or debris from a
downed UAV.
Local officials did not confirm the
cause but said that the incident was
being investigated.
There has been an escalation in
drone strikes and shelling on the
Russian border regions and Crimea,
annexed by Moscow.
Ukrainian officials rarely confirm
responsibility for attacks on Russian
territory or the Crimean peninsula.
In Ukraine, the country’s air force
said yesterday that it had shot down
energy costs and other disruptions,
with the strain especially severe on
Germany, the linchpin of the EU.
Its liberal democracy and
economic prosperity are being
undermined by the effect of the
Ukraine war and the end of the
boom in China, long an ever-
expanding market for German
exports. The formula that produced
the German “economic miracle”
no longer works and populist
nationalist parties are on the rise.
“An unending semi-frozen war
in Ukraine would drastically
worsen Germany’s – and Europe’s
– economic decline and consequent
political disorder,” writes Anatol
Lieven, an expert on Russia and
Ukraine, in the online publication
Responsible Statecraft. “Especially
if coupled with repeated crises in
the Middle East, it would make the
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
17
five Iranian-made Shahed drones
launched by Russia overnight.
The UK Ministry of Defence
(MoD) said that Russia had suffered
some of its biggest casualty rates so
far this year as a result of continued
“heavy but inconclusive” fighting
around the town of Avdiivka, which
is in the partly-occupied eastern
Donetsk province.
The MoD noted on Saturday that
Russia had committed “elements
of up to eight brigades” in the area
since it launched its “major offensive
effort” in mid-October.
restoration of stability in energy
prices impossible.”
Moreover, a stalemate would
not be static, but would bring
periodic outbreaks of heavy fighting
with the danger that this could
at any moment escalate into a
wider conflict.
Ironically, one of the arguments
used until almost a month ago – 7
October to be precise – by those
who said that the Russo-Ukraine
war could be left to fester without
resolution, was to cite with approval
the example of Israel, saying that
Israel had wisely ignored those who
called for a settlement of the Israel-
Palestinian struggle as essential for
long-term stability.
The Israeli Prime Minister,
Benjamin Netanyahu, had done just
the opposite – and look how Israel is
prospering and at peace.
18 @theipaper
facebook.com/theipaper i@inews.co.uk
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The Opinion Matrix

COMMENT FROM HOME AND ABROAD
opinion
CHINA NEW SPEAKER RACHEL CELEBRITY TORY RUGBY UNION
AND AI IN CONGRESS REEVES TELEVISION POLITICIANS WORLD CUP

A state now Johnson Plagiarism Hancock got Appalling Springboks

built on
surveillance
The Daily Telegraph
Next week, the UK
is to host a summit
to discuss the
applications and
risks associated with
artificial intelligence
(AI). China has created
the most extensive
surveillance state ever
imagined. Inviting
the creator of a
dystopian nightmare
seems foolhardy.
(Iain Duncan Smith)
The Times
China says it just
wants to share with
less fortunate nations
the fruits of Chinese
Communist ideas and
governance. The free
world worries that
behind a humanitarian
front China is trying to
elbow Western liberal
democracy aside.
(Matthew Parris)
backed
Trump’s lies
The Atlantic
After Joe Biden’s
victory over Donald
Trump in the 2020
election, Mike Johnson
worked hard to prevent
the transition of power.
He told interviewers
that the allegations of
rigged voting machines
had “a lot of merit”, that
there were “credible
allegations of fraud
and irregularity”.
(Joshua Benton)
The Observer
Why do seemingly
serious people repeat
crazy political lies?
A democracy will
struggle to survive,
let alone flourish,
when its population
see it as a badge of
loyalty not to trust
its most fundamental
processes.
(Peter Pomerantsev)
will continue
to haunt her
The Sunday Times
It is a truth universally
acknowledged that a
politician in pursuit
of advancement must
be in want of a book to
write. I have a dream
that, one day, our lords
and masters will no
longer feel the need
to inflict these tomes
on us. The shadow
Chancellor, Rachel
Reeves’s new book
is rubbish in its own,
highly specific way, in
that she didn’t write
large chunks of it.
(Charlotte Ivers)
The Mail on Sunday
She will be teased
for years to come
by the allegations of
plagiarism. Not that
purloining the ideas of
others is necessarily a
failing in politics.
(Editorial)
kicking he judgement the greatest
deserved the norm team ever
Sunday People Sunday Mirror The Argus
In Celebrity SAS: Who In this day and age, few When it came down to
Dares Wins, Matt things in life are more it, South Africa always
Hancock comes off guaranteed than Tory had just enough to get
worst in a scrap with ministers exercising over the line. There will
Love Island’s Teddy appalling judgement. be those who argue
Soares, who said: “I Tom Pursglove was that this team now
couldn’t bring myself not thinking straight rivals the great New
to go back to the UK if he imagined it Zealand side that went
without having kicked would be acceptable back-to-back in 2011
his ass. I didn’t feel to campaign alongside and 2015. That is a step
guilty.” Nor should a shamed MP, Peter too far, but for pure
he. Hancock, dressed Bone, who no longer knockout mentality,
only in his underpants, represents his party. these Springboks might
receives a humiliating, (Editorial) be the best of all.
brutal interrogation. (Paul Eddison)
(Keir Mudie) Daily Star Sunday
Just when you try WalesOnline
Daily Express and forget that we are Matt Dawson believes
The RAF considered run by completely the current Springboks
stripping Carol clueless morons, up are the greatest team
Vorderman of her steps Thérèse Coffey. ever. Having played
honorary group In defending the Ireland, Scotland,
captain title because shambolic response to France, England and
she’d become an Storm Babet, she said New Zealand, it is hard
embarrassment thanks it was harder to predict to argue that any other
to her tirade of anti- because the rain “came has faced so much
government tweets. in from the East”. quality in their quest.
(Carole Malone) (John Ward) (Sion Morgan)

Quote of Life In Brief

the day BURT YOUNG ACTOR

Burt Young, the Oscar-nominated
American actor who played Paulie,
the rough-hewn, mumbling-and-
grumbling best friend, corner-man and
brother-in-law to Sylvester Stallone in
the Rocky franchise, has died aged 83.
Young had roles in acclaimed
films and television shows including
Chinatown, Once Upon a Time in America
and The Sopranos. But he was always
best known for playing Paulie Pennino
There’s nothing in six Rocky movies. The short, paunchy,
good about balding Young was the sort of actor who
always seemed to play middle-aged
divorce, except men, no what matter his age.
surviving it When Paulie first appears in 1976’s
Rocky, he’s an angry, foul-mouthed
David Duchovny meat packer who berates his shy, meek
The 63-year-old sister Adrian (Talia Shire) for refusing
former ‘X-Files’ actor at first to go on a Thanksgiving night
reflects on life date with his buddy and co-worker
Rocky Balboa.
Rocky was nominated for 10 Oscars,
including best supporting actor for
Young. It won three trophies, including
best picture. Young and co-star Burgess
Meredith, who was also nominated,
lost out to Jason Robards in All the
President’s Men.
Paulie was also an eternal pessimist
who was constantly convinced that
Rocky was going to get clobbered by his
increasingly daunting opponents. His
surprise at Rocky’s resilience brought
big laughs.
“It was a great ride, and it brought me
to the audience in a great way,” Young
said in a 2020 interview with Celebrity
Parents magazine.
Born and raised in Queens, New York,
Young served in the US Marine Corps,
fought as a professional boxer and
worked as a carpet layer before taking
up acting, studying with the legendary
Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.
On stage, in films and on television,
he typically played small-time tough
guys or down-on-their luck working-
class men. In a short but memorable
scene in 1974’s Chinatown, he appears
as a fisherman who throws a fit when
Jack Nicholson’s private detective Jake
Gittes shows him pictures proving that
his wife is cheating on him.
Young also appeared in director
Sergio Leone’s 1984 gangster epic Once
Upon a Time in America with Robert De
Niro, the 1986 comedy Back to School The Equalizer. Later in life, he focused
with Rodney Dangerfield, and the gritty on roles in the theatre and on painting,
1989 drama Last Exit to Brooklyn with a lifelong pursuit that led to gallery
Jennifer Jason Leigh. shows and sales.
In a striking appearance in season His wife of 13 years, Gloria, died
three of The Sopranos in 2001, he in 1974. Young is survived by his
plays Bobby Baccalieri Snr, an elderly daughter Anne Morea Steingieser, one
mafioso with lung cancer who pulls off grandchild and a brother, Robert. AP
one last hit before a coughing fit leads
to him dying in a car accident. Born 30 April 1940
Young guest-starred on many other Died 8 October 2023
TV series including Miami Vice and Andrew Dalton
 NEWS
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OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56 i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
19

My View
Ian Birrell

Timid leaders could learn from Thatcher

The former prime minister’s moral clarity helped to build bridges

T
wo years after
becoming prime
minister, Margaret
Thatcher gave an
interview to The Jewish
Chronicle about her
forceful condemnation of an Israeli
attack on a nuclear reactor in Iraq.
She said such actions caused “great
grief” for the country’s friends by
cutting the ground from under their
feet, explaining how her opposition
to such aggression was rooted in a
passion for freedom and contempt
for terrorism.
“I believe firmly in fair dealing
and fair principles,” she said.
“Don’t you see, if I openly condemn
the PLO [Palestinian Liberation
Organisation] for terrorism, I have
to condemn everyone for the use of
violence and terrorism?”
This attack in 1981 was defended
by Israel’s leadership on the basis of
thwarting development of weapons
of mass destruction. “There won’t
be another Holocaust in history,”
said the Israeli prime minister
Menachem Begin, leader of the
Likud Party. “Never again.”
Such statements did not
intimidate his British counterpart.
“If we are not going to live by a
system of international law, we
are going to live by international
anarchy. Then no people anywhere
in the world are safe,” responded
Thatcher, saying this sentiment
drove her desire for Middle East Margaret Thatcher with then Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres on a visit to Jerusalem in 1986. She was seen as a supporter of Israel SVEN NACKSTRAND/AFP
peace. “You cannot be selective in
your defence of law – you cannot oasis of democracy and enterprise places; indeed, she joined one my surgeries”. She was a supporter its uncritical support for Israel
say, ‘I like that law, I will uphold that surrounded by autocracies, and her protest as a young Tory politician of Soviet Jewry, pushing their cause was hampering a peace process
one, I will not uphold the other.’” philosemitism went far beyond the against a golf club excluding in Moscow. She promoted many that needed to be rooted on justice
Her words have eerie resonance representing of Finchley with its Jewish people. Several members Jewish ministers. And she was for Palestinians. She condemned
reading them four decades later as many Jewish constituents. “I simply of Edith’s family were murdered in such a strident backer of Israel that Israel’s disastrous invasion of
Israeli forces step up an assault on did not understand antisemitism,” the Holocaust, so she believed she some British diplomats fretted she Lebanon in 1982, comparing it with
Gaza under another Likud leader she wrote in her memoirs. might have died too without the might damage relations with the Argentina’s attack on the Falklands
and hopes of peace shrivel further. This dated to her teenage years intervention of that grocer’s family Arab world. two months earlier. Then she spoke
The circumstances today are – and what she called her greatest in Lincolnshire. “Never hesitate to But Thatcher was a pragmatist out against “pure barbarism”
very different as Israel responds accomplishment in helping rescue do whatever you can, for you may and accepted both parties in the when war crimes were committed
to atrocities committed against a young woman from the Nazis in save a life,” said Thatcher. Arab-Israeli conflict had what she after Israeli forces allowed their
citizens on its soil – and as Thatcher 1939. Edith Mühlbauer, a 17-year-old When Thatcher died 10 years ago, termed “unimpeachable moral allies to massacre civilians in two
said in that interview, every country Austrian, wrote asking to stay Benjamin Netanyahu hailed her as cases”. She opposed the expansion refugee camps.
has the right to defend itself. Yet with her pen pal – the future prime “a staunch friend of Israel and of the of settlements in the West Bank, Thatcher’s foreign policy and
every bomb, every bullet, every minister’s big sister Muriel – and Jewish people”. She admired the seeing them as a barrier to peace. stand against racial bigotry were
death, takes that tormented region in response, the family worked values of the community in Britain, In 1980, just one year after entering far from perfect, as seen in South
further from peace. And we must with their local Rotary club to raise saying that, in 33 years representing Downing Street, she backed a Africa. She governed also in a very
not forget British people are both funds for her travel and lodging in Finchley, “I never had a Jew come landmark European declaration to different era. Yet she respected
hostages and stuck inside Gaza. Grantham, Lincolnshire. Margaret in poverty and desperation to one of Begin’s fury that called for an end the rule of law and knew the real
Thatcher’s resolve that Israel was shocked when their “very to Israel’s “territorial occupation” meaning of friendship between
should respect democratic values sophisticated” guest – who shared and the PLO to have a role in nations. As fears grow that Israel
and international law offer sharp
contrast to the pusillanimous
a room with her at one point –
detailed Jews being forced to scrub Thatcher peace talks. Two years later she
authorised foreign office talks with
has rushed into a trap set by Hamas
and Iran with its siege and savage
response of both Rishi Sunak and
Sir Keir Starmer to the latest
the streets. “She told us what it
was like to live as a Jew under knew the real PLO leaders despite fierce public
hostility to terrorism amid the
pounding of Gaza, our current
generation of leaders on all sides of
unfolding horrors in the Middle
East. Her stance is all the more
an antisemitic regime,” recalled
Thatcher later.
meaning of raging conflict in Northern Ireland.
Her views on the Middle East
the political spectrum might do well
to learn from her moral clarity on
instructive when she is rightly
seen as such a firm supporter of
This was, bear in mind, a time of
bigotry in Westminster and open
friendship even led to friction with Washington these issues.
Israel, a nation she admired as an prejudice barring Jews from public between nations after she pushed the United States
to talk to the PLO, warning that i@inews.co.uk
20 @theipaper
facebook.com/theipaper i@inews.co.uk
Please include a contact address with all correspondence

@ Staying active
keeps bills low
Mark Scott (Your
View, 28-29 October)
Are Tories
trying to lose?
The public’s perception
of this Government
are deliberately
trying to lose the next
general election.
ROBERT BOSTON
KINGS HILL, KENT
in a cold, sopping wet
house. Never mind a heat
pump, Mr Sunak – just
give me a grant to install
central heating!

Your
claims that the darker is already perilously SUSAN PINE
afternoons with the low, so why on earth Heat pumps are SAXMUNDHAM,
clocks going back result would a minister in SUFFOLK
not the answer
View
Tweets, emails
in higher energy costs. I
like the lighter mornings,
when I am more active
the Department for
Work and Pensions,
Tom Pursglove, believe
Heat pumps? Dream
on! On the day Storm
No doubt we will hear the
usual whining from the
and letters to: and less in need of using canvassing accompanied Babet flooded my house green lobby regarding
The Editor, i, energy for heating. by suspended Peter Bone with nearly a foot of the PM’s plans for car
9 Derry Street, LIZ PEARCE is in any way acceptable? water, I got Covid. I’m a manufacturers. At last,
London W8 5HY LONG CLAWSON, I sometimes pensioner with a slight some common sense in
LEICESTERSHRE wonder if the Tories disability, now living this area.
The UK emits 1
per cent of the world
carbons, while the US,
Russia, China and India
pollute our atmosphere
in massive numbers. We
know full well that these
guilty parties will not
change their approach Darker afternoons or brighter mornings? The debate
one iota, while we plough rages on as to which results in high energy usage GETTY
a furrow to nowhere.
IAN DUCKWORTH Blunt truths on Johnson did not
CLITHEROE,
LANCASHIRE
boarding school earn millions
I was heartened to see There is an error in
A tale of two that boarding school left iweekend. A report
James Blunt as a well- states that Boris Johnson
McDermids rounded person. While has earned millions of
What a pleasure to read having dinner with an old pounds since leaving
Val McDermid’s piece school friend recently, I office. He has been
(Opinion, 28-29 October). asked him what he learnt paid millions. There is
We were both graduate at boarding school. His a difference.
trainee reporters taking reply: “I learnt to endure.” JOHN MANGOLD
the National Council DANIEL BROOKBANK ORPINGTON, KENT
for the Training of PEVENSEY BAY,
Journalists exams. One EAST SUSSEX Time to ban sale
morning I received a
of fireworks
letter and £5 from my No Christianity
editor-in-chief as a At this time of year
reward for coming top
in atrocities articles provide advice
nationally in the exams. I’m a fan of Patrick on preparing our pets for
I had indeed passed but Cockburn’s writing. Bonfire Night. But when
not that spectacularly! But I resent his is Bonfire Night?
Val and I shared a description of those The fireworks start
surname. I was obliged behind the atrocities at in early September. Our
to send the prize back. I the Sabra and Shatila dog gets stressed every
stayed in journalism; she, refugee camps as time a firework is set
I believe, wrote a novel “Christian militiamen”. off. It’s time the sale of
or two. It would be better to fireworks to individuals
KATE DICKENS label them as murderous was banned and firework
(née McDermid) militiamen who claim to displays required to use
SPALDING, be Christian. silent fireworks.
LINCOLNSHIRE BOB GOUGH MAUREEN RIGG
AYR SOUTH SHIELDS

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MORE COMMENT on inews.co.uk

HEALTH
IN TOMORROW’S
Worried
sick
UK faces new
pandemic with
alarming rise
in stressed
workers taking
days off
since Covid

Only Bonfire Night has retained its sparkle
FESTIVITIES
Lucy
Mangan
I
regret to inform you that
the festive season is now
unassailably upon us.
Halloween, Bonfire Night,
Christmas, New Year’s Eve.
Now late into my fifth decade, I
maintain a positive disposition
towards only one of these.
Halloween was the first to fall off
my list. Indeed, I cannot remember
a time when it was ever really on it.
In my youth, it barely registered.
Costumes and trick or treating
was not a thing. You might make
an orange-tissue-paper-and-black-
sugar-paper picture of a pumpkin
at school that your parents could
lovingly throw in the bin as soon as
you got home, but that was about the
size of it.
Now, of course, we have
succumbed to the American way of
things – great troupes of children
now shake down entire streets for
sweets, polyester costumes, pots
of slime, plastic ghost buckets and
little pumpkin torches fill the shops
and, shortly thereafter, uncountable
cubic miles of landfill.
New Year’s Eve, obviously, is an
introvert’s nightmare. As soon as I
was past my youthful peak (which
I think was a Thursday in 1999)
and realised it wasn’t actually
mandatory to go out and mark the
time when one date became another
in as noisy and crowded a venue as
possible and then remain stranded
there by the absence of public
transport for the rest of the night,
I began rhapsodically declining
invitations and have not stopped
since. Although the invitations have,
which makes life even easier.
Christmas. Ah, Christmas.
That one held on a long time. But
gradually it became just another
investment of work and stress
for a diminishing return. With
age, the nostalgia for your own
childhood Christmases either fades
or, in the light of adult hardships,
accumulating bereavements and
other sorrows, becomes painful
to remember.
Then there is the unignorable,
inescapable bloating of the event
itself. Mince pies are in the shops
before the leaves have even turned
NEWS
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OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IQ
37-41
(before the bloody Halloween
costumes are on the shelves in
some cases, which is something of a
convoluted double whammy).
But what these three all have in
common is that they are now so
deeply divorced from what once
made them meaningful.
All Hallows’ Eve was once a part
of the Christian calendar marking
the remembrance of the dead
(“hallows” are saints, but you could
pay your respects to martyrs and to
your own lost beloveds as well), with
a dash of folkloric tradition thrown
in to help keep you safe from less
formally approved spirits too.
The marking of the new year
was a much more profound and
necessary undertaking when we
lived by the turning of the seasons.
And Christmas – well. It’s there
that we can see the hollowing
out of ancient traditions perhaps
most clearly.
You don’t need to be religious
(I am not and never have
been) to mourn the increasing
commercialism of a time that used
to be about the birth of our Lord and
Saviour (if you’re that way inclined)
or at the very least a time to try to
gather round home and hearth,
take stock, give thanks, breathe and
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56 i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
21
take just a moment to be conscious
of your good fortune and remind
yourself of – oh God, dreaded but
true phrase coming up – what really
matters in life.
Traditional festivities are
increasingly less a chance to connect
with the past, to feel that restorative
sense of being a link in a chain of
people stretching back generations,
than they are a confrontation with
the growing lack of meaning in life
and the disjunction our astonishing
age of technology has created
between us and anything that led or
shaped humanity up to this point.
This is… not comforting
Perhaps this is why Bonfire Night
Unlike other meaningless is now my favourite celebration of
celebrations, Bonfire Night has a them all. The story of Guy Fawkes
strong contemporary resonance is still widely known, widely
told and still – crucially – holds
a child’s attention. Gunpowder!
Treason! Plot! We may be losing
the resonance of the Catholic/
The story Protestant element, but the idea of
fighting back against a government,
of Guy Fawkes penetrating the very belly of the
beast and wishing to blow it sky
still – crucially high is not one that you could say
has had its day. Which is at least a
– holds a child’s thought frightening enough to be
attention appropriate to the season.
Happy Halloween.
22 @theipaper
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Please include a contact address with all correspondence
Romance rules will add spice to my sex life
A
WORK ccording to a YouGov poll
released this week, only 28
Rebecca per cent of people would
support a move for firms
Reid to install a policy where employees
have to declare if they’re having a
relationship with each other.
The logic for this policy makes
quite a lot of sense. There has
historically been an issue with
people dating at work: power
imbalances; the awkwardness if you
break up; the fact that women are
more likely to be penalised for being
“unprofessional” than men; and the
fear that it might impact your career
progression. There’s also the issue
that in any office romance with an
imbalance of ranking, there might be
an element of exploitation.
Can you say “no” to your boss?
What about your boss’s boss? In
an attempt to prevent people from
experiencing sexual harassment
at work rather than just a nice
watercooler flirt, various human
resources depaetment suggestions
have been bandied around.
One very sensible one is to notice a
difference between dating someone
of your own pay grade (fine) and
dating someone massively
senior to you, or who
manages you (not fine).
The other suggestion is
that if two people are
dating at work they’re
required to go to HR
and let them know.
An American import,
from a more litigious
society, the idea is that
this means that HR can make
sure everyone is consenting and
happy, and that there are unlikely to
be nasty surprises down the road.
It’s a suggestion which seems
to make people very cross. But
whenever you moot this idea
there are always voices of dissent
saying that you “can’t do anything”
these days.
I’m a big fan. Not because I think
it’ll prevent sexual harassment,
because that’s too entrenched to be
solved by a 25-year-old called Emma
signing a form in HR. No, I’m in
favour because it might bring back
the joy of having sex in a way that
feels forbidden.
The destigmatisation of
sex is obviously a good thing.
FAMILY
Stefano
Hatfield
Emptying the
nest is getting
more difficult
W
e all know a few
bamboccioni, don’t we?
That’s the Italian word
for “big babies”: men,
and it’s almost always men, who still
live in the family home a long time
past the average age that society
deems normal and appropriate.
The word achieved global
prominence last week as
international media devoured a
story from Italy that epitomised the
world’s housing crisis: an unnamed
Italian 74-year-old woman from the
northern city of Pavia went to court
to evict her two sons from her home.
Sounds harsh? To put it in
context, exasperated Mama X’s
two “boys” are 42 and 40 years old.
Although both have jobs and their
mother is separated from their
father, not only did they decline her
repeated exhortations to move out,
but they apparently did nothing to
contribute financially to household
Contraception, abortion, and
LGBTQ+ rights all co-exist with
sexual liberation, and we love all
those things.
But the one thing missing from
the world of sex and sexuality
is the sense of the naughty. The
forbidden. The taboo. We can all
find any sex content we want, on the
internet, within seconds now.
When I was first dating,
and keeping the whole
thing very quiet because
it felt inconsistent with
my newly single status,
I got quite a kick out of
hiding it.
On a family holiday
to Paris I would slip to
the bathroom to check the
apps. I kept conversations
with attractive men in the archive
section of WhatsApp.
I didn’t tell friends when I was
slipping off to the pub for a first date.
It was just the right kind of secretive
– naughty, but not evil.
If your company says you can’t
snog anyone you’re working with,
or, even better, that you can snog
them but you have to tell HR, that
secretiveness is back. Suddenly your
fairly boring job is like Tudor court –
alive with intrigue and mystery.
A permissive society is a great
thing but it makes it harder to get
those kinds of thrills.
So, in the name of better sex and
less boring Monday mornings, I say
“bring on the rules”.
expenditures or help with chores.
Mama X’s entire pension is said
to have gone entirely on food and
maintenance of the home. In despair,
she described them as “parasites”
and sought an eviction order.
Accepting that data may now
be slightly warped by pandemic
issues, the average age of emptying
the nest has risen over the past
decades across Europe. In the UK,
more than 3.5 million childless single
adults aged 20-34 still live with their
parents. That’s a rise of a third over
the past decade.
The daunting twin prospects of
impossibly high property prices
and mortgage rates plus the
soaring cost of rentals that make
independent life unaffordable for
many were clearly the principal
factors – and that was even
before the cost of living crisis bit.
The “boomerang generation”
phenomenon is heading only in
one direction.
Behind these compelling statistics
lie innumerable personal stories.
You will know one. My own sister
tried and failed to leave home three
times before moving out aged 41. My
friend’s 22-year-old daughter rented
a room from me post-university,
before moving to her aunt’s home.
Multi-generational living can put
genuine strain on families when
any party is forced into it through
financial necessity. We love our
children, but know deep down
that it is healthy and natural for
them to find their own homes in
their twenties. You’d have to be a
bambocciono to disagree.
 NEWS
Analysis
Pence quits race to
be president – and
fails to endorse a
rival to fight Trump
Simon Marks
A
fter struggling for
months to gain
traction in the polls,
Mike Pence has bowed
to the inevitable. But
the former US vice president’s
announcement that he was
cashing in his chips in America’s
2024 presidential race still
shocked some of his supporters.
There were audible gasps at the
Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas on
Saturday when Pence confirmed
that his effort to secure America’s
top job was coming to an end.
“It’s become clear to me this is
not my time,” said the candidate
who one week ago attracted a
mere 13 voters to an event at a
pizza parlour in Iowa.
Pence told the larger crowd
assembled in Las Vegas that
“after much prayer and
deliberation I have decided to
suspend my campaign for the
president, effective today”.
He pledged to fight “to elect
principled Republican leaders to
every office in the land… so help
me God”.
The choice of the word
“principled” seemed to
communicate that he won’t be
backing Donald Trump for the
Republican nomination any
time soon. Pence also failed to
endorse any of his rivals in the
His departure fuels
the growing belief that
the field needs to be
further winnowed
UNITED STATES
Maine shooter had made threats
By Bernard Condon
Police in the US state of Maine were
alerted last month to “veiled threats”
by the army reservist who would go
on to carry out a mass shoot-
ing, killing 18 people.
Law enforcement
chiefs said a statewide
awareness alert was
sent in mid-September
to be on the lookout
for Robert Card (inset),
after the firearms in-
structor made threats to
his base and fellow soldiers.
But after stepped-up patrols of the
base and a visit to Card’s home – nei-
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56 i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
23
One-minute Wijuko
How to play Place 1 – 9 once
in the grid, obeying the sums
between pairs of squares
5
14
Solution: page 45
9
6 10
Mike Pence with his wife, Karen, as he bowed out of the race in Las Vegas GETTY
race currently under way for the
scraps in the nominating battle.
With 57 per cent of Republican
primary voters backing Trump,
the former president continues
to dominate the race. Pence was
attracting a mere 3.8 per cent
when he suspended his campaign,
behind Florida governor Ron
DeSantis (14 per cent), former
South Carolina governor Nikki
Haley (8 per cent) and upstart
biotech billionaire Vivek
Ramaswamy (5.8 per cent).
With so little support in the
race for the 2024 nomination,
Pence voters are unlikely to
break in favour of any single,
alternative candidate.
His departure fuels the
growing belief that the field
needs to be further winnowed,
and that unless Republicans can
focus on only a couple of potential
alternatives, there will be no way
to stop Trump.
After strong performances in
the first two televised debates,
Haley’s numbers have grown, and
Pence’s withdrawal from the race
may give her further traction.
She has secured the
endorsement of former New
Hampshire governor Judd Gregg.
“Our party needs someone who
can win and lead,” he argued,
adding: “Nikki Haley is an
exceptionally strong leader… in
the tradition of Ronald Reagan.”
But references to “The Gipper”
may not resonate with modern
day Republican voters.
The 1980s is a long time ago,
the party has slipped from
its ideological moorings, and
America’s 40th president
would struggle to recognise the
movement that he used to lead.
ther of which turned up any sign of
him – they moved on.
Reports suggest police missed
opportunities to end a search for
Card after the shooting at a bowling
alley and a bar in Lewiston on
Wednesday night. His body
was found on Friday at a
recycling centre in Lis-
bon Falls that police had
searched a day earlier.
Investigators are still
searching for a motive
for the massacre, but
have increasingly been fo-
cused on Card’s mental health
history. Officials said Card was hear-
ing voices and was paranoid. AP
24 NEWS

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PEOPLE

No 3972 BY LOGLADY
Cleese hits out at
9 10
fellow GB News
host Johnson
11 12 13
By Nick Duffy

New GB News host John Cleese hit

14 15 out at the channel’s decision to hire
“serial liar” Boris Johnson ahead of
16 17 the launch of his own show last night.
The former Monty Python star’s
18 pre-recorded show, The Dinosaur
Hour, has aired its first episode –
19 20 dedicated to phone hacking and
tabloid snooping.
21 22 23 However, the outspo-
ken comic (inset), 84,
has not toned down his
criticism of the chan-
24 25 26 nel despite being
Solution to Saturday’s Cryptic employed by it. “I can
hardly believe that
P A T T E R V I C A R AGE
O E A W N F D U
GB News will give this
27 28 proven serial liar his
R E S I S T I NG T R A I N
T T E L R E P U own programme,” he said
H O T E L D I A CR I T I C after Friday’s revelation that
Stuck on the cryptic crossword? For today’s solutions, call 0905 789 3580. Mr Johnson will join the broadcaster.
O U L I G S H
Calls cost 80p per minute plus your network access charge. If you are having GB News has so far only ordered
L I B R A R Y N I L E trouble accessing this number, please call our helpdesk on 0333 202 3390.
E E L O T C 10 episodes from Cleese, more than
MEWS MAWK I S H Full terms and conditions can be found on page 29 a year after it announced that he had
S S H T I R I been signed up for what was initially
T R I CO L OUR S P A SM described as a regular one-hour slot.
Y G U R R C M N Cleese has made no secret of his
L I N K S A PO L OG I S E disdain for some of the “nasty vulgar
E O E G R W S Y rubbish” on the network – which he
S I N I S T E R C L O U D S has referred to as “KGB News”.

MEDIA
Police to be trained
on how to protect
safety of journalists
By Charlotte McLaughlin
Training will be offered to police of-
ficers as part of measures to protect
journalists doing their jobs.
The Culture Secretary, Lucy Fraz-
er, will launch an enhanced national
action plan for the safety of journal-
ists in the UK today.
A taskforce will share in-
formation on protecting
editorial staff, while an
online tool will provide
a portal to report any
abuse or safety issues.
Police staff will be
offered training on pub-
lic order laws to help
them understand how
journalists can report on and
observe protests.
In November 2022, radio journal-
ist Charlotte Lynch was wrongfully
arrested as she tried to report on a
Just Stop Oil protest on the M25 in
Hertfordshire. Documentary maker
Rich Felgate and photographer Tom
Bowles were also detained.
Ms Frazer (inset) will also hold a
reception at Downing Street today
with journalists from across the UK
to celebrate their work.
She said: “No journalist should be
prevented from doing their job due
to fear of violence, abuse or harass-
ment. Our revamped national ac-
tion plan will strengthen efforts to
protect journalists working in
the UK from harm, enhanc-
ing their freedom to hold
the powerful to account
without fear of abuse
or harassment.”
Dawn Alford, execu-
tive director of the So-
ciety of Editors, said: “At
a time when accurate and
verifiable news and informa-
tion remains critical to the pub-
lic’s understanding of world affairs,
it is devastating that abuse and
harassment of journalists remains
so commonplace.”
She added: “We look forward
to working together to help cre-
ate a safe and free environment for
journalists to report on behalf of
the public.”
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
Cool cats gather in Liverpool
Mr Bumble, a white Persian cat,
and his owner attending the
Liverpool Cat Extravaganza and
Rescue Awareness Event at the
city’s Exhibition Centre over the
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
weekend. Cat lovers attended to
support local charities and rescue
centres, learn more about the
species and watch felines stroll the
catwalk. SHIRLAINE FORREST/GETTY
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
25
EMPLOYMENT
Graduates face
‘significant’ fall
in vacancies
By Alan Jones
New graduates are facing one of the
toughest job markets in recent years
amid a fall in vacancies, research
has suggested.
The number of graduate jobs
being advertised is down by a third
compared with this time last year,
said jobs site Adzuna.
There were around 23,200 adver-
tised job vacancies for graduates in
September, 280 fewer than in Au-
gust and “significantly lower” than
34,277 a year ago, said Adzuna.
Adzuna added that vacancies
across the economy were falling,
suggesting potential cooling in the
labour market.
Its study also found that in the face
of increasing competition for jobs,
more employers are choosing not to
advertise salaries.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Ad-
zuna, said: “September traditionally
sees a surge in job market activity
but the figures we’re seeing this year
could signal a cooling off of the job
market, which had shown signs of re-
silience earlier in the year. However,
the year-on-year hiring gap has nar-
rowed to its smallest in 2023.”
Television Monday 30 October
PICK OF THE DAY
CRITIC’S The Gilded Age
CHOICE 9pm, Sky Atlantic
It’s back to 1880s Manhattan for a
second season of Julian Fellowes’
GERARD GILBERT “American Downton”. An Easter
church service provides the chance
to reacquaint with the sprawling
cast of characters, especially 61st
Street neighbours the Russells and
the Brooks. “Robber baron” railway
tycoon George Russell and his
upwardly mobile wife Bertha
(Morgan Spector and Carrie Coon,
both left) are again at loggerheads
with the “old money” Brooks, with
Christine Baranski and Cynthia
Nixon reprising their roles as aunts
Agnes and Ada. The costumes are as
lavish as ever, and despite growing
into its own thing during season one,
it still lacks Downton’s charm.
===
MasterChef: The Professionals
9pm, BBC One
A new batch of chefs don their
aprons and put their professional
reputations on the line. Monica
Galetti challenges four of them to
make a parsnip dish served with
pickled pears and that miso pumpkin
sauce in the skills test, all in only 20
minutes. Two of the chefs then go
through to the next challenge, where
Marcus Wareing requires them to
make a dish of poached haddock and
cauliflower cheese with garnishes.
===
The Detectives: Taking
Down An OCG
9pm, BBC Two
As all Line Of Duty fans will know,
OCG stands for “organised crime
gang”. This particular, very real OCG
operated in Rochdale, its activities
ranging from dealing drugs and
intimidating witnesses to money
laundering and fraud. An axe attack
following a road-rage incident led
police officers to members of the
gang, and provided specialist
detectives with a way into a wider
investigation that aims to bring
down the entire OCG for good.
===
The Long Shadow
9pm, ITV1
The latest visit to 70s Yorkshire finds
the police convinced by the hoax
tapes and their Geordie creator. So,
when young DC Andrew Laptew
correctly flags Peter Sutcliffe as a
likely suspect, his report is
disregarded on account of Sutcliffe’s
Yorkshire accent – a blunder that
would have terrible consequences.
And when the increasingly desperate
ACC George Oldfield (David
Morrissey) visits Olive Smelt, who
is adamant that her attacker was a
Yorkshireman, she too is disregarded.
===
Rhod Gilbert: A Pain In
The Neck For SU2C
9pm, Channel 4
The Welsh comedian documents his
life living with head and neck cancer
over the course of 18 months, from
diagnosis, through initial surgery,
to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
On top of everything he is dealing
with, Gilbert undertakes a personal
challenge, not only to raise
awareness of his condition and how
it can be prevented in the future,

6.00 Breakfast (S). 9.15 6.15 Bargain Hunt (R) (S). 6.00 Good Morning 6.00 Countdown (R) 6.00 Milkshake! 9.15 6.00 CITV 9.00 Totally
Daytime

Morning Live (S). 10.00
Scam Interceptors (S).
10.45 Frontline Fightback
(S). 11.15 Homes Under
The Hammer (R) (S). 12.15
Bargain Hunt (S). 1.00 BBC
News At One; Weather (S).
1.30 BBC Regional News;
Weather (S). 1.45 Doctors
(S). 2.15 Money For
Nothing (S). 3.00 Escape To
The Country (S). 3.45 The
Travelling Auctioneers (R)
(S). 4.30 The Repair Shop
(R) (S). 5.15 Pointless (S).
7.00 Scotland’s Sacred
Islands With Ben Fogle
(R) (S). 8.00 Sign Zone:
This Farming Life (R) (S).
9.00 Nicky Campbell (S).
10.00 BBC News (S). 12.15
Politics Live (S). 1.00
Impossible (R) (S). 1.45
Unbeatable (R) (S). 2.15
Wanted Down Under
(R) (S). 3.00 Call That
Hard Work? (R) (S). 3.45
The Farmers’ Country
Showdown (R) (S). 4.15
Tribes, Predators & Me (R)
(S). 5.15 Flog It! (R) (S).
Britain (S). 9.00 Lorraine
(S). 10.00 This Morning (S).
12.30 Loose Women (S).
1.30 ITV News; Weather
(S). 1.55 ITV Regional
News; Weather (S). 2.00
James Martin’s American
Adventure (R) (S). 3.00
Lingo (R) (S). 3.59 ITV
Regional Weather (S). 4.00
Tipping Point (R) (S). 5.00
The Chase (S).
(S). 6.40 Cheers (R)
(S). 7.05 Cheers (R) (S).
7.35 Everybody Loves
Raymond (R) (S). 8.00
Everybody Loves
Raymond (R) (S). 8.25
Formula 1 Mexico City
Grand Prix Highlights (R)
(S). 9.55 Find It, Fix It, Flog
It (R) (S). 10.55 Renovation
Nation (R) (S). 11.55
Channel 4 News Summary
(S). 12.00 Steph’s Packed
Lunch (S). 2.10 Countdown
(S). 3.00 A Place In The
Sun (R) (S). 4.00 A Place In
The Sun (S). 5.00 Help! We
Bought A Village (S).
Jeremy Vine (S). 11.15 Bonkers Guinness World
Storm Huntley (S). 12.15 Records (S). 9.35 Totally
Alexis Conran (S). 12.55 Bonkers Guinness World
5 News At Lunchtime (S). Records (S). 10.00 Secret
1.00 Home And Away (R) Crush (S). 11.00 Dress To
(S). 1.30 FILM: A Picture Impress (S). 12.00 Dinner
Perfect Christmas (JE Date (S). 1.00 Alan Carr’s
Logan 2021) Festive Epic Gameshow (S). 2.00
drama, starring Tatyana Chuck (S). 3.05 One Tree
Ali (S). 3.15 FILM: The Hill (S). 4.00 Dawson’s
Christmas Retreat (Jason Creek (S). 5.00 Dinner
Bourque 2022) Premiere. Monica Galetti sets a Date (S).
Romantic comedy,
starring Rhiannon Fish (S).
parsnip challenge
5.00 5 News At 5 (S). 9pm, BBC One

6.00 BBC News At 6.00 Richard 6.00 ITV Regional 6.00 Four In A Bed 6.00 Dogs Behaving 6.00 Celebrity
Six; Weather (S). Osman’s House News; Weather (S). (Very) Badly (R) Catchphrase
Comedian Rhod Gilbert
6.30 BBC Regional Of Games (S). (S). 6.30 The Simpsons (S). With Oti
6pm News; Weather 6.30 Strictly: It Takes 6.30 ITV News; Three 6.55 5 News Update
documents living with
cancer over 18 months ACC George Oldfield Mabuse, Judy
(S). Two (S). Weather (S). Halloween- (S). makes a public appeal Murray and
in ‘A Pain In The Neck’
themed tales (R) 9pm, ITV1 John Thomson
9pm, Channel 4
(S). (S).

7.00 The One Show 7.00 The Crash 7.30 Emmerdale 7.00 Channel 4 News 7.00 Motorway 7.00 Great British 6.55 FILM: Men In 7.00 Alan Carr’s
Alex Jones and Detectives Last Billy is horrified (S). Cops: Catching Railway Black 3 (Barry Epic Gameshow
Lauren Laverne in the series (S). by a grisly 7.55 Phil’s Story: Britain’s Journeys (S). Sonnenfeld The comedian
7pm present (S). 7.30 Mastermind (S). discovery (S). Stand Up To Speeders (R) (S). 7.30 Gareth Edwards’ 2012) Sci-fi introduces an
7.30 EastEnders (S). Cancer (S). 7.55 5 News Update Great Welsh comedy sequel, updated version
(S). Adventure (S). starring Will of Play Your
Smith (S). Cards Right (S).
8.00 Prime Suspect: 8.00 Only Connect 8.00 Coronation 8.00 Jamie’s 5 8.00 The Motorway 8.00 Simon Schama’s 8.00 Bob’s Burgers
Who Took The Mercians Street Bernie Ingredient Boy racers Power Of Art (S).
Madeleine take on the persuades Dev Meals (S). crash a car in Jacques-Louis 8.30 Bob’s Burgers
8pm McCann? (S). Video Nasties to make peace Rochdale (S). David’s The (S).
(S). with Aadi (S). Death Of Marat
8.30 University (S).
Challenge (S).

9.00 MasterChef: The 9.00 The Detectives: 9.00 The Long 9.00 Rhod Gilbert: 9.00 Police: Night 9.00 Art That Made 9.00 FILM: Indiana 9.00 Big Brother The
Professionals Taking Down An Shadow West A Pain In The Shift 999 Us Literature, Jones And The ultimate social
9pm Monica Galetti
challenges the
OCG New series
(S).
Yorkshire
Police launch a
Neck For SU2C
The comedian
Officers are
called to a
music and art in
the aftermath of
Kingdom Of
The Crystal
experiment
continues (S).
contenders to massive public documents his potentially fatal the Black Death Skull (Steven
make a parsnip appeal (S). life living with road traffic (S). Spielberg 2008)
dish (S). cancer (S). incident (S). (S).
10.00 BBC News At 10.00 QI With Alice 10.00 ITV News At 10.00 Celebrity 10.00 Police: Suspect 10.00 Jeremy Deller: 10.00 Big Brother:
Ten (S). Levine, Jason Ten; Weather Gogglebox For No 1 Detectives This Cultural Late & Live AJ
10.30 BBC Regional Manford, Rose (S). SU2C Another investigate Life (S). Odudu and Will
10pm News Matafeo and 10.30 ITV Regional chance to a series of 10.30 Jeremy Deller: Best present
10.40 Have I Got A Bit Alan Davies (R) News see the SU2C burglaries We’re Here the companion
More News For (S). 10.45 Long Lost special (R) (S). targeting the Because We’re show (S).
You (R) (S). 10.30 Newsnight (S). Family (R) (S). elderly (R) (S). Here (S).

11.25 The Graham 11.15 FILM: All Is
Norton Show (R) True (Kenneth
(S). Branagh 2018)
11pm Drama, starring
Kenneth
Branagh (S).
12.15 Alan Carr’s Picture 12.50 The Devil’s
Slam (R) (S). 1.05 BBC Confession – The Lost
News (S). Eichmann Tapes (R)
Late (S). 1.50 Sign Zone:
Countryfile (R) (S). 2.50
Sign Zone: Great Coastal
Railway Journeys (R) (S).
11.45 Heathrow:
Britain’s
Busiest Airport
Plane spotters
visit the airport
looking for a
rare sight (R) (S).
12.10 All Elite Wrestling:
Dynamite (R) (S). 1.50
Loose Women (R) (S). 2.35
Ukraine’s Stolen Children
(R) (S). 3.45 Unwind With
ITV (S). 5.05 Monster Carp
(R) (S).
11.05 First Dates (R)
(S).
12.10 Embarrassing
Bodies (R) (S). 1.05 FILM:
Hope (Maria Sodahl 2019)
(S). 3.15 Phil’s Story: Stand
Up To Cancer (R) (S). 3.20
Don’t Look Down for SU2C
(R) (S).
11.05 ICC Cricket
World Cup 2023
Afghanistan vs
Sri Lanka (S).
12.00 Live NFL: Monday
Night Football (S). 3.30
Entertainment News On
5 (S). 3.40 Friends (R) (S).
4.30 House Doctor (R) (S).
5.20 Entertainment News
On 5 (S).
11.00 Darcey Bussell:
Dancing To
Happiness (S).
12.00 Border Country:
The Story Of Britain’s Lost
Middleland (S). 1.00 Great
British Railway Journeys
1.30 Gareth Edwards’
Great Welsh Adventure
(S). 2.00 Simon Schama’s
Power Of Art (S).
11.25 FILM: 11.05 Family Guy (S).
Terminator 11.35 American Dad!
Salvation (McG Roger creates
2009) Sci-fi a restaurant
thriller sequel, that serves
with Christian jambalaya (S).
Bale (S).
1.40 FILM: The Neon Bible 12.05 Family Guy (S). 1.05
(Terence Davies 1995) American Dad! (S). 1.30
Drama, starring Gena Bob’s Burgers (S). 2.25
Rowlands (S). 3.35 Close Unwind With ITV (S). 3.00
Teleshopping 5.00 The
Epic Tales Of Captain
Underpants (S).
Games&Puzzles 0
2
4
1
3
0
4
1
2
5
3
6
5
4
1
6
0
5
5
2
2
1
6
3
4-page
pull-out

4 1 6 3 2 6 5 1
6 2 2 0 5 6 5 3
Dominoes Journey Finder Train Tracks
4 4 1 1 4 4 0 0
How to play All of the 28 domino pieces from 0-0 through to How to play Move between the numbers in How to play
3 out
3 2 0 6 0 3 order
5 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4 and so on, starting with 1 3 2 4 7 3 5 6
6-6 have been placed once into the grid. Can you work Numbers
where each of them is placed? the grey 1 and ending with the grey 4. On around the 2
each step you may move one square in any outside
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 direction (including diagonally). You must indicate
0 1 4 5 5 6 5 1 6 form a continuous path that visits every how many
5

5 square exactly once. squares in

2 3 1 3 4 0 2 6 4 each row and
4
column the
4 0 2 6 1 5 2 3 3 1 1 4 3 1 4 track passes 3
2 through
1
2 2 1 2 1 3 A 6
4 1 6 3 2 6 5 1 between A
and B. The
0 3 2 3 4 2 4 track either 4
6 2 2 0 5 6 5 3 passes
4 3 2 3 4 3 straight 6
4 4 1 1 4 4 0 0 1 1 4 1 2 1 through a
square or 1
3 3 2 0 6 0 3 5 2 3 4 4 3 2 turns at right
angles in it. B

Binary
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Number Hexagon Pathfinder
6 to play Complete the grid so that each row
How How to play Each hexagon is divided into six triangles. The How to play Moving from letter to adjacent letter, can you
and column contains five 0s and five 1s. The sum of these six triangles is always 25. Place a number from create a continuous path that visits every square once and
5 number cannot appear in more than two
same 1-9 in each empty triangle to complete the puzzle; you cannot spells out all the words listed to the right of the grid? Start
4
consecutive squares in any row or column. In the repeat a number within a hexagon. on the shaded square.
finished puzzle, each row must have a different
3
sequence of 0s and 1s to any other row, and I L C S R A D N E L Calendars
Chancy
2
likewise for each column.
Civilian
8 1 M I C K C N C E C A
1 Climbs

0 1 1 1 B K K C H A Y S R O Corridor
Disallow
1 0 1 5 2 6
S S B A I V R E K H Erased
Infinity
1 1 I R E I L I C B R O Kickback
Lore
N F T A N O R U Y W
1 0 1 7 1 N I T I D D I K B L
Rebukes
Titters
0 0 I T I S A R R E R I
Trilby
Workhorse
1 0 T D E S L O C S T E
1 1 1 4 8 3 2 5 Y E R A L O W L O R
0
Calendars, Chancy, Civilian, Climbs, Corridor, Disallow,
Erased, Infinity, Kickback, Lore, Rebukes, Titters, Trilby,

0 0 2 7 9 Battleships
Workhorse

1 0 0 How to play Locate the position of each of the ships listed

below in the grid. Numbers around the edge tell you the
3 number of ship segments in each row and column of
the puzzle. Ships are surrounded on all sides by water,
Chain Link including diagonally.

How to play Place the numbers 1-6 in each row, column

and along each series of squares linked by the chain.
8 1 4
4
1 3 4
6 8 3
1 1
3
Daily Quiz 2
Locate the position of each of the ships
0
listed below in the grid. Numbers around
1. Which rock band formed in 1988 took their name from a the edge tell you the number of ship

character in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird? 1 segments in each row and column of the
0
puzzle. Ships are surrounded on all sides
by water, including diagonally.

1 3 6 5 2. Which tree has a name derived from the Old English word for
2
3
Locate the position of each of the ships
3
1
book, as panels of it were said to be used for inscribing runes? listed below in the grid. Numbers around
the edge tell you the number of ship 0
1 1
segments in each row and column of the
puzzle. Ships are surrounded on all sides
3. What Italian dish consists of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and 4 2 3 2
by water, including diagonally. 0 33 2 2 0 2
olive oil and topped with tomato or cured meat? 3
3 3
4. Which new town in Shropshire was first known as Dawley,
4 before gaining its present name in 1968? 1
Answers, page 453
0
3
3
1
Jigsawdoku ● Zygolex ● Codeword ● Sudoku ● idoku
3 2●1 Knight’s
0 6 1 5 0Tour
1 1 ● Word Wheel 0
3
1
3 2 1 0 6 1 5 0 1 1
 ieat

daily recipe
Games&Puzzles
Kakuro Zygolex® In i every day
Vegan potato curry
How to play Fill the white squares so that the total in each Find the missing words by following the RHYME, LETTERS and MEANING links
across or down run of cells matches the total at the start – eg, a word that rhymes with ‘cheek’, has one letter different from ‘pear’ and
of that run. You must use the numbers from 1-9 only and has the
Find thesame meaning
missing words byasfollowing
mountain,the would
RHYME,beLETTERS
‘peak’. Fulland
rules at zygolex.com.
MEANING links, e.g. a word
cannot repeat a number in a run. Solution,
that rhymespage
with 45
‘cheek’, has the same meaning as ‘mountain’ and has one letter different from
‘pear’, would be ‘peak’. Note: only one letter is changed in a Letters link.
Full rules at www.zygolex.com RHYME LETTERS MEANING
11 22
4
FLOWER SERVES
22 21 11
6 3
BLOOD QUERIES
24 17
Y N

12 11 ORIGIN 5 6 PAID
DA RIA

15 24
ON A
M GE T

15 21 11
4 4
VE

7 11
3
SERVES 6 14 9 COOT 4 5 AGONY
13
2tsp fennel seeds
2tsp coriander seeds 6 16 5 5 5
1tsp chilli flakes 16 9
1 cauliflower 11 6
2 large potatoes (Désirée, or another SPIED 4 5 TROOP
firm variety, works well)
8 17
Large piece of ginger (peeled)
6 cloves of garlic 5 5
5 large aubergines
3 onions
6 large buffalo tomatoes Jigsawdoku WEED 4 4 HUNCH
Pomegranate seeds
1 400g can chickpeas How to play Place the numbers 1-9 once in each row, column
1 vegan vegetable stock pot and bold-lined jigsaw region. TREATY POOR
For the spice blend
1½tsp cardamom pods
3tsp turmeric 5 4 2 TACT LIDO
4 dried bird’s eye chillies
1tsp fennel seeds 9 1 8 RHYME LETTERS MEANING
1tsp cumin seeds
1tsp black peppercorns 2 4 6 Futoshiki > 3 <
Grind the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, How to play
<
chilli flakes and salt and pepper together. Place the numbers
Zygolex (from left to right) - bloom; series; root;
Preheat the oven to 180˚C / fan 160˚C
/ gas mark 4. Cut the cauliflower up
8 3 4 5 9 from 1-5 exactly
once in each row
>
pain; room; chain; space; spare; chair; pace;
into small florets and place on a baking and column. The stool; speed; stoop; pact; pool.
>

<
tray, rub with half of the ground spices greater than and
and olive oil then wrap in foil. Place less than signs 4 <
in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, 5 7 3 (‘>’ and ‘<’) indicate

<
removing the foil for the last 20 minutes. where one cell is
Dice the potatoes into 2cm x 2cm 2 8 6 greater/less than
< > 2
cubes and parboil them until slightly soft. the adjacent
Chop the ginger and garlic up as small as 7 4 3 cell indicated.
<

<
possible, put to one side half of this and
mix the other half into the ground spices.
In each aubergine, make deep incisions
<
along the length of the aubergine so it Killer Sudoku
almost fans out. Fill the gaps with the
ginger and spice mix and drizzle oil over How to play Each row, column and 3 by 3 box must contain Minesweeper
the top. Place in the same oven as the each number (1 to 9) only once. The sum of all numbers
cauliflower for half an hour. contained in a dotted area must match the number printed How to play Find all the mines in the grid. Numbers in certain squares indicate how
Grind all the ingredients for the spice in its top-left corner. No number can appear more than many mines there are in the neighbouring squares, including diagonally touching
blend. Chop the onions and tomatoes. once in a dotted area. squares. Mines cannot be placed in squares with numbers.
In a large pan, place the dry spice blend
on the heat, roast for a couple of minutes 9 7 6 13 8 11 9
and then add some oil and the onions. 1 2 0 2 3 3
Cook them until they soften and start
to colour. Reduce the heat and add the 15 19 3 3 2 2 2
tomatoes and the remaining ginger and 1 1 3 2 2 3 3 4
garlic. When the tomatoes have softened, 11 4 22 7 7 9
add the vegetable stock and simmer for 3 3 1 1 2
40 minutes.
10 13
In a bowl, tip in the whole tin of 0 1 4 4
chickpeas, including the water, and, using
a stick blender, blend the chickpeas into a 15 13 17 1 1 2 2
paste and add to the curry.
Take the aubergine and cut into bite- 1 3 3 2
sized pieces and stir into the curry along 4 5 11 17 8 17 14
with the cauliflower and potatoes. 1 1 2 2 1 1
Serve in a large bowl with 9 6
pomegranate seeds sprinkled on top. 2 2 1
Recipe from seasonalspuds.com 13 10 13 17 9 9 1 1 2 0
2 0 3 2
Tomorrow 9 9
Crispy tofu and cavolo nero noodles 1 2 1 3 4 0
✂
 NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56 i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
29

Number Square Codeword No 3714 Word idoku Exclusive to i

How to play Fill the empty squares with How to play The numbers in the grid correspond to the letters of the alphabet. Ladder How to play Each numeral from 1 to 9 must
numbers that will make the across and Solve the puzzle and fill in the letters in the key as you discover them. How to play appear (once only) in the squares forming the
down calculations produce the results Three letters are provided to give you a start. The solution will be printed in Convert the word red letter i.
shown in the grey squares. Each numeral tomorrow’s paper, the solution to Saturday’s codeword is on page 45. at the top of the
from 1 to 9 must only appear once. The ladder into the
calculations should be performed from
24 18 19 25 19 26 12 20 20 6 14 23
word at the bottom
4 8
left to right and top to bottom, rather than
in strict mathematical order.
21 14 20 20 22 13
of it, using only
the four rungs
5 2
in between. On 3 6 8
Easier 26 1 25 19 4 10 20 8 23 25 6 20 each rung, you

24 1 19 24 1 10
must put a valid 8 1 4 6
four-letter word
8 + x 18 that is identical 6 2 3
7 25 25 11 18 26 15 1 4 to the word above
+ x x it, apart from a 1 9 6 7
17 25 4 14 9 26 22 20 16 20 one-letter change.
There may be more 6 8 2
x 7 - 19 14 25 10 24 than one way of
5 7
achieving this.

+ - x 23 9 20 6 23 18 18 20 10 4
HAIL 4 2

- + 4
18 24 10 24 4 23 22 22 13
Sudoku Harder
18 20 20 20 23 23
18 2 54
9 5 4 7
25 7 20 2 24 1 24 3 16 22 20 11
2 9
Harder 1 5 13 20 13 25 7 2 4
15 10 20 16 14 20 24 12 10 20 4 19 COOS 8 7 6 3
+ x 15
5 1 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
x - - B BUYS 9 7 1 5
- x -32 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 9 5 4
Y A 1 7
+ + x A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Need a little help getting started? Then call for up to four extra clue letters on
7 8 3 1
0901 292 5204. Calls cost £1 plus your telephone company’s network access charge Tomorrow: Easier
- 4 - -7 (if you are having trouble with the phone service, call the helpline: 0333 202 3390).
Or text THEI CLUE to 85100 to receive your clues. Texts cost £1 plus your
VINE
20 6 -35
standard network charge (if you are having trouble with the text service, call
the helpline: 0333 335 3351). Clues change each day at midnight. ABC Logic
How to play Place the letters
A, B and C only once in each row and
Concise Crossword No 4036 column. Each row and column has two
blank cells. The letters at the edge of
ACROSS DOWN 1 2 3 4 a row/column indicate which of the
Number Square, 1 Floating 1 Ray of light (4) letters is the first/last to appear in
Word Ladder, Word marker (4) 2 Burdensome (7)
Wheel, Kakuro, 5 6 that row/column.
3 Heather (4) 3 Inclination (7)
Minesweeper,
ABC Logic, Killer 7 Woodland 4 Compass point (5) C C
flower (7) 7 8 9
Sudoku, Futoshiki, 5 Area in a court (4)
Codeword, 8 Month (5) 6 White cheese (11) C B
Jigsawduko and 10 Pig meat (4) 9 Tempt (4)
Wijuko created by 11 Move like a
Clarity Media. 13 Dressed (7)
snake (7) 14 Uninterrupted (7) 10 11
For more
12 Property B C
puzzles,
negotiator (6,5) 15 Deep valley (4)
see clarity-media. 17 Courteous (5) C
co.uk 16 Found (7)
18 Sharpen (4) 18 Tramp (US) (4)
19 Hard sand (4) 12 13 14 A
Terms & 20 At no time (5)
Conditions 21 Crustacean (7) B C B
By using i’s text 22 Pleased (4) 15
services, you are 23 Petty squabble (4)
agreeing to receive
occasional SMS
16 17 18 Word Wheel
messages from Stuck on the concise crossword?
DMG Media. You For today’s solutions, call 0905 789 3590. 19 How to play This is an open-ended puzzle.
will not be charged Calls cost 80p per minute plus your network
access charge. If you are having trouble
How many words of three or more letters,
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messages and may accessing this number, please call our 20 21
helpdesk on 0333 202 3390. of the wheel, can you make from this
opt out at any time
by texting STOP diagram? We’ve found 26, including one
to the originating nine-letter word. Can you do better?
number. SMS
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by BBA Digital Ltd,
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N R
0333 335 3351. ACROSS 1 Due, 3 Pitta (Jupiter), 7 Pong, 8 Eyeliner, 9 Get-up-and-go, 11 Bazaar,
Phone services
on this page are i PUZZLE BOOKS 13 Sermon, 14 Blackbeard, 18 Panorama, 19 Riot, 20 Audit, 21 Elk.
DOWN 1 Drop goal, 2 Eight, 3 Paean, 4 Trigger, 5 Anew, 6 Pepper, 10 Woodcock,
U U
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Our range of puzzle books includes 12 All told, 13 Subway, 15 Craft, 16 Agree, 17 Saga. I
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0330 333 6946. Puzzle solutions See page 45
30 GAMES & PUZZLES

Children’s Corner Number Tower Knight’s Tour Rectangles

?
How to play The value of each square in How to play A chess knight visits each square
the number pyramid is the sum of the two of the grid exactly once, starting at 1 and
squares directly under it. ending at 100 (these squares are shaded).
Deduce the whole path of the knight -
some of which is already given - and thus
complete the grid. The knight moves either
692 two squares horizontally followed by one
square vertically, or two squares vertically
followed by one square horizontally.
How to play Divide the grid into a series
of rectangles or squares, such that every
cell in the grid is in exactly one region.
Numbers indicate the size of each region:
for instance a “7” in a cell means that cell
is part of a region that contains seven
cells in total. There is only one number
in each region.

321 93 34 30 91 28
2
10
35 83 12 8
160 211 18 3 3
87 24 6
97 81 78 18
4
94 118
54 86 26 14 2

36 37 98 75 69 19 8
73 67 21 4 2
22 49 71 18 4 16
43 100 1 60 4
20 21 39 57 50 59 44 63 46 2 4

Word Fit Bridges Word Search

How to play Can you fit all the words into the grid to complete the How to play Connect every island (represented by circles) How to play The classic word-search puzzle: find
puzzle? Some words may initially fit in more than one place, but into a single interconnected group. To do this draw bridges all the words in the grid. Words may be hidden
there is only one way to fit all the words together to complete the grid. between islands. The number in each circle states how many horizontally, vertically or diagonally and in
3 letters
bridges must be connected to that island. Bridges cannot either a forwards or backwards direction.
3 letters
And
cross each other, can only be drawn horizontally or vertically,
AndBug and there can be a maximum of two bridges between any C E P J S A J P L A S T I C N
BugFob pair of islands.
Fob Y G P K B G K Z T N R V O I T
Irk
Irk A T B O W L I G H T B U L B S
5 letters
5 letters 1 3 1 5 4
Drool
Drool E E L E C T R I C I T Y Q G N
Greet 3 1 3 2 1
Greet
Llama P L C Y S S T K Z B Q G N H O
Llama
Ocean 2 6 1 1 2
Ocean
Salsa
O E G J U P O M Y I P M Y O I
Salsa
Tuner
3 1 2 1 2 3 5
Tuner C P N Y H P A R G O L O H V S
Ultra
Ultra
Vague
1 2 4 7 5 2 S H B I C T T C C T R T H E I
Vague
6 letters 3 2 4 4 4 2 E O I N C O F Z E I K O K R V
6 letters
Fronds
Fronds 2 5 1 2 2 L N C T E I M A Y C M R A C E
Lactic
Lactic
Sneers
Sneers 1 4 E E Y E X R L P R S R C Q R L
Steers
Steers
Writes T W C R O T A L U C L A C A E
Writes 3 3 3 4 3
7 letters T U L N S D G M I T R R F F T
7 letters
Aspects
Aspects 1 3 2
Farming W H E E L K D C P N E I R T O
Farming 4 3 3 2 3 1 1
Stanzas
Stanzas G T M T W Q S C A M E R A Y A
Storing
Storing 2 5 4 6 3
9 letters
9 letters AIRCRAFT LIGHT BULB
AIRCRAFT LIGHT BULB
Closeness
Closeness 2 1 2 2 2 ANTIBIOTICS MICROSCOPE
Unceasing
Unceasing ANTIBIOTICS
BICYCLE MICROSCOPE
MOTORCAR
3 3 3 2 1 CALCULATOR
BICYCLE PENICILLIN
MOTORCAR
3 3 4 3 2 CAMERA
CALCULATOR PLASTIC
PENICILLIN
Word Square 1 2
COMPUTER
CAMERA
ELECTRICITY
SPACECRAFT
PLASTIC
TELEPHONE
Reckless;
Reckless; hastyhasty HOLOGRAPHY
COMPUTER TELESCOPE
SPACECRAFT
How to play Simply answer the ____ Kendrick: 2 1 HOVERCRAFT
ELECTRICITY TELEVISION
TELEPHONE
clues alongside the grid, writing ___
US Kendrick: US actress
actress INTERNET
HOLOGRAPHY
WHEEL
TELESCOPE
the answers in the respective Frozen
2 3 3 2
rows. The solution must read the Frozen precipitation
precipitation 2 1 3 5 4 2
HOVERCRAFT TELEVISION
INTERNET WHEEL
same horizontally in each row as Bird of of
prey Solutions: page 45
it does vertically in each column.
Bird prey 2 4 2 1 1 2 2

Calcudoku 6+ 11+ 6x 1- 7+ Hexalex BUS

BUS

How to play Place the numbers 1-6 once 8+ How to play Place each of the
D Y Z CHIVE
DRY
CHIVE
FIB
in each row and column, obeying sums in letters below once into the empty DRY
GLITZ
bold-lined regions. The number in each 6x 7+ 11+ 6+ hexagons, crossing them off as you FIBJAM
region indicates the total for the region, and do so. Enter the letters in such a PUNK
the symbol shows which type of operation way that it is possible to find all the G SNUGLY
GLITZ
TWO
should be applied to the numbers: addition,
subtraction, division or multiplication.
9+ 9+ 4+ words listed alongside the grid by
moving from hexagon to adjacent
V JAMVOW
PUNK
Numbers may repeat within bold-lined 9+ 11+ hexagon to spell out each word.
regions. With subtraction always take the SNUGLY
lower numbers away from the highest
number in a region, and with division divide
11+
A B C E F H I K L N O R S T U W
P M J TWO
VOW
the highest number by the lower numbers.
A B C E F H I K L N O R S T U W
 NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56 i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
31

but also to raise funds for the
specialist cancer hospital that played
a pivotal role in saving his life.
===
Matt Baker: Travels
With Mum & Dad
9pm, More4
Return of the good-natured
travelogue in which the former One
Show and Countryfile presenter
tours Britain with his parents Janice
and Mike and their caravan. This trip
begins on Lindisfarne – that’s if they
can time the tides to make it across
the causeway that links Holy Island
to the Northumberland mainland.
A gentle potter with added history
ensues, with even a touch of drama
as the coastguard has to be called
out to help rescue a car stranded on
the causeway by the incoming tide.
FILM OF THE DAY
FILM Waves
CHOICE 10pm, BBC Three
(Trey Edward Shults, 2019)
This vividly coloured, artful and
LAURENCE PHELAN immensely stylish big-canvas teen
melodrama really has got all the
feels. Undercurrents of tension
gather and eddy before, true to its
title, it swells and crashes with
powerful emotions. Kelvin Harrison
Jnr (left) stars as the golden boy of a
well-off African American family –
charming, handsome, hard-working,
captain of his high-school wrestling
team, etc – whose life unravels
spectacularly under the pressure to
succeed and the need to contend
with several films’ worth of social
issues: toxic masculinity, teen
pregnancy, domestic violence,
religion, racial issues and drugs.
===
The Lavender Hill Mob
7pm, Talking Pictures TV ON DEMAND
(Charles Crichton, 1951)
Alec Guinness stars in Ealing’s Union With
terrifically entertaining, mildly David Olusoga
subversive crime caper, as an BBC iPlayer
outwardly timid and deferential The union between England,
bank clerk who has been nurturing a Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
plan to steal £1m in gold bullion.
What We Do In
=== The Shadows
Indiana Jones And The Disney+
Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull Matt Berry and pals return
9pm, Film4 in a vampire mockumentary.
(Steven Spielberg, 2008)
Unlike many other action heroes, Ukraine’s Stolen
Indiana Jones was never an Children
invulnerable muscle-man and it ITVX
matters not that Harrison Ford is of Ukrainian parents try to find
pensionable age now. The problem is their kidnapped offspring.
the film treads overfamiliar ground.

Radio Archers 2.15 This Cultural

6.00 Classic Emmerdale
(S). 6.35 Classic Emmerdale
(S). 7.05 Classic Coronation
Street (S). 7.40 Classic
Coronation Street (S). 8.10
Bless This House (S). 8.40
Bless This House (S). 9.15
Where The Heart Is (S).
10.20 Where The Heart Is
(S). 11.30 Agatha Christie’s
Poirot (S). 1.40 Classic
Emmerdale (S). 2.10
Classic Emmerdale (S).
2.40 Classic Coronation
Street (S). 3.15 Classic
Coronation Street (S). 3.50
Agatha Christie’s Marple
(S). 5.55 Heartbeat (S).
6.55 Heartbeat
Mason thwarts
a gang of safe-
robbers. With
James Gaddas
(S).
8.00 McDonald &
Dodds Detective
drama, starring
Jason Watkins
and Tala
Gouveia (S).
10.00 DCI Banks Part
one of two.
Two bodies are
found after a
fire on a canal
boat (S).
11.05 DCI Banks Part
two of two.
The detective
realises he is
on the trail of a
serial killer (S).
12.05 Where The Heart Is
(S). 1.05 Where The Heart
Is (S). 2.10 Unwind With
ITV (S). 2.30 Teleshopping
6.00 Hollyoaks (S).7.00
Don’t Tell The Bride (S).
8.00 Melissa & Joey (S).
8.30 Melissa & Joey (S).
9.00 Brooklyn Nine-Nine
(S). 9.30 Brooklyn Nine-
Nine (S). 10.00 The Big
Bang Theory (S). 10.30
The Big Bang Theory (S).
11.00 The Goldbergs (S).
11.30 The Goldbergs (S).
12.00 The Big Bang Theory
(S). 12.30 The Big Bang
Theory (S). 1.00 The Big
Bang Theory (S). 1.30 The
Big Bang Theory (S). 2.00
The Goldbergs (S). 2.30 The
Goldbergs (S). 3.00 Modern
Family (S). 3.30 Modern
Family (S). 4.00 Teen First
Dates (S). 5.00 The Big
Bang Theory (S). 5.30 The
Big Bang Theory (S).
6.00 The Big Bang
Theory (S).
6.30 The Big Bang
Theory (S).
7.00 Hollyoaks Leela
is concerned
about Peri’s
defensive
behaviour (S).
7.30 Young Sheldon
(S).
8.00 Modern Family
(S).
8.30 Modern Family
(S).
9.00 Married At First
Sight UK The
couples take
part in their
penultimate
Commitment
Ceremony (S).
10.20 Made In Chelsea
There is a huge
confrontation
between Sam,
Yas and Inga (S).
11.25 Gogglebox The
show capturing
households’
opinions
on recent
television
returns (S).
12.30 First Dates (S). 1.35
Married At First Sight UK
(S). 2.45 Made In Chelsea
(S). 3.40 Brooklyn Nine-
Nine (S). 4.05 Brooklyn
Nine-Nine (S). 4.30 Black-
ish (S). 4.55 Black-ish (S).
5.20 Black-ish (S).
8.55 Kirstie’s House Of
Craft (S). 9.15 A Place In
The Sun (S). 10.05 A New
Life In The Sun (S). 11.05
Find It, Fix It, Flog It (S).
12.05 Find It, Fix It, Flog It
(S). 1.10 Car S.O.S (S). 2.10
Kirstie And Phil’s Love It
Or List It (S). 3.10 Four In A
Bed (S). 3.40 Four In A Bed
(S). 4.15 Four In A Bed (S).
4.50 Four In A Bed (S). 5.20
Four In A Bed (S). 5.50 The
Secret Life Of The Zoo At
Christmas (S).
6.55 The Dog House
Documentary
set inside
Woodgreen
animal charity
(S).
7.55 Grand Designs
A giant family
house of fun (S).
9.00 Matt Baker:
Travels With
Mum & Dad
New series (S).
10.00 D-Day: The King
Who Fooled
Hitler (S).
11.05 24 Hours In
A&E Staff
and patients
talk about the
importance of
family support
(S).
12.10 Matt Baker: Travels
With Mum & Dad (S). 1.15
D-Day: The King Who
Fooled Hitler (S). 2.20 24
Hours In A&E (S). 3.25
Food Unwrapped (S). 3.50
Close
6.00 NCIS: Los Angeles (R)
(S). 7.00 DC’s Legends Of
Tomorrow (R) (S). 8.00 The
Flash (R) (S). 9.00 Stargate
SG-1 (R) (S). 10.00 Stargate
SG-1 (R) (S). 11.00 NCIS:
Los Angeles (R) (S). 12.00
The Flash (R) (S). 1.00
MacGyver (R) (S). 2.00
MacGyver (R) (S). 3.00
Hawaii Five-0 (R) (S). 4.00
S.W.A.T (R) (S). 5.00 DC’s
Legends Of Tomorrow
(R) (S).
6.00 Stargate SG-1
Skaara is put on
trial (R) (S).
7.00 Stargate SG-1
A curious entity
invades the
crew’s minds
(R) (S).
8.00 There’s
Something
About Movies
(R) (S).
9.00 COBRA:
Rebellion
The police
interrogate Ellie
and Henry (R)
(S).
10.00 A League Of
Their Own With
Gareth Bale and
Katherine Ryan
(R).
11.00 Brassic Jim
hires an
anarchist rat
catcher (R) (S).
12.00 Fantasy Island (S).
1.00 An Idiot Abroad 2 (R)
(S). 2.00 Stop, Search, Seize
(R) (S). 3.00 Hawaii Five-0
(R) (S). 4.00 S.W.A.T (R) (S).
5.00 Highway Patrol (R) (S).
5.30 Highway Patrol (R) (S).
6.00 Richard E Grant’s
Hotel Secrets (R) (S). 7.00
Richard E Grant’s Hotel
Secrets (R) (S). 7.55 Six
Feet Under (R) (S). 9.00 Six
Feet Under (R) (S). 10.05
Ray Donovan (R) (S). 11.10
Ray Donovan (R) (S). 12.15
Game Of Thrones (R) (S).
1.20 Save Me (R) (S). 2.25
Save Me (R) (S). 3.30 Six
Feet Under (R) (S). 4.35 Six
Feet Under (R) (S). 5.40 Ray
Donovan (R) (S).
6.45 Ray Donovan
Ray and Smitty
must cover
their tracks (R)
(S).
7.50 Game Of
Thrones
Daenerys learns
the truth about
her relationship
with Jon (R) (S).
9.00 The Gilded Age
Return of the
period drama,
starring Carrie
Coon.
10.10 The White
Lotus Mark
reconnects with
Quinn (R) (S).
11.15 True Detective
(R) (S).
12.20 True Detective (R) (S).
1.35 The Great Game (R) (S).
2.35 Game Of Thrones (R)
(S). 3.40 In Treatment (R)
(S). 4.10 Richard E Grant’s
Hotel Secrets (R) (S). 5.05
Richard E Grant’s Hotel
Secrets (R) (S).
BBC Radio 1
6.57am Newsbeat 7.00 Radio
1 Breakfast With Greg James
10.30 Newsbeat 10.32 Rickie,
Melvin And Charlie 12.45pm
Newsbeat 1.00 Dean And Vicky
3.30 Newsbeat 3.32 Going
Home With Vick And Jordan
5.45 Newsbeat 6.00 Radio 1’s
Future Sounds With Clara
Amfo 7.00 Radio 1’s Hottest
Records Of The Week 8.00
Radio 1’s Future Artists With
Jack Saunders 10.00 Radio
1’s Power Down Playlist With
Sian Eleri 11.00 Rock Show
With Daniel P Carter 1am BBC
Introducing Rock On Radio
1 With Alyx Holcombe 2.00
Radio 1’s Future Alternative
3.00 Radio 1 Relax In Love 4.00
Radio 1 Dance 5.00 Radio 1
Early Breakfast With Arielle
Free
BBC Radio 1Xtra
6am 1Xtra Playlists 6.30 1Xtra
Playlists 7.00 1Xtra Breakfast
With Nadia Jae 10.00 1Xtra’s
Pull Up Mix 10.15 Ace 12.45pm
Newsbeat 1.00 Kaylee Golding
3.45 1Xtra’s Pull Up Mix 4.00
Fee Mak 5.45 Newsbeat 6.00
Fee Mak 7.00 DJ Target 9.00
Sian Anderson 11.00 Snoochie
Shy 1am 1Xtra’s Throwback
Party 2.00 1Xtra’s Rap List 4.00
1Xtra Salutes.. 5.00 1Xtra’s
R&B Chill Mix
BBC Radio 2
6.30am The Zoe Ball Breakfast
Show 9.30 Vernon Kay 12noon
Jeremy Vine 2.00 Scott Mills
4.00 OJ Borg 6.30 OJ Borg’s
Half Wower 7.00 Jo Whiley’s
Shiny Happy Playlist 7.30 Jo
Whiley 9.00 The Blues Show
With Cerys Matthews 10.00
Trevor Nelson’s Magnificent 7
10.30 Trevor Nelson’s Rhythm
Nation 12mdn’t Phil Williams
3.00 Pick Of The Pops 4.00
Owain Wyn Evans
BBC Radio 3
6.30am Breakfast 9.00
Essential Classics 12noon
Composer Of The Week:
Beethoven 1.00 Radio 3
Lunchtime Concert 2.00
Afternoon Concert 4.30
New Generation Artists.
The Leonkoro Quartet plays
Schumann. 5.00 In Tune.
With a live performance by
the Cardinall’s Musick. 7.00
Classical Mixtape. A sequence
of music. 7.30 Radio 3 In
Concert. A performance of
Monteverdi’s Vespro della
Beata Vergine. 10.00 Music
Matters. Sara Mohr-Pietsch
meets pianist and conductor
Andras Schiff. 10.45 The Essay:
Highland Tails 11.00 Night
Tracks 12.30am Through The
Night
BBC Radio 4
6am Today 9.00 Start The
Week 9.45 How To Spot
Potential 10.00 Woman’s Hour
11.00 Fed With Chris Van
Tulleken 11.30 The Bottom
Line 12noon News 12.04 You
And Yours 12.57 Weather
1.00 The World At One 1.45
The Cows Are Mad 2.00 The
Life 3.00 Brain Of Britain 3.30
Food And Farming Awards
2023 4.00 How To Play 4.30
The Digital Human 5.00 PM
5.57 Weather 6.00 Six O’Clock
News 6.30 Paul Sinha’s Perfect
Pub Quiz. Paul Sinha and
a live audience in Ipswich
compile a perfect pub quiz.
7.00 The Archers. Opportunity
knocks for Jazzer. 7.15 Front
Row. Arts programme. 8.00
Election Countdown: America
On The Edge 8.30 Analysis.
Could Macron’s centrist
dominance lead France
towards constitutional crisis?
9.00 Young Again. Writer and
activist Naomi Klein shares
the advice she would give her
younger self. 9.30 Start The
Week. Kirsty Wark is joined by
Natalie Merchant, Michel Faber
and Jeffrey Boakye. 10.00 The
World Tonight. News round-
up. 10.45 The Haunter Of
The Dark. New series. Julian
Simpson’s horror inspired by
HP Lovecraft’s short story.
11.00 Lights Out 11.30 Today
In Parliament 12mdn’t News
And Weather 12.30 How To
Spot Potential 12.48 Shipping
Forecast 1.00 As BBC World
Service 5.20 Shipping Forecast
5.30 News Briefing 5.43 Prayer
For The Day 5.45 Farming
Today 5.58 Tweet Of The Day
BBC Radio 4 LW
9.45am Daily Service 12.01pm
Shipping Forecast 5.54
Shipping Forecast
BBC Radio 4 Extra
6am The Candle Of Darkness
6.30 The Dark Island 7.00
The Mist In The Mirror 7.15
Shakespeare’s Restless World
7.30 Welcome To Our Village,
Please Invade Carefully 8.00
Steptoe And Son 8.30 The
Wordsmiths At Gorsemere
9.00 The Write Stuff 9.30
Snap 10.00 The Moonstone
11.00 The Candle Of Darkness
11.30 The Dark Island 12noon
The Mist In The Mirror 12.15
Shakespeare’s Restless World
12.30 Welcome To Our Village,
Please Invade Carefully 1.00
Steptoe And Son 1.30 The
Pick
of the
day
The Haunter Of
The Dark
10.45pm,
BBC Radio 4
Nicola Walker
(above) and Jana
Carpenter return
for the latest of
Julian Simpson’s
horror podcasts
inspired by the
American writer
HP Lovecraft.
Wordsmiths At Gorsemere
2.00 The Write Stuff 2.30 Snap
3.00 The Moonstone 4.00 The
Candle Of Darkness 4.30 The
Dark Island 5.00 The Mist In
The Mirror 5.15 Shakespeare’s
Restless World 5.30 Welcome
To Our Village, Please Invade
Carefully 6.00 Steptoe And
Son 6.30 The Wordsmiths At
Gorsemere 7.00 The Write
Stuff 7.30 Snap 8.00 Radiolab
8.55 Inheritance Tracks 9.00
Mastertapes 9.30 Journey
Into Space: The Red Planet
10.00 Comedy Club: Paul
Sinha’s Perfect Pub Quiz 10.30
Comedy Club: Brian Gulliver’s
Travels 11.00 Comedy Club:
The News Quiz 11.30 Comedy
Club: Forty Nights In The
Wildebeest 12mdn’t The
Moonstone 1.00 The Candle Of
Darkness 1.30 The Dark Island
2.00 The Mist In The Mirror
2.15 Shakespeare’s Restless
World 2.30 Welcome To Our
Village, Please Invade Carefully
3.00 Steptoe And Son 3.30 The
Wordsmiths At Gorsemere
4.00 The Write Stuff 4.30 Snap
5.00 The Moonstone
BBC 5 Live
6am 5 Live Breakfast 9.00
Nicky Campbell 11.00 Naga
Munchetty 1pm Nihal
Arthanayake 4.00 5 Live Drive
7.00 5 Live Sport 10.00 Colin
Murray 1am Dotun Adebayo
5.00 Wake Up To Money
BBC 6 Music
7.30am Gemma Cairney 10.30
Nemone 1pm Craig Charles
4.00 Stuart Maconie 7.00 New
Music Fix Daily 9.00 6 Music
Artist In Residence 10.00 Riley
& Coe 12mdn’t Blur At Peel
Acres 1.00 Parklife: The Blur
Story 2.00 Parklife: The Blur
Story 3.00 Blur Live In London
4.00 The Blur Playlist 5.00
Chris Hawkins
Classic FM
6am More Music Breakfast
9.00 Alexander Armstrong
12noon Anne-Marie Minhall
4.00 Margherita Taylor 7.00
Smooth Classics At Seven
10.00 Calm Classics 1am Sam
Pittis 4.00 Early Breakfast
Absolute Radio
6am Dave Berry 10.00 Leona
Graham 1pm Ben Burrell 4.00
Bush And Richie 7.00 Danielle
Perry 10.00 Jay Lawrence 1am
Dan Noble
Heart
6.30am Heart Breakfast With
Jamie Theakston And Amanda
Holden 10.00 Pandora Christie
1pm Matt Wilkinson 4.00 JK
And Kelly Brook 7.00 Heart’s
Feel Good Weekend With
Dev Griffin 10.00 Fia Tarrant
1am Simon Beale 4.00 Early
Breakfast With Lindsey Russell
TalkSPORT
6am TalkSPORT Breakfast
With Ally McCoist 10.00 Jim
White And Simon Jordan 1pm
Hawksbee And Jacobs 4.00
TalkSPORT Drive With Andy
Goldstein And Darren Bent
7.00 Kick Off 10.00 Sports Bar
1am Extra Time 5.00 Early
Breakfast
i
 NEWS
Panorama
Around the
world in
10 stories
TURKEY
Nation quietly
marks centenary
Turkey has marked the 100th
anniversary of the creation of
the modern, secular republic
from the ruins of the Ottoman
Empire – but without any grand
pageantry.
President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s government opted
for a low-key celebration
yesterday, as it comes just
months after an earthquake
killed 50,000 people.
Mr Erdogan laid a wreath
at the mausoleum of Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk, the founding
father of modern-day Turkey, in
the capital Ankara. AP
JAPAN
G7 pledges to
develop stronger
supply chains
By Yuri Kageyama
IN TOKYO
Trade and economy officials
from the Group of Seven (G7)
countries have strengthened
their pledge to work together
to ensure smooth supply
chains for essentials such
as energy and food despite
Postcard
From...
Harare
A glittering crown on her
head and a bouquet in her
hands, Andreia Solange Sicato
Muhitu beamed at being
named co-winner of
the inaugural Mr
and Miss Albinism
Southern Africa
beauty pageant.
The 28-year-old
Angolan model
(inset) has competed
in pageants in her
home country since her
teens and won several.
But none made her feel as
beautiful or purposeful as the
pageant held in Zimbabwe’s
capital, Harare. “I can be that
CHINA
Beijing runners
face thick smog
About 30,000 runners have taken
part in the Beijing Marathon, un-
deterred by the heavy smog that
engulfed the Chinese capital.
Beijing was the second most-
polluted major city in the world
yesterday, after Lahore in Pakistan,
according to the Swiss air-quality
technology firm IQAir.
China’s national forecaster ad-
vised the public to wear masks,
warning the air quality was reach-
ing moderate with severe levels of
pollution. Smog and fog will blanket
parts of China for several days and
affect travel, the National Meteoro-
logical Centre said. REUTERS
global uncertainties.
The nations – Canada, France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, the
UK and the US – promised to
maintain “a free and fair trading
system based on the rule of
law and enhancing economic
resilience and economic
security,” officials said.
Japanese foreign minister
Yoko Kamikawa, who co-hosted
the two-day event in Osaka,
pointed to Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas
war as the latest threats to
energy and food supplies. AP
inspiration for young girls,
especially those with albinism,
to feel comfortable and
beautiful in their own skin,”
she said.
Albinism, an inherited
genetic condition that
reduces melanin pigment
production, is “still profoundly
misunderstood,” according to
the UN human rights agency.
Ms Muhitu thinks the
pageant could bring
positive change in
parts of Africa
where people
with albinism
are treated with
disdain, ridicule
and even violence.
“This crown gives
me the opportunity to
change the lives of people living
with albinism in ways I never
imagined,” she said. AP
Farai Mutsaka
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
MEXICO
Relief efforts continue as
hurricane death toll rises
By Megan Janetsky
IN ACAPULCO
More resources arrived at Mexico’s
battered Pacific coast following Hur-
ricane Otis, as rescuers recovered
more bodies from Acapulco’s har-
bour and under fallen trees.
The death toll has reached 43 but is
expected to grow as hundreds of fam-
ilies await news on missing relatives.
Early on Wednesday, devastating
165mph winds strengthened so rap-
idly people had little time to prepare.
Around 220,000 homes were dam-
aged. Kristian Vera, 44, stood on an
Acapulco beach looking out toward
dozens of sunken boats, including
UNITED STATES
Biden to visit farm in tour of rural states
By Will Weissert
IN WASHINGTON
Joe Biden will visit a family farm in
Minnesota on Wednesday as part of
a tour in rural America by Democrat
officials to highlight increases in gov-
ernment spending.
The US President’s focus on the
state comes just days after its Dem-
ocratic Representative Dean Phil-
KAZAKHSTAN
Over 40 killed
in fire at mine
At least 42 people have died in
a fire at a mine in Kazakhstan,
rescuers sais, as a search for four
missing miners continued.
The fire broke out on Saturday
at the Kostenko mine, which is
owned by Luxembourg-based steel
giant ArcelorMittal.
Kazakhstan’s government,
which declared yesterday a day
of mourning, said the rescue was
being hampered by obstructions
including mining equipment. AP
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
The Pacific city of Acapulco was hit by
165mph winds early on Wednesday
three of her own. Despite losing her
livelihood, she felt fortunate.
Earlier in the day, she watched a
body being pulled from the water.
lips announced he was running for
president, becoming the party’s first
elected official to challenge Mr Biden
in the 2024 primary.
Officials say the trip to Minnesota
was planned long before Mr Phillips’
announcement, even though the con-
gressman had been publicly mulling a
primary campaign for months.
The White House wants to high-
light improvements to critical in-
TAIWAN
Candidate joins Policy pushes
Pride march Afghans to exit
About 180,000 people have paraded
through Taipei as part of East Asia’s
largest Pride march, as Vice Presi-
dent Lai Ching-te became the most
senior government leader to attend.
Saturday’s event took place ahead
of presidential and parliamentary
elections in January. Mr Lai, of the
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP),
is favourite to become president.
He thanked those who had helped
to legalise same-sex marriage in Tai-
wan in 2019. REUTERS
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
33
“That night I was so worried because
I live off of this, it’s how I feed my kids.
But when I began to feel how strong
the wind was, I said: ‘Tomorrow I
won’t have a boat, but God willing
Acapulco will see another day.’”
On Acapulco’s main tourist strip
relief efforts continued. Phone sig-
nals were partially recovered.
But on the periphery of the city,
neighbourhoods remained in total
chaos. The government presence
found in the touristic centre was not
visible in other areas.
With no signal, no water and no
food, people trudged through foot-
deep mud and flooded streets in
search of food and supplies. AP
Desert
designs
People pose with
Reality is Timeless by
Bahraini artist Rashid
al-Khalifa during the
third edition of the
Forever is Now art
exhibition. The show,
held by Art d’Egypte
at the pyramids of
Giza in Cairo, runs
to 18 November. This
year’s theme focuses
on ‘play’ within the
iconic landscape.
KHALED DESOUKI/GETTY
frastructure, including high-speed
internet, safer roads and bridges,
drinking water and reliable energy.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vil-
sack is heading to Indiana to address
the youth group Future Farmers of
America, while Interior Secretary
Deb Haaland will go to New Mexico
to discuss water infrastructure and
to Colorado to showcase projects to
remediate abandoned mines. AP
PAKISTAN
UN agencies have reported
a sharp increase in Afghans
returning home since Pakistan
announced a crackdown on people
living in the country illegally.
The International Organisation
for Migration and the UN Refugee
Agency urged Pakistan to suspend
the policy to avoid a “human
rights catastrophe”.
Pakistan plans to arrest and
deport unregistered foreigners
from the end of tomorrow. AP
34 NEWS
TECHNOLOGY
I’m an AI expert and
here’s why I’m
excited – not worried
– about the future
In as little as 20 years, humans could have an average
lifespan of 100 and work a three-day week, thanks to AI.
Dr Antoine Cully tells Eleanor Peake why we should
not be afraid of the inevitable computer takeover
I
n two decades, the average
human will live to be 100 years
old. Thursday lunchtime will
signal the end of the working
week. As we head into our
3.5-day weekend, we will ask the
fridge what we should cook for
dinner. It will offer up a few recipes
based on its contents. The rest of
our time will be spent relaxing;
perhaps painting or sport. Perhaps
even Moon exploration.
This is what Dr Antoine Cully,
the director of the adaptive and
intelligent robotics laboratory
at Imperial College, London,
believes that the world’s artificial
intelligence (AI) takeover will look
like in the not-too-distant future.
It could be 10 years, could be 20,
but one thing he does know: it will
happen in most of our lifetimes.
Cully is in the desert of New
Mexico when I speak to him on the
phone. He has been running a test
with the US government. He doesn’t
give further details.
“I’ve been living the story of the
Oppenheimer movie it seems,” he
offers instead. (New Mexico was
also the test site of the American
theoretical physicist’s atomic
bomb development.) Cully has so
far devoted his life’s work to the
advancement of AI, and specifically,
the advancement of AI use in our
everyday life.
Cully (inset) doesn’t believe that
AI, unlike Oppenheimer’s atomic
bomb, is a weapon of mass
destruction. He believes
that soon, perhaps even
in just five years, AI
will have completely
transformed our
professional and
personal lives, for
the better.
“I don’t see a world
where everything
is autonomous, and
humans are not part of it,”
he says, calmly. “I think what we
will see more and more is that the
generation of AI, such as ChatGPT,
will be used as a new tool for
humans. Not just for scientists, not
just for engineers, but for society.”
Not everyone agrees with Cully’s
level of optimism. Demis Hassabis,
My goal is to
remove a lot of
very dangerous
or annoying,
tiring, repetitive
jobs – we will
have more time
for hobbies
the British chief executive of
Google’s AI unit DeepMind, warned
the UK Government last week that
the world must act immediately
to tackle the potential danger of
the technology.
In May, Hassabis also signed an
open letter warning that the threat
of human extinction from AI should
be considered a societal-scale
risk similar to pandemics
and nuclear war. At a
technology summit on
Thursday, Rishi Sunak
addressed these fears,
promising to tackle
“new dangers” posed
by AI.
So, extinction or a
longer and more relaxed
life? Which is it? Cully
acknowledges that AI has its
dangers, such as advanced cyber In the future, your fridge
hacking, but he is most excited could advise you on what
about its potential for benefiting the to cook for dinner with the
human race. ingredients that are inside
“My goal is to remove a lot of very DONALD IAIN SMITH/GETTY
dangerous jobs, or very annoying,
tiring, repetitive jobs,” he says,
suggesting that administrative
roles, labourers and shop workers something not even the best doctors could do this very quickly, almost
will be a thing of the past. in the world can do. AI could take all like a Google search.”
“This will remove a lot of work your information and then craft a Currently, there are companies
in society and will probably result different drug and predict what will in London, Paris, Boston and
in a working week that is 3.5 days,” be the right drug for you. Cape Town racing to be the first to
he says. “We will have more time “Doctors cannot do this because develop this type of medical AI.
to pursue hobbies and be creative. they need to know about the side Cully says: “If you asked me four
Maybe we will have more time to go effects of every drug in the world years ago ‘Do you think AI will be
to the Moon or be more ambitious and different combinations. AI able to write a piece of text or an
about our lives.”
Cully predicts that within the
next few decades, most of us will
live for an extra 20 years as a direct
result of advancements in AI.
“One idea that we are all following
in the industry is differentiated
medical treatments,” he says.
“Everybody is different. Everybody
has a different genetic background
and medical history.
“It makes sense to actually tailor
every treatment to every patient.
The issue is that we just can’t do it
at the moment. We cannot design
a new drug for you and then a
different drug for me. But with AI,
we will be able to do it very soon.”
Cully says that AI could work as
an encyclopaedia for the medical Demis Hassabis, chief executive of Google’s DeepMind, has warned that the
nuances of drugs, adding: “This is world must act urgently to tackle AI’s potential dangers JOY MALONE/GETTY

article for you?’ I would have said
no, not anytime soon. And yet, today
we have ChatGPT that can do this
very well.”
Now, Cully believes, anything
is possible. “It really depends on
which breakthrough in healthcare
will lead us to that,” he explains. “I
am very optimistic that this could
happen in the next five or 10 years.”
In this AI future, we will be
healthy for longer and we will be
more relaxed than ever. But what
about the other man-made threats
to human existence? “AI can help
solve climate change,” he says. “We
can ask the technology to optimise
climate solutions.”
In 2016, the DeepMind research
lab used AI to reduce the energy
consumption of Google’s data
centre. “The AI discovered its own
cooling pattern and was able to
reduce the energy consumption by
40 per cent, which is quite a huge
amount,” says Cully.
Soon, he believes, we will also
have harnessed AI to improve our
integration of hydrogen power. He
adds: “I am actually working closely
with a start-up in order to use AI to
maximise the efficiency of hydrogen
batteries or hydrogen cells.”
While Cully does not believe that
we should be afraid of this AI future,
he does believe we should prepare
properly for its arrival, saying: “My
fear is that companies will have a
monopoly on this sort of technology
and that it won’t be freely accessible
to everyone.”
If this happens, Cully believes
that AI will be used to make money,
rather than make life easier. “I think
everybody should be educated now
about the way this technology can
be used,” he says.
“There are a lot of myths and
misconceptions about AI. It’s
important that people know
more about how it works. What
are the strengths? What are
the weaknesses?”
He says the more people
understand the technology, the less
fear will dictate our policies around
it. “We need to train people just to
have a basic understanding of all of
this,” he says. “Then we can change
society for the better.”
NEWS
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OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IQ
37-41
PEOPLE
I had a baby with the wrong
man, but I don’t regret it
At 36, Claire panicked and had a child with a partner
whom she knew was not making her happy. She tells
Kasia Delgado why she wishes she had slowed down
“Between the ages of 30 and 55 is
the period in midlife when you’re
expected to be settled down in a
couple and having kids,” writes
Professor Sasha Roseneil in her
book The Tenacity of The Couple-
Norm. “We tend to internalise this
feeling, especially in our mid-30s,
when the worries about fertility and
biological clocks can begin to take
hold.” Yet, what is it like for women
who, in desperately wanting to get
married and have a child, realise that
they have chosen the wrong partner
to do that with? Claire*, 43, a school
bursar from Brighton, tells i how she
ignored the warning signs because
she was worried about running out
of time. Looking back, she wishes she
had slowed down.
I
f I could give people in their
thirties one bit of advice, I
would say: be careful who you
have a child with. It’s easy
to succumb to the pressure
and jump into parenthood with
someone you know deep down isn’t
right for you – or for your potential
child – at all. That’s what I did.
I was 36 and my two best friends
in our university trio already had
children. I was starting to feel
intensely stressed that I was going
to leave it too late. I had believed
that all fertility crashes and burns
into the ground at 35, and the panic
was setting in.
Looking back, I now know I had
time, but hindsight is a wonderful
thing. I had been with my boyfriend
for two years, but I was starting to
have serious doubts about whether
this was someone I could see
myself with in the long term.
When I tried to visualise going
through the highs and lows of life
with him, him supporting me, me
supporting him, I couldn’t imagine
it. He had an arrogance and
childishness about him that I had
originally found charming and fun,
but I didn’t really fully trust him.
We were not getting on very
well considering that we had only
been together two years, and he
needed a lot of therapy, which he
wouldn’t have.
I almost broke up with him
several times, but I always had
some version of this thought in
my head: ‘If I want a child, who
will I have one with, if not him? I’ll
have to start all over again with
someone new – meet them, date
them, see if they’re right for me,
then it could take years to actually
have a child. Wouldn’t it be better
just to stay with him? At least I
know he’s open to the idea, even if
not hugely enthusiastic.’
So I played the role of the happy
girlfriend, not thinking of my needs
or how I really felt, and tried to
make sure that he was content all
the time. I told myself that it would
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
be all right, and we got married
and had a child together.
From the outside, I looked like
I was ticking all the boxes. But
throughout my pregnancy, I had
doubts about the relationship
and a kind of sadness that I was
doing this with him, rather than
someone else. But then I was
also so focused on the fact that I
would have this child, that I could
not help but be simultaneously
filled with joy.
He turned out to be a fairly
disengaged dad – he did the
perfunctory things one is meant to
do, but he promised a lot more and
rarely delivered.
He wasn’t a bad guy but he was
selfish and not willing to give up his
desires and needs even one bit. I
did not feel very supported, but he
liked to play the role of wholesome
dad to the outside world.
Anything genuinely difficult
or involved he shied away from,
as I had suspected he might but
hoped he wouldn’t.
A year after the baby was born,
we broke up. It was mutual. He
Throughout my
pregnancy, I was sad that
I was doing this with him
rather than someone else
visited weekly and helped out
a bit, but he did not take on as
much time or responsibility as I
offered him. He and our daughter
have an OK relationship now but
he has had another baby with
someone else and has certainly
stopped visiting as regularly,
which is tough.
There is quite a lot of pain
involved, all round, but I try to
never say anything bad about
him in front of her. Because I love
my now seven-year-old daughter
so immensely, I cannot say that
I regret choosing to have a child
with her dad.
But if I stand back and imagine
Panic about reaching a certain age, as well as expectations from society and
family members, can leave some feeling rushed into having a child GETTY
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
35
that I don’t know my daughter, it
was definitely the wrong choice
and I still feel guilty about it,
because she deserves better.
I should have trusted my gut.
I shouldn’t have lied to myself –
or to him. I have friends whose
marriages have broken down,
but at least they went into the
relationships very happy and
convinced it was the right thing.
I have other friends who are
not happy with their partners,
but their partners are wonderful
fathers. Meanwhile, I went into
this unhappy, and not sure at all
that he would be a good dad. It
just shows how much blind panic,
the pressures of society and even
family members can push you into
a decision that you know to be
a mistake.
A couple of years after my
divorce, I met someone at a
friend’s birthday and we started
a relationship. He was 42 and had
two daughters from a previous
marriage who spent half the week
with him, and with whom he had a
wonderful relationship.
Over time, we carefully blended
our families into a chaotic, fun,
challenging but joyful mush.
He and I went on to have a baby
together when I was 40, and I have
now experienced parenting with
a partner in the way that I had
always hoped for.
It’s not that things are perfect –
we argue like anyone with a busy
family life – but we are happy.
I cannot know how life would
have turned out if I had waited to
have my first child with the right
man, but I do know that I deluded
myself about it.
I would like my daughter, should
she grow up to want a child, to
feel less misguided panic than
I did and to try to find someone
who can make her happy, and also
be a great dad. They do exist, I
know that now.
*Name has been changed
i
 NEWS
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OPINION TV
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IQ
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BUSINESS SPORT
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37

Cycling with superstars

Travel

LeBlanq adventures – offering picturesque routes, Michelin-star meals and the company of
sporting legends – have been rightly described as ‘joyriding for grown-ups’ By Robin McKelvie

H
ey boy, hey girl – I
must be dreaming.
A vivid dream that
starts with sharing
artisan coffee with
Team Sky cycling legend Sean
Yates on Loch Lomond’s bon-
nie banks, follows the fairytale
shores pedalling with chatty, six-
time Olympic medallist Sir Chris
Hoy and goes into overdrive tak-
ing an electric Porsche for a spin.
It ends surreally, too, enjoying
a Michelin-quality dinner with
Tom Rowlands, one half of the
Chemical Brothers. Except this is
no dream. It is a weird and won-
derful weekend with LeBlanq.
LeBlanq is no ordinary travel
company. I realise that as I check
in to Cameron House, a luxury
resort hotel in Scotland, in full
Lycra. The organisation’s founder
Justin Clarke – an ex-professional
cyclist – explains: “What we offer
is joyriding for grown-ups. We
get likeminded cycling souls to-
gether to enjoy a weekend ped-
alling with cycling legends and
other top names in their fields,
with Michelin-starred chefs such
as Nathan Outlaw this weekend
and superstar DJs like Pete Tong
in Ibiza in October.”
The venues and programmes
on LeBlanq’s website are emphat-
ic that they are not just about the
joy of two-wheeled adventure. LeBlanq’s Scottish route links gets in touch to check your expe- chosen Scotland for a third time,”
On its Ibiza itinerary, custom- Ben Lomond, the Trossachs and rience level and fitness, splitting he says as behind us a sea plane Subscribe now
ers do indeed party into the night Argyll’s stunning sea lochs the group into three for three days bounces down onto the loch, its
with a sunset session from DJ of cycling, with varying distances pilot startled at the dozens of rid- to our exclusive
Pete Tong, while Brazilian chef
Alex Atala mans the cooking
Thomas? Or going two abreast
with World Road Race Champion
and speeds. If you struggle one
day you can pop down a group, or
ers massing for another ride out.
“Why would you want to be an-
newsletter
decks. In South Africa, its guests and three-time Ardennes classics even jump in the support vehicle. ywhere else? It makes me proud
are based in five-star Cellars- winner, Phillipe Gilbert? Maybe Keeping true to cycling terminol- seeing cyclists from all over the Great
Hohenort, with its Table Moun-
tain views. Here, Kobus van der
even go big with a cycling extrav-
aganza, riding in the slipstream of
ogy, Friday sees the Prologue, be-
fore the big ride on Saturday and a
world appreciating what we’ve
got in Scotland in a format like
Escapes
Merwe, owner of Wolfgat, a win- five-time Tour de France winner, gentler adventure on Sunday. this that makes the most of it,” Sir A weekly dose
ner of “Restaurant of the Year” Miguel Indurain. In my group there are 50 cy- Chris adds. of inspiration
at the World Restaurant Awards, The format is relatively sim- clists, a mix of men and women Post-ride you can splash for trips that
cooks for cyclists post-ride. Other ple. Once you sign up, LeBlanq aged, at an estimate, between 30 around in the Cameron House are closer
swish adventures take punters and 60. LeBlanq says that most swimming pool or ease aching than you think
through La Rioja in Spain, Nor- reasonably fit people should muscles in the spa. Then there is
way and Yorkshire. be able to manage the 31-mile the option of taking a test drive.
LeBlanq’s team sheet is like I realise this is no (50-kilometre) ride with 12 weeks’ I get as close as I ever will to inews.co.uk/sign-up
an Oscar ceremony for cyclists. ordinary trip as I training, so long as they can aver- owning a top-of-the-range elec-
How about riding out with three-
time World Champion, two-time
check in to a resort age six miles per hour.
The longest ride for the lead
tric Porsche. Porsche are just
one of LeBlanq’s glitzy part- Travel essentials
Olympic gold medallist, Geraint hotel in full Lycra group is a whopping 71 miles ners, alongside Aston Martin,
around some of Scotland’s most Bianchi, Laurent-Perrier and Booking it
spectacular scenery. The coun- Michelin. Another partner is a LeBlanq experiences start
try’s remarkable cycling terrain tastebud-tingler. from £2,250pp, including
has just hosted the UCI World The Fife distillery InchDairnie accommodation, Michelin-
Championships for the first time. combines Scotch whisky know- star dining and kit, leblanq.
The weekend swirls our inter- how, through whisky distillery com
national – mostly British – group manager Scott Sneddon, with
around both banks of Scotland’s real creativity using Scottish- Further information
largest freshwater loch under the grown rye and barley. Judging by inchdairniedistillery.com
hulking shadow of Ben Lomond, RyeLaw, the single-grain Scotch visitscotland.com
across the Highland Boundary rye whisky InchDairnie Distillery
Fault, around the hilly Trossachs has already released, and which
and astride the beauty of Argyll’s we all get to taste this weekend, Rowlands is just a punter this
sea lochs. these are guys to watch. weekend, but still the star, as he
Sharing a cup of tea with Sir The last supper in my waking picks up the “LeBlanq Legend”
Chris between rides, he is enthu- dream is a tasting menu feast sit- award. Over a glass of RyeLaw
siastic both about the set-up and ting opposite Rowlands. We talk he beams, “I love these LeBlanq
the venue: “I love what LeBlanq about Glastonbury, politics and trips – they combine great cy-
creates, giving anyone the chance cycling on what is his third LeB- cling, some remarkable cyclists
of a special experience in a non- lanq adventure – he caught the and top food too.”
competitive, fun format. bug when his wife treated him to That sounds to me like quite
Sir Chris Hoy loves the non-competitive format of LeBlanq getaways “I also love that they’ve now a weekend for a special birthday. a dream.
 38
Arts
Podcasts
Take That:
This Life
You may think that, thanks
to the 33 years Gary
Barlow, Howard Donald
and Mark Owen have been
in the limelight, the public
would know them pretty
well. Their music, their
break-ups and reunions
have been reported on for
years. But now, in the run
up to their ninth album,
the remaining members of
Take That discuss behind-
the-scenes life in their
Manchester-bred boy band.
In the Global Player
series, they reminisce about
auditioning for the band,
working “normal” jobs,
and their record-breaking
number one albums.
It mainly feels like a chat
between three old friends,
and it’s endearing hearing
how they navigated working
together as teenagers with
the dream of reaching Top of
the Pops.
Kia-Elise Green
“I
n fantasy there are swords
and in sci-fi there are light-
sabers,” says my 12-year-
old son. He is trying to
give me a crash course in a
genre that has always left me cold,
much to the disappointment of him
and his brother, both fantasy ob-
sessed. Bilbo bored me back when I
was their age, and I’ve never under-
stood what’s so great about Gandalf.
But when I spotted that a major
new exhibition about fantasy was
opening at the British Library dur-
ing half term, I wondered if I should
give so-called speculative fiction a
second chance. Fantasy: Realms of
Imagination explores how ancient
tales have helped to shape modern
fantasy epics, from texts as old as
The Arabian Nights to contempo-
rary novels such as NK Jemisin’s
The City We Became, which address-
es racism in America.
My children’s gateway into other
worlds was Christopher Paolini’s
Eragon, about a farm boy who
discovers a dragon’s egg, the first
book in his Inheritance Cycle se-
ries, which my oldest son chanced
upon in an American elementary
school library when we were living
in Michigan. He devoured the first
three before turning to Ursula K Le
Guin’s The Wizard of Earthsea and,
of course, JRR Tolkien.
For years, I left them to it, but
then Susanna Clarke won the Wom-
en’s Prize in 2021 and I read – and
loved – Piranesi, about a man adrift
in a mysterious world, a book that is
the epitome of fantasy. Now it was
my turn to rave about a world far
I wondered if I
should give so-called
speculative fiction a
second chance
from our own – and to worry what
else I’d been missing out on.
I dug out Octavia E Butler’s Kin-
dred, which follows a young Afri-
can American woman who time
travels between 1970s California
and an early 19th-century Mary-
land plantation, partly because I’d
long meant to read it and partly be-
cause my son, now back in the UK,
was reading it in his Year 9 English
class. Crossover, finally, between
what we both liked. But despite
spending weeks last spring trying
to follow Frodo’s quest while read-
ing The Lord of the Rings out loud at
bedtime, I still felt the pull of real life
Can my kids
when browsing my book piles.
Real life, however, can be a real
bore, which might explain how
something novel started creeping
into what I was reading. New books
by Francis Spufford, C. Pam Zhang,
turn me into a
Sayaka Murata and Jesmyn Ward
all contained an element of the
fantastical, from counterfactual
historical worlds and futurist eco-
dystopias, where the rich dined on
woolly mammoth, to surrealist can-
fantasy fan?
nibal sketches and spirits from the
realms of magical realism.
Not that I want to equate fantasy
with nothing more than escapism.
That would be doing the genre a dis-
service, says Tanya Kirk, a curator
who worked on the British Library’s
new exhibition.
“Consuming books or films set in
a different world can give people a
The genre has always left Susie Mesure cold, but her
break from their lives, but fantasy
does a lot more than that. It gives
children love it. Would a family half-term trip to a new
us the skills to look at our world British Library exhibition change her mind?

Clockwise: ‘The Book of Drexciya’ graphic novel; ‘The Dark Crystal’; ‘Bilbo: En
Hobbits Aventyr’; Gandalf’s staff from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ films DREXCIYAN
EMPIRE; THE DARK CRYSTAL; TOVE JANSSON ESTATE; WARNER BROS / NEWLINE
in a new light and to compare it to
an alternative reality and see what
you could do differently,” she says.
“Fantasy gives you the ability to
talk about difficult questions in a
way that’s easier for people to get to
grips with.”
Having just read Murata’s Life
Ceremony, a story collection that
subverts normality to ridicule the
conventions that bind society, I
feel ripe for conversion to fantasy’s
cause. Could I be ready for my first
Le Guin? My older son locates his
Earthsea quartet, and I am off, al-
beit wondering if I can really relate
to a story about a boy wizard. My
heart even sinks at the map that
greets me, setting out Ged’s realm
as he battles against the evil shad-
ow he conjures by mistake.
Cartography, I later learn
from the exhibition, has been
a crucial component of fanta-
sy since the time of Thomas
Moore’s Utopia.
“Although it’s an important
philosophical text, it has an
important link to fantasy
today: it was the first invent-
ed world with a map and an
invented language,” says Kirk.
“We want to keep making the
link between historical forms of
storytelling that people might
not necessarily think of as fan-
tasy and how the genre is being
reworked and used today.”
I realise my error is my impa-
tience: I want to get on with the
narrative rather than dwell in
its origin. I need to embrace the
map as my entry into Le Guin’s
world. “Because fantasy often
invents a world from scratch,
maps give you an immediate
way of understanding what it
will look like,” adds Kirk.
Exploring the exhibition, I’m
delighted to see one of Giovanni
Battista Piranesi’s etchings,
from the mid-18th century, de-
picting a vast imaginary prison,
which inspired Clarke. Her own
typed pages with handwritten
edits of “Part 1: Piranesi” are also
on display.
The Tolkien section is a particu-
lar hit with my children, who marvel
at an illustration by Alan Lee, who
worked on the conceptual design of
Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of
The Lord of the Rings and The Hob-
bit, and Gandalf’s staff, on loan from
Lee himself. (“Touched by Ian McK-
ellen. Wow,” they murmur.)
There is also a page from Tolk-
ien to a BBC producer suggesting
changes to a 1955 radio script for a
now-lost recording. And I am fasci-
nated by Tove Jansson’s depiction
of Gollum in Bilbo: En Hobbits Aven-
tyr, a Swedish language edition of
The Hobbit that she illustrated in
1962: towering over Bilbo, he is
pictured by Jansson vastly big-
ger than Tolkien intended.
The section on portals
makes me realise I was
wrong to think I never used
to read – or enjoy – fantasy. CS
Lewis! Philippa Pearce! Kirk
laughs. “The likelihood is you
will have either read it as a child,
or read it or experienced it as an
adult,” she says. “Even writers who
you might think of as solely literary
classic novelists were also thinking
about and writing fantasy.”
Take the Brontë siblings: as
children, they created Glass
Town, a fantasy world. Two of the
tiny manuscripts are on display, al-
though I’d have needed a magnify-
ing glass to read how, according to
Charlotte, the Duke of Wellington’s
eldest son, Zamorna, had a twin
brother – both were, apparently,
cursed at birth.
With fantasy spanning so many
types of books it is little wonder
the genre is seeing such rapid
growth. Figures from Nielsen
BookData show that a com-
bined £47.1m was spent on sci-
ence fiction and fantasy titles
in 2022, a 62 per cent increase
by value on 2019, the last year
for which there are figures.
By volume, 4.3 million titles were
NEWS
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OPINION TV
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sold, a 42 per cent increase on the
amount in 2019.
Ann Landmann, founder of CY-
MERA, the Edinburgh-based Fes-
tival of Science Fiction, Fantasy
and Horror Writing, says too many
people think the genre is all about
stereotypes: wizards, elves, drag-
ons and space shuttles.
“They are just mediums to tell
those stories, not what those stories
are about. Dune [by Frank Herbert]
is a coming-of-age story with some
really messed up elements: of em-
pires, colonialism, and bad parent-
ing. At the core of all these stories
are human questions and prob-
lems. Writing about them in closed
worlds gives us more distance from
them and possibly makes it easier
to find answers.”
My own fantasy quest may have
only just started but already I’m
looking at the world in a differ-
ent way. If writers of fantasy can
be more creative about how they
tell stories, perhaps I can be more
creative about how I tackle some
of life’s stumbling blocks. And if all
else fails, at least I know I can seek
refuge in all those other worlds out
there. The Tombs of Atuan, the next
in Le Guin’s Earthsea series, is call-
ing to me – provided I can wrest our
copy away from one of my children.
‘Fantasy: Realms of Imagination’
is at the British Library until 25
February 2024
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Last night’s
television
GERARD GILBERT
A brutal, horrifying
exposé of life inside a
women’s prison
» Time BBC One, 9pm ★★★★★
I
f deterrence really worked,
Jimmy McGovern’s blistering
2021 drama Time might have
made criminals think twice
about breaking the law. Star-
ring Sean Bean and Stephen Gra-
ham, the gripping Bafta-winning
series unsparingly depicted the
brutal and dehumanising culture at
a Liverpool men’s prison.
For the second series, McGovern
has shifted his focus to a women’s
prison, the fictional HMP
Carlingford in Cheshire, and wisely
drafted in a female co-writer,
Helen Black (Life and Death in
the Warehouse).
Another stellar cast is headed
by former Doctor Who Jodie
Whittaker, Tamara Lawrance
(Invasion, The Long Song) and one of
the most sought after young actors
around, Bella Ramsey, fresh from
her Emmy-nominated performance
in HBO’s The Last of Us.
Ramsey played Kelsey, a jittery
heroin-addicted and (it soon
transpired) pregnant teenage
remand prisoner; Whittaker was
Orla, a single mother who’d been
given an unexpected six-month
sentence for “fiddling the leccy”;
and Lawrance played Ari, serving
life for murder.
Apparently, inmates convicted
of an array of crimes, from drug
offences and petty theft to murder,
are thrown together in women’s
jails, so the main trio first mixed in
a prison transport van. Kelsey was
desperate for her next fix, Orla was
frantic about who would look after
It spelt out the
harm of banging up a
mother doing her best
to survive
her kids (other than their alcoholic
grandmother), while Ari was being
transferred from another prison,
where her life had been threatened
because of who she had murdered.
Despite its exterior looking like
a Second World War POW camp,
Carlingford appeared a touch more
civilised than the men’s facility in
series one; the women were free
to wander to the TV common
room, showers and kitchen. But
appearances can be deceptive.
With no body searches allowed in
women’s prisons without suspicion
(who knew?), Kelsey was able to
smuggle heroin inside her nether
regions. This led to a shocking
scene when, suspected of stealing
a wrap of “brown”, two inmates
conducted a violently intimate
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
39
Former Doctor Jodie Whittaker
heads up the stellar cast in ‘Time’
full-body search. It was doubly
horrifying to watch, knowing by
now that Kelsey was pregnant.
Theft from a cellmate isn’t
as serious an offence amongst
prisoners as snitching – the
suspicion of which landed Ari with
a slashed cheek at the end of the
episode. In fact, it was Kelsey who’d
told the warder about B-wing
queen bee Tanya (Faye McKeever)
carrying a “blade”.
Siobhan Finneran (Happy
Valley), meanwhile, reprised her
role as prison chaplain Marie-
Louise. It’s perhaps unsurprising
that McGovern, a lapsed Catholic
interested in the possibility
of redemption, has retained
this character (the one oasis of
humanity in the first series).
Lawrance was terrific as the
tough but traumatised Ari, while
Ramsey was wholly believable as
a naïve but still wily addict. She
decided to keep her unborn child
only after it was suggested she
would get a more lenient sentence
if pregnant.
I did question how realistic it
was that Orla would be given a
first-time custodial sentence for
tampering with her electricity
meter, especially in these
overcrowded times. It did, however,
spell out the societal harm of
banging up a mother doing her best
to survive, especially during a cost
of living crisis.
“When I came in here, I had a
house, a job and a family. Now I’ve
got nothing,” she said after being
informed her children were being
taken into care. McGovern has
crafted another eye-opening foray
into the reality of prison and its
ramifications in the outside world.
Twitter: @GerardVGilbert
i

Arts
review
Arts
THEATRE
Lyonesse
HAROLD PINTER THEATRE,
LONDON
★★★★★
It is vanishingly rare for a new
play to open directly in the West
End without a prior try-out in the
safety net of the subsidised sector.
Yet star casting will always work
its magic, regardless of the quality
of the drama, which explains the
arrival of the inexcusably poor
Lyonesse. The tasty pairing of
Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily
James can do nothing to salvage it.
Watching Lyonesse is akin to
tumbling down a never-ending
rabbit hole of bewilderment. I
spent the interminable-seeming
first half struggling to believe that
writer Penelope Skinner intends
us to take any of this even halfway
seriously – and the even-longer-
seeming second wondering
precisely when we would be
put out of our misery. Lyonesse
requires three hours to arrive at
exactly the point we imagine it
will within the first 10 minutes.
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Kate (James) is a development
executive at a female-led film
production company; we’re asked
to believe that she has been in the
job for nearly a decade, but her
all-round gullibility on matters
professional makes this a tough
challenge. Juggling a young
child and a solipsistic bully of
a husband, she’s permanently
strung out and sleep-deprived.
Elaine (Scott Thomas) is
a former star actress who
disappeared without a trace three
decades previously; now living in
charismatic chaos in Cornwall,
she is ready to tell her story, which
has tasty hints of a #MeToo-style
incident with a powerful and
famous man.
Kate is packed off to meet
her with a view to securing the Lily James (Kate) and Kristin Scott Thomas (Elaine) in ‘Lyonesse’ at the Harold Pinter Theatre MANUEL HARLAN
film rights. But as with Kate, it
is nigh-on impossible to believe of eccentric and it is apparent production, on and on and round mythical lost kingdom that sunk
a thing about Elaine’s past that Scott Thomas is relishing and round, with barely a word of off Cornwall, a heavy-handed
professional credentials, so the opportunity to let loose the script ringing true. reference that is liable to pass
unconvincingly sketched are they. with such a colourful character We very quickly grow tired almost everyone by.
Our first sight of Scott Thomas after years of playing stoically of the sight of James running Lyonesse is quite the most
is quite the spectacle: she’s repressed Brits. her hands over her forehead barking play I have seen in a
dressed in a fur coat, wellies, She offers her story to Kate in anguish, as her sojourn on long time.
swimming costume, white in the form of a fully rehearsed the Cornish coast encourages To 23 December (0333 009 6690,
swim cap and goggles. Elaine, it one-woman show – why? – and wild and implausible dreams lyonesseonstage.com)
is clear, is on the exciting side off we go in Ian Rickson’s dreary of freedom. The title refers to a FIONA MOUNTFORD
Business @theipaper
+4420 7361 5718
business@inews.co.uk
PROPERTY
House prices fall as income
is squeezed and costs rise
By Grace Gausden
Most of the UK has seen house price
falls this year, including every local
property market in the south and
east of England.
About 80 per cent of all markets in
the UK have registered falls this year
compared with last year, property
portal Zoopla found.
Rising borrowing costs and a
squeeze on household incomes has
meant some people are delaying
moving or are unable to afford to take
out a loan.
This has been the case for all mar-
kets in London and south and east
England, and in more than half of the
rest of England and Wales.
Just under two-fifths of the mar-
kets in Scotland registered price falls.
Weaker demand has resulted in
a slowdown in house price growth
Quote of
the day
The 30
Second
Briefing
RESTAURANT
CLOSURES
It’s very likely Are more restaurants going under?
that both Sadly so. The number of UK
restaurant companies becoming
aggregate wage insolvent has risen by 46 per cent in
growth and the past year, new data show. There
private sector were 2,214 in 2022-23, compared
wage growth to 1,517 in 2021-22 , according to
Mazars, the international audit, tax
have peaked and advisory firm.
Why is this happening?
Sanjay Raja The insolvencies are largely down
Economist at Deutsche to the rising costs of servicing debt
Bank
from a 9.2 per cent increase a year
ago, to a 1.1 per cent decline this year,
Zoopla said.
This marked the sharpest year-on-
year fall in price growth since 2009.
It predicted that house prices will
fall more slowly in the future, averag-
ing two per cent over 2024, with one
million home moves.
Zoopla said the scale of price falls
has been “modest”, remaining below
5 per cent in all markets.
The number of house sales has
been hit harder, with transactions on
The largest annual price
falls at a larger, postal area
level, were recorded in Colchester
where prices are 3.5 per cent
lower over the year, followed by
Canterbury, Luton and Brighton.
and the squeeze on consumer
spending caused by rate rises and
inflation, according to Paul Maloney,
associate director at Mazars.
Many restaurant groups have
relied on debt to fund expansion
and renovation. The sharp increase
in interest rates over the
past two years has led to
some being forced into
insolvency by their
debt burden.
Mazars says
restaurants have
also had to contend
with weak consumer
spending and a rise in
the costs of ingredients.
This has forced many to raise
prices to the point of unaffordability
for some customers. Added to
this, 44 per cent of the public are
cutting discretionary spending
track to have fallen by nearly a quar-
ter this year compared with last, to
one million.
It comes as the proportion of cash
buyers – those people who have the
money immediately available to pur-
chase a property, and who do not
need to take out a mortgage – has
swelled this year.
Zoopla said cash buyers have ac-
counted for about a third of all hous-
ing sales this year, up from a fifth over
the last five years.
There have been about 60,000
more properties bought with cash
this year than throughout 2022,
it estimated.
First-time buyers are set to be the
largest buyer group in 2023.
While their share of total sales
has fallen in recent years, a sharp in-
crease in rents has fuelled demand.
Richard Donnell, executive direc-
in the run-up to Christmas, with
dining out the most frequently
cited cutback.
Staff shortage has a role to play
There is a continued shortage of
staff for the hospitality sector, which
has also driven up wages. In
April, restaurants were hit
with a 9.7 per cent rise in
the National Minimum
Wage from £9.50 to
£10.42, its largest ever
cash increase. This is
equivalent to an extra
£1,600 per year before
national insurance for
someone working full time.
Mr Maloney said: “A lot
of restaurants are beset with
challenges outside their control –
many are struggling to keep their
heads above water.”
House prices are down 1.1 per cent
this year, says property portal Zoopla
tor at Zoopla, said: “House prices
have proven more resilient than
many expected over the last year in
response to higher mortgage rates.
“However, almost a quarter fewer
people will move home due to greater
uncertainty and less buying power.
“Modest house price falls over
2023 mean it’s going to take longer
for housing affordability to reset to
a level where more people start to
move home again.”
RETAIL
Sainsbury’s
update will
show how
budgets fare
By Henry Saker-Clarke
Bosses at Sainsbury’s are set to shed
more light on how shoppers’ budgets
are holding up ahead of Christmas in
an update to investors next week.
Customer budgets have come under
pressure over the past year due to soar-
ing household bills and mortgage costs,
while food inflation also rocketed.
However, retailers have reported an
easing in food and drink prices in re-
cent months.
On Thursday, Sainsbury’s is expect-
ed to provide an insight into the trajec-
tory of food inflation when it reports
its financial results for the half-year
to September.
In its previous update in July, chief
executive Simon Roberts said inflation
was “starting to fall”, so investors will
be hoping to see a material impact from
this on its operating costs.
The UK’s second-largest supermar-
ket chain has previously said its under-
lying pre-tax profits for the current
year are set to be lower than the £690m
it posted for the previous year.
It indicated it would prioritise im-
proving prices for customers over high-
er profitability, as it seeks to maintain
its market share amid pressure from
the discounters Aldi and Lidl.
Darren Shirley and Clive Black, ana-
lysts at Shore Capital, said investment
in pricing, such as reductions for Nec-
tar card members, is expected to drive
a 9.6 per cent rise in grocery sales over
the latest quarter.
Shareholders will also be keen to
hear about further progress in the
company’s cost-saving programme,
which was launched to produce £1.3bn
in savings over three years.
 NEWS
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Media on
Monday
IAN BURRELL

Vital to democracy: scrutinising process

by which candidates are chosen as MPs

S
urely no one can match
the irrepressible Michael
Crick for his obsession with
the inner workings of the
British political system and
the personalities that inhabit it.
For more than 18 months, he has
been relentlessly documenting the
identities and career paths of the
men and women being shortlisted
as parliamentary candidates by the
main parties for an election that has
not even been called yet.
Crick calls these selection
contests “Britain’s hidden
elections” and he is horrified
by the “absurd secrecy” of the
process. Using an account called
@Tomorrows MPs on the social
media platform X (formerly
Twitter), he has posted 5,000 times
on selection battles from Cornwall
to Carlisle. “I find the whole thing
fascinating, it’s full of plots and fixes
and fiddles and cock-ups,” he says.
He is an inveterate political
mischief-maker. “The party
machines hate me,” he concedes.
Labour is angry at his detailing of
its purge on left-wingers and lack
of working-class candidates. The
Conservatives are “very upset”
with his exposure of their opaque
practices. “Every time the Tories
end up with a duff MP they have
only got themselves to blame,” he
says. “It’s an absolute formula for
crooked and third-rate MPs.” The
SNP are “incredibly secretive” and
the Liberal Democrats, “the party
of transparency”, are no better.
Years before Boris Johnson’s
attempt to dodge journalists by
hiding in a refrigerator in 2019,
politicians were running scared
of the tenacious Crick and his Michael Crick (right), then with ‘Channel 4 News’, speaks to Nigel Farage, then vice-chairman of Leave Means Leave, in Bolton in 2018 MARTIN RICKETT/PA
microphone. Michael Howard
hid from him in a heliport. Jeffrey says local politicians “don’t have to stand where they were born or which “used to cover this a lot”, Falconer’s son Hamish (standing
Archer locked him out of a press a particularly good track record where they live.” no longer have enough staff to do in Lincoln), the economist Miatta
conference. The words “Michael at Westminster”. He is a believer in “pluralism” so. Crick wants his research to Fahnbulleh (Camberwell and
Crick is in reception” would chill the An “obsession” among party and points out that only 25 evolve into an online “selection Peckham), and the former Army
blood of any MP. activists for fielding local per cent of Tory candidates institute”, that journalists, intelligence officer Louise Jones
Now he is shining a spotlight candidates is diluting the talent are women and that Labour’s academics and voters can use as a (Mansfield). The Tories have
on would-be politicians before pool, he believes. “It reduces list has an acute shortage of permanent resource. former GB synchronised swimmer
they reach Westminster. “I am competition and means that black men. “Gay candidates It might help to weed out the Aisha Cuthbert (Sittingbourne
driven by the view that we need ambitious politicians have to choose are doing extraordinarily “crooks” and “duds”, such as jailed and Sheppey) and former Olympic
the best people in public life and well in both parties,” he says, Labour MP Jared O’Mara, before rowing gold medallist James
we are not going to deal with the more optimistically. they reach Westminster. “If we had Cracknell (Colchester).
world’s problems with a team A founding member of the known a bit about them beforehand All of these details will provide
of mediocrities.” Channel 4 News team, Crick maybe they would not have been great material when election night
His work on @Tomorrow’sMPs worked for nearly 20 years for chosen as candidates.” finally arrives. But Crick believes
gives him cause for concern BBC Newsnight. He is a biographer A book is also planned. “It’s not our democracy is harmed by
regarding Westminster’s next of era-defining politicians from the kind of book that will make me waiting that long.
cohort. “There are not many Arthur Scargill to Nigel Farage. lots of money but it will be fun to “The selections are the
obvious cabinet ministers amongst But after leaving Channel 4 News write and to read,” he says. “Every equivalent to primary elections
this lot, they are pretty dull,” he in 2019, and a spell making videos MP has their selection story.” in America, which are big public
says of Labour’s selections so for the Daily Mail’s Mail+, he has Among all the dullards hoping for events,” he says. “It’s ridiculous how
far. Too many candidates have become his own boss. a place in the Commons, Crick little scrutiny goes into the people
backgrounds in think-tanks, he His @Tomorrow’sMPs project is sees some potential star names of who are chosen as candidates for
believes. Around 60 per cent of a response to a void in British media the future. the main parties.”
Labour and Conservative picks Olympic champion James Cracknell which allows selection processes Labour “ones to watch” include
are former councillors, but Crick is one of Michael Crick’s Tory picks to go under-reported. Local papers former Lord Chancellor Charlie Twitter: @iburrell
44 BUSINESS

The ECONOMY INSURANCE

Business US figures set to
Matrix show rise in jobs
The day at US government data this Friday
is projected to show payrolls
a glance in the world’s largest economy
increased by about 190,000 in
October – still-solid job growth
that follows sizeable advances
in the previous three months.
Hourly earnings are rising
at the slowest annual pace in
more than two years, partly as
a reflection of increased labour
force participation.
EY predicts prices
to rise by a third
Home insurance prices are
expected to rise by more than
a third over the next two years,
according to a new forecast by
consultancy firm EY. Insurers
are responding to their worst
year for underwriting in
decades by pushing premiums
higher. Swings in weather, high
inflation and strained supply
chains all combined to drive up
insurers’ losses last year.

WHAT THE SUNDAY PAPERS SAID

Asos looking to
offload Topshop
Online fashion retailer, Asos,
is in talks to sell Topshop
to the American company
behind brands such as Ted
Baker, Reebok and Forever 21.
Authentic Brands Group, which
also owns David Beckham’s
brand portfolio, could acquire
Topshop in a deal designed to
unlock hundreds of millions of
pounds of value.
The Sunday Telegraph
Hundreds of trips
cut from timetable
Train operator Avanti is quietly
cancelling hundreds of services
between now and the new year,
risking a repeat of the travel
chaos suffered by passengers
travelling between London,
Birmingham and Manchester.
Ministers have signed off
Saturday timetable reductions
because of driver shortages,
according to industry sources.
The Sunday Times

Next is on course Beauty industry

for profit hat-trick hit by Brexit costs
FTSE 100 down 1.50% at 7,291.3 * last week’s changes Clothing and homeware Brexit has led to an £850m
retailer Next has already fall in the value of the UK
Company Price Wk +/-% Yield P/E Company Price Wk +/-% Yield P/E Company Price Wk +/-% Yield P/E upgraded its annual profit beauty industry’s exports to
guidance twice this year and the EU, according to a leading
3i Group 1968.5 -1.82% 2.7 4.1 Glencore 445.2 +2.26% 9.6 4.1 Rolls-Royce 200.4 +0.73% -13.2
Admiral 2434.0 -0.04% 3.6 7.3 GSK 1433.2 -1.97% 3.9 3.9 RS Group 677.4 +1.90% 3.1 11.2 investors will be hoping for a economics forecaster, Oxford
Airtel Africa 109.8 -1.96% 4.1 7.9 Haleon 321.1 -4.42% 1.3 27.9 Sage 968.0 +1.79% 1.9 38.0 hat-trick when it issues its latest Economics. The research
Anglo Amer 2088.5 +1.33% 4.9 6.8 Halma 1823.0 +0.69% 1.1 29.4
Antofagasta 1374.0 +3.78% 3.7 10.7 Hargrve Lans 705.0 +0.71% 5.9 11.3
Sainsbury(J)
Schroders
255.5
362.0
+1.51%
-1.17%
5.1
5.9
8.6
9.7
update on Wednesday. The blamed customs delays and the
AB Foods 1950.0 +1.06% 2.3 22.0 Hikma Pharma 1912.5 -1.42% 2.7 27.7 Scot Mort Inv Tst 642.8 -0.80% 0.6 retailer benefited as shoppers increased cost of cross-border
Ashtead Group 4712.0 -0.04% 1.7 15.5 Howden Joinery 636.0 +0.38% 3.3 9.7
AstraZeneca 10124.0 -2.93% 2.3 58.0 HSBC Hldgs 601.0 -2.42% 4.0 9.7
Segro 690.8 -1.51% 3.9 -4.3 returned to the high street trade for putting a dampener
Severn Trent 2605.0 +4.28% 4.1 49.4
Auto Trader Group 601.6 +0.74% 1.4 24.1 IAG 142.1 +2.93% 18.7
Shell 2700.5 -0.99% 3.5 12.7 after lockdown. on sales.
Aviva 394.6 -0.58% 8.1 -10.3 IMI 1448.0 -1.16% 1.8 16.5
BAE Systems 1084.0 +2.12% 2.6 21.2 Imperial Brands 1729.0 +0.88% 8.2 10.4
Smith&Neph 896.2 -2.65% 3.4 42.7 The Sunday Express The Observer
Smith (DS) 276.2 +4.74% 6.5 7.7
Barclays 129.2 -10.81% 6.0 4.2 Informa 701.8 +2.33% 1.8 6.3
Smiths Gp 1570.0 +2.88% 2.6 24.0
Barratt Dev 407.4 +3.85% 8.3 7.7 IntCont Htls 5928.0 +0.85% 1.9 34.7
Smurfit Kappa Grp 2652.0 +2.95% 4.7 8.3
BAT 2403.0 -2.12% 9.6 8.2 Intertek 3755.0 -6.08% 2.9 21.0
Beazley
Berkeley Grp Hldgs
517.0
3979.0
-0.86%
+0.61%
2.6
3.2
24.5
9.3
JD Sports Fashion
Kingfisher
126.1
204.6
-0.16%
+1.69%
0.8
6.1
45.7
8.6
Spirax-Sarco Eng
SSE
8140.0
1606.5
-0.42%
+2.00%
1.9
6.0
26.7
-140.9 THE WEEK AHEAD
B&MEurValRtl 522.0 -3.01% 6.6 15.0 Land Secs 563.8 -1.33% 6.9 4.8 Stan Chart 610.6 -15.45% 2.6 8.6
BP 530.5 -2.73% 4.3 17.1 Legal & Gen 207.5 -0.34% 9.5 5.4 St. James’s Place 618.4 -1.37% 8.6 8.3
BT
Bunzl
110.7
2894.0
-2.90%
+0.56%
7.0
2.2
5.7
20.4
Lloyds Bk Gp
Lon Stock Ex
39.8
8208.0
-4.40%
-0.24%
6.3
1.4
5.4
35.1
Taylor Wimpey
Tesco
109.0
272.4
+4.01%
-0.11%
8.8
4.0
6.0
27.1 Japan ponders Booming Shell to
Burberry
Centrica
1694.0
155.1
-1.97%
-1.37%
3.6
2.1
13.3
-11.7
M&G
M&S
192.8
214.5
-0.21%
+0.09%
10.3 -2.9
11.6
Unilever
Unite Group
3821.0
853.0
-4.24%
-2.46%
3.9
3.9
14.6
9.9 increase in rates update on quarter
Coca-Cola HBC 2102.0 -0.80% 3.2 21.3 Melrose Ind 463.6 +1.51% 0.6 -21.2 United Utilities 1053.5 +2.78% 4.3 35.1
Compass 2060.0 +0.88% 1.8 32.9 Mondi 1308.5 +3.56% 4.8 6.1 Vodafone 76.1 +0.53% 10.3 12.1
Convatec 201.4 -0.79% 2.5 78.9 National Grid 981.2 +1.78% 5.7 4.6 Weir Group 1680.5 -4.30% 2.2 20.4 The Bank of Japan will reveal Shell is releasing its third-
Croda Intl 4278.0 +4.96% 2.5 9.2 NatWest Group 182.0 -16.70% 8.5 5.4
DCC 4428.0 +0.05% 4.2 14.0 Next 6822.0 -0.18% 3.0 11.9
Whitbread
WPP
3288.0
695.2
+1.29%
+2.06%
2.6
5.7
23.8
11.2
if it is increasing interest rates quarter update on Thursday. It
Dechra Pharma 3780.0 -0.16% 0.3 -153.7 Ocado Group 482.8 -0.80% -8.2 tomorrow. It remains the outlier is once more the biggest stock
Diageo
Diploma
3025.0
2816.0
-2.18%
-0.42%
2.6
2.0
18.3
37.0
Pearson
Pershing Square
919.2
2870.0
+2.29%
-1.03%
2.4
1.5
28.0
2.8
among developed monetary in the FTSE 100 by market
Endeavour Mining 1659.0 -5.74% 4.0 22.4 Phoenix 445.8 +0.04% 11.7 -2.4 authorities in that it has not capitalisation, not least because
Entain
Experian
914.8
2390.0
-2.03%
-9.54%
1.9
1.8 34.5
Prudential
Reckitt Ben
843.2
5452.0
+1.57%
-8.25%
1.9
3.4
28.1
16.7
raised interest rates. The bank its shares trade at a new all-time
F&C Inv Trust 839.0 -1.29% 1.7 60.3 RELX 2817.0 -0.53% 2.0 33.1 seems slightly stuck, as it does high. This has been helped
Flutter Entrtmt
Frasers Group
12780.0
795.0
+2.65%
+0.76%
-74.8
7.5
Rentokil Initial
Rightmove
421.0
479.2
-9.31%
-1.44%
1.9
1.8
36.4
20.5
not really want to raise rates by the recovery in the price
Fresnillo 549.6 -0.36% 2.1 18.1 Rio Tinto 5200.0 +5.47% 6.2 8.2 For enquiries call +44 (0)20 7825 8300 until wage growth becomes of oil and a strategic focus on
firmly embedded. hydrocarbon production.

Markets Bank of England Apple to release

$1,980.9

decision date full-year results

€1.1470

FTSE 100 7291.3 -1.50%

$1.2152

$88.77

FTSE 250 16866.2 -0.98%

FTSE All Share 3933.2 -1.44%
The next interest rate decision Apple is releasing its full-year
FTSE Eurofirst300 1705.8 -1.04% from the Bank of England results on Thursday. Its shares
Dow Jones * 32557.3 -1.72% comes on Thursday. It was reached a new all-time high
previously held at 5.25 per cent in late July, immediately after
+0.05¢
+0.02¢

S&P 500 * 4129.1 -2.25%

–$11.14

–$4.46

after 14 consecutive increases the better-than-expected

Nasdaq * 12679.9 -2.34%
as the Bank looked to try to third-quarter results, and
DAX 14687.4 -0.75% tame the country’s stubborn even after a subsequent
CAC 40 6795.4 -0.31% inflation. Experts believe that pullback the company’s market
Hang Seng 17398.7 +1.32% EURO/ DOLLAR/ GOLD OIL the figure will probably remain capitalisation is still $2.7trillion
Nikkei 30991.7 -0.86%
POUND POUND Per troy ounce, Brent crude, the same. (£2.2trillion).
London pm fix per barrel
 NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56 i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
45
INSURANCE

Which? names firms most

at fault for disputed claims
By Grace Gausden Ombudsman in 71 per cent of cases also been an increase in the num-
it ruled on about buildings insurance ber of upheld customer complaints
Some home insurance customers delays and 61 per cent of cases about against insurers, suggesting firms
have said they feel bullied and cheat- claim values, suggesting the majority are wrongly denying customers the
ed by their providers when making of these customers face a struggle to money they are owed – and therefore
claims, an investigation has found. get back what they are owed prior to deepening their stress and worry.
Some policyholders could face involving the Ombudsman. Forty per cent of claims made to
drawn-out claims processes, Which? After Ageas, Fairmead and Royal the Ombudsman were upheld in the
said, while others are facing adver- & Sun Alliance were the insurers customers’ favour in April to June
sarial treatment from staff when most likely to deny claims. AXA, LV this year, compared to 31 per cent in
claims are being decided or settle- and Zurich were also in the top ten. the same period last year.
ments determined. Which? is concerned about some Of the 34 products the Financial
The consumer group said that this insurers’ treatment of potentially Conduct Authority publishes general
prolongs the ordeal for those trying vulnerable customers. There has insurance values measures data on,
to find a satisfactory resolution after stand-alone buildings and contents
their often-distressing events.
Which? submitted a Freedom of Which? said home insurers
cover are among the five products
least likely to pay claims.
Pet spend is on the pup and up
Information request to the Finan- need to make sure their In the investigation, Which? spoke Betty the Maltese Yorkshire which reveals over half of pet
cial Ombudsman Service which products and services meet to nine claims experts. One cited an terrier cross and Eccles the owners will spend more time and
identified the 11 firms most likely to reasonable expectations, so example in which a claimant was dachshund model Barbie and money on their pets than them-
be found at fault in cases involving customers aren’t given a nasty offered £60,000 by their insurer to Ken costumes, some of Amazon selves this year. The study also
delays, declined claims and claims surprise later on, adding that firms cover the whole claim, but after in- UK’s most popular pet Halloween reveals that film and TV-themed
value disputes. need to address complaints. dependent experts intervened the costumes, following research costumes are popular.
Insurer Ageas was criticised by the payout was pushed up to £250,000.

Puzzle solutions
Dominoes Journey Finder Train Tracks
1 3 2 4 7 3 5 6
Number Square idoku Kakuro Wijuko
0 1 4 5 5 6 5 1 1 1 4 3 1 4 2
8 + 1 x 2 18 6 + 9 x 1 15 4 8 6 9 5 1 2 7 3 11 22
4 8 14
6
5 4
2 3 1 3 4 0 2 6 2 2 1 2 1 3 + x x x - - 5 1 3 2 7 8 9 6 4 1 3
22 21 11 5 8
4
4 0 2 6 1 5 2 3 3 2 3 4 2 4 3 9 2 7 3 6 4 5 1 8
6
1 3 2
3
1 2 1 7 9
2
4 x 7 - 9 19 3 - 7 x 8 -32
4 1 6 3 2 6 5 1 4 3 2 3 4 3 A 6 2 5 8 1 3 7 4 9 6
24
8 7 9 11 8 9
17 6 10
12

6 2 2 0 5 6 5 3 1 1 4 1 2 1 + - x + + x 15 24 5 3 9
4
7 6 4 5 2 9 8 3 1 8 7 15 8 9 7 21 11
4 4 1 1 4 4 0 0 2 3 4 4 3 2 6
6 - 5 + 3 4 2 - 4 - 5 -7
1
1 3 9 8 4 6 7 2 5 7 11
1 2 4 3 2 3 5 1
3 3 2 0 6 0 3 5 B 18 2 54 20 6 -35 6 7 1 4 8 2 3 5 9 14
3 4 5 2 13 2 4 3
9

Number Hexagon Zygolex 3 4 2 6 9 5 1 8 7 16

6
3 1 2 9 9 7
16

Binary Daily Quiz 8 9 5 7 1 3 6 4 2 11

9 2
6
3 2 1
8 3 1 LEFT TO RIGHT: Word Ladder 8 17
0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 bloom; series; root; 7 1 8 7 2
6 5 2 6 5 1. Boo Radleys HAIL BUYS
0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 pain; room; chain;
1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 2 7 1 4 7 1 8
2. Beech SAIL BUNS
space; spare; chair; 3. Bruschetta
1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 SOIL BINS
1 4 3 8 2 3 4 2 5 pace; stool; speed; 4. Telford
0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 8 7 4 1 9 6 1 7 stoop; pact; pool COIL WINS Sudoku Jigsawdoku
COOL WINE
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 2 1 3 6 2 4 3 9 8 5 6 4 7 2 1 3 9 8 5 6 3 1 7 4 2
1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 COOS VINE
3 2 4 8 5 1 7 6 9 4 6 3 9 7 2 1 5 8
ABC Logic
8 2 5 1 7
0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 7 6 1 2 9 3 4 5 8 1 5 7 2 8 4 9 3 6 C C
1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 6 8 3
8 1 7 5 6 4 9 3 2 6 2 4 5 9 7 8 1 3 C C A B B
2 5 3 9 1 8 6 4 7 8 7 1 3 4 5 2 6 9 A B C
Saturday’s Codeword 3713 Word Wheel 4 9 6 3 7 2 1 8 5 3 9 2 1 6 8 4 7 5 B B A C C
1 2 3 4
T O G K F S N Q W P J C L
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
NINE-LETTER WORD rupturing 6 7 9 1 3 5 8 2 4 5 1 9 7 2 3 6 8 4 C C B A
OTHER WORDS gin, girt, grin, grip, grit, input, nip, nit, pig, pin, ping, pint, 1 3 8 4 2 9 5 7 6 2 3 8 4 1 6 5 9 7 A A C B
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
R U V I Y D E A H B Z X M pit, prig, print, purring, rig, ring, rip, ruin, tin, tip, trip, turnip, unit 5 4 2 7 8 6 3 9 1 7 4 6 8 5 9 3 2 1
B C B

Killer Sudoku Minesweeper Number Tower Calcudoku Word Square Rectangles Pathfinder Chain Link
1 02 2 3 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 I L C S R A D N E L 5 6 2 4 1 3
5 6 1 2 4 8 7 9 3 692 R A S H
2
3 3 2 2 2 10 M I C K C N C E C A
4 8 9 7 3 5 1 2 6 321 371 2 6 5 3 1 4
1 1 3 2 2 3 3 4 A N N A 18 3 3 B K K C H A Y S R O
6 1 3 5 4 2 4
3 2 1 5 6 4
2 7 3 1 9 6 5 4 8 3 3 1 1 2 161 160 211 S S B A I V R E K H
0 1 4 4 5 2 4 6 3 1 S N O W 2
I R E I L I C B R O
9 4 6 5 8 7 2 3 1 1 1 2 2
94 67 93 118 8
N F T A N O R U Y W
4 1 6 3 5 2
3 4 1 2 6 5
8 5 2 3 1 9 6 7 4 1 3 3 2 63 31 36 57 61 H A W K 2
N I T I D D I K B L
1 1 2 2 1 1
1 3 2 4 5 6 18 4 16 1 4 3 6 2 5
I T I S A R R E R I
1 3 7 4 6 2 9 8 5 2 2 1
41 22 9 27 30 31 4
T D E S L O C S T E
2 4
3 2 4 6 7 1 8 5 9 1 1 2 0 20 21 1 8 19 11 20 Y E R A L O W L O R 2 5 4 1 3 6
2 0 3 2
6 9 5 8 2 3 4 1 7 1 2 1 3 4 0 Knight’s Tour
Battleships Bridges 6 3 5 2 4 1
7 1 8 9 5 4 3 6 2
84 93 34 95 30 91 32 11 28 7
Word Fit 35 96 83 92 33 12 29 8 17 10 3
1
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3 1 5
3 2
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1
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S L U L T R A 97 36 81 78 25 88 13 16 9 18
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Word Search
D P O L G
Futoshiki G R E E T S T A N Z A S U
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1 2 E E Y E X R L P R S R C Q R L
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46
Today’s Weather Today’s high Today’s low Moon Phase Sunrise Sunset

Sunny spells, variable amounts of patchy cloud and a threat of showers

developing, which will be most frequent in the south and west. 16º 2º 06:50 16:37
Around Britain Five-day
Weather

City Temp Rain Sun

Temperature Sea state Orkney Shetland outlook
(Midday yesterday) (mm) (hrs)
17 °C Calm
Aberdeen 8 R 8.5 0.0
Aberporth 12 SH 4.6 0.5 8 15
Slight
Aberystwyth 13 F 8.0 2.3
Aviemore 7 R 2.9 0.0 Wind speed Moderate
Belfast 12 F 3.6 4.1 Kirkwall
Birmingham 12 F 17.3 5.0 15 mph Rough 9
Bournemouth 11 SH 23.2 2.3 Inverness 9 35 Lerwick
Bridlington 11 F 9.8 2.6 30
7 8 9
Bristol 12 F 2.0 5.3 Aberdeen
Cardiff 14 F 0.3 3.6 11
13
Cromer 14 S 13.2 4.6 Fort William
Durham 10 R 32.0 0.0
Eastbourne 13 SH 17.5 1.3 15
Edinburgh 11 R 22.8 0.0 Dundee
Eskdalemuir 10 R 11.1 0.0
10 10
Glasgow 10 R 13.0 0.0 TUESDAY Sunny spells
Holyhead 14 C 3.4 4.0 tomorrow but there is a
Hove 13 SH 17.5 1.3 Glasgow Edinburgh
chance of showers across
Hull 11 F 15.6 0.5 Atlantic 9 England and Wales. Heavy
Huntingdon 14 F 0.0 4.5 Ocean rain will spread into the
Ipswich 13 C 35.9 4.0 south-west later.
Isle of Man 13 F 7.4 4.0 North
Isle of Wight 12 SH 29.8 1.5 Sea
Kinlochewe 9 R 2.4 0.0 Derry/Londonderry Dumfries Newcastle
Kirkwall 9 F 1.2 0.5 Carlisle
Leeds 11 F 4.5 3.3 11
Lerwick 8 S 0.0 4.5 Belfast
Leuchars 11 SH 7.2 0.0 11
Lincoln 12 F 0.0 4.7 11
Liverpool 12 F 1.4 5.7 11
London 12 T 14.0 1.9 York 11
Manchester 12 C 7.0 4.3 13
Leeds Hull
Margate 12 R 10.7 1.1 10
Milford Haven 13 T 7.7 0.9 Irish Manchester
Morecambe 12 F 3.4 0.1 Galway Liverpool 14
Newcastle 10 R 25.6 0.0
Dublin Sea Sheffield
11 Llandudno
Norwich 14 F 11.1 4.6 12
Nottingham 13 F 8.0 5.9 WEDNESDAY Unsettled
13 Nottingham with rain clearing north and
Okehampton 12 R 3.4 3.7
Oxford 12 R 4.8 2.9 Norwich eastwards to reveal
Plymouth 14 T 6.2 1.8 Birmingham 15 scattered showers and
Portland 14 SH 10.3 2.1 12 periods of sunshine. Fresh
Portsmouth 12 SH 27.5 2.5 southerly winds.
Cambridge
Prestwick 11 R 2.0 0.3
15
Rhyl 13 F 0.9 5.5 Cork
Sheffield 13 F 10.6 6.0 Oxford
Shrewsbury 12 F 0.6 5.3 15
Swansea
Skegness 13 F 10.0 5.4 Celtic Cardiff Reading London
Southend 12 SH 5.6 1.3 Sea Bristol
Stoke 12 C 5.2 5.1
Stornoway 10 SH 0.8 0.0 14
Swansea 14 SH 5.9 2.4 Channel Islands 11
14
Tiree 12 R 0.8 0.0 Southampton Brighton 10
Alderney 12
Exeter Portsmouth

Global Guernsey
Plymouth 15
12
City Temp Cond City Temp Cond Sark FRANCE
(in C) (in C) 15
English Channel
Abu Dhabi 32 S Miami 29 F THURSDAY Unsettled with
15 Jersey
Abuja 32 S Milan 16 SH rain clearing northwards
Alicante 22 S Moscow 0 C 15 and eastwards to reveal
Amsterdam 14 F Mumbai 34 S bright spells and scattered
Athens 25 S Munich 16 S showers. Yellow warning
Bangkok 30 TH New York 26 S GENERAL SITUATION bringing steady spells of rain with Cen S England, SE Eng, Channel Is, sunshine and variable amounts of for wind.
Barcelona 21 S Nice 17 SH Today brings a messy low pressure some heavy donwnpours likely. London, East Anglia, Midlands, E patchy cloud cover. Mostly dry in
Beijing 19 S Palma 23 S situation with two centres merging Some dry spells later in the day with Eng: A bright morning is expected the evening. A few light showers are
Berlin 13 F Paris 15 SH
to form lengthy spells of rain across a chance of sunny intervals before with plenty of sunshine across the possible for eastern areas. Wind will
Brussels 14 C Prague 15 F
Budapest 20 S Reykjavik 3 S
southern and western areas. There dusk. Gentle south-westerly wind. region. Throughout the afternoon a be a gentle north-easterly. Max
Chicago 10 C Rio 29 F is a great deal of frontal action, Max temp: 16C. Tonight, scattered few light showers will develop as temp: 11C. Tonight, settled spells.
Delhi 28 S Rome 23 F bringing bands of cloud with only showers. Min temp: 6C. cloud bubbles up throughout. The Min temp: 2C.
Dubai 33 S Stockholm 3 F some patchy sunny intervals across IoM, NW Eng, NE Eng: showers will be heaviest for the Republic of Ireland, N Ireland:
Dublin 10 R Strasbourg 16 SH Scotland. Scattered showers push in A dry but dull start to the day with Midlands. Then, mostly dry with A bright day is expected across
Frankfurt 14 SH Sydney 25 S from the west driven by unstable mostly cloudy skies and only a small patchy cloud across the evening. Ireland with some periods of 11
Geneva 18 S Tenerife 25 S maritime air, with heavy spells of chance of sunny intervals. A few Wind will be a gentle southerly. Max sunshine, but also variable amounts 11
Helsinki 0 F Tokyo 18 S rain expected across Wales and light showers will develop temp: 16C. Tonight, cloudy spells. of cloud cover as well as the threat 12
Hong Kong 26 F Toronto 14 F south-west England. Gentle variable throughout the afternoon, bringing Min temp: 7C. of showers develops. Showers may
Istanbul 24 F Vancouver 7 S winds. intermittent spells of light rain or NW Scotland, N Isles, W Isles, NE be locally heavy in Leinster. Clear
Johannesburg 15 TH Vienna 14 S SW England, S Wales, N Wales: drizzle. The afternoon will be Scotland, SW Scotland, SE spells and showers expected during 13
Lisbon 19 TH Warsaw 15 S An unsettled day is expected as low mostly dry for the far north. Wind Scotland: Any early patches of mist the evening. Wind will be a light to
Los Angeles 21 S Washington 29 S pressure stays firmly in control. will be gentle but variable. Max will soon lift and clear. It will then gentle easterly. Max temp: 13C.
Madrid 16 SH Wellington 15 S
From dawn, heavy showers will temp: 13C. Tonight, cloudy spells. be a bright day across Scotland with Tonight, showery spells. Min temp: FRIDAY Heavy and steady
push in from the south-west, Min temp: 4C. lengthy periods of autumnal 6C. rain clears to the east
Key: C=Cloudy, DR=Drizzle, throughout the morning,
F=Fair, FG=Fog, H=Hail, M=Mist, R=Rain, leaving some patchy
S=Sunny, SH=Showers, SL=Sleet, SN=Snow, SYNOPTIC PRESSURE An area of low pressure will be located sunshine. Windy in the
SS=Sandstorm, TH=Thunderstorm to the east of the United Kingdom, in the North Sea and will south, light elsewhere.
slowly track northwards but will fill. Another area of low
HIGH
Air PollutionLowAir(1)pollution levels
Very high (10)
1008
pressure will be located to the west of the UK and will track
towards the UK and will fill. High pressure to the north of the UK
Index uk-air.defra.gov.uk will decline during the day.
Region Today Tomorrow LOW
1000
Highlands 3 3 HIGHS AND LOWS HOURS OF DARKNESS
North East Scotland 3 3 (Yesterday, up to 2pm) Aberdeen 16.29-07.17
Central Scotland 3 3
3 Birmingham 16.42-07.01 10
Scottish Borders 2 Warmest: Morpeth-Cockle
Northern Ireland 2 2 Park,968 1016
Northumberland, 27C Bristol 16.47-07.01 10
Cardiff 16.49-07.03 12
North West & Mersey 2 2 Coldest:
976 Shobdon,
1024
North East 2 2 Herefordshire, 5C Glasgow 16.41-07.20
Yorkshire & Humber 2 2 984 Charlwood,
Wettest: 1032 Hull 16.32-06.58 14
North Wales 3 3 Surrey,
99237.6mm
1040 Inverness 16.34-07.26
West Midlands 2 2 Sunniest: Weybourne, Liverpool 16.43-07.08
2 2 1048
Norfolk, 7.4hrs
East Midlands London 16.37-06.51 SATURDAY Low pressure
South Wales 3 3 continues to be firmly in
3 3 Manchester 16.40-07.05
South West charge. Heavy rain
South East 3 3 Stornoway 16.42-07.38
throughout England and
Eastern 3 2 Key: 1024 Isobars: air pressure Swansea 16.52-07.07 Wales. Fresh variable wind.
Greater London 2 2 in millibars Warm front Cold front Occluded front York 16.34-07.02

mp_d1d_aiii_00002023
 Slip

SPORT NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56 i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
47

Results Service FORMULA ONE BOXING

GOLF
COMMERCIAL BANK QATAR MASTERS, DOHA, Final
round (Gbr & Irl unless stated): 270 S Valimaki (Fin) Home favourite
Fury’s title fight
67 67 67 69 (won at the first extra play-off hole); J
Campillo (Sp) 69 65 66 70; 272 S Jamieson 65 72 66 69;
I Elvira (Sp) 68 69 66 69; 273 J Smith 68 68 69 68.
Sergio Perez,
front, crashes on
in doubt after
HORSE RACING RESULTS
Aintree - Good to soft
12.50 1. EQUINUS (J Turner) 5-2 fav; 2. Secret Trix 9-2; 3.
the first corner
AP
injury setback
Prairie Wolf 13-2. 11 ran. 5l, 16l. (N Twiston-Davies). 1.25
1. CELEBRE D’ALLEN (Elizabeth Gale) 3-1 fav; 2. Landof-
smiles 14-1; 3. Nestor Park 4-1. 11 ran. 16l, 33/4l. (P Hobbs By David Charlesworth
& J White). 2.00 1. JETOILE (D Jacob) 25-1; 2. Minella
Drama 9-1; 3. Al Dancer 9-1. 11 ran. 7-2 fav Hitman
(11th). 13/4l, 23/4l. (R Potter). 2.35 1. INTHEWATERSIDE (H
Cobden) 4-7 fav; 2. Jagwar 7-2; 3. Rich Spirit 50-1. 11 ran. Tyson Fury is doubtful to
hd, 23/4l. (P Nicholls). 3.10 1. CRAMBO (C Brace) 11-8 fav;
2. Santos Blue 6-1; 3. Knockanore 18-1. 8 ran. 21/4l, ns. (F
face Oleksandr Usyk for the
O’Brien). 3.45 1. MASTER CHEWY (S Twiston-Davies) 2-1; undisputed world heavyweight
2. General Officer 9-2; 3. Martator 20-1. 5 ran. 5-4 fav
Pembroke (4th). 12l, 17l. (N Twiston-Davies). 4.20 1. SUN-
title on 23 December after being
SET MARQUESA (H Cobden) 12-1; 2. Sweet Honey B 10-1; left bloodied and bruised in a
3. Lady In The Park 9-2. 11 ran. 4-1 jt-fav Betty’s Tiara
(5th), 4-1 jt-fav Lady Jago (7th). nk, 1/2l. (Joe Tizzard). Jack- contentious points win over
pot: £8,883.10. Placepot: £141.50. Quadpot: £34.20.
Francis Ngannou.
RUGBY LEAGUE
INTERNATIONAL MATCH What seemed a total mismatch
England (12) .............................. 14 Tonga (0) ...........................................4 between the unbeaten WBC
RUGBY UNION
WORLD CUP FINAL
champion and a mixed martial
New Zealand (6) ....................11 South Africa (12) ...................12 artist making his professional
GALLAGHER PREMIERSHIP
Bath (8) ............................................24 Leicester (9)................................25
boxing debut in Riyadh, Saudi
Bristol (11)...................................21 Harlequins (13) .......................23 Arabia, almost went awry for
Exeter (29) ...................................43 Sale (0)................................................ 0
Newcastle (6)........................... 14 Northampton (6) ................. 16 Fury. He was expected to toy with
Bath
P W D L
3 2 0 1 83 67
F A B Pts
3 11
the former UFC heavyweight
Exeter 3 2 0 1 122 32 2 10 champion but instead endured
Bristol 3 2 0 1 79 64 2 10
Harlequins 3 2 0 1 73 64 1 9 a torrid night, receiving a small
Gloucester
Sale
3 2 0 1 50 66
3 2 0 1 44 75
1
0
9
8
cut on his forehead before being
Northampton 3 1 0 2 58 67 3 7 knocked down in the third round.
Leicester 3 1 0 2 56 73 1 5
Saracens 3 1 0 2 50 93 0 4 Fury rose almost straight away
Newcastle 3 0 0 3 54 68 2 2
but was clearly unnerved by an
UNITED RUGBY CH’SHIP : Connacht 34 Glasgow 26; Ed-
awkward opponent whose style

Sweet 16 wins for

inburgh 17 Lions 16; Leinster 34 Sharks 13; Ospreys 34
Zebre 31; Stormers 52 Scarlets 7; Benetton T 13 Mun-
ster 13; Dragons 9 Cardiff 16; Ulster 26 Blue Bulls 19.
lowing two pulsating starts after he could not get to grips with,
SNOOKER Kevin Magnussen’s high-speed crash relying on his jab and the odd
NORTHERN IRELAND OPEN, BELFAST, Final: J Trump resulted in a red flag at the midway combination to get by over the ten

Verstappen as
(Eng) bt C Wakelin (Eng) 9-3.
stage of Sunday’s 71-lap race. rounds.
TODAY’S FIXTURES (7.45pm unless stated)
THE SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP Lewis Hamilton banked the fast- Ngannou produced the flashier
Coventry v West Brom (8) ............................................................................
SCOTTISH CUP SECOND ROUND: Musselburgh Ath
est lap and impressed to finish run- blows, leading to an outcry on
ner-up, ahead of Charles Leclerc and social media when Fury was

Perez makes a
v Clyde.
CRICKET Carlos Sainz. Lando Norris drove awarded a split decision win,
ICC WORLD CUP - GROUP STAGE: Afghanistan v Sri
Lanka (Pune, 08.30am). from 17th to fifth, passing George given the nod 96-93 and 95-94 on
Russell with four laps remaining on two scorecards as a third judge

spectacular exit
a strong afternoon for the Brit, in an sided against him 95-94.
Sport on TV event that Perez will want to forget. “Tyson’s got a cut there so it’s
As Verstappen sliced through on no good setting a date whilst
Cricket: Afghanistan v Sri Lanka the opening bend, 130,000 Mexican he’s got that cut on the top of his
Sky Sports Cricket, 8am hearts sank when an over-eager head – we’ve got to see how that
Football: Coventry v West Brom By Philip Duncan race came to a sorry end after just Perez crashed into Leclerc. heals,” Warren said in the ring
Sky Sports Football, 7.30pm 14 seconds. Leclerc and was sent airborne be- afterwards.
Baseball: Rangers v Max Verstappen equalled Alain Verstappen’s remarkable winning fore landing back on four wheels and “He’s going to rest up, that’s
Diamondbacks Prost’s tally of 51 victories with an sequence, which now includes a re- spinning into the run-off area. Perez what’s going to happen next then
TNT Sports 1, 11.30pm emphatic triumph at the Mexican cord 16 in one season, continued in limped back to the pits but his race he’ll make his decision because
Grand Prix, as Sergio Perez’s home the breathless Mexico City air fol- in tatters. he’s the boss. But this fight is on.”

RACING HUNTINGDON GOOD TO SOFT 3.35

MACER GIFFORD HANDICAP CHASE (CLASS 3) £18,000
added 2m 104yds

Flooring Porter stirs up

DAILY CHARGED UP OFFERS AT RHINO.BET HANDICAP 1 1324-1 GENERAL MEDRANO (D) E Lavelle 6 12 0 ................ T Bellamy
12.40 CHASE (CLASS 5) £9,000 added 2m 4f 2 /F62-1 IN THE AIR (D) G L Moore 5 11 10...............................Jamie Moore
3 126P-2 ROSE SEA HAS (D) Dr R Newland 8 11 8 ..............C Hammond
1 266P-9 JACKS TOUCH S Humphrey 8 11 8................................N Scholfield 4 43-246 SEA PRINCE (D) A Hales 7 11 4 ...................................................K Woods
2 8334-5 STAR FLYER W Greatrex 6 11 8 ................................................. J Bowen 5 12472- GENEROUS DAY (D)(BF) Henry Oliver 11 11 2 ....A Edwards

thoughts of Cheltenham
3 F26-52 OUT THE GLEN (CD) O Murphy 10 11 8 ...............L Stones (3) C 6 2/224- OUT ON THE TEAR (D) S Allwood 9 10 12........................C J Todd
4 2523-3 KANKIN (BF) A Hales 7 11 6 ............................................................K Woods - 6 declared -
5 P34/51 FOXEY O Murphy 8 11 6 ..................................................................... S Bowen BETTING: 9-4 General Medrano, 11-4 In The Air, 5-1 Generous Day, 13-2
6 1P/42P CALVIC Mrs L Hill 7 11 4 ...........................................................................D Bass Sea Prince, Out On The Tear, 7-1 Rose Sea Has.
7 1427-8 HERITIER DE SIVOLA P Kirby 6 11 2...............J Williamson (5)
- 7 declared -
BETTING: 11-4 Foxey, 3-1 Kankin, 7-2 Out The Glen, 13-2 Star Flyer, 15-2 others. NEWCASTLE STANDARD
By Jon Freeman the bang in-form trainer. “And I don’t FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AT BETRHINO NOVICES’
RACING EDITOR see why he couldn’t match his hur- 1.15 HANDICAP HURDLE (CLASS 5) £9,000 added 3m 1f Slip

Cheltenham Festival talk when the

top dles form. His engine is still there.”
Flooring Porter showed over hur-
1
2
3
54113- BIG CHANGES D Faulkner 6 11 8 ................... Shane Quinlan (3)
9P13-2 ROYAL LAKE (BF) A Ralph 7 11 7 .........................................J J Burke C
29-1F4 CATUABA (D) C Longsdon 5 11 6 ......................................................J Best
1
5.25
WIN 2,000,000 BETMGM’S GOLDEN GOALS RESTRICTED
NOVICE 312 CHESHIRE
STAKES (CLASSDANCER H Palmer
5) 2YO £6,500 added 9 71m .................................O Murphy 8

new jumps season proper has only

just begun can be irritating. Yes,
tips dles that he was much better going
left-handed than right-handed, but
it’s massive, but it’s not the only gig BEST BET that still leaves Leopardstown, Ain-
that matters. Amasar tree and, of course, Cheltenham on
It was, though, hard not to think (6.00pm, the route map, so there’s plenty of the
almost five months ahead after Newcastle) big stuff to go at.
Flooring Porter ran out a narrow Found one One reputation restored, but a
but decisive winner at Cheltenham’s too good, last few took a hit over the weekend,
‘Showcase’ fixture on Saturday. two starts. notably Hitman and My Drogo, the
Flooring Porter won the Stayers’ leading fancies for yesterday’s Old
Hurdle at the Festival in both 2021 NEXT BEST Roan Chase at Aintree, but beat-
and 2022, but he’s not a big horse and General en pointless by Ryan Potter’s 25-1
jumping fences was never an obvious Medrano outsider Jetoile.
career move, especially now that he is (3.35pm, Hitman has often promised more
approaching nine. Huntingdon) than he has delivered, but finishing
And he wasn’t foot-perfect on his Looked a tailed off last was a low ebb.
chasing debut, but he jumped well natural over My Drogo was also disappointing,
enough for Gavin Cromwell to start fences on but he was returning from close on
dreaming about more Cotswolds winning two years on the sidelines and we
glory next March. chasing might yet see a lot better from a chas-
“I know he’s not very big, but he debut. er who was once tipped to go right to
doesn’t jump like a small horse,” said the top.
4
5
6
92P2-3 BOLEYN BOY B Case 5 11 5....................................................H Bannister
632342 FORTUNATE FRED J Snowden 8 11 4 .................G Sheehan C,T
63737- ALDSWORTH R L Llewellyn 5 11 3 ....................Toby Wynne (3)
7 51-P5P DILLARCHIE J E Foster 6 11 2 .Emma Smith-Chaston (3) T
- 7 declared -
BETTING: 3-1 Royal Lake, 10-3 Fortunate Fred, 9-2 Boleyn Boy, 5-1 others.
DOWNLOAD THE RHINO.BET APP NOVICES’ HANDICAP
2.25 CHASE (CLASS 4) £11,000 added 3m
1 23123- STORMINHOME (D) B Pauling 6 11 12...............................K Woods
2
3
/3447- SURREY QUEST T Lawes 6 11 12 ........................................K Brogan T
14B49- MILAN BRIDGE (D) S Humphrey 7 11 11 .....N Scholfield B,T
4 137/3- HOLLY HARTINGO (C) A Ralph 7 11 10 ..............................J J Burke
5
6
41315- PEARLY ISLAND (C) L Wadham 7 11 9.............................T Cannon
22224- SPORTING ACE (BF) N King 7 11 9 .......................................J Quinlan
7 5-521P TANGO ECHO CHARLIE Dr R Newland 9 11 8.....C Hammond
8 3121P- GERICO VILLE C Gordon 7 11 7 ...................................................R Dingle
9 230P-4 HARJO (D) C Longsdon 6 11 5 ..................................Lilly Pinchin (3)
10 43420- LEPASHE (D) S Allwood 6 11 2 .............................................. R T Dunne
- 10 declared -
BETTING: 4-1 Sporting Ace, 9-2 Storminhome, 11-2 Pearly Island, Holly
Hartingo, 15-2 Gerico Ville, 10-1 others.
DISCOVER WHATS TRENDING AT RHINO.BET CASINO
3.00 HANDICAP HURDLE (CLASS 5) £8,000 added 2m
1 32P5-2 FIRST QUEST (D) Miss S West 9 11 9 .............M Goldstein C,T
2 033P- JERSAY DU TROTTET J Candlish 4 11 8 ..............Sean Quinlan
3 16-P22 IOLAOS DU MOU (D)(BF) N Henderson 5 11 8 .......N De Boinville
4 2-3466 REDBRIDGE RAMBLER M Keighley 5 11 7 ................... S Bowen
5
6
3354-U JACK THE SAVAGE (D) L Horsfall 6 11 7 ...............A Edwards H
415P-6 LIFETIME LEGEND N King 5 11 4.....................................J Quinlan H
7 54P1-P ODIN’S QUEST (CD) G L Moore 5 11 2 ....................Jamie Moore
- 7 declared -
BETTING: 11-8 Iolaos Du Mou, 7-2 First Quest, 6-1 Redbridge Rambler,
7-1 Jersay Du Trottet, 15-2 Odin’s Quest, 12-1 others.
2
3
4
5
4 FREDS MATE C Johnston 9 5 ..........................................................J Hart 4
KING’S SCHOOL D M Simcock 9 5 ..............................C Shepherd 3
5 MILLBUIE Ewan Whillans 9 5 ................................... P Mulrennan 1
NORTHGATE A Brittain 9 3 ........................................................C Hardie 5
6 5 PADDY MAYNE Phillip Makin 9 3 ............................................R Scott 7
7 342 RICH HARRY Alice Haynes 9 3 .............................................. K O’Neill 6
8 9 WHITE COCO D M Simcock 9 0 .............................................L Morris 2
- 8 declared -
BETTING: 7-4 Cheshire Dancer, 15-8 Rich Harry, 6-1 Freds Mate, 13-2
King’s School, 14-1 Paddy Mayne, 16-1 White Coco, 25-1 others.
BEST RACING ODDS GUARANTEED AT BETMGM
6.00 NURSERY (CLASS 5) 2YO £7,100 added 1m
1 468 TRAFALGAR SQUARE A Balding 9 10...................O Murphy T 5
2 244 RUN FOR THE SUN E Dunlop 9 9 ........................................R Havlin 2
3 510647 PASSIONATELY Miss A Murphy 9 7 ..................................J Hart B 6
4 038 SWIFT VICTORY J Tate 9 7.................................................T Marquand 3
5
6
622 AMASAR (BF) C Johnston 9 4 ...............................................J Fanning 1
33631 ARIZONA DESERT D F Davis 9 3 ............................. O Lewis (7) T 4
7 677213 AMAYRETTO (D)(BF) T Easterby 8 11.................................D Allan 7
- 7 declared -
BETTING: 11-4 Arizona Desert, 7-2 Amasar, 9-2 Amayretto, 5-1 Trafalgar
Square, 11-2 Run For The Sun, 8-1 Swift Victory, 20-1 Passionately.
6.30
BOOST YOUR ACCA AT BETMGM NURSERY (CLASS 4)
2YO £9,700 added 5f
1 321212 CURIOUS ROVER (D)(BF) K Scott 9 9 ........................ W Pyle (5) 5
2 1124 DUE FOR LUCK (D)(BF) J J Quinn 9 8 ......................................J Hart 1
3 120625 GANESHA (D) Phillip Makin 9 8 .................................................R Scott 7
4 1633 BLUE STORM (D) J Tate 9 8 .......................................T Marquand H 4
5 718 RARE JEWEL (D) W Haggas 9 3 .......................................D Tudhope 6
6 46027 CALLIANASSA B Ellison 9 3 ............................................. B Robinson 8
7 3162 HAVANA ROSE E Bethell 8 13 ...................................P J McDonald 2
8 32564 TANGLED UP IN BLUE A West 8 11 ...................................L Morris 3
- 8 declared -
BETTING: 9-4 Curious Rover, 7-2 Rare Jewel, 9-2 Due For Luck, 13-2 Blue

48 SPORT
Eddie Jones faces the media
following Australia’s World Cup exit
Jones resigns
as head coach
after disastrous
World Cup
Eddie Jones has resigned as Austral-
ia head coach, according to reports
in the country.
The 63-year-old former England
boss was in charge of a disastrous
World Cup campaign, which saw
Australia fail to reach the knock-
out stages for the first time in their
history.
During the tournament in France
it was reported that Jones had held
talks to take over Japan for a second
time, despite being less than one
year into a five-year contract which
was set to expire after the 2027
World Cup.
Following the reports, Jones said:
“I gave it a run. Hopefully it will be
the catalyst for change. Sometimes
you have to eat s**t for others to eat
caviar further down the track.”
There was no confirmation from
Rugby Australia yesterday.
Jones was reappointed Australia
head coach in January 2023, just
one month after the Rugby Football
Union sacked him for a poor run of
results in which England had won
just five of 12 Tests in 2022.
He led England to three Six Na-
tions titles, including the Grand
Slam in 2016, and also to the final of
the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Jones’ return to Australia, for
whom he coached between 2001 and
2005 and led them to the 2003 World
Cup final in which they were beaten
by England, quickly turned sour.
The Wallabies won two of nine
Tests this year, against minnows
Georgia and Portugal, and suffered
respective 22-15 and 40-6 World Cup
defeats to Fiji and Wales.
Australia’s 12.5 per cent win rate
in Jones’s second stint as Wallabies
coach is the least successful in their
history.
Jones denied he took part in an
interview with the Japanese Rugby
Football Union both during and after
the World Cup.
Despite multiple news outlets re-
porting that he was poised to meet
officials in Japan next month for a
second interview, Jones repeatedly
told the media that he was commit-
ted to Australian rugby.
The Sydney Morning Herald re-
ported the precise terms of Jones’
release are yet to be finalised.
Slip
Rugby World Cup 2023
N
ine words scribbled at
the top of the page in
my notes from South
Africa’s victory press
conference after Sat-
urday night’s Rugby World Cup
final in Paris were the necessary
takeaway from the Springboks
capturing their record fourth title.
“You need to be a South African to
understand.”
The words came from Siya Kolisi,
the South Africa captain who, for a
second time now, has lifted the little
gold pot that gives the rugby world
so much excitement and anxiety
every four years.
The flanker had been sin-binned
in an epic final, a 12-11 victory over
New Zealand, and was about to
explain the forces that bind his team
together and enabled them to come
through a third one-point victory
in a row, after seeing off France in
the quarter-final and England in
the semis. There is room for just
an excerpt below but it may have
been the greatest such analysis ever
heard in the aftermath of a sporting
event, and still it leaves the outside
observer with a sense of mystery,
as there are base emotions and
intellectual processes at work here
we may never comprehend.
These are the forces beating
within Rassie Erasmus, the South
African director of rugby who
stayed in the background of the
celebrations, but whose rugby
brain and drive is reflected in
an unrelenting team and their
sometimes unlovely tactics.
Substituting Bongi Mbonambi
early in the final, when the hooker
had twisted his knee, and calling it
a tactical replacement so he might
be used later in case of a front-row
injury, was an utterly cynical move.
But all evening there were calls by
players and coaches and the English
referee Wayne Barnes that divided
opinion, and Erasmus sees it as his
life’s work to get the right side of
them. He and his Springboks make
everything intensely personal.
They prod at your heart and twist
your mind, making you question to take up a lucrative contract with
if they are taking things too far, or
Hugh Racing 92. “There’s not a lot of It is a beautiful country
maybe you as a rival are not going things going right in our country,” with a lot of problems. But
far enough. They make you wonder, Godwin said Kolisi, “and we have the once we come together,
for example, what unity of purpose RUGBY UNION privilege, not the pressure, of being nothing can stop us
England may need to find to make CORRESPONDENT able to do what we love, and inspire
up the apparently narrow deficit people from different walks of life. I
they suffered at the champions’ messages and videos and what is have my own reasons to play rugby, community because without them,
hands in Paris a week ago. going on in South Africa,” Nienaber I have my own goals and ambitions, I wouldn’t be here. Some players
Flick back to South Africa’s first said. “I think there were 62 million I want to look after my family, and are playing for parents who are not
World Cup win in 1995, when Nelson people that united, from small I make sure to give back to my here any more.
Mandela presented the trophy to farming communities opening up “But what brings us together
Francois Pienaar. It was only five showgrounds, that people from all is our country. What brings us
years after Mandela had walked walks of life could go in, and the together to play for is the Springbok
free from jail. The Springboks entrance fee was whatever you and then South Africa. I can’t
had missed the first two Rugby want to donate. People bought explain it to you. You need to be
World Cups in 1987 and 1991 due to green t-shirts for everyone. We felt a South African to understand.
apartheid. They would go on to win every single little bit of energy they You need to come to South Africa
it again in 2007 and 2019. gave us, and in the last three games, – it’s a beautiful country with a lot
Pienaar the white Afrikaner with three one-point victories, we of problems. But once we come
captain might have been a symbol needed that.” together, and we’ve come together a
of the hideous past but instead he Pieter-Steph du Toit, the lot before, for a common goal, and I
represented unity as he delivered blindside flanker who blindsided the promise you, nothing can stop us as
an immortal line in response to a All Blacks with 28 tackles across a country. It’s not just in sport. It’s
question about the support in the the ground, was named player of in life in general. And that’s what we
Johannesburg stadium. “We didn’t the match and dedicated the win to try to do, each and every single day.
have 60,000 South Africans, we had “my heavenly father”. Christianity “The friendship – I have known
43 million South Africans.” is another side of this team that Jacques since I was 18 years old,
It was echoed on Saturday defies easy analysis. and coach Rassie gave me my first
night by Jacques Nienaber, So we return to Kolisi, who contract. Me and Eben [Etzebeth,
the bespectacled former danced in to meet the press the lock forward] met when
physiotherapist who has been with a smile and a song and we were 17. We were sitting
ushered forward as the Springboks’ the World Cup gleaming in there before the game, and
head coach thanks to a long working his hands. He will be part of Eben was laughing. ‘What a great
partnership with Erasmus. “I wish a victory tour back home opportunity, to be doing this with
I could show you the amount of before returning to Paris people we have come along with.’

‘You need
to be South
African to
know’ –
Secret to
Boks’ win
is with 62m
teammates
Mbongi Mbonambi (above, left) and
Trevor Nyakane celebrate the win in
Paris; Eben Etzebeth (left) escaped
unpunished for a leading-arm
challenge GETTY
It’s real for us, we care for each
other. We care for our country. And
I will do this over and over again.”
The manifestation is many-
faceted: forwards smashing
into scrums and backs with
equally bulging biceps in a rush
defence that mostly held the
New Zealanders, who had been
magnificently faithful to their own
guiding principle of running and
handling as part of this complex
game. Erasmus’s traffic-lights
in the Bok coaches’ box to beam
decisions down to the pitch; the
seven forwards on the bench
instead of the customary five; the
Slip
accusation hotly made by England
in the week leading up to the match
that Mbonambi had racially abused
their flanker Tom Curry.
During the final, half a dozen
decisions prompted intense debate.
Barnes is the most experienced
referee ever, at his fifth and last
World Cup, and he had a team of five
to back him up – the two assistant
referees, a television match official
and two foul-play review officials –
and still disagreement reigned.
The New Zealand captain Sam
Cane’s first-half red card for his
shoulder striking the face of Jesse
Kriel was directly descended from
concerns over brain injury – one
man’s final or possibly even career
shaped by a crisis decades in the
making. NFL American football has
seven officials at a match. The same
for rugby, one day?
Nienaber is off to Leinster now,
also cashing in on his success. In the
Stade de France changing rooms,
the Boks frolicked with rich friends
in Roger Federer, whose mother
was born in South Africa, and
Princess Charlene, a former South
African Olympic swimmer, with her
husband Prince Albert. And in the
middle sat that little gold pot.
So much to make sense of, but
on one aspect everyone can agree:
South Africa are world champions.
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
Two Englishmen and one
Welshman in the class of 2023
Hugh Godwin selects i’s team of the Rugby World Cup
With one last mention of the
notorious lopsided draw, we have a
team here including a few players
who did not make it beyond the
fearsomely competitive
quarter-finals, when
France lost to South
Africa, and New Zealand
beat Ireland. Plus a
sprinkling from both the
champions who retained
their title, and the teams
who lit up the pool stage.
Wouldn’t it be fun if this 15
actually played together? Start
hitting the phones, Barbarians!
15 An excellent swansong
Liam Williams (Wales)
before a move to a Japanese club
for an inventive player who
proves you don’t need to be
big to thrive in the back
three.
14
Rodrigo Marta
(Portugal, above)
In as a representative
of his always watchable
team, Marta also scored one
of the tries of the World Cup,
the decisive late score in Os Lobos’
first ever tournament win over Fiji
in Nantes, created by his teammate
on the opposite wing Raffaele
Storti, who also had an astonishing
tournament.
13 Fiji’s captain remained
Waisea Nayacalevu (Fiji)
dignified through difficult
circumstances, with two
team-mates suffering family
bereavements, and perceived
injustices from subconsciously
biased referees.
12 Bundee Aki (Ireland)
Seemed to have found an
extra metre of pace when carrying
and scored four tries during
Ireland’s run to an ultimately
painful exit in the quarter-finals, yet
again.
Faf de Klerk’s tackle on New Zealand’s standout player Ardie Savea personified the champions’ spirit GETTY
IQ
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BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
11 The wing’s six tries and
Damian Penaud (France)
smiling face were motifs of the
French hosts’ initial buoyancy
before they ran into a green
Springbok wall in the
quarter-finals.
10 Richie Mo’unga
(New Zealand)
Edges the final winner
Handré Pollard for his
lovely skills in tight spaces,
showing rugby can still be a
game for handlers and runners. His
break for the disallowed try in the
final was a thing of pure beauty.
9byAAntoine
Faf de Klerk (South Africa)
position destined to be filled
Dupont until the
Frenchman’s cheekbone
4 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa)
challenge with a leading arm not
was smashed by Namibia’s
Johan Deysel. The
full-body tackle by
De Klerk on Ardie
Savea off a line-out
in the third quarter of
the final epitomised the
champions’ spirit.
1 Overcame a chest injury to turn 6 Player of the match in the final,
Ox Nché (South Africa)
the semi-final with England, off the
bench and into a dominant scrum.
Plus, you know, he sells t-shirts
bearing the slogan “salads don’t win
scrums”.
2 Peato Mauvaka (France)
Scored tries against Uruguay,
Italy and South Africa, and stepped
up to fill the gap left by the injury
to first-choice Julien Marchand of
Toulouse.
3 Dan Cole (England)
Some people said it was all over
for the Leicester Tigers tighthead
after the 2019 World Cup, but his
country needed him, even if his
semi-final solidity was also a nod to
the lack of depth in the position in
England.
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
49
Hugh’s XV
i’S TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT
L Williams
R Marta
15
D Penaud
14 11
13 W Nayacalevu
12 B Aki
R Mo’unga 10 9 F De Klerk
8
7 A Savea 6
B Earl P-S du Toit
5 4
S Whitelock E Etzebeth
3 2 1
D Cole P Mauvaka O Nché
Some fans raged over a
picked up in the final, but he also
terrorised the All Black line-out.
5
Sam Whitelock (New Zealand)
Still turning in a quality
performance off the bench in the
final, and accumulated just short of
350 minutes across the World Cup
at the age of 35. An all-time great.
Pieter-Steph du Toit (S Africa)
with 28 tackles, so quick to every
challenge, just as he had been in
the opening-weekend splattering
of Scotland that signalled South
Africa’s title credentials.
7 Ben Earl (England, left)
Here in his favoured position of
flanker but included for the way he
shone at No 8, breaking off scrums
and ripping up the field in open play.
8 Ardie Savea (New Zealand)
A leader in every sense, he
never stops going forward. In the
final, lost his back-row colleagues
Shannon Frizell to a yellow card
and Sam Cane to a red, otherwise
the outcome might have been very
different.
50 SPORT

CRICKET

Defeat leaves
qualification for Ben Stokes is
Lucknow scoreboard
2025 in doubt bowled for a
10-ball duck and
India (2pts) beat England by 100 runs
England won toss
INDIA
Runs 6s 4s Bls Min
By Chris Stocks (inset) yells his *R G Sharma c Livingstone b Rashid 87 3 10 101 162
IN LUCKNOW disapproval as he S Gill b Woakes
V Kohli c Stokes b Willey
9 0 1 13 18
0 0 0 9 12
makes his way off S S Iyer c Wood b Woakes 4 0 0 16 21
†K L Rahul c Bairstow b Willey 39 0 3 58 77
England’s abysmal World Cup the field REUTERS S A Yadav c Woakes b Willey 49 1 4 47 75
campaign has left them in danger R A Jadeja lbw b Rashid 8 0 0 13 14
Mohammed Shami c Buttler b Wood 1 0 0 5 4
of failing to qualify for the 2025 J J Bumrah run out 16 0 1 25 44
Champions Trophy in Pakistan. K Yadav not out
Extras (b4 w3)
9 0 1 13 18
7
Jos Buttler’s team need to Total(for 9, 50 overs) 229
Fall: 1-26, 2-27, 3-40, 4-131, 5-164, 6-182, 7-183,
finish in the top eight of the World 8-208, 9-229.
Cup group standings to qualify, Did Not Bat: Mohammed Siraj.
Bowling: D J Willey 10-2-45-3, C R Woakes 9-1-33-
but after their loss to India in 2, A U Rashid 10-0-35-2, M A Wood 9-1-46-1, L S
Livingstone 4-1-29-0, M M Ali 8-0-37-0.
Lucknow yesterday they remain ENGLAND
rooted to the bottom of the table Runs 6s 4s Bls Min
with five defeats from their J M Bairstow b Shami
D J Malan b Bumrah
14 0 2 23 53
16 1 2 17 25
opening six matches. J E Root lbw b Bumrah 0 0 0 1 2
B A Stokes b Shami 0 0 0 10 14
It means England are now *†J C Buttler b K Yadav 10 0 1 23 33
scrapping it out with Bangladesh M M Ali b Rahul Shami
L S Livingstone lbw b K Yadav
15 0 0 31 55
27 0 2 46 56
and the Netherlands to reach C R Woakes st Rahul b Jadeja 10 0 1 20 21
D J Willey not out 16 2 0 17 29
Pakistan and will probably need A U Rashid b Shami 13 0 2 20 19
two wins from their final three M A Wood b Bumrah 0 0 0 1 3
Extras (lb2 w6) 8
matches – against Australia, the Total(34.5 overs) 129
Dutch and Pakistan – to get there. Fall: 1-30, 2-30, 3-33, 4-39, 5-52, 6-81, 7-98, 8-98,
9-122.
Failing to qualify would be a Bowling: J J Bumrah 6.5-1-32-3, Mohammed Siraj
6-0-33-0, Mohammed Shami 7-2-22-4, K Yadav 8-0-
huge embarrassment for the 24-2, R A Jadeja 7-1-16-1.
England & Wales Cricket Board. Umpires: A T Holdstock and R J Tucker.
But even more embarrassing is
that the International Cricket
Council failed to communicate
the change in qualification
process that was ratified in
November 2021. England were
only being made aware of it
minutes before their match
against India after being
informed by travelling UK media.
An ICC spokesperson said:
“Qualification for the ICC Men’s Search begins standings with three games to go and futuristic Ekana Stadium what they
in danger of missing out on qualifica- wanted – England bowled out for 129
tion for the 2025 Champions Trophy. in 34.5 overs.

for answers after

Champions Trophy 2025 is the Remarkably, it has taken just The wall of noise that greeted each
host [Pakistan] plus the top seven three-and-a-half weeks for England’s wicket was deafening. And the sight
teams in the ICC Men’s Cricket aura to evaporate completely. of nearly every member of the
World Cup 2023 table at the Yet such is the elongated 50,000-strong crowd wear-
conclusion of the event.”

Morgan and Mott

England’s latest nature of this tourna-
ment that they are still
not mathematically
1
ing India replica shirts
presented England’s
beleaguered players

at odds over
squad unity
» Continued from back page
when you’re winning but a lot
harder when you’re losing, and
I’m proud we just keep trying to
get up,” said the Australian, who
was appointed England men’s
white-ball coach last year.
Pressed on Morgan’s comments
and reminded the former captain
still has eyes and ears in the
dressing-room, Mott said: “Eoin’s
entitled to his opinion and he’s
obviously been away for a couple
of weeks with the birth of his
child. He hasn’t been in and
around the rooms.
“I’ll certainly take that up with
him and have a chat to him. I’ve
got a really good relationship
with him, so if he’s seeing
something I’m not I’ll definitely
have that conversation.”
Morgan, whose original
comments were made before the
India game, followed up after
yesterday’s 100-run defeat,
saying: “They’ve won one game
since they’ve arrived here, which
is unbelievable.
“If you had told me on the
flight over that England would be
sitting bottom of the tournament,
I’d have laughed in your face.”
sorry collapse
INDIA
Rohit 87; Willey 3-45 229-9
ENGLAND
Yadav 4-22, Bumrah 3-32 129
India win by 100 runs
Chris
Stocks
AT BHARAT RATNA
SHRI ATAL BIHARI
VAJPAYEE EKANA
CRICKET STADIUM
The face of Ben Stokes said it all.
Crumpled in anguish, he resembled
Edvard Munch’s The Scream as he
trudged off with a 10-ball duck fol-
lowing England’s worst shot so far of
a wretched World Cup.
Only weeks ago, Stokes had come
out of ODI retirement for big mo-
ments like this. Set 230 to win on
a tricky Lucknow pitch, the stage
was set for England’s talisman to
set up a face-saving win against the
unbeaten hosts.
Instead, after being tied down by
the India attack, he attempted an
ugly heave through the off-side and
was bowled by Mohammed Shami. It
left the defending champions 33 for 3
in the eighth over of their chase and
– completing a collapse of 3 for 3 in 19
balls – proved to be the beginning of
the end for a team who look a shadow
of their former selves.
The shot was emblematic of a
shocking campaign in which Jos
Buttler’s men have lost five of their
six games, this one by a 100 runs.
That’s a record number of defeats
for England at a single World Cup
– some going considering some of
the horrific tournaments they’ve en-
dured over the years. This, though,
is the worst of the lot considering
the fact they won the trophy just four
years ago.
Indeed, this performance against
an India team with six wins from six,
and who look destined to grab Eng-
land’s crown, closed the circle from
Stokes’ match-winning innings in
the 2019 final against New Zealand
at Lord’s.
Unable to summon up any of the
stardust he sprinkled on that most
memorable of occasions, Stokes
looked as spent and devoid of belief
as the rest of his team-mates.
It’s been some transformation
from second favourites for this
World Cup to battling it out for the
wooden spoon with the Netherlands
and Bangladesh.
England are currently leading
the race for that, rock bottom of the
out of the running for with a wall of blue.
a semi-final place. Virat Kohli’s nine- Not that it affected
Defeat by a re-
surgent Australia in
ball duck was his
first in World Cups
them to begin with
as they produced one
Ahmedabad on Satur-
day would do the trick.
– in 57 innings of their best bowling
performances of the
For a team still smarting tournament to restrict a
from last summer’s drawn powerful India batting line-
Ashes series against Stokes’ up to 229 for 8 in their 50 overs.
Test team, Pat Cummins’ men It gave the few English fans in the
would take great relish in landing crowd here – and the many more
the knockout blow. watching at home on TV – reason for
If this latest sorry performance hope. That rose when openers Jonny
had been a boxing match, the referee Bairstow and Dawid Malan got the
would have stopped it 16 overs into chase off to a bright start, reaching
the chase when Buttler was bowled 30 without loss in the fifth over.
by left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep But if this World Cup has taught us
Yadav, reducing England to 52 for 5. anything is it that this current guise
It didn’t take too much longer to of the England ODI team can find a
give a sell-out home crowd at the way to lose from any situation.
The nature of the latest timid,
nerve-racked batting display made
comments from 2019 World Cup-
winning captain Eoin Morgan over
the weekend particularly pertinent.
“I’ve never come across a sports
team that has underperformed like
this, given the level of expectation
that is on their shoulders,” Morgan
told Sky Sports.
“There’s something within the
Play of the day team that is definitely unsettled. I
think there’s something else going
When Liam Livingstone ran in on – there has to be.”
from deep midwicket to take Coming from somebody who
a spectacular diving catch to knows these players so well, we must
dismiss Rohit Sharma after assume Morgan is spot on.
India’s captain tried to go big Given the level of underper-
against an Adil Rashid googly. formance, we all deserve to know
what is going on.

FOOTBALL ARSENAL 5-0 SHEFF UTD
Nketiah underlines his value for tougher
battles ahead with razor-sharp hat-trick
By James Gray
Arsenal probably could have
fielded their Under-21 team against
Sheffield United and come away
with all the points.
The injury-stricken Blades have
produced the worst-ever start to
a Premier League campaign – one
point from a possible 30 – and never
came within 20 yards of a shot
on target.
But Mikel Arteta said he had
given his players a “big alert” two
days before the game, warning
them that it would be too easy to let
their guard down.
“So we beat [Man] City, we come
from the international break, we
have to go to Stamford Bridge and
we did what we did in Stamford
Bridge [2-2],” he said.
“Then you have to go to Seville
and that’s a really, really stressful
week with as well what they were
experiencing in the last few weeks.
“So then you can have the
tendency to…”
Arteta exhaled and gestured a
downing of tools, a relaxation that
Arsenal could not afford.
But nevertheless, they did feel
they could give captain Martin
Odegaard and centre-back Gabriel
Magalhaes the day off with little
to no risk of it coming back to
bite them.
There will be tougher days
though, and with winter drawing
in and twice-weekly fixtures now
the norm, Arsenal’s squad depth
will be severely tested in the
coming months. It is something
of which serial Premier League
title-winners Manchester City have
become the masters. You cannot
win the treble with the same XI
every week, yet Pep Guardiola’s side
rarely dip in performance.
Much of it comes down to
recruitment, of course, the best
WOLVES 2-2 NEWCASTLE
Howe still adjusting to the rigours of Europe
By Ian Parker
Eddie Howe has admitted Newcastle
are still adjusting to the demands of
their European schedule after they
were held at Wolves on Saturday,
and said he will need to be “careful”
with his team selection for the mid-
week Carabao Cup tie away to Man-
chester United.
The Magpies are back in the
Champions League for the first time
in 20 years this season, and travelled
to Molineux on the back of a disap-
pointing 1-0 home defeat to Borussia
Dortmund on Wednesday night.
There was disappointment in the
west Midlands that they were twice
pegged back by Wolves, with goals
from Mario Lemina and Hwang Hee-
chan cancelling out strikes by Cal-
lum Wilson, but Howe denied there
were signs of fatigue in Newcastle’s
Eddie Nketiah became Arsenal’s leading scorer with Saturday’s hat-trick PA
example being the £14m City paid
for Julian Alvarez.
In the bargain Argentine, they
have found a talented striker
who can, with equal aptitude,
complement or understudy Erling
Haaland depending on what is
required.
So, too, the interchangeable
centre-halves, the addition of
Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes
in midfield, or the versatility of
Bernardo Silva.
On Saturday’s evidence, Arsenal
still lack the ability to field a second
XI that could feasibly win trophies.
Odegaard may have had a quiet
few weeks – the other, unspoken,
reason for giving him a rest – but
Kai Havertz’s inability to influence
a game that was barely a two-horse
performance and said the final phase
of the game pleased him most.
“Certainly (the schedule) is some-
thing we’re going to have to get used
to this season, and this is what we
want on a regular basis, this is the
pinnacle, so we’re not moaning about
it,” Howe said.
“The only disappointment is we’ve
got a lot of injuries to attacking play-
ers and it’s limited my options to
change or freshen the players up but
every player wants to play football
and the lads will get a lot of football
in the next few weeks...
“(The glass is) definitely half-full.
We have to be really positive after
the performance and effort given.
Nobody can say we weren’t commit-
ted, we weren’t brave and we didn’t
give everything to win the game so
I’m very proud of the players.”
Not for the first time Wolves boss
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
race was striking. In a comparable
4-0 win over Bournemouth,
Odegaard made 56 passes.
Against Sheffield United, Havertz
made just 36 and only one incisive
enough to receive the classification
of “key”.
The German’s best position
remains a mystery, but filling
Odegaard’s boots is not it.
Sitting next to the Norwegian on
the bench was Gabriel, and while
his replacement, Jakub Kiwior,
had very little to do defensively,
his pass completion rate of under
90 per cent (virtually the same as
David Raya and the second-worst
of Arsenal’s defensive players)
did perhaps betray that he still
has a long way to go as a left-sided
centre-half.
Hwang Hee-chan celebrates his
second-half equaliser for Wolves
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56
And ahead of him another
second-stringer, Emile Smith Rowe,
made his first Premier League start
in 17 months, the No 10 on his back
a sign of how important he could or
perhaps should be to Arsenal. But
again he looked distinctly rusty and
it is hard to imagine Arteta will be
able to trust him any time soon.
But at least the manager does
have one willing and able deputy,
who became Arsenal’s top scorer
this season with a brilliant treble:
Eddie Nketiah.
Arteta was at pains to point out
that Nketiah is hardly a back-up,
given he has started eight of the 10
Premier League games this season.
“That tells you how much we
trust them, how much I trust him
and and the importance that he has
in the team,” Arteta said.
“He’s a great player for Arsenal.
He started nine games in the
Premier League. He’s already
really, really good. He can be
better, yes, and the best thing he’s
got already is that talent that he’s
got, but especially his mentality
is incredible.
“And when he has that mentality
with that talent, obviously he’s
going to get much better.”
One of the Premier League’s
greatest strikers had similar praise.
On Match of the Day, Alan Shearer
said: “He’s unlikely ever to be the
main man but when you’re in a
football club that’s challenging for
honours, you need players of quality
to come in and he is that.He’ll
always be a threat.”
Gabriel Jesus looks set to miss
several weeks with a hamstring
injury, including a tough trip to
Newcastle in a week’s time, but it
is an absence Arsenal look well-
stocked to cope with. It is one of the
few areas in which they do have the
depth they need to keep firing on
multiple fronts, week in, week out.
Gary O’Neil was left to fume at the of-
ficials, calling the decision to award
Newcastle a penalty on the stroke
of half-time “scandalous” as Fabian
Schär went down with apparently
minimal contact when challenging
Hwang for the ball.
In that context, O’Neil was de-
lighted with the way his side fought
back to take a point, but it could
be an expensive one as the in-form
Pedro Neto pulled up holding his
hamstring and was taken off on a
stretcher in the second half.
“He’s moving around,” O’Neil said
of the Portugal winger. “Obviously
hamstring injuries have very differ-
ent levels of severity, so we’re hoping
it’s on the smaller side.
“We’re hopeful Pedro won’t be
missing for too long.
“He’s been a big part of what we’ve
managed to do so far.”
i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
51
B’MOUTH 2-1 BURNLEY
Iraola hails Scott for
inspiring first win
Bournemouth head
coach Andoni Iraola
saluted Alex Scott’s
commitment after
he impressed in
Saturday’s win over Burnley.
Iraola claimed a maiden victory
in the Premier League at the
10th time of asking after goals by
Antoine Semenyo and Philip Billing
cancelled out Charlie Taylor’s
11th-minute strike for the visitors at
Vitality Stadium.
Summer signing Scott (above)
made his second consecutive start
and played the whole match despite
only recently returning from a knee
injury following a £25m move from
Bristol City.
Iraola admitted it would have
been better for Scott, 20, to be
eased into Premier League action,
but the absence of Tyler Adams
and Lewis Cook’s suspension forced
his hand. “With the players we had
out we really needed him for 90
minutes,” Iraola explained.
CHELSEA 0-2 BRENTFORD
Pochettino wants
team to get ‘nasty’
Mauricio Pochettino
repeated his lament
that Chelsea were
“not nasty enough” in
attack as Brentford
won at Stamford Bridge to send
his team to a third home Premier
League defeat of the season.
Victory for the visitors, earned
with second-half goals from Ethan
Pinnock and Bryan Mbeumo,
maintained their 100 per cent
record on this ground since being
promoted to the top flight in 2021
and ended Chelsea’s run of three
league games unbeaten.
Pochettino (above) has
complained in the past that he
wants his side to be more “naughty”
and after this latest defeat, he said:
“After the first half we should score
and we didn’t. We were not nasty or
clinical in front of the goal.”
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP
Danilo leaves it late
to rescue Rangers
Substitute Danilo
headed in a dramatic
added-time winner
against Hearts as
Rangers won 2-1
to close the gap behind Celtic at
the top of the Premiership to five
points.
Jambos skipper Lawrence
Shankland gave the visitors the lead
after five minutes with a stunning
header. The mood inside Ibrox was
not helped when skipper James
Tavernier smacked the post with a
penalty at the end of the first half.
However, within final minutes
of normal time Philippe Clement’s
side were awarded a second penalty
after a VAR check for a Peter
Haring foul on Connor Goldson
and Tavernier slammed the ball in
and in added time Danilo (above)
nodded in.
52 SPORT Premier League

Diaz family
kidnapping
puts result in
perspective
LIVERPOOL
something Klopp said he was not
Jota 31, Nunez 35, Salah 77 3 prepared for.
Kidnapping footballers’ families
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
has a history in South America. In
0 2004, the Brazilian forward, Robin-
ho, was forced to pay a ransom after
his mother was kidnapped in Santos.
Soon afterwards, he signed for Real
Tim Madrid and took his family with him
to Spain.
Rich Darwin Nunez is from Uruguay,
AT ANFIELD called “the Switzerland of South
America” and a richer, very different
country to Colombia. This has been
This was an afternoon dominated by a season in which he has begun to
an absence as Luis Diaz was forced to stamp out suggestions that the £85m
pull out of the Liverpool squad after Liverpool paid Benfica for him last
his parents were kidnapped in his year was a symbol of the Premier
native Colombia. His mother, League’s runaway inflation.
Cilenis, was reportedly It was his venomous shot

5
rescued by a police op- which the Nottingham
eration, though his Forest keeper, Matt
father, Luis Manuel, Turner, palmed into
was still missing as Mo Salah has scored Jota’s path to open
the Liverpool man- in Liverpool’s first Liverpool’s scoring.
ager, Jürgen Klopp, five home league Then, after a wonder-
began his post-match games, matching ful, flowing counter-
press conference. John Aldridge’s attack that finished ened to break the sequence. It says Clough, was forced in the wake of ny Elanga did strike the underside
“We heard last night record with Dominik Szoboszlai something for their record at Anfield Chris Wood’s hamstring injury to of the crossbar but, by then, Forest
[at the team hotel]. I have cutting the ball back from that Brian Clough never won here begin without a recognised striker. were three goals down. Ironically,
never experienced anything the deadball line for Nunez to with Forest – his great triumph at His tactic of packing his defence and Forest conceded all three when they
like this before,” he said. “How can drive it into the roof of the net. Anfield was a goalless draw in 1978 hoping for something on the break were pushing forward.
you make a football game important This match was played on the first that knocked Liverpool, the holders, was destined to fail. If you are plan- The third was the kind of goal that
after something like this?” When anniversary of Liverpool’s last home out of the European Cup. ning a smash-and-grab raid, it is would feature on DVDs of football
Diogo Jota scored, he ran over to defeat in the Premier League, a 2-1 Steve Cooper, perhaps Notting- necessary to have a brick and Forest howlers. Turner came out to meet
hold up Diaz’s number seven shirt, loss to Leeds. Forest never threat- ham Forest’s best manager since came equipped with pebbles. Antho- a very long ball from Szoboszlai,

Calvert-Lewin answers critics with

perfect strike to add to Moyes’ woes
WEST HAM
0 mistake only ever precedes anoth-
EVERTON
Calvert-Lewin 51 1 of its target and out of play, even the
Daniel
Storey
CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER
AT LONDON STADIUM
When you realise that the most in-
teresting action between West Ham
and Everton in the first half was a
brief scuffle that led to nothing more
notable than two yellow cards, you
will understand the poor quality dis-
played in the pouring rain. We might
euphemistically say that defences
were on top, but the truth finds a way
to struggle out. Nobody was on top
because barely anything happened.
Sometimes flawed football can be
fun, the match played in a state of
perma-tension as you wait for the
next thing to go wrong. Sometimes
it can be dreadfully dull because one
er. When Everton’s James Garner
played a 10-yard pass five yards wide
home supporters forgot to cheer and
emitted a dissatisfied groan.
Even then, you felt sure that Sean
Dyche was delighted to face such a
miserably lethargic opponent. He
would be forgiven for expecting
more cause to fight. So if Everton
had produced little before the break,
we might diagnose that as circum-
spection. They lay waiting to play
on the counter and then they made
good on that intent against a desper-
ate adversary.
David Moyes’ team should have
been more motivated than they
seemed. West Ham lost their long
unbeaten European record in Greece
on Thursday and have beaten only
Sheffield United in the league since
1 September. But they huffed and
puffed and gave the ball away as if ex-
pecting Sean Dyche’s team to even-
tually acquiesce to their mediocrity.
There is something not quite right
about the balance of this team, even
though Jarrod Bowen so often wrig-
gles them out of a pickle. After last
weekend’s questions over the mid-
field balance, Moyes dropped Tomas
Soucek and gave Mohammed Kudus
his first Premier league start. It is
true that Kudus was the brightest
player, retaining possession and oc-
casionally playing passes for wide
players to run onto – that made him
unique. Dominic Calvert-Lewin lashes home Everton’s winner GETTY
But an ostensibly attacking
change of personnel had its limita- At the other end, Everton pos- were exemplary. Calvert-Lewin has
tions. With Moyes not prepared sessing a better centre forward won four goals in his last six matches. He
to leave Edson Alvarez and James them the game. Dominic Calvert- is the international class attacker in
Ward-Prowse as a two-man midfield, Lewin has dealt with stinging and this team and he now receives stand-
Lucas Paqueta was given greater de- persistent criticism from his own ing ovations from his crowd.
fensive responsibility. That stymied supporters for the regularity of his Watching West Ham has been an
his creative verve. niggling injuries but his return to fit- experience over the last 12 months:
It doesn’t help that Michail Anto- ness and form will keep Everton up. the European endeavour, Bowen’s
nio is now the first-choice striker at Dyche left all three of his attacking directness, Declan Rice’s marauding
33. Antonio’s ability to hold up the summer signings on the bench – Beto, captaincy by example, Paqueta’s in-
ball has diminished badly and his Youssef Chermiti, Arnaut Danjuma vention. They have stepped grossly
penalty-box presence was virtually – in favour of Calvert-Lewin flanked in the wrong direction over the last
non-existent yesterday. Antonio last- by two wingers. Calvert-Lewin won few weeks, a football team with an
ed 55 minutes. Surely Moyes’ other headers, ran channels and generally unambitious plan that still regularly
option is to start Bowen centrally kept at least two defenders quiet. His fails to pull it off. Too often they are
and pick an attacking midfielder. turn and finish for the opening goal left holding out for individual magic.
 NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56 i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
53

Liverpool Emery wants to add Aston Villa Results Service

PREMIER LEAGUE

‘top teams’ to Villa’s

AFC Bournemouth (1) .......2 Burnley (1) ....................................1
Martinez Semenyo 22 Taylor 11
Alisson Billing 76 Att 11,152
Arsenal (1) ....................................5 Sheff Utd (0) ................................ 0
Nketiah 28, 50, 58 Att 60,153

lengthy list of scalps

Cash Konsa Torres Digne Vieira 88 (pen), Tomiyasu 90
Alexander- Konaté Van Dijk Tsimikas Chelsea (0) ................................... 0 Brentford (0) ..............................2
Arnold Att 39,929 Pinnock 58, Mbeumo 90
Wolverhampton (1)..............2 Newcastle (2)...............................2
Lemina 36 Wilson 22, 45 (pen)
McGinn Kamara Luiz Zaniolo Hwang 71 Att 31,584
Szoboszlai Mac Allister Gravenberch Aston Villa (1) ............................3 Luton (0) .........................................1
ASTON VILLA
McGinn 17, Diaby 49, Lockyer og 62 3 McGinn 17, Diaby 49
Lockyer 62 (og)
Martinez 83 (og)
Att 41,785
Salah Nunez Jota Diaby Watkins Brighton (1) .................................1 Fulham (0) .....................................1
Ferguson 26 Joao Palhinha 65
LUTON TOWN Att 31,550
Martinez og 83 0 Liverpool (2) ...............................3 Nottm Forest (0)..................... 0
Jota 31, Nunez 35, Salah 77 Att 50,143
Elanga Morris Brown Man Utd (0) ................................. 0 Man City (1) ..................................3
Att 73,502 Haaland 26 (pen), 49
By Tim Nash Foden 80
West Ham (0) ............................ 0 Everton (0)....................................1
AT VILLA PARK Calvert-Lewin 51
Aina Ogbene Barkley Nakamba
Sangaré Mangala Aurier Tottenham Hotspur
P
10
W D L F A Pts
8 2 0 22 9 26
Aston Villa must stop being Arsenal
Man City
10
10
7 3 0 23 8
8 0 2 22 7
24
24
“flat-track bullies” and beat the Doughty Osho Lockyer Mengi Kaboré Liverpool 10 7 2 1 23 9 23
Aina Murillo Niakhaté Boly Aurier best if they are to qualify for the Aston Villa 10 7 1 2 26 14 22
Newcastle 10 5 2 3 26 11 17
Champions League. Brighton 10 5 2 3 23 19 17
That’s the view of manager Unai Kaminski Man Utd 10 5 0 5 11 16 15
Turner West Ham 10 4 2 4 16 17 14
Emery after they made it 12 Premier Brentford 10 3 4 3 16 12 13

Nottingham Forest League home wins in a row since 18 Luton Chelsea

Wolverhampton
10
10
3 3 4 13 11 12
3 3 4 13 17 12
Crystal Palace 10 3 3 4 8 13 12
Substitutions: Liverpool Gakpo (Jota, 58), Elliott
February. Substitutions: Aston Villa Bailey (Zaniolo, h-t),
Carlos (Cash, 79), Tielemans (Kamara, 79), Traore Fulham 10 3 3 4 9 16 12
(Gravenberch, 59), Endo (Nunez, 80), Gomez Until Villa got caught out through (Diaby, 90), Dendoncker (Luiz, 90); Luton Townsend Everton 10 3 1 6 10 14 10
(Alexander-Arnold, 89); Forest Toffolo (Aina, 69), Nottm Forest 10 2 4 4 10 15 10
Yates (Dominguez, 69), Awoniyi (Boly, 69), N
their own mistakes late on, life was (Osho, 57), Chong (Brown, 58), Mpanzu (Nakamba, 76),
Adebayo (Morris, 76), Giles (Doughty, 79). AFC Bournemouth 10 1 3 6 8 21 6
Williams (Gibbs-White, 83), Santos (Mangala, 83); so comfortable that at one point their John McGinn celebrates Villa’s Luton
Burnley
10
10
1 2
1
7 9 20
1 8 8 25
5
4
supporters amused themselves by opening goal against Luton
Player of the match Sheff Utd 10 0 1 9 7 29 1
Player of the match chanting the name of Wayne Rooney, SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP
Blackburn (0)............................ 0 Swansea (1)...................................1
who has started off his reign as man- us,” he said. “That is the reality when Moussa Diaby Scored Villa’s second Cardiff (1) ......................................2 Bristol City (0) .......................... 0
Dominik Szoboszlai Provided ager of their arch-rivals Birmingham we play the top teams. goal and had various degrees of Hull (0).............................................1 Preston North End (0) ....... 0
Ipswich (1).....................................3 Plymouth (1) ...............................2
assist for two Liverpool goals against City with three straight defeats. “When we lost against Newcastle influence in their two others. Leeds (4) ........................................ 4 Huddersfield (0).......................1
a packed Forest defence. The stats didn’t lie: Villa had 71 per and Liverpool I told the players I Middlesbrough (0) ............... 0 Stoke (2) ...........................................2
QPR (1) .............................................1 Leicester (1)..................................2
cent possession, won the shots count want to reduce the distance between Southampton (2) ....................3 Birmingham (0)........................1
17-3 and on-target efforts 6-0. us and them in those matches when Villa captain John McGinn side- Sunderland (2) .........................3 Norwich (1) ...................................1
Watford (1)...................................2 Millwall (1) ....................................2
The only surprise was Villa didn’t we play them at home.” footed them ahead and Moussa Sheff Wed (2) ..............................2 Rotherham (0)........................... 0
make it more emphatic and Emery Luton manager Rob Edwards, Diaby drilled home the second, be- Leicester
P W D L F A Pts
14 13 0 1 29 8 39
Diogo Jota holds a shirt bearing the wants more if Villa are to become who started his playing career at fore defender Tom Lockyer helped Ipswich 13 11 1 1 29 15 34
Leeds 14 7 4 3 24 15 25
name of his absent team-mate Luis genuine contenders for a top-four Villa, is convinced his old club are Diaby’s cross into his own net. Southampton 14 7 3 4 24 25 24
Diaz, whose parents were kidnapped place – beating Champions League challenging for the elite spots. For Luton’s consolation, Ezri Cardiff 14 7 2 5 23 16 23
Hull 14 6 5 3 20 16 23
in Colombia REUTERS teams for a start. “Newcastle got into that top four Konsa’s header hit his own bar Sunderland 14 7 1 6 24 16 22
“We lost to Newcastle 5-1 and Liv- last season and Villa look like they’re then ricocheted in off goalkeeper Preston North End
West Brom
14 6 4 4 18 21 22
13 5 5 3 20 14 20
flapped at it and watched as Mo erpool 3-0 and they were better than at that sort of level at the moment.” Emiliano Martinez. Middlesbrough 14 6 2 6 19 20 20
Stoke 14 6 1 7 16 18 19
Salah sped away towards an empty Blackburn 14 6 1 7 20 23 19
net. He has now scored in Liverpool’s Swansea 14 5 3 6 20 18 18
first five home league games of the
season, something last done by John Palhinha ensures Fulham Brighton and Hove Albion
Birmingham
Bristol City
Watford
14 5 3 6 16 17 18
14 5 3 6 15 16 18
14 4 5 5 18 18 17

maintain hold over Seagulls

Norwich 14 5 2 7 25 27 17
Aldridge in 1987. Millwall 14 4 5 5 15 18 17
Plymouth 14 4 3 7 23 22 15
Back then Liverpool were cham- Coventry 13 3 6 4 17 16 15
pions by May and perhaps history Steele Huddersfield 14 3 5 6 14 27 14
Rotherham 13 2 3 8 12 24 9
will repeat. BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
ham’s pressing game had forced a QPR 14 2 2 10 10 26 8
Ferguson 26 1 wayward pass from Pascal Gross. Webster Dunk Igor Sheff Wed 14 1 3 10 7 22 6
SKY BET LEAGUE ONE
Silva said: “The way Joao leads Barnsley 2 Fleetwood Town 2; Blackpool 2 Peterbor-
West Ham United FULHAM
by his attitude, his commitment, the Adingra Baleba Dahoud Mitoma ough 4; Bristol Rovers 2 Northampton 1; Burton Albion
0 Leyton Orient 0; Cambridge Utd 1 Carlisle 0; Charlton
Palhinha, 65 1 way he lifts the others around him as 0 Bolton 2; Exeter 1 Lincoln City 1; Oxford Utd 2 Wy-
combe 2; Port Vale 1 Cheltenham 2; Reading 2 Ports-
well is something that is not easy to mouth 3; Stevenage 3 Derby 1; Wigan 2 Shrewsbury 0.
Areola find in football. We were not dynamic Gross Lallana Top of Table P W D L F A Pts
Portsmouth 15 10 5 0 25 10 35
By Ivan Speck and sharp enough in the first half to Oxford Utd 14 9 2 3 26 14 29
Ferguson
Zouma Aguerd Cresswell
AT AMEX STADIUM play the way we like to play against Bolton 14 9 2 3 27 18 29
Coufal Peterborough 15 8 4 3 25 16 28
a team that we knew would press Barnsley 15 8 3 4 31 15 27
There is something about facing us high. Jimenez Stevenage 16 7 5 4 22 17 26
Alvarez Ward-Prowse Blackpool 15 6 5 4 21 19 23
Fulham that niggles a Brighton side “And we were not aggressive Lincoln City 14 6 4 4 19 14 22
Willian Iwobi Derby 14 6 3 5 21 15 21
that still sits high and happy in the enough. They won most of the chal- Decordova- Wycombe 14 6 3 5 22 23 21
Bowen Kudus Premier League table in spite of this lenges, most of the second balls Reid SKY BET LEAGUE TWO
Paqueta
latest failure to beat the side from as well.” Palhinha Reed Accrington Stanley 0 Colchester 1; Barrow 0 Salford
City 0; Doncaster 1 Grimsby 0; Forest Green 2 Crawley
Antonio Craven Cottage. The first period appeared set fair Tn 1; Gillingham 0 Newport County 2; Harrogate Tn 0
Crewe 1; Mansfield 2 Walsall 1; MK Dons 3 Swindon 2;
In seven Premier League meet- for Brighton to canter to a com- Robinson Ream Bassey Castagne Morecambe 4 AFC Wimbledon 1; Notts Co 0 Wrexham
Calvert-Lewin 2; Stockport Co 2 Tranmere 0; Sutton Utd 2 Bradford 1.
ings with Fulham, Brighton fortable win. Carlos Baleba
CINCH SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP
are yet to win, a statisti- and Mahmoud Dahoud con- Leno Hibernian (0) ............................ 0 Celtic (0) ......................................... 0
Doucouré cal oddity that somehow trolled the base of the mid- Livingston (0)........................... 0 Dundee (0) .....................................2
McNeil Harrison Motherwell (0) .........................3 Ross County (0) ........................3
made sense in the light field and strode forward Fulham St Mirren (1) .............................. 4 St Johnstone (0) ...................... 0
Onana Garner of the visitors’ spirited with impressive purpose. Kilmarnock (1) ..........................2 Aberdeen (0) ............................... 0
Mykolenko Rangers (0) ..................................2 Hearts (1) ........................................1
Substitutions: Brighton Fati (Lallana, 58), Veltman
second-half comeback. Brighton took the lead, (Adingra, 71), Buonanotte (Baleba, 71), Gilmour P W D L F A Pts
Branthwaite TarkowskiPatterson This was not the flaky Evan Ferguson convert- (Dahoud, 71), Pedro (Ferguson, 78); Fulham Muniz Celtic
Rangers
10 8 2 0 23 6
10 7 0 3 19 6
26
21
(Jimenez, 58), Wilson (Decordova-Reid, 58), Pereira
Fulham which strug- ing with the minimum of (Reed, 58), Cairney (Willian, 86), Lukic (Iwobi, 90) St Mirren 9 5 3 1 15 10 18
Kilmarnock 10 3 4 3 13 12 13
gled to stay in the Premier fuss after an Igor Julio run Dundee 9 2 5 2 9 10 11
Pickford League following promotion in had given Gross the oppor- Player of the match Motherwell
Hearts
9 3 2 4 10 12 11
10 3 2 5 9 11 11
years past. tunity to slide the ball through for
Everton Under Marco Silva, they have his striker. Joao Palhinha A one-man wrecking
Hibernian
Livingston
10 2 4 4 13 16 10
10 2 4 4 9 17 10
Aberdeen 9 2 3 4 10 12 9
Substitutions: West Ham Benrahma (Antonio, 57),
Soucek (Ward-Prowse, 73), Ings (Cresswell, 85);
added a steely determination. Brighton would surely have gone crew of a midfielder who disrupted Ross County 9 2 3 4 9 15 9
St Johnstone 9 0 4 5 3 15 4
Everton Chermiti (Calvert-Lewin, 89). Shorn also of Aleksandar Mitro- on to win had Lewis Dunk found the Brighton’s flow throughout. CINCH SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP
vic, Fulham now follow the example requisite amount of dip on his free- Ayr 0 Morton 1; Inverness CT 1 Airdrieonians 0; Raith 1
Dunfermline 0. CINCH SCOTTISH LEAGUE ONE
of Joao Palhinha (above), the combat- kick, four minutes into the second Edinburgh City 3 Annan Athletic 2; Falkirk 3 Alloa
Player of the match ive Portuguese midfielder to whom half. Instead it skidded off the top of Cup commitments, Brighton man- 0; Kelty Hearts 1 Stirling 0; Montrose 0 Hamilton 3;
Queen of South 0 Cove Rangers 1.
a sopping wet Sunday in Brighton the bar, setting Fulham up for a stir- ager Roberto De Zerbi has the rare VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE
Dominic Calvert-Lewin Held the seemed perfectly suited. ring fightback instigated by a triple luxury of a whole week to coach Boreham Wood 1 Southend 1; Dorking Wanderers 2
Aldershot 1; Ebbsfleet United 0 Dag & Red 1; Gateshead
ball up, linked play, scored winner It was Palhinha who scored their substitution from Silva just before his players. 0 AFC Fylde 4; Hartlepool 2 Rochdale 3; Kidderminster
and was beloved by his fans again. equaliser with a sumptuous curler the hour. De Zerbi joked: “We can go holiday 1 Chesterfield 3; Maidenhead Utd 3 Eastleigh 2; Oldham
2 Altrincham 2; Oxford City 0 Barnet 2; Solihull Moors 1
from the edge of the area after Ful- Without European or Carabao for three days.” Wealdstone 0; Woking 0 Bromley 1; York 1 FC Halifax 1.
54 SPORT Premier League
‘He doesn’t » Continued from back page
wear earrings fulsome tribute afterwards, saying it
was a “privilege” to manage a player
or tattoos – he with his gifts.
“He doesn’t wear earrings or tat-
is one of the toos and has a normal car. He’s an
incredible player for us,” Guardiola
said.
best I’ve seen’ “He loves to play in Old Trafford
too. He has this ability to make a lot
of possessions and attack in the right
A year on and £300m spent and
United are still no closer to rivals
MANCHESTER UNITED
undressed Manchester United on
0 their own patch, no songs dreamt
up to commemorate this resound-
MANCHESTER CITY
ingly routine victory for the Euro-
Haaland pen 26, 49, Foden 80 3 pean champions. No reckoning or
calls for the overthrow of Erik ten
Hag are imminent off the back of
Mark this either, the boos at the end were
Douglas muted and barely audible. Manches-
ter City comprehensively defeated
NORTHERN FOOTBALL Manchester United while toggling
CORRESPONDENT
AT OLD TRAFFORD between second, third and the oc-
casional foray into fourth gears. It is
just what happens these days.
This was not one of those vivid, tech- But it is precisely the lack of alarm
nicolour derby trashings that passes bells clanging at Old Trafford which
into folklore. is the biggest concern. This is now
There’ll be no mural depicting United’s worst Premier League
the time an Erling Haaland brace start, a fifth defeat in the league
moments, he is so intelligent. Eve-
rybody loves him, and he played an-
other exceptional performance. He’s
one of the best players I’ve ever seen
in my life and I am lucky to train him.
“He is one of the best, for how in-
telligent and clever and what a good
guy he is.”
After a bright start United
couldn’t live with the European
champions and their second half
performance should send alarm
proving the recent late rescue acts
were nothing more than a mirage,
but it no longer constitutes cracked
badge crisis club territory. Mediocri-
ty has seeped into the red and white
DNA and a floundering Ten Hag has
played his part in that.
He’s talked a good game since the
summer but what progress have the
club really made on his watch? A
year ago they were walloped 6-3 at
the Etihad and Ten Hag’s terse re-
sponse garnered him plenty of plau-
dits. Here was the disciplinarian to
shake the club from its torpor.
But a year and some £300m spent
later, Ten Hag is no closer to bridg-
ing the gap to City and they appear
to be falling behind well-managed
bells ringing at Old Trafford. For
City and Guardiola (right), however,
it was proof that they are over their
recent wobble.
“The Brighton game [last week-
end] was so important after a few
defeats,” he said.
“It’s not the fact of a defeat, it’s
when it comes in your mind, you
start to have doubts and after it is
more difficult. To win here at Old
Trafford we are so proud.”
top four insurgents like Newcastle
United and Aston Villa. Pep Guar-
diola’s side are some benchmark,
with Rodri the midfield metronome
and Bernardo Silva the supplier
for chief executioner Haaland, but
United were so feckless, their team
selection so bewildering that their
manager can’t escape his share of
the blame.
We are told that Sir Jim Ratcliffe
– whose investment and new ideas
are imminent and will have been
confirmed by their next home league
game in November – intends to back
Ten Hag. Surely, though, that is just
canny PR so as not to unsettle the
current coaching incumbent. If Sir
Jim is serious about shaking things
When a defeat comes into
your mind you start to have
doubts and afterwards, it is
more difficult
Ten Hag, meanwhile, insisted
United had gone “toe to toe” with
City during the first half and defend-
ed the club’s direction despite the de-
feat confirming it as the club’s worst
up, performances will have to get
better sharpish or his new football
committee’s first job will be finding
another manager.
What was going through Ten
Hag’s head here? Raphaël Varane
sat on the bench while Jonny Evans
started. “Tactical,” Ten Hag said be-
fore the game. But their defensive
line was so deep, their back four so
flat-footed, that City’s buccaneer-
ing forward line was always going to
make hay against them.
In midfielder there was no Ca-
semiro while Mason Mount, the man
Ten Hag urged his bosses to win
an auction to land to offer his team
some control over games, sat on the
bench. Scott McTominay, a player
United have been hawking around
for the past three transfer windows,
was preferred in his place.
Predictably, there was no control.
Counter-attack is their best strat-
egy – their only strategy – and at the
outset there was a flash of hope when
McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund
darted decisively.

start in the Premier League era.
United’s manager said a
contentious first half pen-
alty – awarded via VAR
when Rasmus Hojlund
tugged the shirt of Rodri
– changed the game but
illustrated his frustra-
tion with the decision by
offering a terse “no com-
ment” when asked to expand
on that.
But City’s class, quality and game-
plan were a million miles more con-
vincing. Remember they arrived in
a rare mini-wobble, back-to-back
away defeats in the league offering
rare signs of sky blue vulnerability.
Not here, though. Haaland is sup-
posedly in a bit of a slump and lesser
men might have dwelt on being un-
able to force the issue when Andre
Onana scrambled the ball away from
his feet a few yards out with eight
minutes on the clock.
Was it going to be one of those
days? Haaland’s response, when
Hojlund’s tug on Rodri in the pen-
alty area was spotted by VAR, was
emphatic. He rolled the spot kick
passed Onana and bawled at the
Stretford End. Chants of “Keano”
– a reference to the career-ending
injury his father suffered on this
ground – encouraged him to cup his
ear to the crowd. Those days of red
dominance are long, long gone.
Onana was the only measly posi-
tive for United and kept them in the
game. He delivered a performance
He moved to defend his re-
cord, and insisted there was
no chasm between the two
teams, when he spoke to
the press afterwards.
“The three games be-
fore today we won. The
spirit is very good,” he
said.
“We are on the way up.
The start was difficult but
we’re on the way up.”
Manchester United
Onana
Dalot Maguire Evans
Amrabat McTominay
Eriksen
Fernandes
Hojlund
Haaland
Foden
Grealish Alvarez
Rodri Silva
Gvardiol Dias Stones Walker
Ederson
Manchester City
Substitutions: Man United Mount (Amrabat, h-t),
Reguilon (Lindelof, 73), Garnacho (Hojlund, 73),
Martial (Rashford, 86), Antony (Eriksen, 86);
Man City Kovacic (Alvarez, 87), Doku (Grealish, 87).
Player of the match
Bernardo Silva Provided platform
for Haaland to shine
Erling Haaland scores the opener for
City; celebrating his second goal; and
hailing Phil Foden AP/GETTY
of real heft here, pulling off three
world-class saves. He took a couple
of unnecessary risks with his feet
but with his hands he was brilliant,
a strong right arm keeping Haaland
from scoring four or five.
Contrast the Norway striker with
United’s great Dane. Hojlund has
something but he’s so raw. Sent away
by a loose sky blue pass just after the
half hour, he overran the ball and
City scrambled clear.
City scored again after the break,
a brilliant move that ended with
Silva overlapping before teeing up
Haaland for a header, and United’s
resolve dissolved. Phil Foden added
a third with 10 minutes remaining. It
could easily have been five or six.
There are some things this club
can still get right and the tribute to
Sir Bobby Charlton was pitch per-
fect. All four corners of the ground
applauded. Of course they did. For
all the attention afforded a few im-
mature morons last weekend, the
real fans were always going to show
their true colours.
NEWS
2-35
OPINION TV
18-22 26-31
IQ
37-41
BUSINESS SPORT
42-45 47-56 i MONDAY
30 OCTOBER 2023
55
Ten Hag’s defensive selection
was disaster waiting to happen
sign, alongside Christian Eriksen, a The fact that the Dutchman does
Pete figure who understandably does not not seem to be learning his lessons
have the engine he once had. is perhaps the most worrying
Hall That left Scotland’s answer to element to a defeat everyone
AT OLD TRAFFORD
Michel Platini, Scott McTominay, as saw coming.
United’s most advanced midielder, “First half we had a very good
M
with Bruno Fernandes deployed as game plan and the execution was
anchester United a wide forward. Rodri didn’t have to very good,” Ten Hag said.
were beaten before a break stride. “When you see first half, it is
ball was kicked at Old Injuries were again the company toe to toe and the penalty changes
Trafford. line after the match. But £55m the game.
Lindelof One look at the Mason Mount was on the bench, “We could have returned in
back four named by Erik ten Hag another player Ten Hag the game with the shot
had supporters and the watching had pushed for. of Scott McTominay
media aghast. How could that The club have backed
Fielding just before half-time.
rearguard stop Erling Haaland? the Dutchman to sign a United From chances it was
Rashford
In short, they never stood a the players he wants in team this toe to toe and also in the
chance. But not because the Nordic the transfer market, a inadequate previous games against
goal machine was at his unplayable shift from their similarly against the them the probability [of
best, he didn’t have to be. Haaland’s unsuccessful approach unrelenting winning] was there in all
fellow Scandinavian Rasmus of bringing in arrivals noisy the games.”
Hojlund must be questioning who are more household It really wasn’t. A
his life choices – this wasn’t the names that could fit into neighbours is humiliating, record-book
Manchester United in the brochure. any manager’s system. unfathomable enshrining scoreline,
Going up against the best team in Budgets have been one that really exposed
the world with Leicester’s centre- tighter than in previous years, it the gaping chasm between the
back pairing from 2018-19, a central must be said, with the Financial Manchester rivals, was what Ten
defender at left-back and Diogo Fair Play inspectors camped in a Hag and United needed. A real
Dalot sealed the home team’s fate as parked car outside looking through wake-up call.
the teamsheets made their way out a long camera lens, so why Mount, The gulf in quality in the spines
of the printer. when he isn’t capable of fitting into of these rivals tells you all you need
Injuries did severely restrict Ten a midfield in desperate need of a to know. Onana, Maguire, Amrabat
Hag’s options, but his decision to quality upgrade? and a raw Hojlund are playing a
leave Raphaël Varane on the bench A line-up of this mediocre calibre sport against Ederson, Ruben Dias,
and play 35-year-old Jonny Evans just cannot wash in these parts, not Rodri and Haaland.
alongside a rejuvenated Harry for games of this magnitude. Haaland was lapping up the
Maguire was, remarkably, a tactical We have known this once great City celebrations in front is his
one, according to the Dutchman. In club are a shadow of their former adoring supporters at the end, and
fairness, he did not stipulate which selves for some time but to not even who could blame him? It was the
team’s tactical plan his judgement give United a fighting chance, from most strenuous activity he had
would benefit. the off, is just unacceptable. performed all day.
Instead, Evans made no
interceptions, no tackles and no
blocks in the entire 90 minutes.
The oldest defender to play in
Manchester derby since Laurent
Blanc in 2012 cannot shoulder the
blame for such an inept display,
however – he should never have
been within 50 miles of Haaland
yesterday. For the City’s game-
clinching second goal, he wasn’t
much closer.
On another day, this could easily
have been a humiliation on a par
with the famous 6-1 drubbing in 2011
under Roberto Mancini’s rule, had
Andre Onana not pulled off several
stunning stops. Haaland must be
wondering how on earth he did
not add to his bulging collection of
hat-trick match balls.
The rotting carcass of a
footballing giant that is left to fester
in these parts is not entirely Ten
Hag’s fault – the recruitment in
the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era has
been nothing short of catastrophic
– but fielding a team this inadequate
against the unrelenting noisy
neighbours is unfathomable.
Sergio Reguilon was on the bench
and came on – was he not fit enough
to start in his recognised position,
over an out-of-form centre-back up
against the fleet-footed wizardry of
Phil Foden?
There are further questions of
the bodies selected further forward.
With Casemiro not fit to make the
United squad – Ten Hag went for
a pivot of Sofyan Amrabat, who
the United boss really pushed to Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans confer; Evans up against Julian Alvarez GETTY
 Mott denies rift in England camp after latest abject defeat
By Chris Stocks
IN LUCKNOW
England coach Matthew Mott has
denied the team’s atrocious World
Cup campaign is down to unrest in
the camp following comments from
former captain Eoin Morgan.
Morgan, who led England to glory
in the 2019 tournament on home soil,
Sport
suggested that “I think there’s some-
thing else going on” in the changing-
room when asked to explain the run
of defeats – now five in six matches
– that have all-but ended the semi-
final hopes of Jos Buttler’s men.
But Mott, responding after the
100-run defeat by hosts India, said:
“I don’t think that at all. Anyone in-
side our tent at the moment would
say, despite our results, we’re an in-
credibly tight-knit unit to the point
where Dave Humphreys, the former
rugby international [now working
for the England & Wales Cricket
Board], was flabbergasted how tight
the unit was when he came in for a
week to observe us, given the results
we’ve had.
“There’s every opportunity
when you’re losing to splinter and
go other ways. But I can only say
from our opinion the group’s been
incredibly strong.
“You see our training sessions,
they’re full of fun, people are putting
their arms around each other try-
ing to help them. It’s easy to do that
» Continued on p50

A class
above
30.10.23 Haaland double
highlights gulf between
inews.co.uk/sport
iPaperSport United and City – as
@iPaperSport
Guardiola hails Silva
RUGBY WORLD CUP as ‘one of the best’
Kolisi and the
mysteries in By Mark Douglas
AT OLD TRAFFORD
Springboks’
Pep Guardiola hailed
historic win Bernardo Silva as one of the
best players he’s ever worked
with after his Manchester
City side’s derby masterclass
emphasised the gulf in quality
between the rivals.
Erling Haaland scored
twice in the 3-0 win, with Phil
Foden adding the third.
But it was Silva, in
providing a superb
assist for Haaland’s
second goal, who
ran a game that
ended up being so
straightforward for
City. Guardiola paid a
» Continued on p54

PLUS » i’s team of

the tournament LIVERPOOL 3-0 N FOREST | WEST HAM 0-1 EVERTON | A VILLA 3-1 LUTON | BRIGHTON 1-1 FULHAM P52-53
P48-49