Monday November 15 2021 | thetimes.co.uk | No 73629
45 to subscribers
I’ve got the new It bag!
It’s £10, says Anna Murphy
Covid booster shots for the under-50s to prevent winter wave
Steven Swinford Political Editor
Becky McCall
The booster programme will be extend-
ed to under-50s in an attempt to in-
crease the nation’s immunity to corona-
virus over the winter, the government is
expected to announce today.
Scientists believe that rolling out
booster jabs to younger people could
Three held
by terror
police after
fatal blast
6 Remembrance Sunday explosion in Liverpool
6 Praise for driver who ‘locked suspect in taxi’
Charlotte Wace
Northern Correspondent
David Brown, Fiona Hamilton
Fears that terrorists were plotting a
Remembrance Sunday atrocity are
being investigated after a man died in a
car explosion in Liverpool.
A taxi passenger was killed in the
blast outside the city’s Women’s Hospi-
tal yesterday moments before the start
of the two-minute silence at 11am at the
nearby Liverpool Cathedral.
Three men were later arrested under
the Terrorism Act in the Kensington
area of the city while armed police
sealed off a street a mile away, in Sefton
Park, and sent in specialist negotiators
to a property.
The blast occurred close to the
cathedral which was hosting one of the
country’s largest Remembrance
Sunday services with more than 2,000
people. Big screens were set up in the
grounds so that the service could be
broadcast to those who could not get
into the cathedral and local roads were
closed because of a parade linked to the
event.
Security sources confirmed that
detectives were examining whether
there was any significance to the timing
of the incident and its closeness to the
cathedral, and said the possibility of an
Islamist terror attack was among the
scenarios being investigated.
Counterterrorism police said that
three men — aged 29, 26, and 21 — had
drive down transmission of the virus,
keep middle-aged people out of hospi-
tal and limit the risk of another wave.
People will be able to book their jabs
six months after their second dose,
meaning that the rollout will be initially
extended to those in their late 40s.
A total of 12.6 million over-50s,
equivalent to just over a third, have had
booster jabs, with the programme set to
been arrested in the Kensington area of
the city and held under the Terrorism
Act. Police negotiators were last night
sent to a siege in the Sefton Park area.
A friend of the driver identified him
as David Perry from Kirkdale. He said
that Perry had picked up the passenger
in Sefton Park and that the man did not
say anything until they got to the
hospital. The driver noticed the
passenger fiddling with something in
the back seat before he was knocked
unconscious by the blast.
The friend said that Perry got out of
the car just before the vehicle burst into
flames. The driver’s ear was partially
severed, he suffered shrapnel wounds
in his back and possible spinal fracture,
he added.
Jenny Phillips, a fellow taxi driver,
claimed that Perry had saved lives by
locking a man with a bomb in his car
before he escaped. Phillips, who has set
up a campaign to raise £10,000 for
Perry, said: “David saved so many lives
today at the risk of his own life. David
saved his city.”
Serena Kennedy, Merseyside chief
constable, said: “This has not been
declared a terrorist incident at this
stage although out of caution [counter-
terrorism] detectives are leading as we
try to understand the circumstances
behind the explosion.”
Priti Patel, the home secretary, said
that she was being kept regularly
updated on the “awful incident”.
Negotiators rush to siege, page 7
£2.20 £1.
finish by January. Two thirds of those
eligible have had one, rising to about
three-quarters of over-75s. Yesterday
448,670 booster jabs were given as the
programme gathers pace.
Professor Neil Ferguson, a scientific
adviser to the government, told Radio
4’s Today programme at the weekend: “I
see no reason why we shouldn’t be
rolling them out to younger age groups
The Duchess of Cambridge at the Cenotaph. The Queen pulled out of the Remembrance event for the first time in 22 years
Queen misses service with back sprain
Valentine Low
The Queen missed the Remembrance
Sunday service at the Cenotaph for the
first time in more than 20 years after
spraining her back, raising new con-
cerns for her health.
Buckingham Palace said the decision
to pull out with less than two hours’
notice was taken “with great regret” and
the Queen was deeply disappointed.
The announcement came three days
after the palace had announced that
she would be going to the wreath-
laying ceremony on Whitehall. It
would have been the Queen’s first
scheduled public appearance for three
weeks. Her place on the Foreign Office
balcony was taken by the Duke of Kent,
86, who was accompanied by Princess
2G
INSIDE
TIMES2
once we’ve got through the priority
groups: over-50s and the clinically
vulnerable. Our modelling suggests
that, yes, it could make quite a big
difference to driving transmission
down to low levels.”
The Joint Committee on Vaccination
and Immunisation (JCVI) is expected
to give its approval to extending the
rollout to under-50s today, although
Alexandra, 84, the Queen’s cousin.
Boris Johnson later told a press
conference: “I just wanted to reassure
everybody by saying that I did see the
Queen for an audience last week . . . in
Windsor, and she’s very well.”
The Queen has missed the service six
times in her reign, twice with pregnan-
cy and four times when she was on
overseas tours. The last time she failed
to attend was when she was on tour in
South Africa in 1999.
It is understood that she has not
received hospital treatment for her
back and the injury is unrelated to
recent medical advice for her to rest,
which led to her cancelling public
engagements for three weeks. A back
sprain would have made it difficult for
her to endure a car journey to London
(based on 7 Day Print Pack)
Free home
delivery
for six
weeks
T&Cs apply, page 75
precise details of the age groups have
yet to be confirmed.
Government estimates suggest the
protection offered by vaccines falls by
about a third after six months in older
people. But a trial recently showed that
an extra Pfizer jab puts protection back
over 95 per cent. With Britain now
having an abundance of doses of the
Continued on page 4, col 3
JAMES WHATLING
followed by standing for nearly half an
hour at the Cenotaph.
A wreath was laid on her behalf by
the Prince of Wales, who turned 73
yesterday. Wreaths were also laid by
the Duke of Cambridge, the Earl of
Wessex and the Princess Royal.
A royal source said: “It is obviously
incredibly unfortunate timing, and no-
body regrets the Queen’s absence today
more deeply than Her Majesty herself.”
Remembrance coverage, pages 8-9
y(7HB7E2*OTSKLL( |||+[!.
4 Monday November 15 2021 | the times

News

Today’s highlights Thousands harmed by waits

7.20am The co-chairman of the Conservative

11am
Party, Oliver Dowden
Andrew Mitchell, the former chief whip, on
his new book, Beyond a Fringe
in ambulances outside A&E
2pm Baroness Hale of Richmond, the former Kat Lay Health Editor oxygen saturation levels below 50 per charge patients from hospital because
supreme court judge and its first female cent had to wait, despite being at high the support they need is unavailable.
president, on her memoir, Spider Woman Up to 160,000 patients a year may be risk of cardiac arrest. That means A&E departments fill
2.45pm Arthur Jones, director of the harmed by delays between ambulances Martin Flaherty, AACE managing with patients who need a bed in the
documentary The Six arriving at hospital and the handover to director, said: “While instances of the hospital and there is no space for more
8.30pm Ollie Ollerton, right, former special forces A&E staff, a review estimates. potential for severe harm highlighted arriving in ambulances.
soldier and star of SAS: Who Dares Wins Cases studied included a patient by our study are obviously most con- Ted Baker, chief inspector of hospi-
whose heart stopped while waiting out- cerning, every case of harm, even low- tals at the Care Quality Commission,
side casualty and another who was not level harm . . . is totally unacceptable. said: “Problems of capacity in urgent
given antibiotics quickly enough for “These basic factors can still contrib- and emergency care services have been
DAB RADIO l ONLINE l SMART SPEAKER l APP suspected sepsis. ute to poor clinical outcomes and may building over many years but have been
The review, reported yesterday by have long lasting, detrimental psycho- exacerbated by the impact of the pan-
the Health Service Journal, was based on logical effects on the patient. demic. There are no simple solutions
a sample of 470 cases in which the “The problem is a symptom of system but close working between providers,
T O D AY ’ S E D I T I O N handover to hospital staff was delayed pressures and will require a whole commissioners and all other parts of
for an hour or more on January 4. system approach to resolve it once and the health and care system is essential if
The Association of Ambulance Chief for all. While some health systems have we are to prevent patient harm and
Migrant crisis Maxwell tells of HS2 eastern leg Executives (AACE) found that about been able to make noticeable improve- safely manage risk going forward.”
85 per cent of those suffered potential ments in respect of handover processes, Matthew Taylor, NHS Confedera-
‘punishment’ rats and creeps to be shelved harm while 9 per cent experienced the challenge persists for others.” tion chief executive, told the journal:
President Macron is Ghislaine Maxwell has Boris Johnson is to potentially severe harm. Extrapolated National targets state that patients “This is causing significant harm to
using the migrant described the “living shelve plans for a big over a year, this is likely to mean harm should be handed to A&E staff within members of the public . . . and this
crisis to punish Britain hell” of prison and rail project in the to 160,000 patients, with 12,000 cases 15 minutes of an ambulance arriving should concern us all. We can get lost in
for Brexit, ministers complained that she north and downgrade severe. but 208,000 patients waited longer in cold statistics but behind every statistic
believe, as more than a will not get a fair another in favour of As waits increased, the risk of harm September. If ambulances can’t offload is a story of a patient who may well have
thousand people are hearing as jury smaller schemes that rose. Chance of severe harm was more patients at A&E, they cannot respond been severely harmed as a result of
expected to cross selection begins today can be delivered faster. than three times greater for those wait- to other calls. This can result in lengthy being delayed in an ambulance.”
Channel this week and for her trial for The integrated rail ing longer than four hours compared response times and further harm. 6 The Royal College of Nursing said
the home secretary allegedly recruiting plan is expected to with those waiting 60 to 90 minutes. NHS England statistics last week that ten pressures on health and social
prepares to meet her girls for abuse by the mothball the building The report, which drew on all main- showed that patients with suspected care services reflected “unsustainable,
French counterpart paedophile Jeffrey of the eastern leg of land ambulance services in England, strokes or heart attacks faced waits of untenable” conditions, despite the
today. Page 6 Epstein. Page 11 HS2. Page 16 included cases of patients having sei- almost an hour for an ambulance last claim by Sajid Javid, the health secre-
zures while waiting and a woman month. It told hospitals that they tary, that the NHS could overcome the
having a miscarriage while doctors should “immediately” stop all delays to difficulties. In a report it details long
COMMENT treated her in the ambulance. handovers but officials admit that the waits for routine treatment, caring for
Staff told AACE that a patient wait- issue is complex. patients in corridors, high rates of Cov-
The plain fact is that Zaghari-Ratcliffe will not be ing for handover had had a cardiac Problems with staffing in social care id-19 and widespread vacancies in the
arrest and a patient with Covid-19 and services are making it harder to dis- nursing and social care workforces.
released until the debt issue is resolved
CLARE FOGES, PAGE 29

68 prisoners Paris ‘is now a Firms outspend

die in gang riot
A brutal eight-hour
gun battle between
rival drug gangs in
Ecuador’s largest
prison left at least 68
inmates dead, with
bodies burnt in jail
courtyards. The riot
began, according to
authorities, when a
gang leader was freed
from a block. Page 36
COMMENT 29
THUNDERER 30
LEADING ARTICLES 33
thetimes
rubbish bin’
Stéphane Bern, France’s
best-known heritage
conservationist, has
caused consternation
by announcing he is
moving to the country
because Paris has
become a “rubbish bin”.
Bern, who is close to
President Macron, said
the capital was dirty
and violent. Page 37
WORLD 34
REGISTER 51
COURT CIRCULAR 53
FOLLOW US
timesandsundaytimes
No cover up on Kenya killing, says minister
fraud office The defence secretary has insisted that vealed that when he was serving in Be- senior officers at the time, but no action
Some companies there is “no cover up” as Kenyan police lize in the 1990s there was a brothel at was taken. The newspaper said that a
under investigation by look to reopen an investigation into the back gate of the base. soldier accused of the murder had been
the Serious Fraud what happened to a woman whose He said it was no longer there but ad- named by his comrades.
Office are spending up body was found in a septic tank close to mitted that the armed forces had been The town is close to the Batuk (Brit-
to ten times more than a British army base. guilty of turning a “blind eye” to the use ish Army Training Unit Kenya) camp.
Britain’s fraud and Ben Wallace said the Ministry of De- of prostitutes by troops, particularly An initial inquiry was unsuccessful.
bribery organisation fence (MoD) had aided the investi- when serving in “countries in poverty”. The fresh investigation was launched
on legal and gation into Agnes Wanjiru’s death. A Police in Kenya confirmed this after an inquest, delayed until 2019,
investigation fees, soldier allegedly confessed to the sex month that they were reopening the found that Wanjiru had been unlawful-
according to the worker’s murder. Wanjiru case. ly killed. A post-mortem examination
Bureau of Investigative Speaking to The House magazine, The body of the 21-year-old was found that she died as a result of stab
Journalism. Page 39 Wallace said: “It’s a deeply concerning found at the Lions Court Hotel in the wounds to her chest and abdomen and
murder and story and there is no one in town of Nanyuki two months after she could also have been beaten.
the MoD standing in the way of [an disappeared in March 2012. Wallace said that the MoD stood
SPORT 59 investigation]. There’s no cover up, According to The Sunday Times, a sol- ready to help but that, due to the 2006
CROSSWORD 74 there’s no blockade.” dier allegedly confessed to the killing Armed Forces Act, could not conduct
TV & RADIO TIMES2 Wallace, a former Scots Guard, re- and another soldier reported it to its own parallel investigation.
thetimes continued from page 1 mind that the Delta and the AY.4.2

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Booster jabs for under-50s
Pfizer jab, ministers see little downside
in making them widely available given
the excellent safety record.
The JCVI has stipulated a six-month
gap between second and third doses to
ensure lasting protection.
The effect of boosters is already being
seen in rising antibody levels in the
over-80s, with cases falling fastest
recently among the oldest.
Although immunity is thought to
wane much more slowly in younger
people, official data last week suggested
the first signs of protection starting to
weaken, with the proportion of people
in their 40s showing antibodies slipping
below 95 per cent.
The need to boost immunity was
underlined as cases started to rise again
after two weeks of falls. Yesterday there
were 36,517 cases reported, up 6 per
cent week on week.
Professor David Strain of the
University of Exeter said: “We are
seeing hospitalisations in people in
their 40s and 50s who are double
vaccinated. When the 40 and 50-year-
olds hit the six-month mark, bearing in
strains are more infectious then this
could mean greater hospitalisations of
these age groups even if they are double
vaccinated.
“If it’s a case of offering the booster to
anyone who wants it, then that seems to
make sense . . . because giving it to
people who want the booster is easier
than forcing people to have it who
don’t.”
Meanwhile, at least one million
12 to 15-year-olds in England have been
vaccinated against Covid-19.
NHS England said that more than
3,500 schools had hosted clinics, while
95 per cent of all schools had either
already been visited or had a visit
planned in the coming weeks.
Officials said that the latest data
showed that the NHS had hit the
million milestone among children aged
12 to 15, with more than 800 schools set
to be visited by NHS teams next week
offering young people the jab.
Vaccines have been available to 12 to
15-year-olds in England since
September 20.
Free coronavirus tests could end in April,
page 24
Pubs trade up
on 2019 levels
Sales at Britain’s pub, bar and restaur-
ant groups pushed above pre-pandemic
levels for a third consecutive month in
October, despite labour shortages and
rising costs continuing to drag on per-
formance, a report says.
Sales rose 3 per cent on 2019 levels
amid a continued rebound in the late-
night market. Bars enjoyed growth of
13 per cent, a report by the consultants
CGA, The Coffer Group and RSM said.
Pubs fared better than restaurants with
sales up 3 per cent and 2 per cent res-
pectively. Sales were up 64 per cent
from October last year when pubs and
restaurants were locked down.
The CGA warned, however, that the
sector remained under pressure from
rising food, drink and energy costs and
distribution and recruitment problems.
Sales were down 4 per cent in London
as a shortage of office workers and tour-
ists continued to dampen growth. Sales
were up 6 per cent outside the M25.
the times | Monday November 15 2021 5

News

We’re big fans of shows we haven’t seen NETFLIX ; ALAMY

With so much to watch

in a golden age of TV,
most of us lie about
our viewing habits,
writes Jake Kanter
It’s a dilemma we’ve all faced: everyone
in your social orbit has watched that
television show, but you haven’t seen a
frame. Do you confess to your cultural
faux pas or brazenly lie to keep your
place at the water cooler?
Research by Radio Times suggests
that more than half of people would
prefer to save face and be dishonest.
The poll of 1,300 readers found that
52 per cent had lied about having seen
a series everyone was talking about.
The unweighted research also cast
light on the programmes we feel
compelled to lie about. Top of the list
was Stranger Things, Netflix’s cult
supernatural thriller set in 1980s
Indiana. Starring Millie Bobby Brown,
three seasons of Stranger Things have
streamed on Netflix, with a fourth due
to premiere next year. Fourteen per
cent of Radio Times readers said they
had claimed to have watched the global
hit when in fact they had not.
Game of Thrones was next in line,
with 10 per cent of people having lied
about taking a voyage to Westeros for
HBO’s eight-season long fantasy
drama, which reached its climax in
2019 after nearly a decade. prepared to lie to hide the fact that they
Breaking Bad, which was voted Top five most lied-about series had not read George Orwell’s 1984,
the third best show of the 21st while other books which people
century in a BBC poll, also Stranger Things Breaking Bad Schitt’s Creek claimed to have read but had not in-
featured on the list of lied-about Children in a small town A chemistry teacher Sitcom about a family cluded Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Great
programmes. Seven per cent of in 1980s Indiana deal with cancer and a who lose their fortune Expectations by Charles Dickens and
respondents in the poll said they with supernatural former student produce and move to Schitt’s The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger.
had talked about it even though forces and the trials of and sell crystal meth. Creek, a small town Other surveys found that Alice’s Ad-
they had never seen it. adolescence. they once bought as a ventures in Wonderland, The Lord of
People also dusted off their The Crown joke,, where the Rings and Anna Karenina
knowledge of the royal family to Game of Thrones Dramatised account of theyy must were amon
among the most lied-
blag their way through conversa- Sprawling fantasy epic the Queen’s reign, from nge
change about b books.
tions about Netflix’s The Crown. based on the novels of high politics to royal theirr Peo
People also lie
Completing the top five was George RR Martin. romances. ways.s. abou
about having seen
Schitt’s Creek, the Emmy award- films. The Godfa-
film
winning Canadian television sit- th
ther was the mov-
com that streams on Netflix. many of us are not completely honest Walter White, ie people were
Tim Glanfield, Radio- about what we’ve seen. With so much the chemistry m
most likely to
Times.com’s editorial director, choice in a truly golden age of TV it’s teacher turned h
have claimed
said: “From the water cooler at almost impossible to see every- drug kingpin in th
they had
work to dinner parties and pub thing, so don’t be afraid to admit Breaking Bad; w
watched when
tables up and down the land, the you’ve never tuned in.” Daenerys th
they hadn’t, fol-
latest and the greatest shows The poll echoes a survey from Targaryen in lowed by Casablan-
low
often dominate conversation. 2013 which found that the majority of Game of Thrones;; ca and
a Taxi Driver,
“Our survey illustrates just how people pretended to have read classic and Eleven and accord
according to a 2011
much we love talking about TV. How- books in order to appear more intelli- the gang in survey by the movie
ever, it’s a surprise to see just how gent. Around a quarter of people were Stranger Things com
rental company Lovefilm.

Why the fearful seek refuge in shops Apostrophe apostasy as

Sophie Freeman
Fear makes us more materialistic,
researchers have found.
As scared people seek out others
because there is “strength in numbers”,
the scientists said that we also find
“strength in things”. A study involving
2,200 men and women from the UK,
the US and China found that fear
increased materialistic tendencies
through a “desire for safety”.
Eugene Chan, the report’s co-author
and an associate professor of consumer
science at Purdue University, Indiana,
said that the findings could explain why
people had bought so much during the
pandemic. “People are scared about
Covid,” he said. “Our work shows that
one way to ‘cope’ with this feeling of fear
is to buy more material things.”
In one experiment involving 915
people, a third of the group was shown
a trailer for the horror film The Ring.
Another third watched a trailer for The
Pursuit of Happyness, a tearful drama.
The rest sat through a trailer for Planet
Earth, a nature documentary.
An emotional assessment found the
expected levels of fear and sorrow.
The subjects were then asked to com-
plete 17 sentences, such as “Christmas is
a time when . . .” The answers were
assessed by independent judges on the
levels of materialism.
The scared participants scored
higher on materialism with an average
level of 6.59 out of 9 compared with 5.95
for the sad participants and 5.96 for the
neutral audience.
The researchers also measured the
participants’ desire for safety, asking
them to rate how much they agreed
with statements such as: “I want to feel
protected right now.” The fearful group
had a higher average score of 6.62 out of
9 compared with 6.14 for the sad group
and 6.08 for the neutral group. The
answers suggested that fear increased
the desire for safety, adding to a hunger
for possessions.
The researchers said that this desire
had evolved because possessions gave
our ancestors an advantage over
others. “Previous research has attribut-
ed materialism to status-seeking and
pleasure-seeking,” the team wrote in
the report.
“We suggest that another fundamen-
tal goal — to protect oneself from dan-
gers and threats — is also an important
psychological antecedent.
“In man’s ancestral past there is often
an advantage to owning goods. The
more goods one possesses, the more
likely they are to withstand adverse
conditions and protect themselves.”
Chan said that material goods
offered a “tangible security” that
helped to allay fears.
The findings were published in the
journal Psychology & Marketing.
language gets less formal
Kat Lay
Pupils have long grappled with the
apostrophe, finding it is tricky to know
your “you’re” from your “your” and to
know when it’s “it’s” and when it’s “its”.
But pupils may one day be spared les-
sons on when their “they’re” should be
a “there”, or being told off when they
add an errant punctuation mark before
the “s” in a plural.
Researchers from Lancaster Uni-
versity say use of the apostrophe has
noticeably declined over three decades.
After leading a study of how English
has changed in its spoken and written
forms since the 1990s, Dr Vaclav
Brezina said: “The most striking thing is
how informal language has become.”
Brezina, a senior lecturer in linguis-
tics, told the Sunday Telegraph there
had “been a very noticeable drop in the
use of apostrophes” that had been
prompted by social media platforms,
where they are often left out for brevity.
“The question is how much more
time will it take for this to extend to
elsewhere,” he said.
The team looked at 100 million
words, analysing how often a word was
used in the early 1990s compared with
today. There has been an 8 per cent de-
crease in the uses of the apostrophe
after plural nouns, from 308.47 uses per
million in the 1990s to 282.88 uses per
million now, and the formal research
reports of today include almost twice as
many informal expressions as those of
the early 1990s.
The decline of the apostrophe is not
worth getting worked up about,
leading article, page 33
6 2GM Monday November 15 2021 | the times

News
Cheap vaccine may restore memories of dementia sufferers
A £15 vaccine that helped to restore the
memories of mice could be trialled in
humans within two years, offering hope
of a new treatment for Alzheimer’s.
British and German scientists say
that the pioneering therapy, which de-
stroyed rogue proteins in the brains of
mice, could revolutionise treatment.
It offers the potential of a cure and
screening programme. Those at risk
would be immunised. Clinical trials are
possible within two years.
The technique targets soluble and
highly toxic fragments of amyloid beta
that clump into plaques, killing neu-
rons. A high proportion of these string-
like molecules become truncated.
Professor Thomas Bayer, the co-au-
thor from Göttingen University, said:
“In clinical trials, none of the potential
treatments which dissolve amyloid pla-
ques in the brain have shown much
success in terms of reducing Alzheim-
er’s symptoms. We identified an anti-
body in mice that would neutralise the
truncated forms of soluble amyloid be-
ta, but would not bind either to normal
forms of the protein or to the plaques.”
The team next adapted the antibody,
called TAP01, so the human immune
system would not see it as foreign. To
their surprise, the protein folded back
on itself in a hairpin-shaped structure.
Professor Mark Carr, another co-
author, from Leicester University,
explained: “This structure had never
been seen before in amyloid beta.”
It enabled engineering of the protein
to stabilise the hairpin shape and bind
to the antibody in the same way.
Carr said: “Our idea was this form of
amyloid beta could potentially be used
Quintagram® No 1160
Solve all five clues using each
letter underneath once only
as a vaccine, to trigger someone’s
immune system to make TAP01 type 1 Dismissed in cricket (3)
antibodies.”
In tests, the antibody and the engi- ---
neered vaccine repaired neuron func- 2 Youngster (5)
tion in two mouse models of Alzheim-
er’s. The compounds also increased -----
glucose metabolism in the brain — and 3 Sketch (7)
brought back the animals’ memories.
Alzheimer’s and other forms of -------
dementia affect 920,000 people in the 4 Upright (8)
UK — a figure that will rise to 2 million
by 2050. In principle the vaccine could --------
cost £15 to £50 per dose. 5 Immediately (9)

DAVID YARROW/MADDOX GALLERY

---------
A A C D D D F G
G H H H I I I I
L N N N O O R R
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Mothers’ weight risk

A woman’s waistline before
becoming pregnant could decide
whether her child develops
allergies. Babies born to
overweight mothers have an
8 per cent higher risk of asthma,
say scientists at the University of
Ottawa. Allergies are one of the
most common ailments, affecting
20 per cent of the population,
with an even greater prevalence
among children. The researchers
studied 248,017 children over
seven years. About half were born
to overweight or obese mothers.

Man stabbed to death

A basketball coach died in a
stabbing in which an 82-year-old
woman was badly injured. Ali
Abucar Ali, 20, died at the scene
on Friday after Betty Walsh was
also attacked in Brentford, west
London. Norris Henry, 37, has
been charged with murder and
attempted murder and will
appear before Uxbridge
magistrates’ court today.

Cocaine in onion rings

Roar appeal Vayetse, a lion from the Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa, is king of the catwalk in this portrait with Zulu tribespeople by the fashion Cocaine worth £33 million was
and wildlife photographer David Yarrow. The photo is on show at the Maddox Gallery in London from Friday and will be sold to aid the sanctuary’s conservation work found in a shipment of onion
rings. Border Force officials found
the 148kg cargo in a lorry at

French letting migrants cross to

Coquelles, France, last week.
Piotr Perzenowski, 30, of Poland
appeared at Folkestone
magistrates’ court on Saturday
charged with smuggling drugs
and was remanded to Canterbury

UK ‘as a punishment for Brexit’ crown court on December 13.

Cash for brain research

Steven Swinford Political Editor
Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor
President Macron is using the migrant
crisis to punish Britain for Brexit, min-
isters believe, as more than 1,000
people are expected to cross the Chan-
nel this week.
Amid worsening relations, Boris
Johnson accused Paris last week of fail-
ing to control its borders. Priti Patel, the
home secretary, is expected to meet
Gérald Darmanin, her French counter-
part, in Paris today after record num-
bers of migrants crossed last week.
Patel is expected to urge Darmanin
to speed up plans to intercept each of
the migrants before they reach the UK.
Britain delivered the first instalment
of £54 million in funding for extra
police patrols and surveillance after
Darmanin pledged to deliver a 100 per
cent interception rate after full pay-
ment. The Times has been told that the
Border Force expects hundreds of
migrants to cross every day this week in
calm conditions.
One government source said that
ministers were bleak about the situa-
tion improving.
“They don’t think the French are
going to give them anything at all,” the
source said. “With the elections coming
up they think it will only get worse.
They think it’s part of Macron’s Brexit
punishment strategy.”
A Home Office source added: “Un-
fortunately we’re just part of a much
bigger issue with the election, North-
ern Ireland and fishing. They don’t
want to be using French taxpayers’
money ahead of the election.”
France threatened to disrupt the
Cop26 climate conference in a row over
fishing licences. Jean Castex, the prime
minister, wrote in a letter that the EU
must show leaving was damaging.
Border Force officers have said that
people smugglers were using bigger,
sturdier boats than in the past two
years, mainly inflatable dinghies, let-
ting them cross in harsher weather.
The average number of migrants per
boat this year is 30, thee times the figure
last year.
Border Force is expecting a surge of
people over the next three days because
forecasts predict wave heights as low as
30cm (1ft) today, tomorrow and on
Wednesday. Waves are expected to in-
crease to 1m by the end of the week.
Officers accused the Home Office of
leaving the agency “completely under-
resourced and understaffed” because
its modelling had predicted that only
2,000 migrants would arrive this
month. In the first 11 days, however,
3,780 crossed.
Ministers believe that the French
police are reluctant to challenge smug-
glers because they are quick to resort to
violence. “The smugglers are very, very
violent,” a government source said.
“They’re usually armed and there is a
reluctance by the French to confront
them.”
Dan O’Mahoney, the UK’s clandes-
tine threat commander based in Dover,
said that smugglers were forcing the
migrants into boats against their will.
“It’s important to remember that at
every step of these migrants’ journeys,
wherever they come from, be it Africa
or the Middle East, the journey is
driven by criminality at every stage,” he
said.
“A couple of weeks ago I spoke to an
Iranian woman at Tug Haven who told
me she was expecting to be coming to
the UK in the back of a lorry.
“She was driven to a beach in the mid-
dle of the night, thrown out of the back
of a van and forced into a boat at knife-
point. These people are vulnerable.
They are terrified.”
Reality of migration, letters, page 32
The government has promised
£375 million for research into
neurodegenerative diseases, such
as Alzheimer’s, Pick’s disease and
frontotemporal dementia. The
money, announced by the prime
minister in the Sunday Express,
includes £50 million to help find
new therapies and eventually a
cure for motor neurone disease,
which kills six people a day.
We just want gift cards
Money or gift cards are the top
Christmas presents adults hope to
receive this year, the choice of 27
per cent of people, with clothing
in second place (23 per cent),
a survey by YouGov has found.
Twenty per cent want an
“experience” such as to trip to a
concert or a cinema visit. Alcohol
and perfume (both 15 per cent)
rounded out the top five.
the times | Monday November 15 2021 2GM 7

News

Negotiators sent to siege after blast PETER BYRNE/PA

Charlotte Wace, David Brown

Fiona Hamilton
An armed siege a mile from the Liver-
pool Women’s Hospital blast appeared
last night to be at the centre of the in-
vestigation into a possible terror attack.
Counterterrorism police officers in-
vestigating the explosion that killed a
taxi passenger had arrested three men
at another address in the city.
The scale of the police operation
after the blast, moments before the
Remembrance Sunday silence, sug-
gests that they are investigating the
possible involvement of others.
More than a dozen armed police offi-
cers sealed off Rutland Avenue, Sefton
Park, about an hour after the explosion.
Residents were ordered to stay at the
back of their properties.
One person said the police appeared
to be negotiating with a resident in a
semi-detached home converted into a
house of multiple occupation. He said
the man, whom he described as a “for-
eigner”, had moved in two or three

1 10.59am 4 Police
Explosion in taxi reportedly
outside Liverpool searching
Women’s Hospital a home in
Boaler
2 11am Two minutes’ Images of a taxi in flames outside Liverpool Women’s
Street
silence at Remembrance Hospital were posted on social media before armed police
Sunday service at
laid siege to a house in Sefton Park. Officers were
Liverpool Cathedral
investigating the explosion to determine its cause and
1 Liverpool Women’s whether it was linked to Islamist terrorists. Three men
Hospital
were later arrested in Kensington, an area close by
3 1pm Armed police
raid a home in
Rutland Avenue,
Sefton Park

weeks ago and lived alone. Two officers

in protective vests marked with “nego-
tiator” arrived on the scene at 8pm.
“About six or seven police cars each
with two officers arrived,” the man
added. “They said they were armed
police and we can’t leave our homes.
We have been told to keep away from
the windows and if people were out
they can’t come home.
“I know the property: it is a house
converted into self-contained units. I
know two of the people who live there significance to the timing of the incid- clared they will want to establish whe- explosion. It said in a statement: “The to other hospitals “where possible”.
and they are not involved.” ent, shortly before the two-minute ther the hospital or perhaps a nearby passenger of the car, a man, was Boris Johnson expressed sympathy
Three other men — aged 29, 26 and silence on Remembrance Sunday. location, such as one of the city’s two declared dead at the scene and is yet to for people affected by the blast and
21 — were arrested previously in Ken- Detectives are working to under- cathedrals, was the intended target. be formally identified. The driver re- praised the emergency services. He
sington, an inner city area, in what stand whether the taxi was carrying Liverpool Women’s Hospital, which mains in hospital in a stable condition.” tweeted: “My thoughts are with all
appeared to be a co-ordinated oper- unstable bomb-making chemicals, receives about 50,000 patients a year, is Images of the taxi on fire were shared those affected by the awful incident in
ation. Security sources said that the contained an explosive device or ex- the largest hospital in its specialism in online. Footage of explosions and bil- Liverpool today. I want to thank the
possibility of an Islamist terrorist attack ploded for some other reason. One Europe. lowing smoke outside the hospital were emergency services for their quick re-
was under investigation. theory being explored is that the deto- Counter Terrorism Police North also shared. Liverpool Women’s Hospi- sponse and professionalism, and the
They also confirmed that detectives nator of a device exploded but the main West said that it was keeping an “open tal said visiting access had been re- police for their ongoing work on the
were examining whether there was any charge did not. If a terrorist attack is de- mind” about the cause of the Liverpool stricted and patients had been diverted investigation.”

Park yourself in ‘garage’ home for £400k Four-year-old reaches the

Ross Kaniuk
With a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen
and reception room, this £395,000 free-
hold in Chelsea appears to have every-
thing a City slicker could ask for.
There’s just a couple of problems.
It’s all squeezed into a space the size
of an average garage. And, in estate
agent speak, it would ideally suit the
DIY enthusiast because it is said to be in
need of refurbishment. The property is
only 5m by 3.8m but its upbeat descrip-
tion calls it “unique” and an “excellent
rental investment”.
Also described as “ideally located” on
Stewart’s Grove, west London, it has
only one door for entry and exit. But,
according to the listing, it contains all
the most essential amenities sought in a
home: sleeping space, a “kitchen” in
which the floorplan shows only a sink,
The Chelsea microhome features a
vibrant front wall and double yellows
a toilet, shower and a second sink in the
bathroom.
The sales pitch does, however, point
out the need for refurbishment.
One task any incoming buyer might
want to undertake is repainting the
front wall’s brightly coloured horizon-
tal stripes, which are parallel and in
keeping with the double yellow lines
immediately in front. But a car will not
be needed for the short trip to reach the
King’s Road and its array of designer
shops, selling a host of luxury brands.
The sales blurb states: “Stewart’s
Grove is situated between the King’s
Road and Fulham Road. Chelsea
Green, St Luke’s Gardens and South
Kensington are all in walking distance.”
While Chelsea is renowned for high
property prices, the same outlay could
buy a five-bed detached house in Shef-
field. Summing up the home’s perceived
allure, the description reads: “A unique,
freehold studio located in the heart of
Chelsea. This ideally located property
has the potential to be a fantastic
London home or rental investment.”
There is one benefit that seem to
have been forgotten: as energy bills
soar, this is a home where the owner
will not be hit too hard in the pocket.
top of 11,000ft mountain
A British four-year-old reached the
summit of an 11,000ft mountain after a
two-week hike in the Rockies.
Jackson Houlding and his sister
Freya, eight, were led by their parents,
Leo and Jessica, as they climbed the
11,889ft Pingora Peak in Wyoming
unaided. Leo, 41, a professional climber,
was the 1996 British junior indoor
climbing champion.
During the same trip in August,
Freya also scaled the nearby 12,165ft
Wolf’s Head. The Wind River Range,
where the family, who are from Stave-
ley in Cumbria, spent their holiday can
be treacherous: it is home to bears and
temperatures drop to freezing at night.
Last year the family’s holiday includ-
ed a climb up the 10,853ft Piz Badile on
Jackson Houlding
and his family
scaled the peak
after a two-week
hike in the Rockies
the border of Switzerland and Italy. Leo
said: “I’m immensely proud of both my
children and how far they’ve come.”
The family travelled to Wyoming
with the help of Jessica’s US passport.
Until recently the country has been
closed for non-Americans. They flew to
Denver, Colorado, and hired a car to
cross into Wyoming. The Houldings
are planning to go kayaking in the Lof-
oten Islands in Norway next summer.
8 Monday November 15 2021 | the times

News
News Remembrance Sunday

The Duchess of
Cornwall, right,
joined the Duchess
of Cambridge and
the Countess of
Wessex in solemn
reflection at the
Cenotaph. The mood
was jovial at Boris
Johnson’s veterans’
breakfast at No 10
earlier in the day.
Chelsea pensioners,
resplendent in
scarlet, march in.
Four former prime
ministers, from left,
Sir John Major, Tony
Blair, Gordon Brown
and David Cameron,
stand shoulder to
shoulder in respect

Crowds return to Cenotaph but

The Queen’s no-show
with a back sprain was
the one disappointment
of a memorable day,
Valentine Low writes
The crowd was already gathering on
Whitehall when the announcement
came: the Queen would not be at the
Cenotaph after all.
With less than two hours to go,
Buckingham Palace said that she had
reluctantly decided to pull out after
spraining her back.
For the crowds assembling it was a
deeply disappointing moment. For
most people the Queen, who is head of
the Armed Forces as well Supreme
Governor of the Church of England, is
an important symbol of national unity
as the country remembers its war dead.
And for those concerned about her
health, the news was even more worry-
ing. The Queen, 95, takes the Remem-
brance Sunday ceremony extremely
seriously and would never miss it if she
could possibly avoid it.
Her place on the Foreign Office
balcony — she has not laid a wreath
since 2017 — was taken by the Duke of
Kent, 86, who was accompanied by
Princess Alexandra, 84. A wreath was
laid on her behalf by the Prince of
Wales, who turned 73 yesterday.
Wreaths were also laid by the Duke
of Cambridge, the Earl of Wessex and
the Princess Royal.
Baroness Scotland of Asthal, the
Commonwealth secretary-general,
said there would be “sadness” that the
Queen had to pull out of the service.
Asked on Sky News’s Trevor Phillips
On Sunday programme if it would be
“disappointing” for many veterans that
the monarch was not at the ceremony,
she replied: “Absolutely.
“The Queen is adored, rightly. She
has shown total commitment to the
Commonwealth and she is much loved.
So, an opportunity like this, to see her
and to pay homage for what she herself
also did — because people do forget
that she was an engineer, she was mak-
ing her contribution as well. There will
be a lot of sadness but everyone will be
wishing her well, everyone will want to
see her again. She is the beating heart of
most of the love that is in the Common-
wealth, so we do wish her well.”
Word of the Queen’s absence quickly
spread through the crowd and it did not
seem too fanciful to imagine that as the
members of the royal family, the politi-
cians and other dignitaries gathered,
the words of God Save The Queen rang
out with a touch more feeling.
To make up for her absence, officials
reorganised which members of the
royal family would occupy the three
balconies from which they traditionally
watch the ceremony.
On the central balcony, where the
Queen had been due to stand with a
lady-in-waiting, the Duke of Kent was
accompanied by Princess Alexandra.
The duke, a familiar figure on the
parade below, has bowed to the inevita-
bilities of advancing age and joined the
other royals watching from above.
The duke, who served for more than
20 years with the Royal Scots Greys,
maintained his military standards. As
he stepped on to the balcony just before
11am, he gave a smart salute and saluted
once more at the end of the national
anthem. On his left the Duchess of
Cambridge stood between the Duchess
of Cornwall and the Countess of
Wessex, while Vice Admiral Sir Tim
Laurence and the Duke and Duchess of
Gloucester were on the other balcony.
Below them the Prince of Wales laid
two wreaths, as has been his custom in
recent years: one on behalf of the
Queen and one of his own.
As Boris Johnson laid his wreath, fol-
lowed by Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour
leader, they were watched by five
former prime ministers — Sir John
Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown,
David Cameron and Lady May. John-
son said that it was a moment to “come
together to remember those who
sacrificed everything in service of our
country”.
The Cenotaph ceremony was one of
scores of events around the country. In
Edinburgh Nicola Sturgeon, the Scot-
tish first minister, was joined by Jack
Ransom, 101, a Second World War
veteran from Largs, North Ayrshire. He
was captured in 1942 after the fall of
Singapore and spent three years as a
prisoner of the Japanese working on
the infamous Burma railway.
“It was such an honour to be invited
to lay a wreath,” Ransom said. “I may be
the last person alive who worked on
those railways. When I was released in
1945, I weighed only six stone and if the
war had lasted much longer I don’t
think I would have survived.
“But I was one of the lucky ones. We
must never forget what war means and
what it brings.”
With Covid restrictions lifted, the
the times | Monday November 15 2021 9

News
News
ANDREW PARSONS ; JUSTIN TALLIS ; DANIEL LEAL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES ; HENRY NICHOLLS/REUTERS ; DAVE JENKINS/EPA ; TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE; CAROLINE HAYCOCK/BAV MEDIA

After last year’s

scaled back
ceremony, which
was closed to the
public, crowds were
back in Whitehall
yesterday to watch
the procession of
dignitaries, along
with nearly 10,000
veterans who later
marched past the
Cenotaph. The
Prince of Wales, who
laid a wreath on
behalf of the Queen,
was accompanied by
Prince William at the
ceremony.
Afterwards, a sea of
red, white and blue
wreaths showed a
nation’s gratitude

one person is noticeably absent
A vintage Dragon Rapide showers poppies over Duxford, Cambridgeshire yesterday
crowds returned to pay their respects.
In London thousands of people lined
Whitehall. Last year only 25 veterans
took 85 seconds to complete the march
past. This year a parade of 10,000 lasted
43 minutes.
The oldest was believed to be Tim
Farmiloe, 98, of Petersfield, Hampshire,
who served as a flight engineer on Sun-
derland flying boats with Coastal Com-
mand. “This is the first time I’ve taken
part,” he said. “It is a shame about the
Queen and I wish her all the best.” The
youngest on parade were Evie Hebden
and Jacob Stokoe, eight, who lost their
fathers serving with the armed forces.
They were marching with Scotty’s Lit-
tle Soldiers, a charity that helps child-
ren who have lost a parent serving with
the military. One old soldier gave Jacob
his beret, which he wore with pride.
Nikki Scott, 40, set up the charity in
memory of her husband, Corporal Lee
Scott, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, the
father of her children Kai, 17, and
Brooke, 12. He was killed in Helmand
province, Afghanistan, in 2009. “I set
up the charity because I wanted to help
people smile again,” she said. “We help
about 500 children up to the age of 25.
Today has been wonderful.”
Those marching in London included
Mervyn Kersh, 96, a Normandy
veteran who served in the Royal Army
Ordnance Corps. He has marched at
the Cenotaph for the past 20 years but
was disappointed the Queen was not
there. “If I am here next year then she
must be as well,” he said. “For anyone of
our generation today means an awful
lot. It is not only about the lessons of the
past but also the future. We hope to pass
our stories on to the next generation.
“I wanted to get out of my wheelchair
and march past the Cenotaph but I
wasn’t allowed as it would disrupt the
column.”
The new marchers were joined by
Fighting with Pride, a group that works
to support the mental health and well-
being of LGBT+ veterans. LGBT+
people were banned from serving in the
armed forces until 2000. The Ministry Even the BBC was told, ‘Don’t mention
of Defence has returned medals to vet- them when they march past.’ The Royal
erans who had them stripped as a result British Legion was quite hostile in those
of their sexual orientation or gender days. This time it was different.”
identity. A warm welcome was extended to
Among the Fighting with Pride the 22 marchers. “Just to be there was a
group was Duncan Lustig-Prean, 62, a momentous occasion,” the former
former Royal Navy Lieutenant-Com- EasyJet instructor said. “What struck
mander who was dismissed in 1994 for me was the warmth and generosity of
being gay. the welcome we were given by other
He took a test case to the European veterans’ detachments. That was in-
Court of Human Rights which helped tensely moving.
lead to the change in the law. It was not “Then we got to give the salute to
the first time that he had marched with Prince William. He has a voice in his ear
gay comrades at the Cenotaph. from a staff officer saying which group
The last time was nearly 25 years ago, is coming. He looked directly at each
when the only way they were allowed to one of us, smiled and acknowledged
remember fallen comrades was by with a nod. And it was a broad smile,
agreeing to hide their sexuality. and it was a direct look in the face.
Before then the campaign group “That was intense. After 25 years, a
Rank Outsiders would lay a wreath healing process starts which is very im-
every year, the day after Remembrance portant for many people who lost their
because they were not allowed on careers through dismissal. They are
parade. “In 1997 we were allowed to recognised by fellow veterans and can
march,” Lustig-Prean said. “But it was hold their heads high and honour
on condition that we did not go public. people who have gone before them.”
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Maxwell complains of maggots, Iundressing
saw prince
rats and creepy prison guards Giuffre, says
David Brown
Ghislaine Maxwell has described the
“living hell” of prison and complained
that she will not get a fair hearing as
jury selection begins today for her trial
for allegedly recruiting girls for abuse
by the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The British former socialite, whose
£12 million bail application was dis-
missed last week, claims that she has
been abused by prison officers who
watch her showers and have fed her
“rotting” food during her 16 months
behind bars.
Maxwell, 59, is being held in solitary
confinement at the Metropolitan De-
tention Center in New York accused of
procuring the victims for Epstein, her
former boyfriend. The American finan-
cier was found hanged in his Manhat-
tan jail cell aged 66 in 2019 while await-
ing trial on child sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell is alleged to have enticed
Ghislaine
Maxwell is seen
in a photo
taken in jail and
included in the
US court filing
by her lawyer
four girls — including one alleged
British victim — aged as young as 14 to
engage in illegal sex acts with Epstein
from 1994 to 1997 at his homes in New
York City, Florida, and New Mexico
and at her own home on Mayfair,
central London. She denies all the
charges.
Maxwell was reported by The Mail on
Sunday to have said that during her time
in jail she had “not had a nutritious
meal” and has to sleep with fluorescent
lights on, which have damaged her
eyes. “I am weak, I am frail. I have no
stamina. I am tired. I don’t even have
shoes which fit properly,” she said.
“They feed me rotten food. One apple
had maggots in it. I have not been
allowed to exercise. I used to go to the
loo with an open sewer drain and a
friendly rat would regularly visit. I told
the guards, but nothing was done until
the rat popped out and charged a guard,
who screamed in terror.”
Maxwell, an Oxford University grad-
uate and daughter of the disgraced
newspaper publisher Robert Maxwell,
said that she stopped showering
because “creepy” guards watched her.
She said that vital evidence had
arrived too late to prepare for the start
Court could see more messages to Meghan’s staff
Valentine Low
Further confidential messages
between members of the royal family
and their advisers could be revealed if
The Mail on Sunday wins an appeal
against a ruling in favour of the Duch-
ess of Sussex.
The newspaper is trying to overturn
a court ruling that its publication of a
letter from Meghan to her father in
August 2018 was unlawful. Email and
text messages between the duchess and
Jason Knauf, her former communic-
ations secretary, were disclosed last
week during a three-day hearing in the
Court of Appeal.
They included details of how the
duchess gave instructions to Knauf on
Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein on the New York social scene in 1995. She is now in the Metropolitan Detention Center
of the trial on November 29 or ap-
peared to have been tampered with
before she received it in jail. “I fear it will
be impossible to get a fair trial. I have
tremendous fear that overwhelmingly
negative media stories will poison my
jury pool and affect the outcome of my
trial despite the evidence that will
demonstrate everything the jurors
thought they knew isn’t true,” she said.
The trial will be attended by Virginia
Giuffre, 38, who claims that at the age of
17 she had sex with the Duke of York at
how to brief the authors of a book about
the Sussexes, Finding Freedom, pre-
viously stating that she “[did] not know
if, and to what extent, her team were
involved in providing information for
the book”.
She apologised to the court for her
earlier statement, saying that she had
forgotten about the exchanges and had
not intended to mislead the court.
If The Mail on Sunday is successful,
messages involving other former aides
of the Sussexes could be disclosed to the
court, The Sunday Telegraph reported.
It said experts believed that if the
matter were sent for trial the emails of
senior staff and former staff would be
searched for mentions of relevant
terms such as Finding Freedom and an
Maxwell’s London home in 2001.
Prince Andrew, 61, denies involvement
and is contesting Giuffre’s civil claim
against him.
Matt Hellyer, a British former soldier
who was head of Maxwell’s security
team, told The Mail on Sunday that he
had hired two people who looked like
her and her brother Kevin, 62, to give
the impression she had fled from the
United States to France. He said: “They
strolled in Paris for a couple of days and
we leaked it to a newspaper. That is how
article in the magazine People that first
reported on the existence of Meghan’s
letter to her father.
It has been reported that staff who
worked for the Sussexes have been
instructed not to delete any corres-
pondence. The palace email system has
been left open should any searches
need to be made. In a summary judg-
ment that avoided the need for a full
trial at which witnesses would give evi-
dence and be crossexamined, a High
Court judge ruled that the publication
of extracts from the letter was unlawful.
The Mail on Sunday is seeking to over-
turn that summary decision, arguing
that the matter should go to trial.
The other members of the Palace
Four, a term to describe the Sussexes’
PATRICK MCMULLAN VIA GETTY IMAGES
we distracted the attention away from
where Ghislaine really was. She was in
the US at all times.”
He said that the intention had been
to mislead the media and shield
Maxwell from a “potential killer” after
claims Epstein’s suicide had been faked.
Hellyer said that although Maxwell had
repeatedly moved properties, she was
always available to be interviewed by
the authorities. She was arrested in July
last year during an FBI raid at her 156-
acre estate in rural New Hampshire.
aides, are Samantha Cohen, their
former private secretary, and Christian
Jones and Sara Latham, the former
communications secretaries.
Documents released in the Court of
Appeal also mention Simon Case, the
Duke of Cambridge’s former private
secretary who is now Cabinet Secretary
and head of the civil service.
Mark Stephens, a media law expert,
said it was likely that emails and text
messages between palace staff would
be produced if the case moved to a trial.
He said: “It’s almost a racing certainty
that whilst it will be handed over to The
Mail on Sunday’s lawyers, the judge
might put in place reporting restric-
tions to prevent it being used in news
reporting.”
11
News
Epstein aide
Bernard Lagan
A former associate of the sexual preda-
tor Jeffrey Epstein has insisted that he
saw Prince Andrew being intimate with
Virginia Giuffre on the Caribbean
island owned by the deceased financier.
“He removed her bathing suit top
and then started grinding against her
and grabbing her ass,” Steve Scully,
whom Epstein employed as a
technician, said of the encounter
between the prince and Giuffre, then 17.
Prince Andrew has denied Giuffre’s
accusations that he sexually abused her
more than two decades ago. Giuffre, 38,
sued Andrew for unspecified damages
in August, accusing him of forcing her
to have sex with him at the London
home of Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime
Epstein associate.
She also accused Andrew of abusing
her at Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan
and on one of Epstein’s private islands
in the US Virgin Islands. A trial in the
case is expected next year.
Appearing on Australian television
on Sunday, Scully, 71, said he worked for
Epstein between 1999 and 2006 and
recalled Prince Andrew’s visit. “He was
probably in his early 40s at the time.
And she was obviously a kid . . . I
thought that was odd,” Scully told the
Spotlight programme.
The prince, 61, has said he has no re-
collection of meeting Giuffre, who now
lives in Australia and claims to have
been paid by Epstein for pleasuring
Andrew.
A source close to Andrew told The
Sun: “Mr Scully has been touting his
‘recollections’ around the media ‘exclu-
sively’ for some time, but his account is
dubious.
“He gives a timeframe up until 2004
. . . by which time Mrs Giuffre was long
since married and no longer working
for Epstein. It’s also worth noting that
Mrs Giuffre’s own account of her
alleged encounter with the Duke on
Little St James bears absolutely no re-
semblance whatsoever to Mr Scully’s
recollections.”
Spotlight reported that in recent days
Scully had given a statement to Giuf-
fre’s legal team.
Appearing on the programme, Geof-
frey Robertson QC, the London human
rights barrister, said that if Scully’s testi-
mony stood up to scrutiny it would en-
ter the facts against Prince Andrew in
Giuffre’s proceedings for damages.
Andrew’s representatives have not
yet responded to media requests for
comment on the programme.
Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts,
now Giuffre, in London in 2001
12
News
News Cop26
‘We won. Now China and India
Steven Swinford Political Editor
Kaya Burgess Science Reporter
Boris Johnson said that Cop26 had
“sounded the death knell for coal
power” but he was disappointed that
one pledge was watered down by China
and India.
The prime minister said that the out-
come was “truly historic” and that with-
in a few years building new coal power
stations would be unacceptable around
the world. He gave the event “more
than six out of ten” for success.
He said, however, that it was “tinged
with disappointment” and that
although most nations had demon-
strated a “high level of ambition” some
had not been “willing to go there”.
India and China pushed for last-min-
ute changes to the climate pact, replac-
ing the pledge to “phase out” coal with
one to “phase down” its use. Alok Shar-
ma, the president of the event, was
reduced to tears after the concession.
Johnson said that Britain could not
force other nations into agreeing to its
Alok Sharma appeared tearful at the
end of the conference on Saturday
own climate change targets. “Those for
whom climate change is already a
matter of life and death, who can only
stand by as their islands are submerged,
their farmland turned to desert, their
homes battered by storms, they
demanded a high level of ambition for
this summit,” he said.
“While many of us were willing to go
there, that wasn’t true of everyone. Sad-
ly that is the nature of diplomacy. We
can lobby, cajole, encourage but we
cannot force sovereign nations to do
what they do not wish to do.”
Earlier Sharma had said that China
and India were going to have to “ex-
plain themselves to the most climate-
vulnerable countries in the world”.
Johnson said: “It’s an immense thing
to get a commitment from 190 coun-
tries to phase down or phase out. Whe-
ther the language is phase down or
phase out doesn’t seem to me to make
much of a difference. The direction is
pretty much the same.” The aim of
keeping global temperatures from
rising by more than 1.5C was still alive,
he said, adding that the world was “un-
deniably heading in the right direction”.
He added: “Even the most pessimistic
commentator will tell you that 1.5 deg-
rees, that goal of restricting the growth
in temperatures to 1.5 degrees, is still
alive. Now the work continues to make
that ambition a reality.”
He said that he would not make more
stringent climate change targets part of
negotiations for a trade deal with India.
Ed Miliband, the shadow business
and energy secretary, warned that
“keeping 1.5 degrees alive is frankly in
intensive care”, with a “chasm” between
what was agreed in Glasgow and what
still needs to be done to cut emissions.
Johnson “fully and humbly” accept-
ed that Cop26 had not delivered the
“full solution” to climate change, but
that it had achieved “just about as much
as we could have hoped”.
He said a tipping point had been
reached in people’s attitudes and that
leaders had been “galvanised and pro-
pelled by their electorates”.
The conference also secured agree-
ment on finalising key parts of the
“Paris rulebook”, on areas such as est-
ablishing carbon markets and transpar-
ency over the action countries are
taking, which have been outstanding
since that climate treaty was agreed in
2015. The decisions come after a fort-
night of negotiations in Glasgow.
A series of deals by countries and
businesses on cutting methane emis-
sions, curbing deforestation, switching
to electric cars, driving investment in
clean technology and phasing out coal
power were announced alongside the
formal negotiations as part of efforts to
drive “real-world” climate action.
Sharma said that the goal of restrict-
ing global warming to less than 1.5C
above pre-industrial levels was “still in
reach”, but added that the outcome of
the conference was only a “fragile win”.
He appeared tearful at the close of the
conference on Saturday evening and
said that he was “deeply sorry” for the
way the changes had been made.
He told The Andrew Marr Show: “On
a personal level, I have invested enor-
mous amounts of the last two years into
this. I’ve been out to see countries, talk-
ed to people on the front line of climate
change and of course I’d had about six
hours’ sleep in 72 hours previously, so it
was an emotional moment.”
The coal deal is still seen as a signif-
icant achievement because it is the first
global climate agreement to explicitly
mention fossil fuels as a key driver of
climate change and to set out a plan to
reduce the use of coal. Greenpeace said:
“It’s meek, it’s weak and the 1.5C goal is
only just alive but a signal has been sent
that the era of coal is ending. And that
matters.”
Patricia Espinosa, executive secre-
tary of the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change, said: “We are very
far from that goal [of 1.5C] but we did
manage to get together this big package
of different decisions that . . . gives us
very, very specific direction on what we
need to work on in order to get there.”
She said that the deal was the first
climate pact to have mentioned coal
and fossil fuels. “We have to be very
conscious that there are millions and
millions of people that depend on fossil
fuel industries and in terms of coal
there are many people, especially vul-
nerable and poor people, that also de-
pend on that as a source of energy. So,
on the one hand, we have clarity that
this is a very big source of emissions and
we need to get rid of that. On the other
hand, we need to also balance out the
social consequences.”
The disappointment from deleg-
ations from the island nations at the
most immediate risk from climate
change was palpable. Tina Stege, the
envoy from the Marshall Islands, said:
“I wish to read into the record our pro-
found disappointment with the change
in the language on coal.”
6 The UK may have to pledge billions
more pounds to help other countries to
cut emissions under the Glasgow deal,
according to Chris Stark, chief exec-
utive of the Climate Change Commit-
tee. The UK is already providing
£11.6 billion in climate finance for devel-
oping nations over the five years to
March 2026. Stark’s committee is plan-
ning to produce a report by the end of
this month on how the UK can increase
its action to comply with the pact.
Morten Morland cartoon, page 31
Good Cop, leading article, page 33
Cop report:
could have
done better
if they tried
Achievements
coal and fossil fuels
A lot of attention has been paid to
the disappointment felt around the
conference when India and China
succeeded in watering down the
final Cop26 deal, pushing for a
pledge to “phase out” coal to be
replaced by a pledge to “phase
down” its use.
This should not, however, mask
what is a significant achievement:
this is the first time that a global
climate deal has set out explicitly
that fossil fuel consumption is a
major driver of climate change and
set out a plan to reduce the use of
coal to generate electricity.
New commitments to phase out
coal-fired power stations were made
during Cop26 by 23 countries,
including Indonesia, Vietnam,
Poland, South Korea, Egypt, Spain,
Nepal, Singapore, Chile and
Ukraine. However, some of the
biggest consumers of the most
polluting fossil fuel, including the
US, China and Russia, refused to
sign the Global Coal to Clean Power
Transition Statement.
The statement was weakened to
give signatories flexibility on the
deadline, changing the target date
to “the 2030s (or as soon as possible
thereafter)” for major economies
and “the 2040s (or as soon as
possible thereafter)” for developing
nations.
In another agreement, 20
countries pledged to stop financing
fossil fuels overseas, including the
US, UK, Canada and Italy.
A small group of countries
pledged to offer no new licences for
oil and gas exploration and agreed
to set an end date for production.
Members of the Beyond Oil and
Gas Alliance, which was launched
at Cop26, include Denmark, Costa
Rica, France, Ireland, Wales,
Sweden, Greenland and Quebec.
England and Scotland have not
joined but Nicola Sturgeon,
Scotland’s first minister, said she
was considering it.
trees
The first big deal announced at
Cop26 was the Glasgow Leaders’
Declaration on Forests and Land
Use, signed by 137 countries
covering 91 per cent of the world’s
forests. They made a commitment
“to working collectively to halt and
reverse forest loss and land
degradation by 2030”.
As well as having an additional
100 signatures, the Glasgow
declaration is backed by £14 billion
of public and private money which
will help to protect the Amazon and
tropical forests in Indonesia and the
Congo Basin.
However, the absence of any
interim target to measure progress
raises questions about whether
some leaders only signed up
2GM Monday November 15 2021 | the times
because no immediate action was economies. The paragraph on the
required. Doubts have emerged ratchet also fails to mention the
already about the intentions of two need to limit warming to 1.5C,
key signatories of the new deal, referring vaguely instead to targets
with Indonesia disputing the aligning with “the Paris Agreement
definition of deforestation and temperature goal”. Countries could
Brazil committing to ending “illegal argue their targets are consistent
deforestation”. Much of the tree loss with the main goal in the
in Brazil is classed as legal. agreement of limiting warming to
“well below” 2C. What “well
ratchet below” means in this context has
The deadline by which countries never been clearly defined.
are expected to announce stronger
emissions reduction targets has methane
been brought forward
ward by One of the mmore eye-
three years. Instead
ad of catching iinitiatives
having until 2025 to announ
announced in
come up with Glasg
Glasgow was a
enhanced targets,, pled by the
pledge
a date originally Un
United States
set in Paris five an more than
and
years ago, 10 other
100
nations are c
countries to
being asked to re
reduce
come back with m
methane
strengthened em
emissions by
plans in time for 30 per cent by
Cop27 in Egypt in n 203 compared
2030
November next with 2020 levels.
year. Met
Methane is a
However, there are potent ggreenhouse
loopholes which could be gas that can warm the
na, India and
exploited by China, atmosphere 80 times
t faster
other big emitterss that have weak than carbon dioxide bu but breaks
2030 targets. The key paragraph down much more quickly. About
requesting stronger targets was 0.5C of the 1.1C rise in the global
weakened in the closing stages of average temperature since the
the conference by the addition of industrial revolution has been
the words “taking into account caused by methane emissions.
different national circumstances”. If fully implemented, the pledge
China and India could use this to could limit global warming by about
argue that they are already doing as 0.2C by 2050.
much as they can and need cheap Yet three of the five largest
coal power to develop their methane emitters, China, India and
the times | Monday November 15 2021 13

News
News

will have to explain themselves’

Rich should
VCG/GETTY IMAGES

adaptation finance, at least

doubling it from 2019 levels by 2025.

pay eco-tax
The amounts pledged are still a long
way below the $70 billion per year
developing nations need now.

Disappointments on food and

“invites” them to do. It
Ben Webster depends on countries
Comment such as China and India
choosing not to use
Coal stocks in Shandong,
China, which, with India,
weakened commitments
to reduce use of the fuel
government was already backed with £14 billion.
capturing attention with A joint statement by the
the next deal. US and China was short
The press release on on detail but could prove
global warming
By the end of the 21st century, the
global temperature must be no
more than 1.5C hotter than it was in
pre-industrial times to avoid
catastrophic impacts. The Glasgow
climate deal cites the importance of
“limiting global warming to 1.5C”,
but an analysis of the pledges made
at Cop26 for reductions over the
next decade suggests that the world
will still warm by a disastrous 2.4C,
according to Climate Action
Tracker. It also looked just at
existing policies and found they
would lead to 2.7C of warming.
Cop26 organisers have said that
the goal of limiting warming to 1.5C
is “still alive”, but that the hope of
achieving it is “fragile”.
cars
Downing Street privately admits
that the agreement on cars is the
most disappointing of the deals on
different sectors announced at
Cop26.
A group of countries, companies
and cities promised to phase out
fossil-fuel cars and vans globally by
2040 and by 2035 in leading
markets.
Ford, GM, Mercedes, Jaguar Land
Rover, Volvo and China’s BYD were
among manufacturers that signed
the Glasgow Declaration on Zero
Emission Cars and Vans.
But Volkswagen, BMW and
Toyota declined.
More than 30 countries, including
India, Canada, Poland and the
Netherlands, signed the UK-led
declaration but most major
economies remain absent from the
deal, including the US, China and
Germany.
water bills
Kaya Burgess
People should pay a form of “ecological
taxation” on food and water bills to
account for the costs of tackling climate
change, waste, obesity and pollution,
the head of Natural England said.
Tony Juniper, who runs the govern-
ment’s advisory body on protecting
land, waters, seas, flora and fauna, said
consumers needed to see the impact of
their dietary and lifestyle choices re-
flected in the bills they pay to appreci-
ate how costly they are to society.
Juniper, 61, who was director of
Friends of the Earth, said wealthy
people who cause more waste should
pay more through “ecological taxation”
to account for it.
“The cost of climate change is going
to be catastrophic,” Juniper told The
Sunday Telegraph. “It’s going to destroy
the economy, potentially – two, three,
four degrees of global warming. Is that
visible anywhere in a consumer bill?
“The loss of the benefits we get from
clean rivers — for angling, for tourism,
for public health and wellbeing —
where is that in the bill? The mass
extinction of animals and plants being
principally driven by our food system,
where is that?
“What about the public health
dimension, in terms of the people
suffering from diet-related illnesses
that’s costing countries absolute for-
tunes on their public health services?”
He said there was a “deficiency in the
way we do economics” because the high
cost of these choices are “basically
hidden from the numbers that appear
in the prices”.

P
loopholes in the text, countries phasing out pivotal. Steps to prevent Juniper said he believed that people
roof of whether which they insisted on coal-fired power was methane leaks now seem loss and damage would be “willing to pay more” on their
Cop26 was a inserting. headlined “end of coal in much more likely. Developing countries had put bills to help prevent sewage from enter-
success will not Downing Street sight” but left out words But the flurry of forward a proposal at Cop26 for a ing rivers and to keep them clean.
come until the ensured that Cop26 got from the deal that promises masked the new damages fund to assist nations “The people who are paying the bills
end of next year off to a flying start with a exposed its weakness. absence of commitments. which suffer losses due to are also the same people who want to go
— the deadline set under series of announcements When the full text was The only bold new target hurricanes, rising seas and other swimming in the river and to take their
the Glasgow Climate in the first week on coal, published, it emerged came from India, which impacts worsened by climate kids paddling and go pond-dipping and
Pact for countries to methane, deforestation that both deadlines, for said half its power would change. everything else,” he said, adding that a
submit stronger and green finance. the 2030s and 2040s, come from renewable The US opposes any suggestion “multi-millionaire filling up a swim-
emissions reduction They had bold were qualified by “or as sources by 2030. that those countries are entitled to ming pool” should pay more for water.
targets for 2030. headlines but little detail. soon as possible Analysis of the 2030 compensation and insisted on Asked for his views on a meat tax to
Boris Johnson’s claim The strategy worked, thereafter”. Amid the pledges found that the watering down the proposal. offset the environmental impact of live-
that the conference was however, and gave Cop26 hype, there was progress. world is on course for Saleemul Huq, an adviser to the stock, Juniper said it was “not necessa-
“game-changing” hangs a sense of momentum. A pledge to end 2.4C of warming, almost Climate Vulnerable Forum, a rily the right instrument”.
on optimism about the The full wording was deforestation by 2030 is one degree above the coalition of 48 countries, said Alok He said meat from animals grazed as
willingness of countries only released the next more likely to work than 1.5C limit set in Paris. Sharma, Cop26 president, had been part of conservation or rewilding pro-
to abide by what the pact day and flaws emerged, a previous commitment Ben Webster is The Times “strongarmed” by the US into jects could be sustainable “compared to
“requests”, “urges” or but by then the because this time it is environment editor weakening the proposal. meat that’s coming from intensively
He said the UK’s promises that reared animals in cages that are being
the needs of vulnerable countries fed crops grown on the other side of the
Russia, declined to sign up to the move closer to meeting their own year from 2020 to help poor nations would be addressed by Cop26 had world, where the Amazon rainforest
pledge. targets. respond and adapt to climate been “proven to be totally has been cut down”.
It is hoped that this will change. They were about $20 billion unreliable”. He added: “That is a very, very differ-
paris rule-book encourage countries such as Brazil short of the target last year and an Under the Glasgow pact, ent set of ramifications environmental-
Cop26 finally saw an agreement to go further and faster in reducing official assessment before Cop26 countries will get technical ly as some meat is more sustainable.”
reached over the “Paris rule book”, emissions, but it is also feared that said that it might not be reached assistance on dealing with impacts, Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, said
which sets out rules on how nations it could allow some nations to until 2023. such as advice on moving earlier this month: “I wouldn’t support
must fulfil the pledge made in Paris continue emitting harmful gases. Japan last week pledged up to $10 communities away from flood- a meat tax. It’s really important that we
five years ago to limit global An agreement was also reached billion over five years and John prone coastlines, but no money to support our fantastic British farming
warming and reduce greenhouse on the “enhanced transparency Kerry, President Biden’s climate cover the costs of rebuilding. industry and rather than using the stick
gas emissions. framework”, standardising the envoy, said this could lever a further Huq said developing countries to encourage people to become more
A deal on “carbon markets” was format in which countries report $8 billion from the World Bank and would submit the proposal again climate friendly, we use the carrot.”
reached allowing countries that their targets and emissions. other sources. It could mean that next year at Cop27 in Egypt where It has been suggested that a “carbon
reduce emissions beyond their the $100 billion target would be he expected the proposal would border tax” could be imposed on im-
targets to sell carbon “offset cash achieved next year. gain more traction. ports from countries that fail to take ro-
credits”, each representing a tonne Developed countries promised in The Glasgow deal called on “It’s an African Cop, the Africans bust action to tackle climate change.
of carbon dioxide, to other 2009 to provide $100 billion in developed nations to “urgently and are in charge and we have been George Eustice, the environment sec-
countries, allowing those nations to public and private funding each significantly scale up” their talking to them,” he said. retary, said this could prevent countries
from “exporting pollution”.
the times | Monday November 15 2021
PM’s regret as sleaze hits support
Steven Swinford Political Editor
Boris Johnson has expressed regret for
the first time over his botched attempt
to block the suspension of the Tory MP
Owen Paterson amid signs that the
sleaze row is cutting through to voters.
The prime minister has faced criti-
cism from across his party, including
from some cabinet ministers, after
whipping Conservative MPs to vote to
stay the suspension of Paterson and to
overhaul the standards system.
He was forced to make a U-turn
within hours of the vote and its
repercussions were still being felt last
week, with clashes between ministers
and Tory MPs on the Conservative
WhatsApp group.
It was followed by a welter of sleaze
allegations that appear to be influenc-
ing the polls. Nearly two thirds of voters
said that they thought the Tories were
“very sleazy” in a YouGov poll for
The Times, the highest level since the
1990s. A poll by Savanta ComRes at the
weekend put Labour six points ahead of
the Conservatives.
The prime minister was asked three
times if he regretted his handling of the
vote and declined to do so. On the
fourth time of asking, however, he said:
“Of course, you know, I think that
things could certainly have been
handled better by me.” He told the
cabinet on Thursday that it was an
“unforced error”, although he has said
privately he believes that the agenda
will move away from sleaze and that he
sees no need to apologise.
Downing Street is understood to ac-
cept, however, that there is a need for
greater contrition from ministers. Last
week Nadine Dorries, the culture sec-
retary, rebuked George Freeman, a
junior minister, after he told colleagues
on the Tory WhatsApp group: “The
damage from last week will take a lot
more than good words to repair.” Dor-
ries replied: “Totally not true George,
those of us who were here in 2009 know
that isn’t the case.
“The expenses scandal, which began
the day of the European elections cam-
paign in 2009 and ended on the day of
the ballot, was a billion times worse
than last week. Every single MP was in
the media. Half a dozen MPs were
banged into prison. Many had to pay
huge sums of money back in expenses
claimed.
“We dominated (mainly Tories,
because the press always go harder on
us) the front page of every single news-
paper and bulletin for five whole weeks.
Chinese surveillance, cheap loans and a helpful career boost
T
he Conservative MP
Richard Fuller has received
more than £300,000 from a
Bahrain private equity firm
that has invested in
companies that make surveillance
systems for the Chinese government
(Tom Knowles writes).
Fuller is an advisory director for
Investcorp, which is one of four jobs
he holds alongside being an MP.
Investcorp invested in a Chinese
state-backed fund called China
Everbright Limited New Economy
Fund in 2018 and started to jointly
manage the fund in 2019.
A beneficiary of this fund was
SenseTime, a Hong Kong surveillance
technology firm that has the backing
of the Chinese government.
SenseTime has been accused of using
its technology to help the Chinese
government’s campaign of
persecution against Uighur Muslims.
When Fuller was an MP for
Bedford between 2010 and 2017 he
At the fourth time of asking yesterday, Boris Johnson admitted that “things could certainly have been handled better by me”
Last week wasn’t great, but it was a long
way from the worst.”
The Times has been told that there
was anger in No 10 when Dorries’s com-
ments were leaked, as it had been at-
tempting to defuse the row.
Johnson also said he had confidence
in Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary
standards commissioner. There have
been claims that his attempt to over-
haul the standards system was a “pre-
emptive strike” against Stone before a
potential investigation into the refur-
received £209,097 from Investcorp,
the Sunday Mirror revealed. He lost
the seat in 2017 but was elected to
North East Bedfordshire in 2019. He
has since earned £94,900 from
Investcorp. These earnings are
within the rules of being an MP
but add to the scrutiny over
whether politicians should be
allowed to have jobs in other
sectors once they are elected to
the Commons.
SenseTime said that it
liaised with the UN and other
international bodies, adding
that it was “committed to
promoting responsible and
sustainable use of AI.”
Fuller told the Sunday
Mirror: “My constituents
will read your article
and if they want me to
respond I guess I can
talk to them about it.”
Labour has called for
an investigation into
bishment of his Downing Street flat.
Asked if he had confidence in Stone,
Johnson said: “The answer is yes. I
think the commissioner has a job to do
and a huge amount of work to do, and
she needs to get on and be allowed to do
it.”
The poll by YouGov for The Times at
the weekend found that Johnson’s
rating as “best prime minister” had fall-
en by four points in a month to 27 per
cent. The Labour leader Sir Keir Starm-
er’s rating on the same measure jumped
whether Jacob Rees-Mogg, the
leader of the House of Commons,
broke financial rules as an MP by
failing to declare £6 million in
personal loans from his
company. He did not report
to the official register that
he had borrowed up to
£2.94 million a year in
director’s loans from his
company Saliston Ltd
between 2018 and 2020 at
a favourable rate. By using
“directors’ loans”, which
are classed by the
government as a
taxable benefit, he
was able to borrow
at interest below
market rates.
The MPs’ code
Jennifer Arcuri’s
diary claims that
Boris Johnson
overruled his staff
NEIL HALL/EPA
four points to 29 per cent, according to
the survey of 1,696 British adults. At the
same time 60 per cent of voters agreed
with the statement “the Conservatives
these days give the impression of being
very sleazy and disreputable”.
Anthony Wells, director of political
research at YouGov, said: “This is the
worst Conservative score on being seen
as sleazy and disreputable since You-
Gov first asked it in 2006 and, as far as
I call tell, since Gallup asked the same
question during the John Major years.”
of conduct does not specifically cover
directors’ loans but states that
members shall “always be open and
frank in drawing attention to any
relevant interest in any proceeding of
the house or its committees” and
requires directors to declare “taxable
expenses, allowances and benefits”.
Rees-Mogg told The Mail on
Sunday, which first reported the story,
that the loans were not earnings, he
was not required to declare them to
parliament and had not broken any
rules. He added that his company
“had no activities that interact with
government policy”.
Fiona Bruce, the Conservative MP
for Congleton, has earned almost
£1.1 million for her outside job as a
lawyer since being elected. The prime
minister’s envoy on the human right
to freedom of religion or belief, has
continued to work for her own
Cheshire law firm, Fiona Bruce and
Co, since being elected to parliament
in 2010. She has earned almost
15
News
Starmer legal
work ‘is not
same as Cox’
Ross Kaniuk
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner,
has insisted that Sir Keir Starmer’s
earnings from legal work during his six
years as an MP are not comparable to
Sir Geoffrey Cox’s second job.
Labour wants an investigation into
Cox, the Tory MP for Torridge and
West Devon, after it emerged that he
flew to the British Virgin Islands to
defend the islands against corruption
claims. He also conducted legal work
from his taxpayer-funded parliament-
ary office.
Meanwhile, financial documents
show that Starmer registered nearly
£115,000 in earnings for legal advice
outside Parliament while an MP. He
has called for MPs to be banned from
working as directors and consultants
Sir Keir Starmer
registered more
than £100,000 in
earnings for legal
advice while an MP
after the Tory sleaze row, alongside a
tightening of rules on second jobs.
Rayner, asked on BBC1’s The Andrew
Marr Show if a Labour government
would ban MPs taking legal work,
replied: “I do not accept the premise
that advising a tax haven which is de-
scribed by the government as corrupt
and using his office to do that, in any
way the same as Keir Starmer doing
legal work when he was first an MP.”
Rayner was questioned by Marr
about Starmer advising the govern-
ment of Gibraltar, to which she replied:
“Me and Keir have been absolutely
crystal clear on this and our manifesto
has been consistently clear on this since
2015, that we would ban paid consult-
ancy and directorships and lobbyists.”
Rayner was also questioned on whe-
ther Starmer using his Commons office
for Zoom calls with the public was with-
in parliamentary rules, but only replied:
“This prime minister has allowed cor-
ruption and sleaze to enter our politics.”
£100,000 a year on average over 11
years, according to the Sunday Mirror.
Previously unpublished diary
extracts by the US businesswoman
Jennifer Arcuri allege that Boris
Johnson overruled the advice of staff
to promote her business interests.
According to one entry, Johnson, then
London mayor, offered to be “the
thrust” that would accelerate Arcuri’s
business career.
The diary entries, seen by The
Observer, appear to have been written
while Arcuri and Johnson were
having an affair. Arcuri received
£126,000 in public money when
Johnson was mayor of London. He
did not mention her in his declaration
of interests and after news of their
alleged affair broke in 2019 he said
there was no interest to declare. A
government spokesman said last
night: “As mayor, Boris Johnson
followed all the legal requirements in
the [Greater London Authority’s] code
of conduct at the time.”
16
News
Rail revamp of the north
facing cuts to save money
Steven Swinford Political Editor
Boris Johnson is poised to shelve plans
for a big rail project in northern
England and downgrade another in
favour of smaller schemes that can be
delivered more quickly.
The integrated rail plan, which will
be published on Thursday, is expected
to mothball the construction of the
eastern leg of HS2 between Birming-
ham and Leeds.
It will also downgrade plans for
Northern Powerhouse Rail, a new east-
west line across the Pennines between
Manchester and Leeds.
Instead of building an entirely new
line as originally planned, the govern-
ment will upgrade existing parts of the
route while building some new sec-
tions. Ministers believe this will make it
far quicker to build and cut costs as part
of £100 billion of investment in the net-
work over the next 20 years. However,
there could be a backlash from Tory
MPs in northern seats, who have long
pressed for both the eastern leg of HS2
and Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Three new high-speed lines include a
42-mile section between Birmingham
and East Midlands Parkway, just south
of Nottingham. This is intended to cut
journey times between the two cities
from 72 to 27 minutes. A second high-
speed route will run south from Leeds
for about 23 miles, helping to cut the
journey time to Sheffield from 42 to 24
Leeds 20 miles
es
Manchester
Wigan
Sheffield
Crewe
Construction
of HS2
eastern leg
expected to
be shelved
Birmingham
London Euston
Source: Department for Transport
minutes. A third stretch will run for 33
miles from Crewe to Manchester, to
complete the western leg of HS2.
A government source said: “The rail
plan is about ensuring that the benefits
of investing in rail infrastructure can
come sooner and directly benefit com-
munities. There is a view that the bene-
fits of the HS2 eastern leg would take
too long to transpire.” The govern-
ment’s decision to shelve the eastern leg
of HS2 coincides with mounting con-
cern about public spending, which has
soared during the pandemic. There are
concerns that the final bill for the line
could exceed £100 billion.
Johnson approved HS2 in February
last year after a review of the project to
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
WAYNE HUTCHINSON/ALAMY LIVE NEW
create a dedicated Y-shaped network
linking London, Birmingham, Man-
chester and Leeds. Construction of the
first phase of the 225mph line between
London and Birmingham started in
September last year.
Legislation for the second section,
from Birmingham to Crewe, has made
its passage through parliament. The
third section would complete the route,
with one leg heading north to Man-
chester and the eastern leg to Leeds via
a new stop between Nottingham and
Derby and another in Sheffield. The
eastern leg is being shelved.
Sixty-three rail bosses wrote to John-
son this year saying that scaling back
the line would have a “devastating im-
pact on confidence” in the industry,
which has already employed 16,000
people on the project. The workforce
had been set to grow to 34,000 at “peak
construction”, it said. The letter said
political leaders in the Midlands and
north were “near-unanimous in their
backing for HS2”, adding: “Those very
regions were critical to your victory at
the last general election, and it is the
communities in those regions who will
be most let down should the eastern leg
not move forward.”
Ministers have decided that the cost
of a new line, including boring miles of
new tunnels, outweighs the benefits.
They think similar reductions in jour-
ney times can be achieved by upgrading Winter woolly Martin Halliday, a Cumbrian shepherd, takes Herdwick ewes near
existing lines and adding new sections. Crummock Water to lower ground for “tupping time”, the annual mating season
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Cambridge college students
told to attend race workshop
Tom Knowles
New students at Wolfson College,
Cambridge have been told to complete
an anti-racism course covering issues
such as microaggressions, whiteness
and privilege.
The college’s black, Asian and minor-
ity ethnic officer emailed first-years
saying: “As part of your induction, all
freshers are expected to attend a man-
datory anti-racism workshop,” The
Sunday Telegraph said. The online ses-
sion informed students that micro-
aggressions were brief, everyday inter-
actions that leave people feeling deval-
ued, such as saying “you speak good
English”.
One part of the session said that
white supremacy operated in modern
British life and used a number of
Google search results as an example.
“In society whiteness [is] centric,” a
slide claimed. “This involves whiteness
being seen as the ‘default’ race and
everyone else being an ‘other’.” It added:
“Google search images are white
people unless you specify otherwise.”
Wolfson College did not respond to
requests for comment.
The workshop is similar to an online
training course for staff at Imperial Col-
lege London this year, which said that
telling someone from an ethnic minor-
ity “you speak English so well” or
“you’re so articulate” carries an
assumption that white people are more
intelligent.
In the course entitled Microaggres-
Universities Antisemitism
‘should share on campus at
suicide fears’ record levels
Kat Lay Health Editor
Universities should tell parents if they
are concerned about a student’s mental
health, according to suicide prevention
guidance from the Office for Students.
The Information Commissioner also
said fears about breaching data protec-
tion laws should not stop staff from
sharing their concerns.
The Office for National Statistics
says that there were 174 student sui-
cides in England and Wales in 2019.
In guidance published online the
Office for Students said suicide preven-
tion requires a “strategic joined-up
approach” involving staff in security,
catering and domestic services as well
as lecturers and support staff.
It says that Universities UK is “devel-
oping a consensus statement and gui-
dance on when and how information
should be shared with family and
friends when students are at risk of
serious self harm or suicide”. It will set
out that “where there is genuine con-
cern for the safety of the student, it is
good practice to involve family and
friends in their support”.
It adds that “any decision to involve
wider networks without the specific
consent of the student at risk must be
based on appropriate clinical judge-
ment”.
An “opt in” system where students
allow staff to contact parents is used by
25 universities and has a high uptake.
The Information Commissioner
said: “Data protection law allows
organisations to share personal data in
an urgent or emergency situation,
including to help them prevent loss of
life or serious physical, emotional or
mental harm.”
17
News
ALAMY
sions — What You Should Know, staff not allow students to matriculate if they
at Imperial were also told not to ask an do not “pass” by agreeing with certain
east Asian person to “speak up more” as statements. The induction asks stu-
this suggests that “the values and com- dents to agree with statements includ-
munication styles of the dominant/ ing: “Acknowledging your personal
white culture are ideal or ‘normal’.” guilt is a useful start point in overcom-
In May Cambridge’s vice-chancellor ing unconscious bias.”
said that it had been a mistake to pub- Last month Chris Skidmore, a former
lish a list of “micro-aggressions” for universities minister, said that such
which staff could be reported. Professor induction sessions were an “abuse of
Stephen Toope was criticised for sup- authority when students should be
porting the introduction of a website receiving support for their transition
that enabled students to anonymously from school, not moralising”. Wolfson College says the phrase “you speak good English” is a microaggression
report teaching staff for “racism, dis-
crimination and microaggressions”.
The site encouraged students to report
staff for “raising eyebrows when a black
member of staff or student is speaking”,
making “backhanded compliments”,
turning their backs on certain people or
referring to a woman as a girl.
The page was designed to maintain a
“safe, welcoming and inclusive commu-
nity” but was criticised by staff and out-
side academics, who said that the list
could be a threat to free speech. Toope
said “some of those definitions and ex-
amples went beyond the policies dis-
cussed and agreed by colleagues”
before the website went live and “its
publication was a mistake”.
Last month it was reported that a
module at the University of St Andrews
suggested that new students should
acknowledge “personal guilt” to over-
come unconscious bias.
The university has compulsory mod-
ules on sustainability, diversity, consent
and good academic practice and will
Tom Ball
Antisemitic abuse on university
campuses has reached record levels,
with Jewish students increasingly
concerned for their safety in the face of
online hate from fellow students.
In the previous academic year there
were 111 antisemitic incidents at univer-
sities, a 59 per cent rise in a year, accord-
ing to figures shared with The Times.
They include a student at Glasgow
who was told to “go gas herself” and
another at UCL who was sent a death
threat that included a photoshopped
picture of her head beneath a guillotine.
Emilie Eisenberg
was shunned after
pointing out rising
antisemitism
The Community Security Trust
(CST), the charity that collected the
data, said the overall rise was largely
down to the surge in reports during the
conflict in Israel and Gaza in May,
when 64 of the 111 incidents took place.
The highest number of incidents
took place at Bristol and Warwick, both
with 11. There were ten at UCL, with
nine at Oxford and eight at Birming-
ham. Most involved verbal, written or
online abuse, although one Jewish stu-
dent at Birmingham was assaulted.
Emilie Eisenberg, 19, a student at War-
wick, said she often encountered racist
tropes and “jokes about the Holocaust”,
and was made an “outcast” after writing
a post that pointed out a rise in antise-
mitic crimes during the Gaza conflict.
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Spoonful of herbs
and spices ‘lowers
blood pressure’
Kat Lay Health Editor
Adding plenty of herbs and spices to
your diet could benefit your heart
health, a study suggests.
Researchers found that feeding
people a diet with plenty of ingredients
such as cinnamon, coriander, parsley,
garlic, black pepper, thyme and turmeric
for four weeks was followed by improved
blood pressure readings. The change
was seen in people whose food con-
tained 6.5g, about one and a half tea-
spoons, of herbs and spices per day.
The researchers did not, however,
observe any improvement in other
measures of heart health such as levels
of bad cholesterol in the blood, which
they had hoped to see. “Adding herbs
and spices to your food is a great way to
add flavour without adding extra sod-
ium, sugar or saturated fat,” Professor
Penny Kris-Etherton, one of the study’s
lead investigators, said.
She said the fact that the participants’
diets were close to that of an average
American, for example containing
more saturated fats than recommend-
ed in dietary guidelines made her par-
ticularly excited about the results. “We
didn’t decrease sodium, we didn’t in-
crease fruits and vegetables, we just
added herbs and spices,” she said. “It
begs the next question that if we did
alter the diet in these ways, how much
better would the results be?”
The study looked at 71 people who
had risk factors for heart disease, such
as being overweight or obese. For three
four-week periods, with a fortnight’s
break in between each, they ate only
meals prepared in the study’s kitchen.
Their diet during one of the periods was
low in herbs and spices, with approx-
imately 0.5 grams added per day; the
other two contained medium and high
levels, of 3.2 grams and 6.5 grams
respectively.
Researchers took measurements and
blood samples before the study and
after each diet period. After consuming
the diet with a high dose of herbs and
spices participants had lower systolic
blood pressure measurements (as the
heart beats) than after the diet with a
medium dose. They also had lower di-
astolic blood pressure (between beats)
than after the diet with a low dose.
The study used 24 herbs and spices,
which the researchers said was “repre-
sentative of the way herbs and spices
are consumed as part of a dietary pat-
tern”, but made it hard to draw conclu-
sions on the effects of individual ones.
The paper is published in the Amer-
ican Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
19
News
JASON BRYANT/APEX
Blade Runner
is coming true,
says director
Neil Johnston
Ridley Scott portrayed a horrifying
dystopian future in which corporations
control the world and androids pose a
threat to society in Blade Runner.
Now he believes that the technology
giants of Silicon Valley are bringing the
world closer to the grim reality of the
classic science fiction epic.
Scott, 83, said that the global power of
Apple and Facebook was already
threatening to undermine govern-
ments and that he feared giant corpora-
tions could run the planet unless their
power was curbed.
“I think it could easily be that the
world would be run and owned by two
corporations,” he told Total Film. “We
are f***ing heading there, right now,
unless we stop it. This Facebook thing,
you’ve got to f***ing stop it.”
He said that iPhones were “very dan-
gerous because you think you are a
f***ing genius. You’re not. This is doing
all the work.”
Blade Runner, which was released in
1982, is set in 2019 and shows a polluted
world in the grip of the all-powerful,
high-tech Tyrell Corporation. It is set in
Los Angeles where robot humans
known as replicants are engineered by
Tyrell to work in space colonies.
The film is based on the 1968 Philip K
Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Elec-
Fabric of society More than 240 women from 28 countries helped to embroider tric Sheep?
this gown over 12 years as part of the artist’s Kirstie McLeod’s Red Dress Project. Apple and Facebook did not com-
It is travelling the world and got a warm musical welcome in Wells, Somerset ment on Scott’s remarks.
20
News
Sync and swim The City of Leeds Synchronised Swimming Club practising at the David Lloyd fitness centre in York
Government refuses to call
Chinese campaign ‘genocide’
Catherine Philp
Diplomatic Correspondent
MPs have condemned the govern-
ment’s refusal to call China’s persecu-
tion of the Uighurs a genocide and
renewed calls for a diplomatic boy-
cott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in
protest at Beijing’s actions.
Responding to a report from the
foreign affairs committee, the gov-
ernment said it would not “make de-
terminations in relation to genocide”
despite parliament’s unanimous vote
recognising Beijing’s campaign
against the Uighurs as such.
The Biden administration in
Washington came into office declar-
ing that Beijing’s persecution of the
Uighurs amounted to genocide, with
parliaments in Canada, the Nether-
lands and the UK following suit.
Under international law, the crime
of genocide is defined by the attempt
to eradicate in part or in whole a
religious or ethnic group, including
attempts to erase their culture or
Camilla praises ‘lifesavers’ of the WI
The Duchess of Cornwall has paid
tribute to a campaign by the Women’s
Institute to encourage its members to
raise awareness and take action to
end violence against women.
She thanked the WI members per-
sonally in an article written for the
latest edition of the group’s member-
ship magazine WI Life, saying: “You
will never know how many lives you
have, quite literally, saved.”
Camilla, a member of Tetbury WI
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
control their birth rate. Beijing has
imprisoned as many as two million
Uighurs in what it calls “re-education
camps” designed to combat extrem-
ism. Human rights groups have docu-
mented a campaign of mass sterilisa-
tion of Uighur women in an attempt
to limit population growth. Uighur
detainees have also been enslaved to
pick cotton in Xinjiang and work in
factories supplying goods for export,
prompting western sanctions on
companies using their labour.
Parliament voted in April to recog-
nise Beijing’s campaign as genocide.
Tom Tugendhat, Tory chairman of
the committee, called it disappointing
that ministers had failed to acknowl-
edge that “a genocide, perpetrated by
the Chinese government, was taking
place.” He added: “The scale and
severity of the human rights abuses
represents an international crisis.”
He also criticised the refusal to im-
pose a ban on cotton imports from
Xinjiang or place sanctions on all
companies that operate there. Cur-
and Llandovery WI, adds: “Two
women are killed every week by a
current or former partner in England
and Wales. This tragic statistic has
not altered in several decades.
“One in four women across the UK
continues to live with abuse. This is
particularly in our minds as we
approach Christmas, when rates of
domestic violence rise significantly.”
The WI’s No More Violence
Against Women initiative was started
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOP
rent British sanctions are limited to
cases in which the use of forced
labour can be clearly established.
The committee also renewed its
call for a diplomatic and ministerial
boycott of the 2022 Winter Olym-
pics, which would mean that while
athletes were free to participate, Brit-
ain would not send any officials.
Tugendhat said a boycott would
“send a clear and powerful message:
that the UK will not stand idly by in
the face of genocide and crimes
against humanity. The decision to
look the other way will weigh heavy
on our conscience, and ‘Never Again’
will become another empty phrase.”
Ministers did accept a recommend-
ation to raise concerns with Unesco,
the UN’s cultural agency, over the de-
struction of Uighur cultural sites, in-
cluding graves, in Xinjiang. It turned
down a request for a special fast-track
asylum scheme for Chinese Uighurs.
Beijing’s behaviour will only worsen,
leading article, page 33
Xi to warn Biden over Taiwan, page 34
in 2019 and continues its efforts to
ensure that women and girls can live
free from the fear of abuse.
Ann Jones, chairwoman of the
National Federation of Women’s Ins-
titutes, said: “On the 50th annivers-
ary since the first refuge opened in
the UK, WI members continue to
support and build relationships with
their local refuges through volun-
teering, collecting donations of es-
sential items and raising vital funds.”
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Mother’s fight over ‘rape ordeal’ of girl, 12
Family claim police
failed pupil who ‘took
her own life’ weeks
after reporting attack.
Charlotte Wace reports
Like many other children in their final
year of primary school, Semina Halli-
well loved Disney films, fashion, sleep-
overs and cooking. She was excited
about the future and dreamt of travel-
ling across America one day.
“She was a very happy, beautiful little
girl”, recalled her mother, Rachel Halli-
well, 50, from her home in Southport.
“But when she started high school,
she changed. She just changed.”
Semina died in June during her
final term of Year 7, aged 12. She had
“taken her own life”, according to
her family, weeks after having re-
ported being raped by a minor and
becoming the alleged victim of
bullying.
“I have to be strong because
[her youngest son] is only 13
and he needs me, so I do
have to keep going,” Halli-
well said. “But it is very,
very hard, very, very diffi-
cult. I miss her so much. I
can’t explain the pain
that I feel.”
She is taking legal
advice over how Mersey-
side police handled re-
ports made to them before
and after the death of her daughter.
“They let her down,” she said.
An inquest into how Semina died has
not yet been held and some details can-
not be reported for legal reasons. Mer-
seyside police made a mandatory refer-
ral of the force to the Independent
Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after
her death, which was then referred
back to Merseyside police for investi-
gation. A complaint was later received
by the force over their handling of the
case, it is understood.
Semina, who suffered from autism,
became withdrawn during her first
term of secondary school and began
self-harming, according to her mother,
who sought help for her daughter from
mental health services.
In March Halliwell recalled that her
daughter “broke down, and she
told me everything”. Semina told
her she had been groomed by an
older boy. The schoolgirl claimed
she had been raped when she
agreed to meet him. “It got to Feb-
ruary and she said to me that he
had pecked her head [irritated
her] that night that she met
him. That’s when the act
happened,” her mother
said.
The report made over
the alleged rape is said to
have marked the starting
point of bullying against her
daughter. “It was like Pando-
ra’s box was opened,” Halli-
well said. Video appeared to
show Semina being attacked
by two young female perpe-
Semina died in June, aged 12. “I can’t explain the pain I feel,” says her mother, left
trators, and it was sent to the police. But
last month Merseyside police wrote to
Halliwell to inform her that an “in-
stance of common assault will be filed
as undetected, due to the offence being
past the statute of limitations”.
Lawyers for the mother are looking
at whether police investigated the vid-
eos properly after they were brought to
their attention and whether this con-
tributed to the failure to bring a charge
against one of the alleged assailants,
ANTHONY DEVLIN FOR THE TIMES
who was identified. The family are also
looking at whether police sufficiently
investigated alleged reports of mali-
cious communications both before and
after Semina’s death.
Online abuse is said to have con-
tinued even after Semina died, causing
significant distress to her family.
Images seen by The Times even show
photographs of the carriage at her fu-
neral defaced with vile comments. A re-
port was made to the police in Septem-
21
News
ber when Semina’s grave was desecrat-
ed. It is still being investigated.
Halliwell now plans to lobby for
changes to the law that would prevent
people from setting up anonymous and
unaccountable social media accounts.
She is also in the process of starting a
charity in Semina’s name to “raise
awareness of online bullying and on-
line grooming”, and will also feature in
a BBC documentary, Zara McDermott:
Uncovering Rape Culture, this month.
Halliwell still finds it too difficult to
go into her daughter’s bedroom. Semi-
na was still conscious when she was ad-
mitted to hospital. Her mother had not
expected to lose her. But Semina’s con-
dition rapidly declined and doctors
were unable to save her. She remained
fearful of her alleged perpetrators even
when she was gravely unwell. “Before
she was put into an induced coma, she
said the name of the boy and ‘he raped
me’. I’m going to remember that for the
rest of my life,” Halliwell said.
Merseyside police did not provide a
response to the allegations but said in
an earlier statement: “We are continu-
ing to investigate a report of rape in
Southport in February this year, and a
number of allegations relating to the
same alleged victim . . . it would be inap-
propriate to comment further.”
A spokesman for the IOPC said: “We
received a mandatory referral in June
from Merseyside police. After carefully
assessing the information, we directed
the force to investigate the matter. We
will review that investigation once it
has concluded, which ensures it will be
subject to independent oversight.”
the times | Monday November 15 2021
High road Dave Nicholson driving a 1937 Austin 7 Special tackles the Drumhouse hill climb at Honister slate mine in the Vintage Sports Car Club’s 52nd Lakeland Trial
Lakes considers ban on tourist cars
Ross Kaniuk
Tourist cars could be banned from
some of the most popular parts of the
Lake and Peak Districts next summer
as the regions struggle with traffic due
to the rise in staycation breaks.
The UK’s national parks are looking
at ways to tackle increased congestion
and adhere to climate commitments.
The Lake District has 19 million visi-
tors per year, with many coming in
search of cleaner air, solitude, peace,
and less traffic. But with 90 per cent of
visitors taking their cars, the impact is
undermining that rural idyll.
Unable to limit visitors by charging
for entry, as America’s national parks
can, policy makers are seeking answers
to an increasingly unsustainable issue.
Richard Leafe, chief executive of the
Lake District national park (LDNP),
told The Guardian: “It feels like we are at
peak car. I want to see less reliance on it.
It cannot go on getting worse, other-
wise it really will become too much to
handle in our national parks. We need
to see a shift to more sustainable travel.”
Last summer free shuttle buses were
trialled along the Wasdale valley by
Wastwater, and from Cockermouth to
Buttermere, a lake that has become in-
creasingly popular as visitors share
images and videos of its beauty on
social media, resulting in it becoming
“rammed”, according to Leafe.
The park is now “actively consider-
ing” closing the most popular valleys to
cars during peak season, Leafe said.
Access would be retained for residents,
buses and bikes, as well as walkers.
Likely candidates include Great
Langdale, which includes Bowfell and
the Crinkle Crags, favourite destina-
tions of Alfred Wainwright, the re-
nowned Lakeland guidebook author.
At the same time, the LDNP has an-
gered residents by granting planning
permission for bigger car parks in an at-
tempt to stop “fly parking” in hotspots.
Locals in Portinscale, near Keswick,
STUART WALKER/I-IMAGES
are trying to stop a car park being built
near the easy climb of Cat Bells.
Dr Julie Carter, one of many objec-
tors, said: “It’s not just the climate and
congestion issues, it is also that the
lichens are dying from emissions, and
the otters are washed out by the tarmac,
leading to increased runoff rates, and
the bats are disturbed by the lights.”
In the Peak District, park bosses plan
to trial a “hail-a-ride” bus service to en-
courage visitors not to bring their cars.
Sarah Fowler, park chief executive,
said: “It’s Uber but on bus scale. It’s not
a scheduled bus service, but you hail it
using an app, and it carries people from
gateway sites into the park.”
23
News
Dealer used
boys in care
to sell drugs
A county lines drug dealer who used
vulnerable children to sell cocaine and
heroin in a Sussex seaside town has
been jailed under modern slavery laws.
Ajay Stephens, 21, forced the boys,
aged 15 and 17, to travel from a children’s
home in Manchester to Hastings to
deal the drugs.
Police later proved he had been deal-
ing since April 2019. Inner London
crown court was told that drugs weigh-
ing almost 1.5kg were sold between
November 2019 and March 2020.
Stephens, of Croydon, south London,
admitted conspiracy to supply class A
drugs and after a trial in May he was
convicted of arranging and facilitating
the movement of people. On Thursday
he was sentenced to eight years and
seven months. Six other people were
convicted of related offences.
County lines drug dealing involves
gangs using phone lines to move and
supply drugs from big cities to provin-
cial towns.
Metropolitan Police detective ser-
geant Ray Sekalongo said: “Our investi-
gation started with Stephens, but long
hours and some good detective work
led to seven people being convicted and
two lines being closed. Most important-
ly our investigation led to two young,
vulnerable boys being freed from
Stephens’ grasp and safeguarded.”
Discussions are also under way with
rail companies about putting on special
bike carriages to urge more cycling.
Fowler said she was interested in a
proposal by the Hope Valley Climate
Action Group to close selected roads to
cars, probably in the Ringinglow/Stan-
age area. She described the car-free
days as “a really interesting concept”.
In Scotland, a free shuttle bus service
is being piloted next year in Loch Lo-
mond & The Trossachs national park,
with bosses considering raising parking
prices to subsidise shared transport. In
Wales, a charge of £25 has been intro-
duced for eight to 12-hour stays near
Snowdon in an effort to deter motorists.
24 2GM Monday November 15 2021 | the times

News
News Coronavirus
Over-50s denied booster jabs after NHS blunder World update
Global cases Global deaths
Ross Kaniuk patients’ watchdog, separately said that lieve the second vaccination has not second dose. But some discovered their 252,970,612 5,095,849
patients had told of being blocked from been entered into the system correctly vaccination records contained errors,
Older people have been blocked from getting a booster shot due to errors on despite [them] having a card and they were being prevented from Most new cases
booking booster jabs after NHS staff their vaccination records. vaccination record that records both making appointments for booster 1 US 59,198
wrongly recorded information when One patient in Cheshire, who wanted vaccinations.” doses via the National Booking
2 Russia 38,068
they had their second dose. to remain anonymous, told the watch- The issue follows a similar error in System, which claimed they were “in-
NHS England said the problem had dog that they were “struggling to book the summer that affected nearly eligible”. 3 UK 36,517
been reported by patients to the Vacci- a booster dose online” and kept being 700,000 vaccine passports, preventing An NHS spokesman said that the
4 Germany 34,309
nation Data Resolution Service rejected by the system. thousands of people from travelling. VDRS “supports people with missing or
(VDRS), though it was unable to Healthwatch England said: “It [the Over-50s and clinically vulnerable incorrect vaccination records” and 5 Ukraine 24,760
confirm how many people had been error] is preventing [them] from getting over-16s are eligible to book Covid vac- anyone experiencing problems should
6 Turkey 22,583
affected. Healthwatch England, the the booster vaccination as [they] be- cine booster jabs five months after their contact 119.
HENRY NICHOLLS/REUTERS Countries reporting most deaths
1 US 762,972
2 Brazil 611,222
3 India 463,530
4 Mexico 290,872
5 Russia 249,415
6 Peru 200,605
8 UK 142,898

Deaths per million population

Rank Now Jan 31
1 Peru 6,084 1,234 (16)
2 Bulgaria 3,769 1,299 (13)
3 Bosnia & H. 3,646 1,431 (7)
4 N. Macedonia 3,514 1,367 (10)
5 Hungary 3,299 1,296 (14)
6 Czech Rep 2,935 1,523 (5)
7 Brazil 2,876 1,048 (24)
8 Romania 2,746 949 (31)
9 Georgia 2,731 797 (40)
10 Argentina 2,572 1,057 (23)
17 US 2,305 1,309 (11)
21 Italy 2,195 1,460 (6)
23 UK 2,105 1,555 (4)
28 Spain 1,875 1,374 (9)
Data supplied by Johns Hopkins University. US data
fluctuates because of irregular reporting by different
states. Figures as of 6pm yesterday. Sources: UK
Business as usual The Christmas lights in Regent Street, central London, were switched on on Saturday afternoon in front of crowds reminiscent of pre-pandemic days government, Our World in Data, selected countries

Free tests could end in April as Austria tells

Covid response is wound down
Steven Swinford Political Editor
Kaya Burgess Science Reporter
Ministers are to consider ending free
Covid tests and the legal requirement
for people who contract coronavirus to
self-isolate from next spring.
The UK Health and Security Agency
has drawn up plans to wind down its
£37 billion coronavirus response from
April if cases continue to fall.
The plans have not yet been passed to
ministers but there are discussions in
government about ending free lateral
flow tests for all. They could be restrict-
ed to those in high-risk places such as
schools and hospitals.
Ministers believe that the govern-
ment’s coronavirus response is unsus-
tainable given the level of debt built up.
“This isn’t the moment to scale back
our response,” a government source
said. “Just look at what’s happening in
Europe. But we may be in a different
position in the spring of next year. The
current coronavirus response does
have to end, it’s ultimately not sustain-
able, but it’s definitely not going to
happen over winter. That would be
reckless.”
One person in 60 was infected with
Covid in the week ending November 6,
down from one in 50 the week before.
Figures from the Office for National
Statistics show that an estimated
925,400 people in England had corona-
virus that week, dropping from
1,103,300 a week earlier.
unjabbed to
stay indoors
austria
The national picture How Britain compares
The government has ordered the 2 mil-
How many people have Covid-19? How many have died? Percentage of population who have lion unvaccinated adults in the country
There were 36,517 new cases reported Yesterday, there were 63 deaths reported, received at least one vaccine dose to stay at home for the next ten days as
yesterday, bringing the total to 9,561,099 or bringing the total number of deaths in the past (total doses administered in brackets) infections increase. Anyone over 12
143.1 for every 1,000 people seven days to 1,093. The rolling average UAE 97.9% (21.5m) People who has not had a jab will be allowed
Daily cases number of daily deaths is 156.1, down from vaccinated out only for work, grocery shopping,
167.7 a day a week ago Portugal 88.9% (16.3m) in UK exercise or to get vaccinated. Austria
6.0% increase from seven days ago
(based on seven-day moving average) Deaths 1,500 First dose has one of Europe’s lowest vaccination
Seven-day Malta 83.9% (903k) rates and the seven-day infection rate
National 60,000 1,000 50.6m
Seven-day average stands at 775.5 new cases per 100,000
average R number 40,000 500 Spain 81.6% (73.6m) Second
1.1 to 1.3 0 46m people, compared with Germany’s 289.
20,000 Canada 78.9% (59.5m)
Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct
0 Daily the netherlands
Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct How does 2021 compare? (Nov 13)
Italy 77.6% (92.1m) The police arrested 15 people during
How many are in hospital? There were 10,987 deaths from all causes First dose
recorded in England and Wales in the week Ireland 76.9% (7.4m) 31,806 clashes with demonstrators opposed to
There are 8,652 patients in hospital being
treated. 999 patients are on ventilators. An
to October 29, of which the coronavirus a new partial lockdown which means
Second
additional 968 patients have been admitted,
accounted for 7.8 per cent. The number of France 76.2% (100.8m) that bars, restaurants and supermar-
weekly deaths was 1,228 higher than the 23,668
down 13.2 per cent in the seven days to kets must close at 8pm. Public events
five-year average for the same time of year Australia 75.8% (37.7m) Boosters
November 9 when this data was last updated will be scrapped and football matches,
20,000 in UK
Hospital admissions 2020/21 Brazil 75.6% (294.2m) including the World Cup qualifier
4,000 15,000 (daily)
Seven-day 10,000 448,670 against Norway next week, must be
e
average 2,000 5,000
UK 74.4% (96.6m) played behind closed doors. TV reports
Five-year average UK total showed protesters in the northern city
0 0 Sweden 71.6% (14.9m) 109,174,748
Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct of Leeuwarden drinking and singing on
the steps of the justice ministry.
Optimism will be muted, however, by Germany and Italy. The Netherlands er and more vulnerable groups have
figures confirming that cases are rising has reimposed lockdown measures been vaccinated. israel
again. A total of 36,516 new cases were after Covid infections hit record levels. He was “quite optimistic” about the The health ministry has approved jabs
reported yesterday. The previous Sun- On Saturday Austria recorded more picture for winter, saying that it is “un- for children aged five to 11. The US Food
day the figure was 30,305. than 1,454 new Covid cases per million likely we will get anything close to what and Drug Administration granted
This has led to an increase of 6 per people. In the Netherlands it was 809 we had last year, that catastrophic win- emergency use of Pfizer’s and Bion-
cent in the seven-day average, with cases, compared with 554 in the UK. ter wave”. Ferguson said that data from Tech’s vaccine for the age group at a 10-
262,419 cases reported over the past Professor Neil Ferguson, the epi- Israel showed that people were “very microgram dose. The dose for over-12s
seven days, an increase of 14,882 on the demiologist, told the BBC that trans- substantially protected” after receiving is 30. A poll suggests 27 per cent of
previous seven-day period. mission could be driven to “low levels” booster doses, not just from severe ill- Israeli parents will allow their children
Large increases have been seen in in the UK by rolling out booster doses of ness but “even from just getting infect- under 12 to receive a jab and 33 per cent
European countries such as Austria, the vaccine to younger people once old- ed again, mild disease”. will not; 40 per cent are undecided.
26
News
Call for legal reform
after surrogacies fall
Kat Lay Health Editor
The number of surrogacies in the UK
has fallen for the first time in five years,
probably because of disruption to travel
and fertility treatment in the pandemic.
In 2020-21 there were 490 parental
orders granted, transferring the parent-
age of a baby born to a surrogate
mother to the intended parent.
That was 6 per cent down on the 520
granted the year before, which in turn
was up from 441 in 2015-16.
Boodle Hatfield, a law firm, pub-
lished the figures and said that the
numbers would rise again. Celebrities
such as Sir Elton John, Tom Daley and
Kim Kardashian have all used a surro-
gate to have children.
Since 2010 gay male couples have
been legally allowed to become parents
via surrogacy and in 2019 the route
opened up to single people.
Harriet Errington, family law part-
ner at Boodle Hatfield, said: “Laws
around surrogacy are in need of reform
to bring the UK up-to-date. Surrogacy
is likely to become increasingly com-
monplace, particularly as people con-
tinue to wait longer before starting a
family, leading to a lower natural birth
rate. We need a system that is fit to cater
to modern family structures.”
Research in September from the
University of Kent and My Surrogacy
Journey, showed that hopeful parents
still outnumbered matches. It also
found that two thirds of applications
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA
came from mixed-sex couples, typically
in their 30s and 40s.
Research by Brilliant Beginnings, a
surrogacy agency, shows about half of
children born through surrogacy to
British parents are born outside the
UK, often in eastern Europe, Russia,
Ukraine and Georgia as well as some
states in America. In those countries
women can be paid to act as a surrogate.
In the UK women can only receive
expenses related to the pregnancy.
Some people argue that allowing
women to be paid to be a surrogate
would make it a viable option for more
people, but many of those involved in
creating agreements between surro-
gates and would-be parents believe that
the rule prevents exploitation.
UK law also means that the surrogate Whiskers on the rocks A wayward walrus, more usually found in the Arctic Ocean around the North Pole, has taken up
is legally the child’s mother until a residence in Seahouses on the north Northumberland coast, where locals have been urged to stay away and give it space
parental order is made, which cannot
happen until the child is at least six
weeks old.
The Law Commission of England
and Wales and Scottish Law Commis-
Sickle cell patients ‘face racism in NHS’
sion are reviewing surrogacy laws.
Professor Nick Hopkins, a law Kat Lay body produces unusually shaped red & emergency departments.” It added:
commissioner, told the BBC earlier this blood cells, which can cause clumping “This sub-standard care has led many
year: “We’re looking at the idea that Racism in NHS services is harming and blockages in small blood vessels. patients to fear accessing secondary
legal parentage would start not with a people with sickle cell disease, MPs say. Patients have severe pain and may need care, or even outright avoid attending
parental order but at birth. There are “serious failings” in the hospital treatment for crises several hospitals.” One patient said he had
“But it is fundamental to our review care of patients that in some cases lead times a year. It mostly affects people of “been called the ‘n word’ to my face”.
that the surrogate must retain her to avoidable deaths, according to a rep- African or Caribbean backgrounds. In 2019 Evan Nathan Smith, 21, died
bodily autonomy throughout, and a ort by the all-party parliamentary Specialist haematology departments in North Middlesex University Hospi-
surrogacy agreement would not be group on sickle cell and thalassaemia. are of a good standard but the report tal after a sickle cell crisis. An inquest
enforceable if a surrogate withdrew her About 15,000 people in the UK have said: “This is far from the case on gen- found that he would have survived
consent.” the condition, which occurs when the eral wards or when accessing accident were it not for failures in his care.
28
News
Staff say BBC copied Stonewall’s use of language
Jake Kanter Media Correspondent
Senior BBC presenters and editors have
urged management to review how
much influence Stonewall had on its
editorial operations after the broad-
caster cut ties with the LGBT group.
Journalists are concerned that
lobbying seeped into news output and
the style guide — in-house rules gov-
erning the use of language in reporting.
Although the BBC denies that Stone-
wall compromised editorial integrity, it
has withdrawn from the group’s Diver-
sity Champions scheme because of a
“perception of bias”.
There is concern that the style guide’s
definition of “homosexual” mirrors
language used by Stonewall in describ-
ing someone “attracted to people of
their own gender” rather than sex. One
presenter also said that the BBC needs
to “re-establish biological truth” and rid
reporting of phrases favoured by Stone-
wall, such as “sex assigned at birth”.
The latter is common on the BBC
website, and insiders said that it had
featured in radio news bulletins. At
least one story on the BBC website
copies and pastes citations from Stone-
wall’s glossary of LGBT terms. The arti-
cle about a transgender man defines sex
as: “Assigned to a person on the basis of
primary sex characteristics (genitalia)
and reproductive functions.” This lan-
guage is at the centre of debate about
sex and gender, and critics say that the
BBC’s impartiality is in danger when it
uses Stonewall’s preferred descriptions.
“The style guide is a battle area where
hopefully they revisit things,” a source
said. Another said there was “no ques-
tion” that Stonewall lobbying had af-
fected editorial. “It would seem appro-
priate to unpick that as it is not impartial
advice but very one-sided advice about
a hotly contested issue,” they said.
Rhodri Talfan Davies, the BBC’s di-
rector of nations, told Radio 4: “I do not
believe that our involvement with
Stonewall over a number of years has in
any way compromised the editorial
integrity of our output.”
Journalists also want the BBC to end
its association with Global Butterflies, a
transgender rights organisation that
has been paid for providing training. It
recommends that employers remove
gender from written communications
and endorses the use of a “genderbread
person” to explain gender identity. The
graphic, styled on a biscuit, posits that
gender is a spectrum and depicts how
identity, attraction, sex and expression
interact to create a gender identity.
The BBC would not rule out future
work with Global Butterflies, which
tweeted the hashtag “#WeStandWith-
Stonewall” after the withdrawal from
the Diversity Champions scheme.
BBC executives are said to share
anxiety over Stonewall’s influence but
there is a view that opening up the style
guide risks inflaming a debate that has
split employees. The divide is broadly
generational: younger staff are horri-
fied by the cutting of ties with Stonewall
and recent trans coverage, including a
BBC story about lesbians being coerced
into sex with transgender women,
which drew thousands of complaints.
Last week Tim Davie, the director-
general, and Fran Unsworth, the outgo-
ing director of news, met members of
BBC Pride, a network for LGBT staff.
One person who was there said that
there was “lots of anger” and staff were
Malala rejects Taliban claim
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist
who was shot by the Taliban in 2012
after campaigning for girls’ education,
says that claims that the regime’s ban
on girls’ schooling in Afghanistan is
temporary may not be true.
She told The Andrew Marr Show on
BBC1 that a similar promise by the Tali-
ban of a temporary halt on girls’ school-
ing in 1996 “lasted for five years”.
“The Taliban have been quite vague
about their commitment to protecting
women’s rights and they announced
two months ago that Afghan boys can
go to school, but for two months
Afghan girls have not been able to go to
their secondary schools,” she said.
I N T H E T I M E S T O M O R ROW
BUSINESS SPORT
DAVID WIGHTON HENRY WINTER
The backlash My England
against supply squad for
chains Qatar 2022
MAIN PAPER MAIN PAPER
HEALTH
NO, NOT THE CROISSANTS!
The best (and worst) things you can eat
PULLOUT
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
“disappointed” by Davie’s reassurances.
Pride members believe that the BBC’s
coverage is partial in targeting the trans
community, though the corporation
denies this. Some junior staff are con-
sidering leaving, according to the tran-
script from a separate Pride meeting
earlier in the week. “Output right now is
actively hostile to trans and non-binary
people,” one person who was there said.
A second person told the meeting
that they took a day off work after the
BBC website story on trans women was
published because they could not focus
on their job.
Another accused senior executives of
“gaslighting” young staff over the
article. “We were accused of being
overly emotional in our response to our
feelings about this article, and accused
of not having read it properly and ac-
cused of not understanding the concept
of impartiality,” they said.
A fourth person added: “Metaphori-
cally we should perhaps throw a brick
. . . go to the management team and say:
‘This isn’t good enough. We’re not
happy. You can’t fob us off. We’re not
going to be quiet.’”
The BBC said that it was “committed
to being an industry-leading employer
on LGBTQ+ inclusion” and is proud
of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans
colleagues. Stonewall said that it was a
shame that the BBC had left Diversity
Champions.
“We’re calling on the Taliban to imme-
diately allow girls to have access to their
complete education. We’re calling on
G20 leaders and other world leaders to
ensure that girls’ rights are protected in
Afghanistan.”
Yousafzai, 24, who married a Pak-
istan cricket administrator last week in
Birmingham, said that what she was
advocating for was not a privilege but
“basic human rights that every woman
and girl should have”. She said neigh-
bouring countries should help to en-
sure that women’s rights were protected
in Afghanistan.
Taliban turn a blind eye to Afghanistan’s
favourite sport, page 38
COMMENT
WILLIAM HAGUE
We can’t afford to
ignore the crisis in
the Balkans
MAIN PAPER
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Shame on universities that
legitimise ‘sex work’
Libby Purves
Page 31
To get Nazanin released, we must pay our debt
Only refunding the £400m Britain owes Iran will return Zaghari-Ratcliffe to her family. It is our moral duty to do so
Clare
Foges
@clarefoges
‘T
o have and to hold, from
this day forward, for
better, for worse, for
richer, for poorer, in
sickness and in health . . .”
Who better embodies the devotion
in these vows than Richard Ratcliffe?
For three weeks the husband of
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe starved
himself on Whitehall, a desperate
man playing his last card, muscles
wasting, body creaking. Pictures of
his pinched face look like colourised
images from a century ago, of a
soldier whose eyes have seen
terrible things.
Ratcliffe is ravaged by something
worse than hunger: hopelessness.
There’s “no hope” he said last week
after a meeting with the Foreign
Office minister James Cleverly;
“we’re still stuck in the same status
quo”. Now on to his fifth foreign
secretary, Ratcliffe is familiar with
ministerial speak, the fudge that
promises much but delivers no
tangible progress. Five and a half
years of pledges to “turn over every
stone” and “redouble our efforts”
and still this family remains split
over two continents.
The case seems as stuck as a
Gordian knot and the message of
that legend is useful here. When
Alexander the Great was presented
with the fiendishly intricate knot, he
picked and picked before wisely
realising it would be easier to raise
his sword and just swipe through the
damn thing. Britain has picked and
picked at the Zaghari-Ratcliffe knot
to no avail, and it is long past
time that our own Alexander —
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson
— swiped a sword through it, by
repaying the £400-odd million
debt that is owed to Iran.
A primer for those not au fait
with the debt. In 1971 the UK struck
a deal to sell 1,500 Chieftain tanks
to Iran, which paid about
£400 million up front. When the
shah was toppled eight years later,
we refused to deliver the tanks but
kept the cash. International courts
have agreed that we owe them
money, the UK government has
acknowledged the debt and it has
become clear that for the Iranians,
the release of the money
is a precondition to the release
of Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
The government has denied
many times that the two issues are
linked, although in a letter to
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s legal team last
September, the defence secretary
Ratcliffe is ravaged by
something worse than
hunger: hopelessness
Ben Wallace said the government
“acknowledges there is a debt to
be paid and continues to explore
every legal avenue for the lawful
discharge of that debt”.
Yet month after month, nothing
seems to happen. On April 19 a high
court hearing to resolve the non-
payment of the debt was postponed
for the 11th time. Days later Zaghari-
Ratcliffe was sentenced to a new
jail term of a year on the new charge
of “spreading propaganda against
the regime”.
Why won’t the government just
get on and settle? There are three
main objections. The first is that
Iran’s linkage of the debt with the
detainee means that it can now be
regarded as a ransom — and as
you may read on page one of
Diplomacy for Dummies, you never,
ever pay a ransom.
Rudyard Kipling’s poem springs
to mind: “We never pay anyone
Dane-geld/ No matter how trifling
the cost/ For the end of that game is
oppression and shame/ And the
nation that plays it is lost!” Amen
to that, but this is not a ransom. It
is a debt and we should repay it.
Even if it were not linked to the
Zaghari-Ratcliffe case, it would be
the right thing to do.
There is also the objection that
paying the money will fall foul of
international sanctions. Last week
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Ali
Bagheri Kani, met Foreign Office
officials and said that though the size
of the payment had been agreed by
the two sides, “now what the UK
government are bringing up is the
limitations on banking interactions,
saying it is a difficulty, and finally
they cannot do it”.
However, as the former foreign
secretary Jeremy Hunt suggested last
week, “those are things that you can
sometimes get around, if you, for
example, gave £400 million worth of
medicines or something like that”.
Where there’s a will there may be a
way, but the will seems to be lacking.
Bagheri Kani shrugs: “You have to
ask the UK authorities why they
will not pay the debt”.
Perhaps the most realistic
explanation for the foot-dragging
is the third objection, which is that
paying Iran will displease the United
States. Though the US secretary of
state, Antony Blinken, has said the
repayment of the debt is “a sovereign
decision for the United Kingdom”,
the shadow of Washington falls
long over Whitehall.
Comment
FREE NAZANIN CAMPAIGN/PA
Settling the historic payment is the
route to freeing Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Nervousness at upsetting the
special relationship might help to
explain the delay, which is ludicrous
given that only five years ago
President Obama approved a plane
delivery of $400 million in cash to
Tehran as part of the settlement of
an old debt; the same day the jet
touched down, four American
prisoners were released. For the
Americans to object to such a similar
move on our part would be
hypocritical in the extreme.
The plain fact is that Zaghari-
Ratcliffe will not be released until
the debt issue is resolved. If we are
playing a game of “who blinks first”
with Iran we will be waiting for ever.
This much was made clear by the
decision in April to give her a new
sentence on trumped-up charges.
Tehran is prepared to play a
long, long game in which the rules
29
change frequently. Are we going
to leave Zaghari-Ratcliffe there
for the entirety of her daughter’s
childhood? Or into middle and
old age? No — we will have to
resolve this sooner or later, so why
not sooner, for the sake of this
desperate family?
The government has a history of
being forced into corners before it
acts, of delaying and delaying before
finally bowing to the inevitable,
After the shah left, we
refused to deliver the
tanks but kept the cash
whether the inevitable is extending
free school meals or taking the
country into lockdown.
Here, again, the government
seems to be following this old
pattern of prevarication. For the
sake not only of Zaghari-Ratcliffe
but of his own reputation, this time
Johnson must get ahead of events,
acknowledge the debt and set out
a plan to repay it.
The prime minister has
been heavily criticised for his
interventions in the Zaghari-Ratcliffe
case to date and in the repayment of
the debt is a golden opportunity to
redeem himself. He must do the
honourable thing, pay the debt,
remove this obstacle to freedom and
return Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
home. A man needs his wife, a
daughter her mother: not to Zoom
and to miss, but to have and to hold.
red box
For the best analysis
and commentary on
the political landscape
thetimes.co.uk/redbox
30
Comment
We can’t change history, just try not to repeat it
Most people resent a narrow rewriting of the past, so far better to accept it and strive for better
Trevor
Phillips
@mtrevorp
T S
he past is never dead; it isn’t
even past, wrote William
Faulkner. Most scholars
interpret this epigram to
mean that while there are
moments in our lives that will never
recur, the past leaves a trace that
helps to govern our actions now. But
in truth, history is more than a series
of semi-recalled names, dates and
events. Nor is it reducible to
sophomoric sloganising about the
“links” of this individual or that to
slavery, or to niche arguments about
antiquities of dubious provenance.
History counts because for all too
many it is an iron cage from which
we struggle, and mostly fail, to
escape. In 2008, in what most people
would regard as his most memorable
speech, titled “A More Perfect Union”,
Barack Obama quoted Faulkner’s
dictum to argue that America’s past
had shaped its present so deeply that
healing racial divisions would be the
work of generations. He was right;
even his election and re-election by
wide margins have done little to heal
the chasms in his nation.
This weekend has powerfully
focused attention on the
contemporary relevance of the past.
The developing nations walked away
from Cop26 in Glasgow bitterly
disappointed; the Cop president, Alok
Sharma, choked back tears of
James Marriott Notebook
Charismatic
wasters are
worthy of
state subsidy
R
eading Somerset Maugham’s
novel Of Human Bondage,
I was pleased to encounter
one of my favourite kinds
of fictional character: the
charismatic loafer who fails to fulfil
his early promise. Maugham’s loafer,
Hayward, is a brilliant talker,
acknowledged as a kind of genius
at school but who goes on to fail at
various careers. The height of his
achievement is swanning around
Europe getting into arguments
about poetry and philosophy.
Many of the kinds of people
who regularly appear in novels turn
out not to exist in real life, but the
charismatic loafer does exist and is,
I think, a surprisingly common type.
I have known a few. The problem is
usually to do with school. The
danger for very intelligent people
who never have to try at school is
not just that they don’t have to
accustom themselves to effort, but
that they can avoid having to adapt
frustration at the last-minute
concession forced on the conference
by India and its ally China. Delegates
spoke of the delay in phasing out coal
as a death sentence for their societies.
Having grown up in just such a
country, where failure to hit the 1.5-
degree target will put the schools I
went to under water by the middle of
the century, I feel every sympathy.
Yet anyone who has talked to the
delegates from coal and oil-producing
nations, as I have, will be aware that
this was not just a row about dirty
energy. Climate justice is not just a
matter of redistributing present and
future pain; it is also a struggle over
the consequences of history.
How can it be, the poor nations
People worldwide see
our democracy as a
light in a darkened sky
ask, that countries which have grown
rich and politically dominant by
burning fossil fuel over two centuries
now have the moral chutzpah to
insist that those who gained nothing
from that destruction bear the brunt
of the task of correcting humankind’s
historic error? Today, India consumes
some 107 watts per capita according
to the World Bank, a third of the
global average. The US gorges on
1,347 watts per head, the UK buzzes
along on 513. If the world needs
someone to turn down the gas,
perhaps the job should start with us.
The second call to the past was
yesterday’s annual act of
remembrance at the Cenotaph. For
the young the wreath-laying may
to the tiresome bureaucracy of rules,
homework deadlines and accurate
timekeeping through which the rest
of us must slog if want to keep up.
Breezing through school allows
the charismatic loafer to preserve an
originality of character (hence the
charisma) that is squeezed out of
most of the rest of us by the mangle
of formal education. I think it is this
originality as much as laziness that
makes such people unsuited for the
compromises and conformity
required by professional life.
Charisma and originality of
character are qualities
underappreciated in our dreary,
bureaucratic modern workplace.
There should be a government
scheme to pay charming wasters
to sit around in a room
(unchallenging office hours,
say 11-3) talking elegant
nonsense and, if they
fancy it, coming up
with ideas that could
be implemented by
the more active
members of society.
Geek squad
W
alking
home from
the pub the
other night, a friend and
I were approached by an
engagingly dorky, thickly
bespectacled and very gen-
seem just a respectful but essentially
ritualistic bow to the sensibilities of
the elderly. If anything, a new
generation seems to believe that
history is merely a story we tell
ourselves, with the narrative chosen
according to present-day prejudices.
Bizarrely, a university professor,
interviewed on TV during the march
past at the Cenotaph, opined with
excruciatingly poor taste that the
ceremonies were “excluding” those
who had chosen not to fight and the
many who had a civilian role. I doubt
very much whether courageous
conscientious objectors would have
complained at not being invited to a
national military parade.
It may be that the professor would
also consider it acceptable to invite
the supporters of Oswald Mosley to
commemorate their role in the 1939-
45 conflict, mostly spent behind the
bars of Holloway prison. In the Alice
in Wonderland world to which some
universities have migrated, such an
idea might be contemplated
seriously. I’m sure the £12 million
doled out to academics from the
fascist leader’s fortune has already
helped to induce selective amnesia in
several senior common rooms.
Last week, I fulfilled a promise to
speak in a debate at the Cambridge
Union against the motion “This
House Is Embarrassed To Be British”.
As might be expected, the proposers
thundered against the iniquities of
British history. My argument was
simple. First, the fact that people who
share my nationality do things that
are boorish, immoral and shameful is
not a reason for me to be ashamed of
my own country and its values, even
if we do not always live up to them.
Z-seeming student who told us that
he did not feel the streets were
sufficiently safe, so would we please
escort him to the nightclub where he
was planning to spend the evening.
This was in the middle of brightly lit
central London.
I’m unpersuaded that if you are
attacked in the streets of London, I’m
the Times columnist to protect you
(David Aaronovitch, for instance,
seems like he would be good in a
fight). My friend and I resolved that
if we were set upon by thugs we’d
probably run away, or perhaps use
our new acquaintance as a
human shield.
I have no idea where he got
tthe idea that you can require
random strangers to walk you
around London (he seemed like
the sort of person who might
have picked it up via an
extremely thorough
reading of the fresher’s
handbook) but despite my
initial scepticism I think
it’s actually rather a
charming idea. I got to
have a chat with
someone I would never
otherwise have spoken
to. And the image of
bands of transient
acquaintances
wandering around
w #BrokenRecord campaign and a
London dropping each
other off at nightclubs and
Second, people from all over the
world see our democracy as a light in
a sky darkened by various kinds of
authoritarianism and extremism. To
my mild astonishment, we won by
3:2. There is hope for us all.
Yet some smart people on the left
dismiss such debates about identity,
the preservation of statues or the
exchange of antiquities as mere
froth, irrelevant to the day-to-day
business of earning a wage. Lenin
attacked such criticism as naive
economism, arguing that there was
more to the good society than bread
and land — culture and peace, for
example. At the risk of being outed
as a Leninist I am with those for
whom history matters.
That does not lead me to the
grandstanding of monument-removal
or campus cancellation. But it does
make me wary of the simple-minded
wokeism displayed in Virginia’s
recent race for the governorship. The
Democrats turned a healthy lead into
a crushing defeat with a tin-eared
defence of school history lessons
based on so-called critical race theory,
which holds that everyone white is
intrinsically a racist. The loss was
dismissed by liberals as the revenge
of right-wing culture warriors; but I
think that it owed much more to
voters, of all backgrounds, resenting
the rewriting of the historical record
to make them victims or villains
merely because of their race.
Those of us who want a more
moral, more equal society need to
find a better way of changing the
future than just trying to erase the
past. History is with us for good.
Better to spend our energy doing our
best not to repeat the worst of it.
perhaps making friends with each
other is rather a civilised one.
Chantez-vous Français?
I
started listening to the French
singer Françoise Hardy a few years
ago in the vague hope that her
songs, with their simple lyrics about
couples holding hands and going to
the cinema, would improve my
language skills. It was not music that
had particularly moved me until last
week, when I realised that songs I
had previously listened to thinking
“ah yes, ‘le cinéma’ . . . I believe she’s
singing about the cinema” suddenly
struck me as almost heartbreakingly
beautiful, full of a simplicity and
innocence and melancholy that
had not revealed itself to me before.
There’s a particular forlorn
emphasis with which Hardy sings the
word “vie” in the line “sans toi, ma
vie/ Ne vaudrait plus la peine” in the
song Ton Meilleur Ami which melts
my soul like an ice cream. But then,
thanks to YouTube’s algorithm, I
found myself listening to Hardy’s
English versions of the songs, which
seemed tacky and mawkish. Was it
only pretentious self-conceit about
being the sort of person who walks
the house listening to music in French
that made those songs so beautiful?
Or was there something really there?
@j_amesmarriott
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
Back the bill to pay
British musicians
what they deserve
Tom Gray
ir Lucian Grainge, the chief
executive and chairman of
Universal Music Group, has
earned more money this year
than all British songwriters
and composers made from all UK
music streaming, downloads and
sales put together in 2019.
The towering scale of this
imbalance has a dizzying effect on
music-makers such as me. Basically,
it makes us sick. Our earnings have
been decimated by Covid. The
government’s generous furlough
schemes etc often did not provide
musicians with any cover. A recent
UK Music report states that one in
three jobs in music have been lost.
An Intellectual Property Office
survey found that 62 per cent of
musicians earned less than £20,000
per annum even before Covid.
We are a low-paid sector, one that
has suffered disproportionately in the
recent past, but we’re not expecting
handouts. You might imagine us as
foolish dreamers but the mastery of
our craft makes us very practical, self-
motivated people, well aware that we
chose a difficult, precarious path. But
it’s not supposed to be this difficult.
The fact that every songwriter and
composer that Britain has ever
produced — Paul McCartney, Adele,
Benjamin Britten, Stormzy, Ed
Sheeran, Kate Bush, Vaughan
Williams — put together earned less
in a year from domestic music
distribution than one man shows that
the industry has a problem. The
societies who collect our performance
income are regulated but, beyond
that, all we have is UK copyright law,
which hasn’t been updated since 2003.
Spotify started trading in 2008. It’s
time to deal with this glaring anomaly.
The Conservative-led DCMS select
committee recently looked at our
industry and called for a “complete
reset”. As a result, the government has
entered a research process and the
Competition and Markets Authority
is carrying out a market study. The
major music groups used to be huge
manufacturing and distribution
companies, but now, with little or
none of these costs in streaming, the
savings aren’t being enjoyed by
music-makers. Their historic
profitability is not being shared with
the people whose music you love.
With support from other members
of the committee, Kevin Brennan
MP is bringing a private member’s
bill to parliament on December 3
with the aim of rectifying our out-of-
date legislation and changing the
terms by which British musicians are
paid. Please urge your MP to show
up and support this endeavour.
It’s amazing that all the music in
the world now fits in your pocket, but
it doesn’t mean all the money should
be in Lucian Grainge’s trousers.
Tom Gray is founder of the
founding member of the Mercury
Prize-winning band Gomez
the times | Monday November 15 2021
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Shame on universities that legitimise ‘sex work’
Rather than doing everything to prevent female students selling their bodies, institutions seem to be actively condoning it
Libby
Purves
@lib_thinks
I
n 1869 the first British women
won university degrees. By 1880
they sat final exams alongside
men. By 2010, female
undergraduates outnumbered
males. Now in 2021 a group of British
universities is promoting Leicester
University’s interactive “sex work
toolkit” for students who earn
money by escorting, webcam porn,
stripping, lapdancing, phone sex,
dominatrixing, selling underwear
online and other services.
This downhill journey from
bluestocking to fishnet-stocking,
suffragist to sex-merchant, is a
women’s issue. It’s also a wider
educational issue: some days you
have to ask yourself, what is wrong
with universities? Not all are equally
guilty but there’s plenty to raise an
eyebrow. Observe the rocketing pay
levels of vice-chancellors, always
ready to explain that they deserve it
because of their unique managerial
gifts (which sadly can’t prevent a
lecturers’ strike sabotaging degrees
for the fourth time since 2018).
Or look at how 19 Russell Group
universities think that online lectures
and “blended learning” justify
charging kids £9,250 a year, even
after Covid restrictions end.
You might also find your reverence
for the sector dented by the
shrugging insouciance, in many
campus universities, about
accommodation: “halls” are often
outsourced to private companies
offering little security and whose
rents have risen by a third in ten
years, far above inflation, to suck up
73 per cent of the average student
loan. Insouciance, too, that in the
pandemic students were either
locked down harshly in cramped
rooms or made to pay full rent when
being taught by flickering screens at
home. Beyond that, you might note
It’s a downhill journey
from bluestocking to
fishnet stocking
— not everywhere, but enough to
worry parents — a shortage of
responsible, observant adult contact
and concern for the welfare of
teenagers far from home.
It is half a century since the age of
majority dropped from 21 to 18. We
boomer students relished that, but
youthful human nature did not alter
in 1970 and memory suggests that,
for a while at least, university
authorities kept an instinctive sense
of being “in loco parentis”. That is
largely gone now: the change of
attitude probably accelerated by Tony
Blair’s huge expansion of university
education, offering often dubious
“degrees” at the expense of
supervised apprenticeships. So, with
an ever-greater shrug of relief,
university authorities gradually ceded
ever more authority to the “young
adults” who were once in their care
and are now high-paying customers.
They happily let the start of every
autumn term mutate from freshers’
week being a harmless, rather nerdy
meet-your-tutors, join-a-club event
into rackety clubbing and the
presumption of a drunken sexual
free-for-all. In the same spirit of
capitulation many vice-chancellors
and their sidekicks ignore their duty
to free speech and cave in to student
union factions who silence or attack
speakers. Even when, as with
Kathleen Stock at Sussex, the
university verbally backs free
thought there is little evidence of any
students (customers! punters!) being
sanctioned for aggressive behaviour.
And now these adults promote
online courses for student sex
workers. The highly rated Durham is
giving its approval because of what it
calls the “emerging trend” of
financially pressed undergraduates
selling sexual services (a 2015 project
did find one in 20 doing it, one in
five considering it). Do universities
worry? No, they’d rather buy a
course on its “safety”.
Yet research across the world
makes it clear that selling sex is not
only an immediate risk but reduces
the safety of all women. Men who
buy it, whether online or physically,
are significantly more likely than
other men to rape or commit other
violence against women. Note that
the libertarian belief that sex work is
“just like any other work” is belied by
A decent adult world
would offer support to
every desperate kid
the toolkit’s advice never to wear
anything round your neck when
meeting a customer. Guess why.
It does explain the law on
soliciting and brothel-keeping but
breezily ticks the box for everything
else, from underwear deals and
stripping online to full-on escorting
or “sugaring” as paid companion to a
richer man. I say man because —
let’s not pretend — the immense
majority of “sex work” is female. Of
course those entangled in it need
support, not criminalisation or
contempt. But rather than
normalising the selling of sexual
intimacy as just another student
lifestyle, might not a decent adult
31
Comment
world offer actual support —
financial and emotional — to every
desperate kid? Rather than just
smilingly publishing a list of ways a
pretty girl like her can make rent?
The online course does not
mention the perfectly well-attested
physical and psychological dangers of
the sex trade, or link to organisations
that get women free of it. The
university authorities, meanwhile,
take the conveniently narrow view
that they are helping students who
already do it. The wider view they fail
to take is that they are making it feel
like a reasonable choice. Nor do they
consider how, when we already have
an epidemic of sexual assaults on
campus, it will affect their male
students’ view of consent and loving
relationships. It suggests that sexual
predation is usual and natural, so
buying pornography or real-time
contact is an entitlement for any
chap with the cash. Because women’s
bodies are just a bit of fun, OK?
The course, and the universities’
threadbare “duty of care”, twist away
from all this. Don’t judge, just tacitly
accept that the financial and social
structure of your academic profession
makes it necessary for many bright
girls to start their adult life whoring.
And to think that in 1869, those
pioneers naively believed university
education would help prevent
women having to sell sexual services
to more powerful men.
32
Letters to the Editor
Johnson’s failings
Sir, Boris Johnson is an effective
campaigner. He can relate to people
and persuade them. However, what is
becoming increasingly clear is that he
is unfit to be prime minister. He has
little respect for the rule of law and
no plan to deliver for the country
beyond a series of soundbites, with no
substance other than throwing money
at problems. He shows little regard for
lower tax, smaller government,
individual responsibility, private
enterprise and wealth creation. These
are the guiding principles of many,
like me, who support the
Conservative Party, which should
remember that governments lose
elections once they have lost the trust
of the electorate. While Johnson has
no effective opposition, he may think
that he can get away with his lack of
principles and poor performance but
he is eroding the patience and trust of
many who should be his supporters.
His approach to government is not
sustainable.
Sir Christopher Gent
Newbury, Berks
Word of the year
Sir, My submission for The Times
word of the year (Feedback, Nov 13):
booster, n. (Covid vaccination);
boosterish, adj. (rodomontading,
false prime-ministerial optimism).
Bruce Parker
Appleshaw, Hants
Proving a booster
Sir, The assertion that the Covid-19
booster jab is not shown on the NHS
app (letters, Nov 13) does not seem
entirely correct. While my booster jab
is indeed not shown in the NHS
Covid Pass section of the NHS app, it
does feature in the GP health record
section, under the “Acute (short-term)
medicines” heading. That could
perhaps be used in extremis as the
appropriate certification until such
time as the app is modified.
Mark Clarke
London N1
Letters to The Times must be exclusive
and may be edited. Please include a full
address and daytime telephone number.
Corrections and
clarifications
6 We said in a headline that “Durham
University trains its students to be sex
workers” (News, Nov 12). In fact, as
the accompanying article explained,
the university is offering safety
training for students who may be
working in the sex industry. We are
happy to make this clear.
The Times takes
complaints
about editorial
content seriously. We are committed to
abiding by the Independent Press
Standards Organisation (“IPSO”) rules
and regulations and the Editors’ Code of
Practice that IPSO enforces. Requests
for corrections or clarifications should
be sent to feedback@thetimes.co.uk or
by post to Feedback, The Times, 1
London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF
■ 八点一刻外刊网 badianyike.com
Migration, the Channel and the Polish border
Sir, You report that Boris Johnson has
appealed to President Macron to stop
migrants crossing the Channel in
small boats (Nov 13). If only it were
that easy. Just as we have pressure on
our frontiers so we see similar pressure
on the eastern frontier of the EU, in
the Mediterranean and elsewhere.
These are desperate families fleeing
unimaginable conditions and we have
a historical, political and above all,
moral responsibility to help them. As a
London member of the European
parliament (1994-2009) I spent five
years helping to develop common EU
policies for both immigration and
asylum; policies whereby the rights of
the individuals were defined and the
responsibilities of all countries clearly
identified. The need for co-operation
between the more wealthy nations was
a key factor in these negotiations.
When a rich, democratic bloc such as
the EU borders a much poorer
tyrannical regime such as President
Lukashenko’s it is inevitable there will
be challenging migratory pressures.
The UK needs to look at every option,
including legal routes for migrants.
Co-operation with the rest of Europe,
not just blaming the French, is crucial.
Robert Evans
Councillor, Surrey county council
Climate change
Sir, After two intensive weeks of
negotiations and cajoling at Cop26,
there is an agreement. A cause for
celebration? For some of the big
emitters, maybe. But the outcome of
will disappoint many, not least those
in vulnerable developing nations.
Others were hellbent on not crashing
their economies. What they fail to
realise is that the present economic
model has crashed the planet. Earth is
no longer a homeostat.
Professor Paul W Jowitt
President, Commonwealth Engineers
Council; London SW1
Sir, The idea that we can achieve a
stable climate at a politically chosen
temperature is the oxymoron of
oxymora; climate cannot, in
perpetuity, be controlled by the
manipulation of one set of variables.
Moreover, we forget that it is change
itself which is so disruptive for
humans, and that a cooling world
may be just as disastrous for some
countries and peoples. Finally, we
must be realistic about the limitations
of many of the proposed
technological fixes in the face of
BOMBAY
READY FOR
THE PRINCE
from the times noveber 15, 1921
Preparations for the reception and
entertainment of the Prince are now
complete in all their details. The
streets are lavishly beflagged and the
prominent buildings are covered
with myriads of little lamps on a
network of bamboo scaffolding. The
weather has been moderately cool
for Bombay in November, and there
are hopes that it will continue so.
The programme, though elaborate, is
not unduly exhausting, the intervals
for rest being arranged so that on
three out of the five nights here the
Prince will be free to dine alone if he
pleases in his charming private
Sir, Your article “French allow over
2,000 migrants to cross in week”
(Nov 12) quotes a Whitehall source as
accusing the French authorities of
“failing in their duty to protect life”. In
fact, the French government has been
making concerted efforts to persuade
those very migrants to apply for
asylum in France, going to the lengths
of providing translators. The fact is
that those migrants do not wish to
settle in France because many of them
speak English, and/or have relatives
living in the UK. In addition, the UK
government has shut off access to
almost every legal means whereby one
can claim asylum. It is also difficult to
see what motivation the French
authorities might have in the context
of migration to assist a third country
which repeatedly claims to wish to
“take back control” of its borders. The
“abject failure” lies with Priti Patel and
the Home Office for which she is
responsible.
Dominica Jewell
Bazoches au Houlme, France
Sir, It is not the case that France
cannot control its borders. We cannot
control ours.
Greg Jones
Maidenhead, Kent
continued world population growth,
increasing economic demand, and
down-to-earth practicalities.
Emeritus Professor Philip Stott
Cambridge
Sir, It would seem that Cop26 has
resulted in what golfers call the
son-in-law shot: not what one hoped
for but it could have been worse.
Geoffrey Hollis
Hatfield, Herts
MPs’ second jobs
Sir, Among reasons given to justify
MPs’ second jobs (letters, Nov 13) is a
view that the pool of parliamentary
talent will shrink if MPs cannot earn
a great deal more. Disregarding the
fact that, in any case, an MP’s annual
salary of £82,000 places him or her in
the top 3 per cent of UK earners,
these views seem rooted in a wholly
pessimistic understanding of human
motivation. For important balance, I
draw attention to the army of
volunteers who dedicate hours and
hours to serving charities and not-for-
profit organisations. Not only do
these volunteers work without
remuneration, they do so in almost
quarters in a bungalow in the
grounds of Government House. By
courtesy of the Ruling Princes a new
precedent is to be set in the matter
of the exchange of their formal visits.
The Princes have suggested that
they should waive individual
ceremonial calls and give the Prince
a joint entertainment in the form of
a tea at the Willingdon Club on
Tuesday afternoon. On Saturday the
Prince’s will visit Poona to lay the
foundation-stone of the Mahratta
war memorial and unveil the
memorial to Shivaji, the founder of
the glories of the Mahratta nation.
He will have a truly Royal escort,
with the Maharajah of Kholapur
riding on the right of the carriage
and the Maharajah of Gwalior on
the left, with other Mahratta chiefs
as escort behind. Later in the day at
the Poona Racecourse he will drive
up the course in State before the
stands like the King at Ascot. On
Monday he is expected to attend the
Letters to the Editor should be sent to
letters@thetimes.co.uk or by post to
1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF
Sir, The unforgiving nature of migrant
politics is demonstrated on the Polish-
Belarus border. Migrants are pushed
by Belarusian forces into Poland, to be
welcomed by Polish forces and tear
gas. The wellbeing of these people
seems to be absent from anyone’s
approach. As Nelson Mandela said,
“To deny people their human rights is
to challenge their very humanity.”
Libby Wingate
Newcastle University
Sir, Cop26 is a reaffirmation that we
are not going to avoid the disastrous
consequences of climate change. It is
time that the government began to
view the impact from a detached
geopolitical perspective. Rather than
impoverishing the British people with
fatuous policies aimed at prevention
we should invest in amelioration and
adaptation, as well as political,
diplomatic and military initiatives with
partners to prepare for the inevitable
consequences of desertification, land
loss, water and food shortages and the
massive migration of populations.
However absurd it may sound now,
we may have to consider once again
the concept of “fortress Britain”.
Kevin Halloran
Warton, Lancs
every case without ever claiming
expenses; invariably they are also the
first to dig into their own pockets
when it comes to raising funds for the
good causes to which they give their
time and skill.
Nick Gandon
Chairman, Restart Lives charity
Hertford Heath, Herts
House of Lords
Sir, Your correspondents Nick Walker
and Derek French (letters, Nov 12 &
13) support an approach by which
members of the House of Lords
would be elected by representative
bodies such as trades unions,
professional organisations, industry
associations and civil society
organisations. However, this would be
more likely to lead to the
politicisation of representative
bodies than to the election of
apolitical, expert legislators. The
raison d’être of political parties is
gaining and using political power. It
is unrealistic to expect them to stay
out of the fray when legislators are
being elected.
Jeremy Godfrey
Dublin
final match of the quadrangular
Cricket tournament between
Hindus, Mahomedans, Parsees, and
Europeans, when, with Messrs Fry,
Rhodes, and Hirst included in the
team, it is hoped the Europeans will
be able to atone for the record of
recent years. The complete
programme, with balls, receptions,
addresses Governmental and
municipal, a visit to the Seamen’s
Home, inspection of war veterans,
presentation of colours to the 1/7th
Rajputs, lunch at the Orient Club,
tea at the Yacht Club, two state
dinners at Government House, polo,
fireworks, and drives through the
streets makes six busy days. Of
course, there are splutterings of
disloyalty and boycotts, but the well
informed do not take them seriously.
Here, at least, Mr Gandhi’s influence
is waning, and Bombay will be loyal.
thetimes.co.uk/archive
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
Alexander Mosley
Sir, Giles Coren is correct (“This is
one Mosley whose name should live
on”, Nov 14). Alexander Mosley had
absolutely nothing to do with the
spread of fascism. He was, as those
who knew him testify, a kind, gentle,
brilliant young man. Giles Coren is
Jewish and has so intelligently and
clearly separated Oswald Mosley and
Max Mosley from Alexander who
died so young, so tragically. Hats off
to the one British journalist with the
courage to speak out clearly on a
controversial subject.
Trevor Grundy
Author, Memoir of a Fascist
Childhood; Whitstable, Kent
Escape to châteaux
Sir, Some of the best wines we have
bought in France have had “a sketch
of a château on the label” (“Château
Charlatans”, Carol Midgley, Notebook,
Nov 13). On arrival at the vineyard
there is often only a lean-to on the
end of a small farmhouse.
Penny Williams
Tredomen, Powys
Bank withdrawal
Sir, It was interesting to read that the
Prince of Wales visited NatWest
Bank in Brixton Road (Court
Circular, Nov 12). Presumably this
was for him, and the deputy
lieutenant of Greater London, to
relive the experience of actually
being able to go into a bank that
hasn’t been closed, talk to a teller and
even pay in or cash a cheque?
Mike Bugle
Pulborough, W Sussex
Little grey cells
Sir, I keep my little grey cells active
(“Simple tests to sharpen your
memory”, Times2, Nov 11, and letter,
Nov 13) by rehearsing the names of
the 66 books which make up the King
James Bible, in the correct order, of
course.
Dr David Fuller
Killiechronan, Isle of Mull
Sir, I don’t know whether I should be
concerned or pleased that I have no
difficulty in remembering my NHS
number and local hospital patient
number.
Alan Phillips
Epping, Essex
Save the phone box
Sir, I wonder what Sir Giles Gilbert
Scott (“Call goes out to save phone
boxes”, Nov 10, and letters, Nov 11,
12 & 13) would think of the
reincarnation of our phone box in
Kingsbridge into a tiny nightclub
complete with a music system, glitter
ball and lightning. Records played
include Blondie’s Hanging on the
Telephone and Telephone Line by the
Electric Light Orchestra.
David Lavender
Kingsbridge, Devon
Sir, How wonderful that Rita Golden
and her friends were able to contact
Paul McCartney in Paris via a phone
box (letters, Nov 13). I was so thrilled
to see the Fab Four arrive at the
Odeon in Cheltenham before their
concert that I couldn’t stop crying.
On arriving home my mother asked if
I had fallen off my bike, to which I
screamed: “I’ve seen them, I’ve seen
them!”
Bridget Chenery
Cheltenham, Glos
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Daily Universal Register
UK: New living wage rates are announced in
London and cities across the country.
US: Antony Blinken, the secretary of state,
visits Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal.
Nature notes
The bill on a
shoveler has to be
seen to be believed.
Numbers of this
handsome duck
peak in November
as birds from the
Continent arrive to overwinter here, vastly
swelling the ranks of our modest resident
population for the colder months. Their
huge, spatulate bills lined with tiny comblike
teeth are the perfect tools for filtering
organic matter out of water, which they do
by sweeping their heads back and forth. Like
many wildfowl, after the breeding season the
colourful drakes moult into “eclipse
plumage”, making them look much the same
as the hen birds and rendering them harder
to spot. melissa harrison
Birthdays today
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
(Princess Anni-Frid
Synni of Reuss, Dowager
Countess of Plauen),
pictured, singer, Abba,
Waterloo (1974), 76;
Mahmoud Abbas,
president, Palestinian
National Authority, 86; Dawn Airey,
chairwoman, National Youth Theatre, chief
executive, Getty Images (2015-18), 61; Sarah
Atherton, Conservative MP for Wrexham,
54; Daniel Barenboim, pianist and
conductor, 79; Prof Georgina Born,
musician and anthropologist, 66; Andrew
Castle, TV and radio presenter and former
tennis player, 58; Roberto Cavalli, fashion
designer, 81; Jimmy Choo, fashion designer,
73; Petula Clark, singer, Downtown (1964),
89; Joe Cokanasiga, rugby union player,
Bath and England, 24; Beverly D’Angelo,
actress, the National Lampoon’s Vacation
films, 70; Peter Dickinson, composer,
emeritus professor of Keele and London
universities, 87; Winston Duke, actor, Black
Panther (2018), 35; Derrick Evans, fitness
instructor, “Mr Motivator”, 69; Tibor
Fischer, author, Under the Frog (1992), 62;
Sir Ashley Fox, leader of the Conservatives
in the European parliament (2014-19), 52;
Lilian Hochhauser, impresario, 95; Dom
Joly, comedian, 54; Chad Kroeger, musician,
Nickelback, How You Remind Me (2001), 47;
Paul Manduca, chairman, St James’s Place,
Prudential (2012-20), TheCityUK advisory
council (2015-19), 70; Jonny Lee Miller,
actor, Trainspotting (1996), 49; Sania Mirza,
tennis player, 35; Alexander O’Neal, singer,
What Is This Thing Called Love? (1991), 68;
François Ozon, film director, 8 Women
(2002), 54; Tim Pears, writer, In the Light of
Morning (2014), 65; Peter Phillips, son of the
Princess Royal and Capt Mark Phillips, 44;
Gus Poyet, footballer, Chelsea (1997-2001)
and Tottenham Hotspur (2001-04), and
manager, 54; Alice Rawsthorn, design critic,
director, Design Museum, London (2001-
06), 63; Tommy Stack, jockey, National
Hunt champion jockey (1974-75, 1976-77),
and trainer, 76; Sam Waterston, actor, The
Killing Fields (1984), 81.
On this day
In 1940 the German authorities confined
more than 350,000 Jewish people into
1.3 square miles of Warsaw. It became the
largest ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe.
The last word
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell
where his influence stops.” Henry Brooks
Adams, American historian, The Education
of Henry Adams (1907).
The Glasgow climate conference exceeded low expectations, not least by creating
new mechanisms to keep alive hopes of limiting global warming to 1.5C
It was disappointing that the closing stages of the
Cop26 climate conference were overshadowed by
the watering down of the final communiqué’s
conclusions on the future of coal power. China and
India insisted that a commitment by the 190-plus
countries present in Glasgow to “phase out” coal
should be replaced by a commitment only to
“phase down”, provoking fury from many coun-
tries, not least those most vulnerable to climate
change. Apologising for the last-minute capitula-
tion necessary to secure a unanimous agreement,
Alok Sharma, the Cop26 president, appeared
close to tears. Yet this should not detract from
what was achieved over two weeks in Glasgow.
Relative to initial admittedly low expectations, the
event was a success.
Even the weakening of the final text’s language
on coal needs to be seen in context. This was the
first climate conference pact to contain any
mention of the need to end the world’s reliance on
coal. And while China and India may not yet be
prepared to set a date for ending its use altogether,
the G20 committed itself on the eve of the confer-
ence to stopping the financing of new overseas
coal power stations, a significant advance. That
alone should ensure that coal power’s days are
numbered. Meanwhile 23 heavy users of coal, in-
China Conundrum
The West must confront Beijing’s behaviour towards the Uighurs and Taiwan
Genocide is so grave a term it is hard to credit that
it only came into use seven decades ago. The man
who invented it, Raphael Lemkin, called it a crime
without a name, one he had seen visited on the
Armenians decades before his own community of
European Jewry would suffer the worst genocide
in human history. Mass murder may not amount
to genocide if it is not intended to wipe out an
entire people, nor does genocide require a single
life to be taken. These peculiarities lie behind the
debate, under way in Britain, over whether what
China is doing to its Uighur population in Xinjiang
should be correctly called a genocide. Parliament
has said that it is, but the government holds back.
Washington has already firmly stated that the
term fits. And yet the world does almost nothing.
How to engage with China is perhaps the most
vexatious foreign policy issue any government
now faces. It is the world’s second largest economy
and within decades will be the first. It is the world’s
most populous country, a burgeoning nuclear
power and a leader in military technology. First
and foremost among those it threatens is Taiwan,
a vibrant democracy and staunch ally of the West,
The decline of the apostrophe is not worth getting worked up about
The death of the apostrophe has long been pre-
dicted. Indeed the Apostrophe Protection Society
established to campaign for the correct use of this
grammatical marker was officially disbanded in
2019, its founder John Richards, a former
sub-editor, lamenting that “ignorance has won”.
Now comes evidence that his fears may have
been well-founded. One of the most striking find-
ings of a study of a database of 100 million words
used by researchers at Lancaster University to
analyse trends in language is the noticeable drop
in the use of apostrophes. It found, for example,
that there was an 8 per cent drop in the use of apos-
Good Cop
cluding Vietnam and South Korea, have signed a
pledge to phase it out.
Besides, there are three main reasons to be
encouraged by the outcome. The first is that it
brought forward many new national commit-
ments and multilateral deals to limit emissions of
greenhouse gases. These included deals on defor-
estation and reducing methane. As a result some
90 per cent of the global economy is covered by
net-zero targets, compared with 30 per cent a year
ago. Climate analysts calculate that if all these
commitments are delivered, it could limit the rise
in average temperatures to 1.8C above pre-indus-
trial levels. That is still higher than the 1.5C that
scientists say is needed to avoid catastrophic con-
sequences and which was the conference target.
But this target is not yet entirely beyond reach.
A second reason to be encouraged by the out-
come is that it introduced a new “ratchet”, where-
by countries were “requested” to come back with
more ambitious commitments in time for next
year’s summit in Egypt, rather than wait until 2025
under the previous timetable. Some countries may
yet be prepared to adopt more ambitious targets
once the current energy supply crisis is over and
the pandemic recovery more entrenched.
Of course, there is no guarantee this ratchet,
which nonetheless will not recognise its sover-
eignty, choosing to keep the peace with Beijing.
The West’s endless fudge over Taiwan is illustra-
tive of the tightrope it walks with an ever more
assertive Beijing, fearful of prodding the dragon.
President Biden will today hold his first summit
with Xi Jinping, albeit a virtual one, against a back-
drop of spiralling tensions in the Taiwan Strait and
further into the South China Sea. Mr Xi comes to
the meeting buoyed by last week’s Communist
party plenary at which he was recognised as one of
modern China’s three most epochal leaders. Mr Xi
sees the reunification of Taiwan with mainland
China as an inevitability, one he would dearly love
the credit for. Mr Biden will warn him that the
consequences of attempting that will be higher
than Beijing can bear. Taiwan’s freedom depends
on Mr Xi believing this to be the case. But will he
when a US government that does recognise the
Uighur persecution as genocide takes no mean-
ingful action beyond imposing localised sanctions
that do little to blunt the worldwide trade in goods
made by an enslaved minority?
Showing Beijing that you are serious is one of
Missing Marker
trophes compared with the 1990s. The researchers
put this down not so much to ignorance but to a
social media-driven preference for brevity.
Of course this will upset traditionalists, but is it
really something to get worked up about? The
apostrophe is a useful device in written English to
signify missing letters (“we’re angry”) or posses-
sion (John’s campaign). There are conventions
around how they are used, sometimes observed
more in the breach, as with the greengrocer’s
apostrophe (tomato’s, apple’s). But without them,
the meaning of written text would be less clear,
which is why The Times continues to use them.
33
Leading articles
which itself was watered down, will deliver new
national commitments. But the third reason for
optimism is that the sheer scale of global attention
on the issue and degree of public engagement with
Cop26 beyond the official delegations should en-
sure that all governments will face increased polit-
ical pressure to act to limit global warming. At the
same time, important steps have been taken to-
wards creating new mechanisms to help develop-
ing countries make the transition to clean energy.
A deal under which the US, European Union and
Britain will provide South Africa with £8.3 billion
of concessionary finance to help switch away from
coal provides a promising model that could be
extended to other countries.
For Britain too, the hard work does not end here.
Mr Sharma deserves credit for the unassuming
but effective way in which he steered the summit.
He will remain Cop26 president for another year
until Cop27. During that time it is essential not
only that Britain continues to push for more ambi-
tious global deals but continues to lead by example
with its own commitment to net zero. One way
that Boris Johnson could demonstrate that his
government remains serious about this challenge
would be to create a new department to lead the
effort with a seat for Mr Sharma in his cabinet.
the trickiest challenges in geopolitics today. Aus-
tralia’s attempts to do so provoked a damaging
trade war. The British government is still unsure of
how it ought to handle China. Boris Johnson de-
clares himself a Sinophile but was forced to retreat
from allowing Huawei a role in building Britain’s
5G network under pressure from Washington.
Unease over China’s human rights record and
the threat its surveillance and investments pose in
Britain runs through parliament from left to right.
It is the rare issue that unites the opposition front
bench with the back benches of all parties, includ-
ing the Conservatives, two of whose MPs have
been specifically sanctioned by Beijing. The Euro-
pean parliament’s belated backbone in the face of
Communist party atrocities has earned its mem-
bers sanctions too and cost Brussels the lucrative
investment deal it signed with Beijing.
This juggling game will only get harder, not eas-
ier, as China’s strength grows. Beijing’s grotesque
treatment of its own Uighur minority and threat-
ening behaviour towards Taiwan will only worsen
unless Mr Biden and his western allies can, with-
out equivocation, draw a convincing line.
Yet the apostrophe is quite a recent invention,
adopted as a printers’ convenience in the 16th
century, and many of its conventions were only
formalised in the 19th century. Indeed some of
those are accidental. Why is it wrong to use an
apostrophe with the possessive “its”? Nor does it
exist in spoken English, yet we can distinguish
between “the cat’s whiskers” and “the cats’ whisk-
ers” even though they’re pronounced identically.
Besides, language evolves. Shakespeare and
Jane Austen were among many authors inconsist-
ent in their apostrophe use. And no one has ever
accused them of not making themselves clear.
34 2GM Monday November 15 2021 | the times

World
Support for Taiwan
is a threat to peace,
Xi warns Biden
China Analysis Shadow of Beijing
Richard Lloyd Parry Asia Editor
Hugh Tomlinson Washington
t would be an exaggeration Chinese military aircraft

Bernard Lagan Sydney
China has warned the United States
against supporting Taiwanese
independence on the eve of an online
summit today between President Biden
and President Xi that is intended to
I
60
to call Joe Biden and Xi entering Taiwan’s air defence
Jinping old pals, but they identification zone, 2021 50
have a more authentic
relationship than much of 40
what qualifies for friendship
among the grinning glad-handers 30
of international summitry
Source: Statista

reduce the rising tensions between the 20

two superpowers.
The leaders will have their first for-
mal one-to-one meeting since Biden
became president. They face a daunting
list of unresolved military, political and
economic matters, with the fate of
Taiwan the most obvious flashpoint.
Biden, 78, and Xi, 68, spoke by phone
in September in an attempt to defuse
hostilities, but tensions soon flared
again over China’s increasingly aggres-
sive military posturing towards Taiwan.
It regards the island nation as a break-
away province, with Xi vowing repeat-
edly to retake it — by force if necessary.
The People’s Liberation Army staged
military exercises off the coast of the
island last week as Chinese warplanes
continued to test its missile defences,
Biden had hoped to hold the summit
in person, but Xi has not left China
since the start of the pandemic almost
two years ago.
On Saturday Wang Yi, 68, China’s
foreign minister, warned the US secre-
tary of state Antony Blinken, 59, that
American “connivance” and support
for Taiwanese independence would
“undermine peace and boomerang in
the end”. According to the US state
department, Blinken “urged Beijing to
engage in meaningful dialogue to
(Richard Lloyd Parry writes).
In 2011, when both were
vice-presidents, Biden travelled
to Beijing and spent a good deal
of time with Xi. “Over meals,
long walks, and other informal
settings they conversed at length
about personal and policy
matters,” said Danny Russel, a
former diplomat who travelled
with Biden. “The bond between
them grew steadily.”
When they meet today in
teleconference, that bond will be
tested to the limits, with relations
between the US and China at
their frostiest in 25 years.
Xi’s China sees itself as a
civilisation shaking off the
embarrassment of a century of
weakness to re-inherit a
greatness going back 500 years.
From Washington, China’s rise is
not the fair outcome of global
competition, but the triumph of a
global bully. The suppression of
Uighur Muslims, the crushing of
democracy in Hong Kong, its
aggression in the South China
Sea all make checking Beijing’s
arrogance a moral duty.
As Biden said of Xi during the
presidential campaign, with a
10
0
J F M A M J J A S O
also requires the government to help
Taiwan to arm itself; an ambiguous
approach which has helped to preserve
an uneasy status quo in which the
Taiwanese rule themselves while west-
ern governments refrain from speaking
of independence for the island.
“If the US truly wants to safeguard
peace then it should clearly oppose any
‘Taiwan independence’ moves,” Wang
said after his phone call with Blinken.
“Put the One China policy into action
and stop sending wrong signals.”
The issue highlights concern in
Washington at China’s rapid military
build-up, with the People’s Liberation
Army expected to match or surpass the
US military in key areas in the years
ahead including cyberwarfare, artificial
intelligence and the development of
nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles.
General Mark Milley, head of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, admitted this month:
“We are witnessing one of the largest
shifts in geopolitical power that the
world has witnessed.”
ith her marriage

resolve cross-Strait issues peacefully
and in a manner consistent with the
wishes and best interests of the people
on Taiwan”.
Biden provoked a sharp rebuke from
China last month when he said the US
was committed to defending Taiwan if
China were to invade it; an apparent
break with Washington’s policy of “stra-
frankness he may now regret:
“This guy is a thug.”
The best that can he hoped for
from today’s meeting is that it
will allow the two sides to focus
less on matters of principle and
destiny, and more on practicality.
W
China’s mistreatment of Uighur
Muslims in Xinjiang province, its sup- blessed atop a 900ft
pression of democracy in Hong Kong
and its aggressive territorial claims in
Here climbs shard in West
Virginia, Dawn
the South and East China Seas have
encouraged many in the West to regard
the bride . . . LeBlond felt as if
years of struggle were falling away
(Charlie Mitchell writes). She had
Taiwan as a red line which it must be
prevented from violating in order to
safeguard other territories.
at 900 feet been “in really bad shape” in 2018

tegic ambiguity”. Blinken also spoke to Yoshimasa

The White House attempted to play Hayashi, the Japanese foreign minister,
down the president’s remarks, but
Wang said that China had “no room for
compromise” on Taiwan and that
Biden should “speak cautiously” on the
at the weekend, repeating US promises
that it would help Japan to fight off any
attack on the Senkaku Islands in the
East China Sea, which are administered
issue “so as not to seriously damage by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.
China-US relations”. In Canberra, Peter Dutton, the Aus-
The Communist Party mouth- tralian defence minister, told The Aus-
piece Global Times was more tralian newspaper that it was “incon-
direct, writing in an editorial that ceivable” that his nation would not
the US had “gone too far” and was support the US in a showdown —
targeting China’s core interests, drawing an immediate reaction
leaving it “with no way back”. from Global Times. It vowed that
Since the two sides established Australia would face “heavy attack”
diplomatic relations in 1979 the US and “sacrifice” for its troubles.
has accepted the “One China” prin- The White House has hinted that
ciple, which rules out independ- Biden could also raise US concerns
ence for Taiwan. However, US law about China blocking an investi-
gation into the origins of Covid-19.
The relationship between Xi and West has to draw a line in the sand
Biden faces its greatest test so far on Taiwan, leading article, page 33
America ‘hid Syria airstrike
Syria
David Rose Beirut
The US military has been accused of
covering up air strikes that killed
dozens of women and children during a
battle with Isis fighters, with the
incident cited by air force lawyers as a
possible war crime.
At least 80 people were killed by
bombs dropped by an F-15E jet on an
Isis camp in the town of Baghuz, where
the terrorist group made a last stand
against coalition forces in March 2019.
According to The New York Times,
drone video showed the jet dropping a
500lb bomb on a crowd of mostly
women and children huddled on the
banks of the Euphrates river. As the
survivors tried to scramble away, the jet
dropped two 2,000lb bombs, killing
most of them.
The strikes, five days before Isis was
declared militarily defeated in Syria,
may have involved one of the largest
civilian death tolls in missions against
the jihadists but were not acknowl-
edged until this weekend.
Ordered by a classified US special
forces unit in support of Syrian ground
forces, the bombings were watched by
observers at the US military’s al-Udeid
the times | Monday November 15 2021
when her first marriage broke
down. On a whim she went to a
climbing gym and was hooked.
“It helped me reconnect with the
power inside,” she said. “I had felt
my life was out of control.”
LeBlond, 35, who works for the
Federal Aviation Administration, a
that killed dozens of women and children’ Poland calls for Nato to
air base in Qatar. “Who dropped that?”
one typed on a secure chat system after
the first bomb. “We just dropped on 50
women and children,” responded
another.
Lieutenant-Colonel Dean Korsak, a
US air force lawyer, called for an in-
vestigation into the incident as a poss-
ible war crime, but the military at-
tempted to “downplay” the incident,
The New York Times said. The defence
department’s inspector general did
open an inquiry later, but its report was
“stripped” of any mention of the bomb-
ings, the paper reported.
“Leadership just seemed so set on
2GM
Dawn LeBlond and Christian Lopez
scaled Seneca Rocks with eight
climbing friends to get married
government agency, met Christian
Lopez, 44, who owns a glass
company, at the gym and they soon
fell in love. He proposed on Seneca
burying this. No one wanted anything
to do with it,” said Gene Tate, who
worked on the case for the inspector
general’s office.
The area was captured by the Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF) on the day of
the attack, with the site of the airstrike
bulldozed in an apparent bid to hide any
evidence.
US Central Command said in a state-
ment that 80 people were killed, includ-
ing 16 Isis fighters and four civilians. It
said it was unclear if the other 60 people
were civilians, as “multiple armed
women and at least one armed child
were observed”. It defended the strikes
Is the beauty of Paris
really fading? Macron’s
culture guru thinks so
Page 37
TIL DEATH MEDIA; DAWN LEBLOND AND CHRISTIAN LOPEZ
Rocks and
they returned for the wedding,
with the guest list restricted to
eight climbers.
Climbing gave marriage a strong
basis, LeBlond said. “You can’t
hide when you’re dangling on the
side of a cliff.”
as “legitimate self defence”, and propor-
tional in the context of the heated bat-
tle, during which there were so many
Isis fighters and suicide bombers at-
tacking the SDF positions that the US
air force drones sent to assist ran out of
missiles.
“We abhor the loss of innocent life
and take all possible measures to pre-
vent them,” Captain Bill Urban, chief
spokesman for Central Command, said
in the statement. “In this case, we
self-reported and investigated the
strike according to our own evidence,
and take full responsibility for the
unintended loss of life.”
Machete militia on
alert as migrants
arrive in Germany
Germany
James Jackson, Oliver Moody
Unlike the thousands of other migrants
trapped on the Belarusian side of the
Polish border, Maten Amad, a 21-year-
old former video-game streamer from
Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan, was able to
cross into the promised land.
He did not waste a moment, immedi-
ately pressing on to Germany. He has
found refuge in the town of Eisenhüt-
tenstadt, Brandenburg, the primary
hub for newly arrived asylum seekers.
Over the past three months 9,329 mi-
grants, mainly from the Middle East
and north Africa, have faced down star-
vation, hypothermia and violent Bela-
rusian soldiers on the dangerous new
route from Minsk to Germany. About
1,500 have completed the journey over
the past fortnight alone and the author-
ities estimate that another hundred or
so are arriving every day.
These numbers are in no way compa-
rable to the 1.2 million people who
headed for Germany during the 2015
migration crisis, but they are large
enough to have rattled right-wing
groups and even the union represent-
ing Germany’s border guards, which
has warned that history could repeat it-
self without checkpoints on the border.
Horst Seehofer, 72, Germany’s interi-
or minister, has accused Russia and
Turkey of deliberately using the
migrants to “destabilise the West”.
Far-right leaders are seeking to capi-
talise on the crisis. In the border town of
Guben, ten miles south of Eisenhütten-
stadt, police had to break up a 50-strong
“citizens’ militia” armed with machetes
and bayonets. On the Telegram plat-
form, far-right groups warn of “an army
of Islamists who will kill us all”.
Amad, wearing a shiny black puffer
jacket over a Nike tracksuit and chain
jewellery, looks more like a rapper than
a murderous Islamist, but he already
has grey hairs on his head despite his
youth. “There has been war ever since I
was little,” he said.
In his native country Amad’s video-
game streams attracted 60,000 Insta-
gram followers, but he sold the account
to help him finance his long-held
dream of a better life in Germany. With
word spreading that Belarus was paving
an easy path to the Polish border,
step in on border crisis
Poland
Tom Parfitt Moscow
The Polish prime minister has called on
Nato to intervene in the migrant crisis
on the border with Belarus.
Mateusz Morawiecki demanded
“concrete steps” from the alliance and
said that Poland, Lithuania and Latvia
may ask for a meeting under Article 4 of
the alliance’s treaty — applicable when
the security of a member nation is
threatened.
“It is not enough just for us to publicly
35
Even the Taliban can’t
rein in Afghanistan’s
favourite sport
Page 38
Minsk
GERMANY
Berlin POLAND BELARUS
Warsaw
Eisenhüttenstadt
100 miles
Maten Amad was
lured to Belarus
with tales of easy
access to the EU
Amad’s father chipped in £1,500 for a
flight from Istanbul to Minsk, and the
young man’s odyssey got under way.
He spent two nights in an old hotel in
Minsk, then he and 24 others — Bela-
rusians, Arabs and Kurds — were taken
by bus to a spot next to the Polish bor-
der and abandoned there. Refused
entry at the Polish border, he spent the
next three nights sleeping rough in the
forest, hungry and terrified.
“It was so difficult,” he said. “We saw
our deaths. There was no food and it
was very cold. We wanted to return [to
Minsk]. We were dying of hunger.”
Instead he was pushed away by Bela-
rusian soldiers, who beat him with their
rifle butts and forced him back towards
the Polish border fence. This time, how-
ever, he was able to slip across under
cover of darkness. From there it was
another 400 miles to the Poland-Ger-
many border, but he had no complaints.
“I’m very happy to be here,” Amad
said. “I love Germany so much. People
here have rights and can earn money. If
I had been here before, I could have
been a footballer. Now, I want to study.”
Not all the new arrivals feel the same
way: Abdul Harraq, 26, from Saudi Ara-
bia, endured an equally harrowing
journey but after only a few days he
wants to go home.
“I don’t want to live here,” he said.
“The people are rude. I thought it would
be like paradise.”
The politics of migration, letters, page 32
express our concern. Now we need con-
crete steps and the commitment of the
entire alliance,” Morawiecki, 53, said.
A new surge of migrants trying to
cross from Belarus was expected today
after rumours circulated at the week-
end that Germany would send buses to
collect them. Poland dismissed the
rumours as “dangerous”.
In Moscow, President Putin rejected
accusations that he has stoked the
crisis, saying the West had “a desire to
place their own problems at somebody
else’s door. It’s their own fault.”
36
World
Extra cover Boys play cricket in a garden strewn with the leaves of the chinar tree, also known as the old world sycamore, in Srinagar, in Indian-controlled Kashmir
Gangsters burn their enemies’ bodies
as 68 killed in prison drugs violence
Ecuador
John Bartlett Santiago
An eight-hour gun battle between drug
gangs in Ecuador’s largest and most in-
famous prison left at least 68 inmates
dead, with bodies burnt in courtyards.
Officials said the riot began when a
gang leader was released from a block
at Litoral penitentiary in Guayaquil, a
city on Ecuador’s Pacific coast. That led
to a violent rush to fill the power
vacuum.
Prisoners with guns and explosives
tried to “dynamite a wall to get into
Pavilion 2 to carry out a massacre,” said
Pablo Arosemena, governor of Guayas
province. “They burnt mattresses to try
to drown [rivals] in smoke.”
Videos on social media, which were
yet to be verified, showed a pile of
bodies burning in a courtyard and in-
mates beating them with sticks — while
others begged for the violence to stop.
Bodies were seen inside the perime-
ter fence and on the roof. Police com-
19 police die in rebel attack Thief found after 50 years
Burkina Faso
Jane Flanagan
Nineteen military police and a civilian
were killed by jihadists in northern
Burkina Faso, which has become a
focus for the worsening insurgency
churning up Africa’s Sahel region.
Security sources predicted a sharp
rise in the true death toll from the
attack on a military police outpost near
a gold mine in Inata, close to the bor-
ders with Niger and Mali.
There was no immediate claim of re-
sponsibility for the attack, which is like-
ly to be one of the deadliest against de-
Police lower the body of a prisoner
from the Litoral penitentiary’s roof
mander General Tanya Varela said they
entered to return inmates to their cells.
“These events are due to the dispute
among criminal gangs over territory;
there are now pavilions without
leaders,” she said. On Saturday relatives
of prisoners gathered outside the peni-
tentiary to wait for news of loved ones.
Ecuador’s overcrowded prisons have
been beset by a wave of violence. More
fence and security forces since Burkina
Faso was gripped by conflict in 2015. It
came two days after another assault in
which seven police officers were killed
in the tri-border area where attacks by
armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and
Islamic State have intensified despite
the presence of thousands of United
Nations, regional and Western troops
and efforts to negotiate.
After France ordered military
intervention in Mali in 2013 to counter
increasing jihadist violence, many
members of the remaining militant
groups moved south near to the border
with Burkina Faso.
COLOMBIA
100 miles
Quito
ECUAD OR
Guayaquil
PERU
68 prisoners
Pacific
Ocean killed in
prison riot
than 300 inmates have been killed this
year and the country has about 40,000
inmates in its 30,000-capacity system.
In February 79 were killed in simulta-
neous prison riots around the country.
And less than two months ago the
Litoral prison — home to 8,500 in-
mates, 60 per cent over its intended
capacity — was the scene of at least 118
killings in the worst prison massacre in
national history. On that occasion offi-
cials said at least five were beheaded.
After September’s riot in Guayaquil,
President Lasso decreed a 60-day
national state of emergency granting
United States
Hugh Tomlinson Washington
Investigators in America have traced
one of its most-wanted fugitives: a bank
teller who 52 years ago finished his
shift, stuffed $215,000 into a paper bag
and vanished. The haul would be worth
£1.2 million today.
Ted Conrad, then 20, took advantage
of feeble security at the bank in Cleve-
land, Ohio. His crime sparked a nation-
wide manhunt and was featured on
shows such as America’s Most Wanted.
He had been obsessed with The Thomas
Crown Affair, the 1968 bank heist film
2GM
MUKHTAR KHAN/AP
security forces enhanced powers to
fight drug trafficking and named a new
defence minister to address the crisis.
But the measure did little to stem the
violence in the penitentiary, where 15
more deaths were recorded before Fri-
day’s massacre. Soldiers are stationed
outside the facility, but a constitutional
court ruling bars them from entering —
to the anger of Lasso.
“The first right should be the right to
life and liberty, which isn’t possible if
security forces can’t act to protect,” he
said. “Unfortunately that job has been
made impossible by judicial decisions
which impose exaggerated restrictions
on the co-ordination between state
security forces to defend life.”
The authorities have expressed grave
concerns over inmates’ access to weap-
ons and ammunition, which they say
enter prisons in delivery vehicles, via
drone or over perimeter walls. Arosem-
ena said they would ease overcrowding
by pardoning and relocating inmates
and repatriating foreigners.
starring Steve McQueen, telling friends
how easy his bank would be to rob.
Conrad died of lung cancer in May in
Boston, where he was living as Thomas
Randele. He had been a golf pro and a
car salesman, but the stolen money had
long since run out and he filed for bank-
ruptcy in 2014, and those papers, when
compared with others he had signed at
the bank, identified him.
Peter Elliott, a US marshal, inherited
the case file from his father John. Elliott
Sr had been obsessed with Conrad for
decades but died last year. His son told
The New York Times: “I hope my father
is resting a little easier today.”
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
Gaddafi’s son to stand
for presidency in Libya
Libya Saif al-
Islam Gaddafi,
left, the son
and one-time
heir apparent
of the late
dictator, is to
stand in the
presidential election next month.
He lodged his candidacy papers
in the southern town of Sabah,
officials said. Gaddafi Jr was
captured by fighters in 2011, the
year his father was toppled after
40 years in power. He was
condemned to death but that
sentence was overturned. Gaddafi
Jr was freed in 2017 but is still
wanted for war crimes by the
International Criminal Court. (AP)
Eight migrants die in
bid to reach Canaries
Spain The bodies of eight African
migrants were found in a boat
that had been drifting in the
Atlantic for a week, the Canary
Islands government said.
Sixty-two others were saved.
Another boat carrying 35 men
and one woman was intercepted.
More than 13,100 migrants sailed
to the Canaries between January
and September, up 100 per cent
on last year. (Reuters)
Bishops to debate
Biden’s abortion stance
US Catholic bishops will this week
revisit the debate over whether
President Biden’s support for
abortion rights should stop him
from receiving communion.
Biden opposes abortion but has
vowed to protect a woman’s right
to choose. The president met
Pope Francis last month and said
the pope had told him he was a
“good Catholic” who can receive
communion. (Reuters)
Scorpions kill three and
sting 450 after storms
Egypt Scorpions killed at least
three people and stung 450 more
in Egypt after they were flushed
out of their habitats by storms.
The southern region of Aswan
was deluged with floods, which
led to scorpions and snakes being
washed into streets. Egypt is
home to fat-tailed scorpions that
are among the most deadly in the
world, with venom that can kill a
human in under an hour.
Princess who married
commoner heads to US
Mako Komuro’s departure was
broadcast live on Japanese TV
Japan A princess who gave up
her royal status to marry her
commoner college sweetheart has
moved to New York, leaving
behind a nation that has criticised
their romance. The departure of
Mako, formerly Princess Mako,
and Kei Komuro, both 30, from
Haneda airport in Tokyo was
broadcast live on TV. Komuro has
a job at a New York law firm but
has yet to pass his bar exam,
another piece of news that media
have used to attack him.
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Paris is a rubbish bin and I’m moving to
the country, says Macron’s culture guru
France
Adam Sage Paris
France’s best-known heritage conser-
vationist has caused consternation by
announcing that he is moving to the
countryside because Paris has become a
“rubbish bin”.
In comments that have intensified an
already virulent debate, Stéphane Bern,
58, who is close to President Macron,
said that the city was dirty, increasingly
ugly and violent. “Where has the City of
Lights gone?” he asked in an interview
with Le Parisien, adding that next month
he would leave his flat in the Pigalle dis-
trict and move to in a disused military
school he purchased in 2013 and reno-
vated in Perche, northern France.
There has been controversy over the
state of Paris under the guidance of
Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor who
is standing for the presidency next year.
Her critics denounce what they say is
her failure to clean up the streets. They
also question the cycle lanes created
after last year’s coronavirus lockdowns,
Stéphane Bern’s
word carries
weight in France’s
cultural circles
often by using blocks of concrete to sep-
arate motorised and non-motorised
means of transport. Detractors say that
they are eyesores, as are the giant plastic
flower pots introduced as part of a mod-
ernisation scheme and the attempt to
innovate by allowing Parisians to
tend flowerbeds, a plan an that
has left many unkempt. t.
Hidalgo’s supporters ers
say that she is makingg
Paris greener and
more user-friendly
and accuse her critics
of being right-wing
reactionaries.
Bern said: “I still
marvel at the beauty
[of Paris] but I deplore
o
that it is letting itself go
to a certain extent, and nd
even growing uglier in gen-
eral. Paris has becomee a rub-
bish bin where people throw any-
thing away, anywhere and any old how”how.”
Bern expressed particular angst over
the council’s policy of removing Paris’s
traditional wooden and wrought-iron
Brigitte tells France to get over her age It’s a stitch-up! Thieves
Adam Sage
Brigitte Macron, the wife of the French
president, has said that she was dis-
mayed at the hostility she faced for
being 24 years older than her husband.
In a rare interview, Mrs Macron, 68,
said she realised that her marriage was
not “typical” but she could not under-
stand the “aggressiveness” it generated.
She also said that she had been
wounded by portrayals of her as a
Marie Antoinette living a life of luxury.
She went on to underline the key role
she played at Macron’s side, with a say
in policy and appointments on a par
with Alexis Kohler, his chief of staff.
The interview with Le Monde was
published as the president, 43, prepares
for a re-election campaign next year.
Mrs Macron, who grew up in a bour-
geois family and went to a private Cath-
olic school in the northern town of
V3
Paris’s skyline remains picturesque but at street level critics lament ugly cycle lanes and urban furniture
pu
public benches,
w
which were de-
si
signed by Ga-
br
briel Davioud,
th
the 19th-centu-
ry architect.
Fe
Feminists say
tthat
hat th
the benches are
used m mainly by men
and contrib
contribute to a patri-
archal society, with women
afraid to sit on them for fear of being
harassed. Hidalgo has instead installed
what leftists call deconstructed benches
in areas like the Place du Panthéon to
Brigitte Macron had thought that her
husband would be a pianist or writer
Amiens, is regarded as an asset in her
husband’s attempt to woo right-wing
voters. She was guarded about disclos-
ing her political orientation. “People
class me on the right,” she said. “But
nobody knows.”
Macron’s rise has placed his private
life under scrutiny, generating insults
and mockery on social media.
“The French would undoubtedly
encourage women to sit together. Bern
described the new benches, a mixture of
what look like long, wooden tables and
slabs of concrete, as “frightful”.
He also said that he was fed up with
“the dirtiness, the holes in the road, the
permanent building sites, the noise and
especially the violence”. He added: “You
should hear how people talk to each
other. Traffic is an incredible source of
tension. Cars against pedestrians, scoot-
ers against bicycles, scooters against
cars . . . this war of wheels is intolerable.”
Bern sprang to fame presenting his-
torical television documentaries, often
have preferred a younger first lady,” she
said. “We are not a typical couple. We
have a difference of 24 years. I under-
stand that people might not understand
us. But what I cannot understand is the
aggressiveness.”
She said that when they married she
thought he would become a “writer or a
pianist”. She said: “I was convinced that
Emmanuel would have a cultural pro-
fession.” Instead he worked with Fran-
çois Hollande, the Socialist head of
state, and became president in 2017.
During the yellow-vest protests, she
was regularly lampooned as a Marie
Antoinette figure. She said that she had
been “wounded” and “pained”. She ex-
plained that like her predecessors, she
was given free designer clothes for
public occasions. “Because the French
people . . . see me on the steps of the Ély-
sée in a pretty dress and shoes they
think, ‘She is out of touch,’ ” she added.
BRADY BAKER/EYEEM/GETTY IMAGES
about French royalty before the 1789
Revolution. When Macron took office
he gave Bern a six-month mission to
suggest ways of preserving French heri-
tage, which was subsequently pro-
longed under the stewardship of the cul-
ture ministry. Among Bern’s initiatives
has been the setting up of a heritage lot-
tery based on the one in Britain.
Bern is by no means alone. Paris’s
population fell by an average of 10,800 a
year between 2013 and 2018 to stand at
2,175,601 at the last count, and the trend
appears to be accelerating after the lock-
downs.
raid cashmere warehouse
Italy
Philip Willan Rome
Masked bandits staged a military-style
raid on a warehouse of the Loro Piana
fashion brand, making off with cash-
mere products believed to be worth
tens of thousands of pounds.
Police said it was the first time in Italy
that such a brazen operation had tar-
geted luxury fashion products rather
than more easily disposable valuables.
Six men wearing balaclavas used a
stolen van to crash through a perimeter
wall and take clothes from storage in
the town of Sillavengo, northwest Italy.
Carabinieri arrived after an alarm
was activated early on Saturday. The
robbers scattered three-pointed nails
on the road and used two vans to block
37
World
A cityscape
that is losing
tter
its glitter
Adam Sage
ge
Commentt
ycling over the Seine on
C
the Pont au Change
late one night last
week, I paused to take
in the beauty of Paris,
with lights shimmering on the
water from bridges on either side.
It was a sight you might find in
tourist brochures, or perhaps in
Emily in Paris, the Netflix series
created around the beauty and
luxury of the city. However, the
vision from the Pont au Change
was not so much a representation
of the capital as an interlude in a
landscape losing its glitter.
To my north was the Boulevard
de Sébastopol, the thoroughfare
named in memory of the siege of
the city on the Black Sea during
the Crimean War. Inaugurated in
1858, it was long a testimony to
the modernisation of Paris
brought about by Baron Georges-
Eugène Haussmann, the prefect
responsible for urban renewal
under Napoleon III.
Now it is a symbol of what
Stéphane Bern calls the ugliness
that has driven him out of the
capital — a soulless and litter-
strewn line of bars, restaurants,
mobile phone stores and barbers
lacking the coherence that
Haussmann imposed upon Paris
in the 19th century. To my south
lay the Left Bank, once a hive of
activity and creativity, with its
book and record stores and its
invariably chic philosophers.
Now the Boulevard Saint-Michel,
once the emblem of Left Bank
intellectualism, seems dull and
lifeless, with many of its stores
closed and boarded up and
covered in lurid “For Rent” signs.
Where premises remain open
on the Boul’Mich’, as it is known,
they tend to house fast-food
restaurants. It is difficult to avoid
the conclusion that Bern has a
point when he denounces Paris’s
decline, though it may be unfair
to blame it all on the mayor.
In such a centralised country
as France, if Paris has lost lustre,
this may be as much a reflection
of the country as a whole as of
the work of the council.
access to Sillavengo. Carabinieri giving
chase fired at the wheels of one of the
two vans, which crashed into a guard
rail. The three men on board vanished
into countryside.
Loro Piana cashmere sweaters can
cost £1,000 and a coat up to £8,000. The
clothes are loved by celebrities such as
Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, Melania
Trump and the Duchess of Sussex.
Founded in 1924, Loro Piana was sold to
the French luxury goods conglomerate
LVMH for €2 billion in 2013.
Lieutenant Colonel Sandro Colongo,
who is leading the investigation, said
four boxes of sweaters were found in
the van. “They would be worth ten
years of my salary,” he said.
It is assumed a similar quantity was in
the van that got away.
38
World
I regret helping to establish
Capitol riot militia, says wife
United States
David Charter Washington
The wife of the founder of the Oath Keep-
ers, a right-wing extremist group, has spo-
ken of her regret at helping him to form it
after at least 18 members were charged over
the invasion of the US Capitol on January 6.
Tasha Adams, who filed for divorce from
Stewart Rhodes in 2018, said that she had
Stewart Rhodes has
not been charged
over the attack
on January 6
helped him set up the group based on their
shared libertarian principles but did not
think it would become an armed militia.
She said that she had imagined it as “a cigar
club of like-minded libertarians”, adding: “I
thought, ‘Wow, we are going to sell a lot of
T-shirts and motorcycle jackets.’ ”
Adams, 49, has been interviewed by the
special committee of the House of Repre-
sentatives examining the riot that disrupt-
ed Congress as it met to certify President
Trump’s election defeat to Joe Biden.
The Oath Keepers was started in 2009
by Rhodes, 56, shortly after President Ob-
ama took office. Its stated mission was to
“prevent the destruction of American lib-
erty by preventing a full-blown totalitarian
dictatorship from coming to power”. The
group aims to recruit armed forces veter-
ans and former police officers based on a
commitment to keep their service oath to
defend the constitution. On January 6 a
group of ten members in tactical combat
gear advanced in formation on the Capitol.
Adams told the Los Angeles Times:
“What if I had not supported him? If I
hadn’t helped him start it, I mean, there
would probably still have been an insurrec-
tion but what would it have looked like?”
She said that she had made sacrifices to
help Rhodes to get through Yale Law
School, agreeing to become a stripper to
raise money. They had been seeing each
other for four months when Rhodes blind-
ed himself in one eye when his gun went
off by mistake. “I was suddenly taking care
of a man with a hole in his head,” Adams,
who had six children with him, said. She
said that he became abusive and obsessed
with conspiracy theories. Rhodes, who was
in the Capitol grounds on January 6 but did
not go inside and has not been charged, did
not respond to requests to comment.
Escape claws Millions of red crabs are making their way to the Indian Ocean to mate and spawn from burrows on the
Australian territory of Christmas Island, where the authorities try to keep them off roads with barriers and crab bridges
FROM OUR
CORRESPONDENT
Taliban turn a blind eye to Afghanistan’s
favourite sport — to the relief of those who
flock to see horseriders fighting over a goat
Charlie Faulkner
AFGHANISTAN
orses’ hooves thud
H heavily on the hard
ground as riders
charge into the
scrum, throwing up
dust clouds in the arena in
Faizabad, northeast Afghanistan.
Hundreds of cheering men and
boys gathered around the
sidelines to watch a game of the
country’s national sport,
buzkashi, despite concerns the
Taliban would ban the popular
contest.
Buzkashi, Persian for “goatt
pulling”, has been played in
he
Central Asia for centuries. The
game was banned in
Afghanistan during the
Taliban’s previous rule but
the restriction is yet to be
implemented this time,
much to the relief of many
Afghans.
Traditionally, riders
from two teams lug a goat
carcass around the field
trying to toss it inside a
white-ringed goal to score
m
points. After efforts to reform
ht
the sport, the teams often fight
over a weighted sandbag the size
of a goat.
he
Despite the overcast sky, the
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
mid-afternoon crowd in Faizabad
is in good spirits. It’s the city’s
first game of the season between
the districts of Yaftali Sufla and
Argo. Spectators erupt into
applause as goals are scored or
make a quick dash up the
concrete steps to safety as the
bundle of horses and their riders
career towards them. The Taliban
are providing security at the
event — using plastic tubes to
whip back the crowd.
One of the marshals, Zabiullah
Mohammad Qasi, 18, admitted
that he was glad to be able to
watch the game, which he loved.
Farid Hamid, 45, a shopkeeper,
owns three horses in the match.
“I love raising horses,” he said.
“I provide them free to the
buzkashi riders. It also means the
horses get trained free. We had
some concerns the Taliban would
not let us carry on playing but it
PARKS AUSTRALIA/ANIMAL NEWS AGENCY
seems to be fine, although it’s not
as crowded as it normally is.
There are also usually women
here, but today it’s just men.”
Hamid said that the price of
horses had been affected by the
change in government. “Horses
could sell for about $20,000 but
now it’s more like 200,000
Afghani [$2,000],” he said. “Many
commanders in the province
from the previous government
had horses but when they fled the
country they sold their animals
cheaply so it has driven the price
down.”
Whips crack and riders hang
from their beautiful mounts as
they gallop around the arena
trying to retrieve the sack. The
men are similarly built, big and
stocky like rugby players. A great
deal of strength is needed to
remain in the saddle.
Ghulam, 35, who gives only one
name as is common in
Afghanistan, is one of the top
riders, a member of the national
team. The crowd cheers wildly
when he scores.
“I’ve played in Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and
Kyrgyzstan, as well as all over
Afghanistan,” he said. “I
inherited my love for buzkashi
from my father. It’s not
dangerous if you know how to
play.” He said, however, that he
had to get medical treatment in
India when he broke his arm.
Boys w walk through the crowd,
selling n nuts and other snacks to
spectato Commentary from
spectators.
men blablares from big blue
speak
speakers at different points
arou the field.
around
A
Another competitor,
Sh
Shabadin, 36, from Yaftali
Su
Sufla, said that he had been
pl
playing buzkashi for 12
ye
years. He said that things
w
were different for the game
n
now the Taliban were in
ch
charge. He is reticent,
ho
however, to give further
det
details.
“W don’t get paid for
“We
competing in the national
comp
tteam,”
eam,” the father of five added.
“But the horse owners help us
out.”
the times | Monday November 15 2021
world markets (Friday’s close, change on the week)
FTSE 100 Dow Jones
7,347.91 (+43.95) 36,100.31 (-227.64)
7,500
7,000
6,500
6,000
Oct 14 22 Nov 1 9 Oct 14
Virgin Atlantic ready to make U-turn and land again at Gatwick
Robert Lea Industrial Editor
Virgin Atlantic could make a dramatic
return to Gatwick as early as next sum-
mer after its withdrawal from London’s
second airport during the carrier’s
near-death experience in the depths of
the pandemic.
Buoyed by the strength of the
demand for transatlantic travel after
Fraud office
outgunned
by UK firms
Companies spend ten times more than SFO
Ed Siddons, Simon Lock
Some companies under investigation
by the Serious Fraud Office are spend-
ing up to ten times more than Britain’s
anti-fraud and bribery organisation on
legal and investigation fees, according
to the Bureau of Investigative Journal-
ism, leaving the fraudbusters out-
gunned and less effective.
Lack of funding, senior officials join-
ing law firms representing the compa-
nies that the SFO is investigating and a
perceived hesitation in prosecuting
companies and executives all under-
mine the fight against economic crime,
the bureau has found.
The agency, which operates on a
£52 million annual budget, has dropped
30 investigations since 2018, the year
Lisa Osofsky assumed office as director,
three of them over two days in October.
In the five years preceding Osofsky’s ap-
pointment, the SFO dropped 13 cases.
“There’s a chronic weakness in the
enforcement of serious fraud in the
UK,” Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign
secretary, said. “The odds are stacked in
favour of those who break the rules,
rather than those who make them.”
Robert Buckland, the Conservative
MP and former justice secretary, said
the “imbalance in arms” between de-
fendants and the SFO must be tackled.
“A situation where one side has unlim-
ited resources cannot be fair,” he said.
The agency has generated about
£1.3 billion in fines and penalties against
large businesses in the past five years
and recently secured bribery convic-
tions against Petrofac, the oilfield ser-
vices company, and GPT Special
Project Management, the Airbus de-
fence subsidiary.
Yet case closures and acquittals of
commodities
Gold
$1,866.31 (+50.68)
38,000
36,000
34,000
32,000
22 Nov 1 9 Oct 14 22
the reopening of routes last week, Vir-
gin has confirmed that the resumption
of flights at Gatwick is a case of when
and not if.
Eighteen months ago, while on the
brink of bankruptcy, it quit the airport
after 36 years of services, shut down its
operations and laid off or furloughed
thousands of staff.
Now, with ministers set to launch a
executives stand out. In January, the
agency ended its investigation into
British American Tobacco without
charge, saying that there was insuffi-
cient evidence for any prosecutions. In
September, a joint investigation by the
bureau and the BBC’s Panorama pro-
gramme revealed evidence of the
company paying informants for intelli-
gence on competitors. The SFO spent
almost 18,000 hours investigating BAT
over more than three years before
dropping the case. BAT denied any
wrongdoing and said its activities had
been focused on combating the illicit
trade in cigarettes.
In June 2020, the SFO closed a cor-
ruption investigation into how De La
Rue had won an estimated $114 million
contract to design and print South
Sudan’s currency, stating the matter
had not met the criteria to commence
proceedings set out in Crown Code for
Prosecutors. According to a Freedom of
Information request submitted by the
bureau, the SFO conducted only three
interviews in its 11-month inquiry.
Some of the SFO’s most prominent
cases have resulted in deferred prose-
cution agreements. This entails the
company admitting to wrongdoing,
pledging to improve its compliance
with the law and paying a fine — and it
avoids a trial. After a dozen such agree-
ments, the SFO has yet to convict any
executives for the wrongdoing to which
their company admitted.
Buckland, who was responsible for
the SFO as solicitor-general between
2014 and 2019, said high staff turnover
may have weakened the agency.
“Constantly having to shed staff and
then rehire them doesn’t provide the
continuity that prosecuting complex
Continued on page 40, col 5
Brent crude (6pm)
$ $81.91 (-0.91)
2,000
1,800
1,600
1,400
Nov 1 9 Oct 14 22 Nov 1
review of their suspension of use-it-or-
lose-it rules, which demand that air-
lines utilise at least 80 per cent of their
take-off and landing slots at airports if
they are to retain flying rights, Virgin
Atlantic could be forced into an early
return to Gatwick if it wants a longer-
term presence at the hub.
In response to demands from
Gatwick and from Wizz Air, the expan-
Stringent travel restrictions during the pandemic have triggered a boom in demand for domestic getaways in Britain
Americans put £1bn bet on staycations
Callum Jones
US Business Correspondent
One of Britain’s biggest holiday park
operators is set to change hands for
nearly £1 billion as US investors eye a
continuing boom in UK “staycations”
after the pandemic.
Sun Communities, an American real
estate investment trust, is said to have
agreed a deal to acquire Park Holidays,
which operates campsites, static cara-
vans and lodges for holidaymakers at
more than 30 sites, predominantly in
the south of England.
Intermediate Capital Group, the
alternative asset manager that bought
Park Holidays for £362 million almost
five years ago, recently hired bankers at
Royal Bank of Canada and HSBC to
oversee an auction of the operator.
According to Sky News, a sale of the
Business
currencies
£/$
$ $1.3409 (-0.0092)
90
85
80
75
9 Oct 14 22 Nov 1 9 Oct 14
sionist central European discount
carrier, for an end to “slot-hoarding” at
the airport that would prevent the
launch of new competition, Virgin
Atlantic said: “We maintain our ambi-
tion to rebuild our presence at Gatwick
as demand returns, revisiting a long,
close and successful relationship with
the airport.
“As travel restrictions are eased in
company to Sun Communities for
about £900 million is expected to be
announced as early as today.
Unsuccessful bidders for the Park
Holidays business, founded in 1984 and
based in Bexhill-On-Sea, East Sussex,
include Starwood Capital, the property
investor, and the Universities Super-
annuation Scheme, one of Britain’s
biggest pension funds.
Stringent travel restrictions since the
onset of the pandemic in the spring of
last year triggered a boom in demand
for domestic getaways in Britain. This
surge in trading has coincided with a
flurry of dealmaking within the sector
as deep-pocketed investors chase a slice
of the action.
At the start of the year Blackstone,
the world’s largest private equity firm,
acquired Bourne Leisure, the owner of
Butlin’s and Haven holiday parks, in a
39
£/€
$ €1.1717 (+0.0043) ¤
1.450 1.200
1.400 1.175
1.350 1.150
1.300 1.125
22 Nov 1 9
further markets, we continue to see
growing consumer confidence.”
While Virgin considers its position,
Wizz could be the biggest beneficiary if
ministers tell slot-blocking airlines to
pass on their flying rights. Norwegian,
for instance, now all but defunct as an
international arline, held 10 per cent of
Gatwick’s slots prior to the pandemic.
Continued on page 41, col 3
PARK HOLIDAYS
deal valuing the leisure business at
about £3 billion.
As holidaymakers packed their bags
this summer, CVC Capital Partners, the
private equity firm, snapped up Away
Resorts for an estimated £250 million.
Months later it bought another opera-
tor, Aria Resorts, for an undisclosed
sum and merged the two companies to
create a business that attracts about
750,000 visitors each year.
The GB Tourism survey was paused
during the pandemic, but before the
boom England had attracted 99.1 mil-
lion visits by domestic travellers in 2019,
Scotland lured 13.8 million and Wales
10.7 million, according to data from
Kantar, the market researcher.
Representatives for Intermediate
Capital and Park Holidays declined to
comment. Sun Communities did not
respond.
40 Monday November 15 2021 | the times

Business

Need to know
1
Boris Johnson is poised to
shelve plans for the eastern leg
of HS2 between Birmingham
BetMGM races to land an
and Leeds and to downgrade plans
for a new east-west rail line across Callum Jones New York opens its doors
the Pennines between Manchester US Business Correspondent
and Leeds in favour of smaller Nine sports betting groups have
schemes that can be delivered It’s “showtime,” Jamie Foxx, the Holly- been awarded online operating
more quickly. Page 16 wood A-lister, declares in one of the licences by regulators in New York
many gambling adverts flooding State, paving the way for their

2
Some companies under
investigation by the Serious
Fraud Office are spending up
to ten times more than the anti-
fraud and bribery agency on legal
and investigation fees, according
to the Bureau of Investigative
Journalism, leaving the
fraudbusters outgunned and less
effective. Page 39
America’s airwaves. Amid rapid growth
across the country’s emerging market
in sports betting, leading players are
rushing to grab the best seats in the
house.
Investors’ interest was writ large in
last year’s blockbuster listing by Draft-
Kings, the Boston-based betting com-
pany now valued at $32 billion. Caesars
Entertainment’s £2.9 billion deal for
William Hill, the British bookmaker
entrance into what is expected to be
one of America’s biggest markets
(Callum Jones writes).
A 19 million population is
expected to be a significant boost to
the user bases of digital sports
wagering platforms, but executives
concede the economics will be
challenging. Authorities in New York
will tax revenues at 51 per cent.
“In order to be financially viable,

3
Virgin Atlantic could make a
dramatic return to Gatwick as
early as next summer after its
withdrawal from London’s second
airport during the carrier’s near-
death experience in the depths of
the pandemic. Page 39
making headway in the United States,
merely underlined the heavyweight
operators’ determination to dominate.
And the momentum hasn’t eased this
year. Two American suitors have tried
and failed to buy Entain, another
London-listed gambling group at the
heart of the action and the owner of the
we will need to change our
approach to marketing and
investment in players, it’s simple as
that,” Adam Greenblatt, chief
executive of BetMGM, one of the
companies granted a licence, said.
“Otherwise, it’s impossible to make
money.”

4
Park Holidays, one of the
UK’s largest holiday park
operators, is set to change
hands for nearly £1 billion as
American investors eye a
continuing boom in Britons going
on “staycation” after the pandemic.
Page 39
Ladbrokes and Coral brands: first
MGM Resorts, the Las Vegas casino
operator that is its partner in the US,
tabled an ill-fated $11 billion bid; then
DraftKings offered $22 billion before
walking away.
Few are enjoying the show more than
Adam Greenblatt, the chief executive
of BetMGM. The joint venture between
He claimed that nobody was
better positioned to succeed in the
state than BetMGM, which already
utilises the physical sites run by
MGM Retail, one of its two owners.
In New York, this will include the
vast Empire City Casino in Yonkers.
DraftKings and Flutter
Entertainment’s FanDuel are among

5
Shareholders worldwide are
on course to receive dividends
for 2021 that will match pre-
pandemic levels, according to
Janus Henderson, the fund
manager. Payouts rose by 22 per
cent in the third quarter of this
year compared with a year earlier,
thanks to rising profits and
stronger balance sheets.
Entain and MGM Resorts, created in
July 2018, already has 1,000 staff and
operations across 16 states. Six months
from now, it expects to be live in 23
states. “Everyone wants a part of us,”
Greenblatt, 47, said. “It’s bloody
wonderful.”
Less than four years have passed
since a Supreme Court ruling changed
the game, calling time on a law that
effectively banned sports betting across
the other operators to have been
handed licences. In time the state
expects to make $500 million in tax
annual revenues on sports betting.
“The market here is going to be
huge,” Greenblatt said. “From a
gross gaming revenue perspective,
we’re talking into the billions.”
BetMGM is based in New Jersey,
which recently became the first
American state to report sports bets

6
Royal London has resurrected
its potential offer for LV= with
a plan to split up its rival.
Britain’s largest mutual insurer,
which has been considering a tilt
since last year, has submitted a
controversial pitch to LV=
proposing that it walks away from
Bain Capital, the private equity
firm that is its preferred bidder.
almost all of the US. This was the
genesis of a transatlantic dynamic —
that continues to evolve — between
established American gambling opera-
tors, who know the market, and their
British counterparts, who have the
technical expertise to take online sports
betting to the masses.
When Entain, then known as GVC,
first struck its American partnership
with MGM Resorts, the deal was built
worth more than $1 billion in a single
month.
swiftly gain an upper hand in this
market before it’s too late, can this
marriage of equals really endure for a
quarter of a century? “This, dare I say it,
is beyond my paygrade,” Greenblatt
said, before proceeding carefully.
“Everybody wants more, which is
DraftKings made an unsuccessful play for the London-listed Entain, whose joint
sought to cut out the noise as far as and had made no secret that obtaining
possible: “Stability over this critical control of BetMGM was an “important
next 24 months is important to maxi- step” towards its own objectives.
mising the value of BetMGM and near- American sports betting is now legal
term success.” It was a telling response, in more than 30 states. As the market
coming barely a fortnight after Draft- balloons, Entain estimates it will be
Kings had dropped its bid for Entain. worth $32 billion in the long term, with

7
Houses in areas of the north
of England and in Scotland
are worth less now than they
were before the global financial
crisis 13 years ago. Page 42
to last 25 years. Neither company is
allowed to launch projects “on the side”,
which could risk destabilising the
venture or distract them; both must
remain committed.
However, given the desperation to
wonderfully flattering, but . . . because
of the structure of the joint venture a
change in the framework will need to be
agreed by both parties.”
Greenblatt insisted that he focused
on the “things that I can control” and
Jette Nygaard-Andersen, 53, the boss
of Entain, remarked last week that the
terms of its deal with MGM Resorts had
played a role in DraftKings’ decision to
walk. MGM Resorts had noted that any
such takeover would require its consent
BetMGM commanding a share of
between 20 per cent and 25 per cent,
though FanDuel, owned by Betfair and
Flutter Entertainment, and DraftKings
may have something to say about that.
“This isn’t slowing down at all,”

8
Demand for office space in
central London took off
continued from page 39
towards the end of summer,
pouring cold water on the idea
that many workers might never go
back into the city. Between July
Dividends return to pre-Covid highs Serious Fraud Office outgunned

cases needs,” he said. Sir David Green,

and September, companies leased
2.77 million sq ft of office space in
central London — 12 per cent
above the five-year quarterly
average. Page 42
Jessica Newman
Shareholders worldwide are on course
to receive dividends for 2021 that will
match pre-pandemic levels, according
to latest estimates.
in a single quarter than the previous
full-year record set in 2019. BHP will be
the world’s largest dividend payer this
year.
British companies have been among
the largest beneficiaries, thanks to the
banks took quick advantage of the
relaxation of limits on dividends and
restored payouts to a higher level than
seemed possible even a few months
ago. And, finally, the first few compa-
nies in the US to start the annual divi-
who led the Serious Fraud Office until
2018, left to join Slaughter and May, the
law firm, as a senior consultant. In the
past three years, more than three quar-
ters of the SFO’s departmental heads
and senior leaders have left, including

9
A secretive Cayman Islands-
based tycoon who has built a
combined £5 billion stake in
two of the world’s biggest tobacco
companies is said to believe that
the sector has been undervalued
because investors have been
“spooked” by ethical concerns.
Kenneth Dart has continued to
increase his stakes in the London-
listed British American Tobacco
and Imperial Brands. Page 45
Payouts rose by 22 per cent in the
third quarter of this year compared
with a year earlier, thanks to rising
profits and stronger balance sheets. The
amount of dividends delivered was a
record $403.5 billion in the last quarter.
Janus Henderson, the fund manager,
which tracks global dividends, said that
the “exceptional strength” of payouts in
the previous three-month period, along
with improved prospects for the
present final quarter, had led to it lifting
its forecast for the full year to $1.46 tril-
UK’s exposure to the mining sector,
which has enjoyed a boom amid rising
commodity prices. It also has benefited
from the restoration of banking divi-
dends, which were suspended in the
previous year.
Countries including Japan and the
United States, whose companies did
not trim dividends much last year, have
showed lower growth than the global
average. Nevertheless, US company
dividends rose by a tenth to a new third-
quarter record.
dend reset showed that businesses
there are keen to return cash to share-
holders.
“A big driver for 2022 will be the
restoration of banking dividends, but it
seems unlikely that mining companies
can sustain this level of payouts, given
their reliance on volatile underlying
commodity prices. Some of these have
already fallen.”
Ben Lofthouse, head of global equity
income at Janus Henderson, said: “Div-
idends are recovering more quickly
its chief operating officer, general
counsel, chief investigator, two divi-
sional co-heads and all three of its non-
executive directors. Many have joined
top City law firms.
Departees include Ben Morgan, joint
head of bribery and corruption, who, in
his new role as a partner at Freshfields
Bruckhaus Deringer, is understood to
have helped to negotiate a deferred
prosecution agreement on behalf of
G4S, the security firm, last year, and his
predecessor Patrick Rappo, now at

10 Northern Ireland risks

becoming a “legal basket
case” that will deter trade
and investment if Article 16 is
triggered, suspending part of the
Brexit deal, companies in the
province have warned. Page 45
lion. The fund manager’s index of divi-
dends is now only 2 per cent below its
previous peak of the first quarter of
2020.
The global mining sector has been
the biggest contributor to growth in the
third quarter, delivering $54.1 billion in
payouts to shareholders. That is more
“Three important things changed
during the third quarter,” Jane Shoe-
make, client portfolio manager on the
global equity income team at Janus
Henderson, said. “First and most
importantly, mining companies all
around the world have benefited from
sky-high commodity prices. Second,
than expected, driven by improving
corporate balance sheets and increased
optimism about the future. Two of the
most affected sectors last year were the
commodity and financial sectors and
the report highlights that these have
been the most significant drivers of
dividend growth in the period.”
DLA Piper, where he has represented a
former employee of BAT who has been
linked to the Serious Fraud Office’s
closed case.
There is no suggestion any of these
individuals advise on the same matters
for the regulator and the company
being investigated.
the times | Monday November 15 2021
American jackpot
venture in America called Bet MGM features adverts fronted by Jamie Foxx and has ambitions of being a big winner
Greenblatt said, after BetMGM had
enjoyed its best ever month of revenue
in October. Growth had been “way
faster” than even he expected; so far,
too, November was “well ahead” of
October, although the company
declined to provide details. An official
forecast of $1 billion in net revenue next
year will be upgraded.
As the industry accelerates, Green-
blatt described a broad acceptance that
“this is a sector where winners take
most, right? So where does this end up?
Royal London revives takeover
bid with plan to break up LV=
Jessica Newman
Royal London has resurrected its
potential offer for LV= with a plan to
split up its rival.
Britain’s largest mutual insurer,
which has been considering a tilt since
last year, has submitted a controversial
pitch to LV= proposing that it walks
away from Bain Capital, the private
equity firm that is its preferred bidder.
The proposal is that Royal London
would take over many of LV=’s policies,
while Bain would spin off the rest of the
brand into a separate business, accord-
ing to The Mail on Sunday. Royal
London’s previous approach had
emphasised the importance of LV=
retaining its own mutual structure.
Royal London has never disclosed
the size of its offer for LV=, but it is
thought to be similar to Bain’s £530 mil-
lion bid. LV= initially preferred Royal
London’s offer when it began looking
for potential suitors last year, but
Probably with three to five, four to six,
big effective operators that have
nationwide presence.”
Between them these companies
could account for “80 per cent to 90 per
cent” of the overall market. “The
position we’re in today is this scramble
to be one of those, one of the shortlist of
winners.”
Liberalisation of sports betting has lit
a match in each state. A significant
illegal market beforehand provides
tinder in the form of experienced
changed its mind when Bain sweetened
its terms.
MPs on the all-party parliamentary
group for mutuals described it as a
paltry price for selling out to “a private
equity shark intent on screwing the
maximum profit for itself”.
Last week, LV= said that its 1.2 million
members stood to receive £100 each if
they approved the takeover by Bain.
The 297,000 with-profits policyholders,
who legally own the business, also
would receive modest enhancements
to their policies depending on policy
age, worth on average £340.
Founded in 1861, Royal London is
Britain’s biggest mutually owned life,
pensions and investments company. It
manages £153 billion on behalf of
7.8 million customers. LV=, formerly
Liverpool Victoria, traces its roots back
to 1843. It was founded in Liverpool to
help poor families with funeral costs. Its
members will be asked to approve the
deal on December 10.
41
Business
BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES
The week ahead
Economic data will take centre stage
this week after the Bank of England
took markets by surprise by failing
to follow through on what was
considered a trail for a rate rise at its
October monetary policy meeting.
The publication of new jobs
numbers tomorrow is expected to
show a rise of up to 243,000,
according to IHS Markit. Official
figures suggested that about 85 per
cent of the 1.1 million people that
came off the furlough scheme when
it ended on September 30 had
returned to their jobs.
Attention also will be on
Wednesday’s inflation figure. The
Bank expects it to rise above 5 per
cent in the months ahead, The Bank of England expects
somewhat higher than its 2 per cent inflation to rise above 5 per cent
target. The latest number will
include a rise in the utility price cap, from 2.9 per cent to 3.2 per cent and
with fuel prices now at record levels that “the story for the next six
feeding through, along with the rise months or so is going to be one of
in the VAT rate for hospitality and rapidly rising inflation”. On Friday,
tourism from 5 per cent to 12.5 per the consultancy expects retail sales
cent, which may mean restaurant volumes figures to have increased
prices add further upward pressure by 0.8 per cent month-on-month,
on prices. Capital Economics thinks leaving sales 5 per cent above their
that core inflation probably rose February 2020 peak.
tomorrow
Investors will look for growth, a key measure Gear4Music,
the shape of the of operating Homeserve,
recovery in travel, performance, to grow Intermediate Capital,
roaming charges and by 2.2 per cent year- Land Securities,
retail stores when on-year, a slowdown McKay Securities,
Vodafone publishes on the first quarter’s Ninety One, Palace
half-year results. 3.3 per cent rate, as last Capital, Premier
First-quarter revenues year’s lockdown no Foods, Vodafone
were above forecasts in longer depresses the Finals Dotdigital,
July. Analysts at comparison. Focusrite, Imperial
Jefferies expect Interims Adept Brands, Revolution
services revenue Technology, Bars
wednesday
British Land’s interim results will underlying performance of the
headline a busy week of updates in London office market will be the
the property sector. The FTSE 100 key items to watch in these results,”
betters. Operators add fuel to the fire by landlord, which owns Meadowhall Colm Lauder, a real estate analyst
spending vast sums on marketing in Sheffield and Drakee at Goodbo
Goodbody, the broker,
designed to lure more users. Circus in Plymouth, has said.
Foxx fronts BetMGM’s advertising been busy acquiring Th market thinks
The
campaign. The company is also signing retail parks, as well as tha
that British Land’s net
up more punters on the ground at a car park in the as
asset value will
MGM Resorts sites in Michigan, New City of London on re
remain unchanged
Jersey and, of course, Nevada, home of which it wants to th
this year, although
the Las Vegas strip. In Greenblatt’s build a last-mile M
Matthew Separia, a
view, it is “carefully, deliberately, logistics hub. p
property analyst at
aggressively pursuing the market The pandemic has Pe
Peel Hunt, expects
opportunity”, with a long way left to been tough for for
forecasts “to be
run. “We haven’t scratched the surface.” landlords, but analystss upg
upgraded after the
think that the tide is interim
interims”.
nloved
starting to turn for unloved Interims British Land,
continued from page 39 ors will
retail parks, so investors CMC Market
Markets, Experian,
Virgin plans Gatwick return want to see how British
is working out.
hL d’ punt
Land’s S d Hi
Speedy Hire, SSE
SSE, Tatton Asset
Management, Workspace.
The expansion plans of Wizz were fur-
ther in evidence at the weekend with a
firm order and options for 196 new Air-
“The progress across strategic
acquisitions, the growth of the retail
fulfilment segments and the
Finals Sage
Trading updates Informa, Safestore
Holdings, Spirax-Sarco
bus jets worth a notional $25 billion.
Grant Shapps, the transport secre-
tary, is being urged to reinstate compe- thursday friday
tition at Gatwick for next year’s avia-
tion summer season, when airlines The Czech Sphinx — the Kingfisher’s third-quarter update
from March and April begin launching multibillionaire also known as will provide a good indication as to
beefed-up flight schedules, especially Daniel Kretinsky — will find out whether the DIY boom is softening
to sunspots. how his 15 per cent holding in Royal after last year’s soaring sales. The
The rules also could also an issue for Mail is faring with analysts looking owner of B&Q, Screwfix and
British Airways, which has been loss- for £380 million of interim pre-tax Castorama and Brico Dépôt in
making at Gatwick for more than a profit on revenues of about France did well last year but now
decade. Pre-pandemic, it was the £6.1 billion. faces tough comparisons. Screwfix
second largest operator at the hub with Interims Biffa, Charles Stanley, recently launched speedy deliveries,
17 per cent of slots. FinnCap, Fuller, Smith & Turner, which are proving popular and
BA has indicated that it plans to re- Halma, Investec, Jet2, should help to accelerate online
open a smaller operation at Gatwick, LondonMetric, Mitie, National Grid, sales further. Investors will pay close
but has also insisted that it will not sell Redcentric, Royal Mail attention to how the retailer is
slots. That could mean it plans to trans- Finals Daily Mail & General Trust, managing inflation amid soaring
fer slots to Vueling, its sister Spanish Euromoney Institutional Investors, prices and supply chain disruptions.
holiday airline, or sublet the slots to Grainger Interims Carclo, Great Portland
other airlines in the short term. Trading updates Atalaya Mining, Estates, Nationwide Building
Gatwick said that applications for Close Brothers, Keller, Micro Focus Society, Seraphim Space Investment
flying rights at the airport for next sum- International, Pershing Square Trust, Wincanton
mer were running at 20 per cent above Holdings, TBC Bank Trading update Kingfisher
its capacity.
42 Monday November 15 2021 | the times

Business
SAAB SEAEYE

the Swedish group Seaeye has spent four

Underwater known for its Gripen years developing an
fighter jet. electric version of the
robots join Saab Seaeye has robots, each the size of
developed robotic and a large 4x4 road
the charge increasingly vehicle.
autonomous vessels for It will announce
ne of Britain‘s use on oil and gas pipes today that it has won its

O great
engineering
innovations
— deepwater robots
used in the oil and gas
and platforms, for
seabed-installed wind
farm towers and energy
cables and for the
nuclear storage ponds
largest order yet, for ten
of the electric subsea
rovers for an estimated
£35 million to Ocean
Infinity, a marine
industry and more Fareha
Fareham, H hi
Hampshire, of Sellafield. They are robotics group. The
recently in the offshore was one of the pioneers also being used by contract has prompted
wind sector — is the of remotely operated marine scientists, Saab Seaeye to move
latest vehicle to go subsea work vessels oceanographers, into larger premises in
electric (Robert Lea founded in 1986. By seafood farmers and Fareham and to
writes). 2007, the business had several navies for increase its workforce
Seaeye, based in been acquired by Saab, minesweeping. Saab by 15 per cent.

North and Scotland

miss property boom
Tom Howard
Houses in areas of the north of England
and in Scotland are worth less now
than they were before the global finan-
cial crisis 13 years ago.
Since the pandemic began last spring,
house prices have jumped by 14 per
cent, according to Nationwide, fuelled
by a “race for space” as people seek
bigger homes with more garden space
after having been locked down for
much of 2020.
The stamp duty holiday gave the
market another leg up, although house-
builders and estate agents are still
reporting a buoyant market even
though the tax cut has ended.
Yet prices in several areas remain
below their peak in 2008, just before the
bottom fell out of the market amid the
banking and lending crisis. House
prices in Aberdeen have fared worst,
down 12.4 per cent compared with
where they were before the 2008 crash,
according to Savills, the property
agency. The Scottish city is the UK
centre of North Sea oil industry, which
has declined in recent years. Before the
pandemic-induced property boom,
house prices in and around Aberdeen
had been closer to 18 per cent shy of
their pre-crisis peak.
Prices in Inverclyde, west of Glasgow,
remain down 7.5 per cent from where
they were 13 years ago, while prices in
nearby East Ayrshire have slipped by
0.8 per cent. In northeast England,
prices in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough
and Co Durham remain down by 7.8 per
cent, 4.3 per cent and 1.7 per cent,
respectively. Values in Blackpool, Lan-
cashire, are 2.4 per cent down on their
2008 peak.
The figures also show where the
pandemic property gains have been
highest, led by the west London
borough of Hammersmith & Fulham,
where prices already up 39 per cent
over the past 13 years rose higher during
the pandemic to hit a peak of 70 per cent
growth since the global financial crisis.
London dominates the list of local
authorities whose property values have
risen the most over the past 13 years.
Houses in Waltham Forest and Hack-
ney, east of London, are worth almost
double what they were before the
financial crisis.
Of the top 20 areas where prices have
risen the most over the past 13 years,
only Cambridge and St Albans — both
up by 74 per cent — are outside the
M25.
Lucian Cook, head of residential
research at Savills, said: “For a lot of
homeowners across the north of
England, Wales and Scotland, the lack
of growth since the credit crunch has
had a material impact on their ability to
trade up the housing ladder.”
Data from Rightmove, the online
agent, suggests that the market contin-
ues to cool, with average house prices
on its website falling by 0.6 per cent last
month.

Offices are in demand again

as central London recovers
Tom Howard
Demand for office space in central
London took off towards the end of
summer, pouring cold water on the idea
that many workers might never go back
into the city.
Between July and September, com-
panies leased 2.77 million sq ft of office
space in central London, according to
data from Cushman & Wakefield, the
property agent. That was 54 per cent
more than was rented out between
April and June and nearly three times
what was taken up in the third quarter
of last year. It is also 12 per cent above
the five-year quarterly average.
Cushman’s analysts said that the
third quarter had “marked a turning
point in the post-pandemic London
office market”.
Media and technology companies
have been driving demand, accounting
for about 31 per cent of leasing volumes
during the quarter. Banks and law firms
were also active.
By the end of September, there was
3.4 million sq ft of office space under
offer, according to Cushman, 18 per
cent higher than the five-year quarterly
average of 2.9 million sq ft under offer.
“We have seen sentiment improve
greatly in the London office market in
the third quarter,” Ben Cullen, head of
UK offices at Cushman & Wakefield,
said. “This largely reflects the opening
up of the economy, but also the release
of requirements that had been paused
during the lockdowns of the last 18
months. Crucially, it shows that busi-
nesses are making long-term invest-
ments in their physical office space.”
Over the past 12 months, central
London office rents have fallen by
1.1 per cent but they are forecast to rise
by around 5.3 per cent in 2022.
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Mark Littlewood
Competition may hold the key to
“
regulating the technology sector
The basic concepts
behind the benefits
of a market
economy are
grasped instinctively
by most of us. Even if a businessman
or entrepreneur is motivated only by
greed and self-advancement, they
have to provide quality products and
services at a reasonable price to
customers to prosper. If they veer
from this path, alternative suppliers
will enter the sector and gobble up
their market share. They also need to
strive for continual improvement. The
more successful they are at any given
time, the more others are keen to
enter the market with a better,
cheaper offering to eat away at their
profits.
Regulators and politicians are
highly sensitive to these desirable
conditions going awry. Once a player
in a given market secures a position of
dominance, perhaps they can now rig
the rules. They can make it difficult
for new entrants to get into the
market, perhaps simply by buying
them up before they reach a size
where they pose a credible threat to
the established order. The incumbent
can now profiteer by offering a
relatively poor service at higher prices,
safe in the knowledge that the
customer does not really have
anywhere else to turn.
This is where the debate has got to
with regards to the appropriate
regulation of technology giants. Last
week, Google lost a vital court appeal
against the European Commission.
The issue hinged on whether Google
itself could prioritise its own shopping
platform when customers used the
search engine to look for products
online. This was ruled to be an anti-
competitive practice, consolidating too
much power in too few hands and
preventing insurgents from operating
eld.
on a level playing field.
On the face of it, social
media companies
present a particularr
dilemma when it
comes to market
dominance. This
is because the
users of the
services have a
rational incentive
to want them to
Google has lost a
key case against the
e M ySp
European Commissionion
have a colossally high market share. If,
say, your favourite airline is British
Airways, you probably still welcome
the fact that Virgin, easyJet and others
are part of the aviation landscape. You
might use only BA’s services, but you
like the idea that there are other
carriers biting at its heels and keeping
it on its toes. The fact that many other
passengers choose not to fly with
British Airways doesn’t bother you at
all — in fact, you probably welcome it.
However, online platforms often
operate rather differently. If you are
looking for some way to share holiday
snaps and personal updates with your
nearest and dearest, you might select
Facebook as your best option.
Crucially, though, it is not simply that
you want to be on Facebook — your
attraction to that particular platform
hinges on your family and friends
being on it, too. The bigger its
customer base, the more attractive it is
to each additional possible customer.
We are almost willing it to become a
monopoly.
This problem is exercising Chris
Philp, the minister for the digital
economy. He is mulling over
responses to a public consultation on
the extent to which the government
should intervene to try to force more
competition in the tech sector. At a
recent conference hosted by my own
Institute of Economic Affairs, he
indicated that he would favour any
new state powers being “light-touch”
and that they could also be temporary
— if, over time, a player in the digital
marketplace began to lose its position
of dominance, it could expect fewer
strictures to be placed on its
behaviour.
Although Philp’s intentions seem
noble, he should proceed with
extreme care. This is because there is
an inherent danger that he will
underestimate one key factor in his
deliberations and will
overestim another.
overestimate
e
The element that
risks being
und
underplayed is the
dra
dramatic impact
th competition
that
an innovation
and
c have, even in
can
th face of some
the
co
companies
looking as if their
loo
pos
position is
insu
insuperable. In 2007,
MySpace accounted
ffor
or mor
more than 75 per
cent of the American social media
market. So supreme was its position
that an article at the time in The
Guardian posed the question: “Will
MySpace ever lose its monopoly?” —
and reached the conclusion this was
unlikely. Competition, rather than
regulation, has brought about a
dramatic fall in its fortunes. It is now
not even in the top ten social media
offerings.
Netscape Navigator accounted for
90 per cent of the browser market in
1996; within five years, this had fallen
to just 12 per cent. Microsoft Internet
Explorer was the dominant player in
2003, with a 95 per cent market share.
This has dwindled to a mere 1 per
cent. The incredible creative
destruction of capitalism in reducing
the predominance of seemingly
unchallengeable players is swifter and
more brutal than we often imagine.
Since 1984, only 19 companies have
been in the FTSE 100 continuously.
Nearly 300 others have been and gone
in that time frame.
The risk of overestimation is in
believing that well-intentioned
regulations can bring about their
desired results without serious
unintended consequences. On
occasions, these consequences can
strengthen incumbents rather than
insurgents. If, for example, we make it
harder for Google to acquire and
assimilate new technology companies,
one might assume this would lead to a
more varied and dynamic
marketplace. Yet it might be just as
likely to lead to fewer entrants into
the market if entrepreneurs feel it is
going to become far more difficult to
sell their company than was the case
previously. Similarly, enhanced
regulation in general — such as the
proposals around online harms — are
more easily absorbed by established
companies than emerging ones.
Even the most devout of free
marketeers needs to be open to the
’’
view that any given sector may lack
the number of new challengers we
would ideally like and expect to see.
But in the case of the tech sector, it is
probable that raw competition will do
much more to
address this problem
than any heavy-
handed approach to
competition policy.
Mark Littlewood is director-general
of the Institute of Economic Affairs.
Twitter: @MarkJLittlewood
Comment Business
Graham Ruddick
Marks & Spencer’s good
news spells even more
gloom for the high street
arks & Spencer is not a
M
high street retailer
any more. That is one
of the conclusions we
can take from the
stellar set of half-year results
published by the 137-year-old
purveyor of goods last week.
Shares in M&S rose by almost a
fifth on Wednesday after the
company increased its annual profit
forecast by 40 per cent on the back
of a rise in food and full-price
clothing sales.
I initially planned to write about
how these results demonstrated that
Covid-19 may end up helping the
high street. It has led to the collapse
of retailers that were already
struggling, leaving more sales for
the ambitious businesses investing
in their future and allowing
landlords to find new tenants with
fresh ideas.
It has also encouraged businesses
‘M&S is not alone in
this pivot away from
town centres with its
physical stores’
to focus on actually making money
rather than their like-for-like sales,
which are particularly irrelevant
when you are comparing your
performance with a period when
Britain was in lockdown a year ago,
and it has forced bricks-and-mortar
retailers to accelerate their online
operations and to understand how to
integrate it with their shops.
These observations may still end
up being true, but another thing
struck me when reading M&S’s
results — just how little the high
street actually matters to the
business today.
Of the 16.8 million sq ft of selling
space that M&S has in the UK, only
7.6 million sq ft is on the high street,
less than half the total. The rest
comprises 1.5 million sq ft in
shopping centres, 4.3 million sq ft at
retail parks, 300,000 sq ft in outlets,
and 3.1 million sq ft in food-only
Simply Food shops.
In the past, M&S may still have
driven the bulk of its sales from
these high street shops, but not now.
Its results for the half-year to
October 2 show that footfall at its
shops selling clothing and home
43
M&S selling space in the UK
Shopping centre 1.5 million sq ft
Retail park 4.3
High street, large 5.3
High street 2.3
Outlets 0.3
Simply Food 2.5
Simply Food
franchise 0.6 Source: Marks & Spencer
products was down by 36 per cent
compared with two years earlier,
before Covid-19 struck.
In-store clothing and home sales
fell by 18 per cent compared with
the same period, but while there was
a 23 per cent drop for high street
shops and a 32 per cent drop for city
centre shops, sales were flat at its
retail park stores. Meanwhile, online
sales rose by 61 per cent.
M&S performed well despite the
high street, rather than because of
it. The company even gave an
example in its half-year results of
where it had grown sales by
relocating an “aged” shop in Paisley
town centre in Scotland to a
“modern” unit on an adjacent retail
park with “good access and
parking”.
Of M&S’s £1.5 billion of clothing
and home sales in the past six
months, £1 billion was from shops
and £500 million from online, but as
the results make clear, retail parks
are driving the performance of
shops, not the high street.
The company’s emphasis on the
high street is going to fall further. It
wants to cut the number of full-line
shops it has to 180 modern stores,
meaning that at least 110 locations
will be closed or relocated.
M&S is not alone in this pivot
away from the high street with its
physical stores. Next was making
this move before the pandemic, with
62 per cent of its retail sales coming
from retail parks, 27 per cent from
town and city centres and 11 per
cent from shopping centres before
the pandemic.
This shows how much two of
Britain’s biggest retail brands have
already changed.
It also means that when we debate
the long-term future of the high
street, we must realise that it
matters a lot less to the nationwide
chains than it once did.
Graham Ruddick is Deputy Business
Editor of The Times
44
Business
Why investors rush to join Vanguard
One of the big hitters
in passive investment
has been busy during
the pandemic, reports
Patrick Hosking
It’s a nice problem for any company to
have — being wrongfooted by a flood of
new customers anxious to hand over
their money — but Sean Hagerty, the
head of Vanguard in Britain and
Europe, concedes that the influx of new
customers to his low-cost investment
platform has stretched the business this
year.
Complaints went up for a while.
Service levels went down. “It did take us
longer to answer the phone or respond
to emails.” Then again, customer
numbers have almost doubled so far
this year, rising by 157,000 to more than
337,000. “It has been exponential.” He
has been increasing staffing levels in
London to 900, including contractors,
in an effort to cope.
The United States-based Vanguard is
one of the giants of passive investment,
second only to BlackRock, with $8 tril-
lion of assets under management and
30 million investors. It entered the
British market in 2009 and in 2017
launched a UK direct-to-consumer
platform, enabling retail investors to
build a portfolio of its low-cost tracker
funds in tax-efficient envelopes such as
Isas and Sipps (individual savings
accounts and self-invested personal
pensions).
Even allowing for the special circum-
stances of lockdown, which left many
people cashed-up and with the time to
focus on their finances, the speed of
growth in the Vanguard platform has
been eye-catching. It is not only pulling
in new customers, but also garnering
large levels of additional investment by
existing clients. Average portfolios are
now about £33,000. Total assets under
management are £11 billion.
For comparison, Hargreaves Lans-
down, the industry leader, has taken
40 years to build its army of 1.6 million
clients with assets of £136 billion.
Interactive Investor, the direct-to-con-
sumer No 2, has 400,000 clients and
£55 billion.
Hagerty, a 60-year-old American, is
a 25-year veteran of Vanguard and
naturally a cheerleader for the benefits
of investing in well-diversified, low-
cost trackers that blindly replicate indi-
ces such as the S&P 500 and the FTSE
All Share. The evidence is overwhelm-
ing that they tend to outperform most
active stockpickers over time.
Fresh back from the climate summit
in Glasgow, a pressing concern for
Hagerty is the proliferation of ESG-
badged funds, managed with an eye for
environmental, social and governance
factors, being offered to retail investors.
He believes that end-investors are
being confused by these funds and what
exactly it is they do.
According to Morningstar, the data
provider, the value of assets in funds
Sean Hagerty believes in the value of
well-diversified, low-cost trackers
337,000
UK customers of Vanguard, the
American investment platform
Source: Vanguard
badged “sustainable” doubled to
$3.9 trillion in the six months to Octo-
ber, although this was thanks in part to
new ESG language and definitions
added to existing fund prospectuses
rather than new inflows or new fund
launches.
Hagerty believes that few investors
understand the distinction between
ESG funds that refuse to hold the
shares and bonds of oil and gas compa-
nies and other heavy burners of fossil
fuels and those that keep the shares but
try to engage with companies to push
them into greener behaviour and
greener products.
He also argues that some fund man-
agers and green campaigners have
been wrong to claim that ESG invest-
ment produces superior returns: “Last
year, honestly, there was some irres-
ponsible commentary on the short-
term 2020 outperformance of ESG. We
know now that it had nothing to do with
ESG as a factor and everything to do
with the collapse in global demand that
decreased energy prices — which
caused anyone not holding energy
stocks to outperform, which is fully re-
versed this year.”
Two Vanguard analysts crunched
the numbers going back to 2003 and in
the Journal of Portfolio Management
last year concluded that there was no
statistically significant evidence of ESG
funds either outperforming or under-
performing.
Vanguard itself has been cautious
about launching ESG-labelled funds,
akthough it does offer both passive
products and actively managed ones.
While investors’ expectations need
to be managed about both ESG’s ability
to bear down on global temperature
growth and its performance, Hagerty is
a strong believer that end-investors
should be able to align their savings
pots with their beliefs, even if “nobody
should be fooling themselves that the
private sector is going on its own to de-
carbonise the economy”.
One of Hagerty’s priorities next year
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
will be to expand the advice service to
investors launched this year but still in
what he calls the “nascent” stage. He
believes that Vanguard has the capacity
to help to close the so-called “advice
gap” — caused by tens of millions of
people having nest-eggs too small to
interest firms offering expensive face-
to-face advice.
He believes that Vanguard, with its
technological knowhow and straight-
forward approach to investing, could be
the company to crack this, despite the
fact that for now its minimum invest-
ment threshold is £50,000. This could
come down, according to Hagerty,
pointing to a different Vanguard ser-
vice in Germany where the wealth
threshold is only €5,000.
In the space of four years, Vanguard’s
low-cost hybrid advice service in
America has grown to assets of more
than $259 billion. “We think the UK
market can be as successful as the US.”
Does he get frustrated by so much
investment coverage being about quick
money-making? While conceding that
Vanguard’s top-selling “life strategy”
funds can look a bit boring, “there are
some people out there not thinking
about crypto and GameStop [the
American electronics and video games
retailer at the centre of the meme
stocks craze earlier in the year].”
As for those people boasting of
fabulous returns from buying crypto:
“Those whom the gods would destroy,
they first make confident. Investing is a
humbling experience. Everyone should
understand that.”
the times | Monday November 15 2021 45

Business
VERTICAL AEROSPACE

Vertical Aerospace they search for an

Vertical has partnerships in
place with
acquisition, typically a
private company. Once a
‘won’t fly American Airlines
and Virgin Atlantic
deal is struck, the Spac
takes its target public by
absorbing it and its
into the investors take a slice of
the new company.
sunset’ When Vertical
Aerospace announced
its planned merger with
British Broadstone in June, it

A electric flying
taxi start-up
has insisted
that its
upcoming listing in New
York will not shift its
“centre of gravity” from
Bristol (Callum Jones
writes).
Vertical Aerospace,
founded by Stephen
Fitzpatrick, the green
energy billionaire, is
preparing to land on the
American stock market
before the end of the
year.
Having started 2021
with 100 staff, the
company will finish the
year with about 290. It
expects to hire another
100 next year. The “vast
majority” of its
workforce is based
around Bristol, a fact
that Michael Cervenka,
46, its president,
emphasised would not
change as a result of its
imminent $2.2 billion
arrival in New York.
Vertical Aerospace,
which intends to build
small, battery-powered,
vertical take-off aircraft,
announced plans to
merge with a special
purpose acquisition
company, or Spac, in a
so-called blank-cheque
listing this summer. It
has partnerships in
place with the likes of
American Airlines and
Virgin Atlantic.
“Very much we see
the UK as a great place
to do this stuff,”
Cervenka said, adding
that its forthcoming
combination with
Broadstone Acquisition
Corp “doesn’t suddenly
swing our centre of
gravity”.
He said that the
company had been able
to make a good case in
America that it should
be operating in a “really
substantial market”
after a few years of
heavy investment.
“There just isn’t that
kind of mindset in the
European and UK
investment markets
today, which is a real
shame,” Cervenka said.
Although Spacs “sort
of exist” in Britain and
Europe, he added that
said that the process was
expected to raise
$394 million. In October,
it announced a further
$200 million in
financing through a deal
with the investment firm
Mudrick Capital.
Going public is an
opportunity to
strengthen transparency
and corporate
governance, Vertical
Aerospace said, but as
Spacs had approached
some of its leading
rivals, the company was
also seeking to catch up.
Archer, a Palo Alto,
California-based electric
vertical take-off and
landing start-up,
announced a similar
there was “nowhere blank-cheque listing in
near the level of February, which it said
investment” that there would raise up to
has been in the US. $1.1 billion.
Blank-cheque vehicles Cervenka said: “If
raise money from someone else is raising a
investors through initial billion dollars, even if
public offerings before you’ve got the right
listing their shares on a product, you risk falling
stock exchange. Then behind.”

Ethics fears just smoke and mirrors, Narrow focus

says billionaire backing Big Tobacco
Alex Ralph
A secretive Cayman Islands-based
tycoon who has built a combined £5 bil-
lion stake in two of the world’s biggest
tobacco companies is said to believe
that the sector has been undervalued
because investors have been “spooked”
by ethical concerns.
Kenneth Dart, billionaire heir to an
American foam cups fortune, has
become one of the largest shareholders
in the London-listed British American
Tobacco and Imperial Brands and has
continued to increase his stakes in
recent months.
Dart’s Spring Mountain Investments
vehicle has built a 7 per cent stake in
BAT, worth £4.5 billion, and a 4.75 per
cent position in Imperial, valued at
£700 million. Dart’s stakes have
intrigued analysts and investors as
there has been a scarcity of buyers,
partly because of concerns about the
ethics and future of the tobacco
industry. Some institutional invest-
ment funds actively avoid tobacco.
Dart, 66, has declined to comment on
his investments, but according to
sources he is a “value investor” who
does not believe that the tobacco sector
will “disappear tomorrow . . . They’ve
invested in tobacco since the Seventies.
They know the sector very well. They
think because of ESG [environmental,
social and governance] considerations
investors are spooked. This sector
offers very attractive valuations.”
Dart owned a stake in RJ Reynolds,
the American group now owned by
BAT. Shares in BAT have halved over
the past five years since achieving their
high point in June 2017 and Imperial by
60 per cent since a high in April the
same year.
BAT owns Lucky Strike and Dunhill,
while Imperial sells the JPS and David-
off brands. The industry is under
pressure from stricter regulation, great-
er health awareness and the increasing
importance of ESG investment.
Philip Morris International, the
owner of Marlboro, has said that its
future is in “smoke-free” products and
it has been buying into the medicines
industry, including, controversially, the
£1 billion acquisition of Vectura, the
respiratory drugs company.
Dart has a reputation as an activist
investor in distressed debt, which has
raised speculation that his stake-build-
ing is motivated by further consolida-
tion in the industry. Sources said,
though, that the industry consolidation
had “happened already . . . The reality is
this is one of the most heavily concen-
trated sectors in [fast-moving consum-
er goods] now and it’s one of the most
heavily regulated sectors. Any further
combinations run very quickly into
very significant anti-trust issues in a
sector that is super-highly regulated
and not exactly liked by the regulators.
So there is a reason why you haven’t
seen any major industry consolidation
in the last five years.”
Dart is the scion of Dart Container, a
Michigan-based family business. He
moved from the United States to Grand
Cayman in the early 1990s. He has in-
vested heavily in the British overseas
territory in the Caribbean and is be-
lieved to be its largest private landown-
er. He also has built a global investment
empire.
The portfolio of Dart’s eponymous
companies spans property, hospitality,
retail, entertainment, finance and bio-
technology in Europe, the United
States and the Caribbean, according to
its website.
Dart declined to comment.
will not help
productivity
Jessica Newman
Focusing on Britain’s least productive
companies will distract policymakers
from tackling wider investment and
management weaknesses, a report
suggests.
According to the Resolution Foun-
dation and the Centre for Economic
Performance at the London School of
Economics, Britain is approaching the
2020s with a significant problem of low
productivity.
The authors of Business Time warn
that many in the industry are misread-
ing problems of low productivity, put-
ting too much emphasis on boosting the
output of unproductive firms. They
want a spotlight on improving eco-
nomy-wide factors that companies use
to drive growth. These include greater
investment — which rose by only 1 per
cent in the five years to the second quar-
ter of this year, compared with an aver-
age 16 per cent rise in Germany, France

Frost’s threats ‘deter trade’ with Northern Ireland
Louisa Clarence-Smith
Northern Ireland risks becoming a
“legal basket case” that will deter trade
and investment if Article 16 is triggered,
companies have warned.
Businesses there have taken calls
from European Union customers ask-
ing if they are still allowed to trade
because of the threat from Lord Frost,
the Brexit minister, the province’s man-
ufacturing trade association has said.
Triggering Article 16 would unilater-
ally suspend part of the Northern Ire-
land protocol, scrapping border checks
on goods arriving from Great Britain.
However, business groups said that it
would not improve trade but instead
would create legal uncertainty.
Stephen Kelly, chief executive of
Manufacturing NI, which represents
550 businesses, said that the impact on
trade would be “instantaneous”. “Busi-
nesses who are not sending stuff to
Northern Ireland won’t suddenly start
to send goods,” he said. “The businesses
who have spent time and have navi-
gated the new rules to send stuff from
Great Britain to Northern Ireland will
be viewed in boardrooms as being
legally challengeable, so they’ll stop
sending stuff to Northern Ireland.
“The third impact will be those EU
customers and suppliers who our man-
ufacturers have been enjoying good
trade with this year. They will also see
huge legal jeopardy in buying or sup-
plying to Northern Ireland and they’ll
stop sending stuff or buying stuff.”
Aodhán Connolly, director of the
Northern Ireland Retail Consortium,
said: “Some are holding up Article 16 as
this beacon of hope that removes the
challenges of the protocol, but it
doesn’t. Businesses ask for clarity, sta-
bility, affordability and simplicity and
Article 16 does none of those things.”
The protocol, part of the Brexit with-
drawal deal agreed between London
and Brussels, is designed to avoid a hard
border on the island of Ireland.
Seamus Leheny, policy manager at
Logistics UK, said that if Article 16 was
triggered, the EU could “start imposing
more checks on EU ports that would
impact trade with Great Britain”.
Invest Northern Ireland, the govern-
ment’s regional business development
agency, said that investors were con-
tinuing to move forward with projects.
and the United States — research and
development and leadership.
“The UK entered the 2020s with an
abysmal productivity record and a mis-
diagnosis of why this is happening,”
Greg Thwaites, research director at the
Resolution Foundation, said. “Rather
than focus on the UK’s long tail of un-
productive firms, we need to see
economy-wide improvements to how
firms invest and innovate, as well as
how staff are managed and trained.
“These are not quick productivity
fixes and they are likely to cost money
in the short term. But they need to be
pursued as part of a new economic
strategy that will deliver stronger
growth and higher living standards in
the years to come.”
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Now it’s time
for exports to
rise to the top
of the agenda
GOING FOR GROWTH
The government is set to kick-start efforts
to boost overseas trade, writes Richard Tyler
S
amuel Brooksworth
prefers Bury’s climate at
this time of year, with its
average temperature of
about 10C, than the
humid 31C heat of Accra, Ghana,
but the entrepreneur is soldiering
on. You can understand why. He
can see opportunities to expand
his services business in every
country he visits. Next on his list
are Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria,
Tanzania and Uganda.
The former contestant on The
Apprentice launched Remoteli, his
company, a year ago. He realised
during lockdowns that businesses
could be run from anywhere in
the world and left his job as an
account manager at The
Guardian Media Group. “The
pandemic was a massive eye-
opener,” Brooksworth, 33, said. “It
gave me the boldness to go out
and do it.”
Having visited Ghana, where
his parents were born, he knew
that unemployment rates among
highly skilled recent graduates
were too high, so he set about
creating a services business that
matched their skills with
employers — initially in Britain,
and more recently overseas, too.
Today he employs 70 staff, who
provide services ranging from
customer service and personal
assistants to business
development, software and
graphic design and social media
from offices in Accra and London.
He’s eyeing Kigali, the capital of
Rwanda, for its next base. “Kigali
is the most structured city I have
been to,” he said. “The people are
clued up and their fluency
between different languages is
excellent. It’s the perfect place for
a British company — and it’s not
as hot as Ghana.”
Brooksworth’s efforts are likely
to be applauded this week by the
Department for International
Trade, which is launching its post-
Brexit export strategy and hosting
events to promote the benefits of
trade to sceptical UK companies.
Official estimates suggest only
10 per cent of Britain’s six million
businesses export, with 42 per
cent of those boasting more than
250 employees doing so.
The government’s last export
plan, in 2018, aimed to encourage
those existing exporters to do
more to raise exports as a
percentage of GDP to 35 per cent,
from 30 per cent. The rate hit
31.7 per cent in 2019, but fell back
to 27.1 per cent in 2020, during the
pandemic. In contrast, exports
represent 43 per cent of the
German economy, according to
the World Bank.
The Office for National
Statistics said last week that in
the three months to September
exports and imports remained
lower than they were in the same
period in 2018. In its forecasts
published with the autumn
budget, the Office for Budget
Responsibility said that it
expected exports to fall “slightly”
over the next few years, adding
that “the evidence so far suggests
that both import and export
intensity have been reduced by
Brexit, with developments still
consistent with our initial
assumption of a 15 per cent
reduction in each”.
The Department for
International Trade, led by Anne-
Marie Trevelyan since September,
wants to reverse that trend. Trade
bodies expect the department to
use this week to “draw a line in
the sand” after the disruption to
cross-border trade caused by
Brexit since January 1.
In October it launched the
Export Support Service, offering
to answer questions from those
trading with the European Union
via a dedicated phone and web
portal. The chancellor extended
its remit beyond Europe to the
rest of the world in his budget,
providing £45 million in funding
over the next three years.
UK Export Finance, the
department’s finance division, is
expected to launch a new loan
guarantee service to attract
foreign companies — such as
electric vehicle and battery
makers — to Britain. For smaller
businesses it is expanding its
general export facility, launched
last December, which provides
red tape-free guarantees to banks
to enable them to provide more
trade finance facilities.
How receptive exporters will be
remains to be seen. Some, such as
HV Wooding, based in Hythe,
Kent, are thriving. The specialist
manufacturer has increased its
exports this year, encouraging it
to hire 16 new recruits, as its
electric vehicles, renewables and
data centre markets remain
strong. “We have not seen a lull
and it’s only going to get busier,
especially in Europe,” Matt Lacey,
its managing director, said.
Others have reported exports
declining because of Brexit and
wider issues around the rising
cost of shipping and disruption to
supply chains. A survey by the
Federation of Small Businesses
last month found that 42 per cent
Nick Grey, the founder of Gtech, the cleaner maker, is looking at other products, including adult toys, to appeal to buyers online
Are adult toys the answer to cleaning up online?
Jumping from vacuum cleaners
to adult toys is not a typical
move for most manufacturers,
but it is one that Nick Grey is
considering (Richard Tyler
writes).
The Worcester-based founder
of Gtech, the household goods
maker, wants to use social media
to reach consumers globally and
accepts that the company’s
existing range may not resonate
as well with this audience.
First, it is experimenting with
platforms such as TikTok. “If you
can build an audience on social
media, it’s often a global
audience and it’s free,” he said,
“but people go on social media to
be entertained and not to hear
boring news about companies or
advertising. How you crack that
to get a good feeling about your
brand without interrupting their
content is fascinating.”
He has hired a content creator
and producer, who use the
TikTok handle Gtechsocial. “Some
of the posts have had half a
million views in America, so that’s
significant,” Grey, 53, said.
He has cleared out the retail
space at the Gtech head office
and replaced it with a VIP lounge
of companies had noted a
decrease in exports, compared
with 22 per cent seeing a rise.
More also expected overseas
orders to fall over the next three
months. A fifth had temporarily
or permanently stopped
exporting to the EU.
Trade bodies would like the
trade department to focus its
efforts on fixing some of the gaps
in the trade agreement with the
European Union. Lucy Reece-
Raybould, chief executive of the
British Footwear Association,
highlighted the windfall that
HM Revenue & Customs is
receiving from taxing rocketing
freight charges. “They could
temporarily lift that until prices
fall,” she said.
One of her members — Simon
Tennant, managing director of
Sanders & Sanders, a fifth-
generation family shoemaking
47
Working life Business
ANDREW FOX FOR THE TIMES
for social media influencers,
complete with bar, dancefloor,
hot tub and show kitchen.
“There are very few companies
that we look at and think, ‘Oh
yeah, they are doing it really
well.’ Most of them are trying to
interrupt people’s entertainment
by giving them corporate
messages.”
Grey’s business had sales of
£86 million and pre-tax profits of
£17.2 million last year, with about
7 per cent of turnover generated
overseas. “Access to a global
market is crucial, because if you
have an awareness and branding
in a territory, setting up
distribution is the simplest thing
in the world.”
Stage two is exploring product
ranges that a new audience is
likely to be interested in. “We are
looking at related companies
whose products are more suited
to social media than vacuum
cleaners,” Grey said. “We are very
interested in Lovehoney and the
adult toys market. There’s growth
in that market. If people were
interested in curtain rails . . . we
would ask, ‘What is good about
them and what is not? And what
would make ours better?’ ”
business — wants clarity on
business travel as he has trips to
Ireland, France and Italy planned.
“We need more information on
requirements, such as how I
travel with samples and what
documents do I need? There are
fines of up to £10,000 [for getting
it wrong],” he said.
He hosted Emily Thornbury,
the shadow trade secretary, at the
company’s factory in
Northampton last week. She
echoed concerns that trading
arrangements with Europe still
had unresolved issues. “We get
the impression the government
just hasn’t sat down with
manufacturers and exporters and
gone through the nitty-gritty,” she
said. “We have a [Brexit] deal that
really isn’t completed and we
should be focused on filling the
holes. That should be the priority
above everything else.”
48 Monday November 15 2021 | the times

Business Equity prices

Mkt cap Price Wkly Mkt cap Price Wkly Mkt cap Price Wkly Mkt cap Price Wkly Mkt cap Price Wkly Mkt cap Price Wkly
(million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E (million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E (million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E (million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E (million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E (million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E

Automobiles & parts 3,687.77 Direct Line Ins 277 – 13 7.9 10.4 34,955.78 Lloyds Bkg Gp 49V + V 1.1 7.5 33.63 Billington Hldgsv 260 … 1.6 21.1 16,395.33 Segro 1363K + 34K 1.6 6.3 130.92 Dewhurstv 1620 – 5 0.8 28.2

102.04 Downing ONE VCT 57 … 5.7 14.2 26.48 LMS Capital 32O + N 2.7 14.2 362.58 Boot (Henry) 272 – 13 2.0 14.5 573.76 SIG 48K – 2V … … 112.50 Dialight 345 – 12 … …

1,937.79 Aston Martin Lag 1667K – 74 … -6.1 2.24 Drumzv X … … -8.1 38,669.70 Lond Stk Ex Gp 6938 – 180 1.0 64.0 1,665.78 Breedon Groupv 98K – 3 … 23.4 615.59 SigmaRocv 96K + 3 … 31.0 5,171.61 Electrolux 'B' 1719X + 4N 5.4 8.1

568.07 EFG-Hermes Hldg 123V + 3X … 7.7 5,114.14 M&G 196O – 4O 9.2 81.9 4,770.90 Br Land 514O – 3 1.6 -4.6 1,500.10 Sirius Real Estate 141W + 3W 2.1 11.8 10.67 Feedbackv 1 + V … -6.3

Banking & finance 121.84 EPE Special Oppsv 379 – 7 … 1.6 3,312.62 Man 236W + 6N 3.2 14.5 17.09 Caledonian Tstv 145 … … … 53.73 Smart (J) 128K … 2.5 13.1 287.97 Gooch Hsegov 1150 – 30 … 92.7
88.70 Steppe Cementv 40K – O 9.3 9.3 278.75 Goodwin 3625 – 5 2.2 22.0
241.09 FBD 687O + 4N … 9.0 9.71 Manx Finv 8K … … 6.7 1,442.06 Cap & Count Prop 169W – 5V … -3.9
5,739.67 abrdn 263V + 7K 5.5 4.0 5,787.21 Taylor Wimpey‡ 158X + 3W 2.6 11.5 11,958.83 Halma 3150 + 160 0.5 58.7
7.99 Fiskev 67K … … 14.0 2.96 Marechale Capv 3N – W … 9.5 102.55 Cap & Regnl 62 – K … -0.5
8,776.95 Admiral 2930 + 28 4.0 13.1 68.83 Town Centre 130 + 5 3.8 -2.5
87.70 Frenkel Toppingv 77K … 1.7 45.0 62,543.93 Marsh McLn 12387K + 334W 1.0 35.2 21.76 Cardiff Prop 1950 + 25 0.9 13.0 1,459.97 Hill & Smith 1830 + 30 1.4 72.3
20.50 ADVFNv 78K + 6 … 47.0 3,488.58 Travis Perkins 1565 + 11K … 22.5
296.20 Georgia Capital 626 + 24 … 0.9 422.94 Mattioli Woodsv 835 + 20 2.4 … 168.99 Carecapitalv 37K + K … -4.4 3.95 Holders Techv 93K … 0.5 …
1,720.78 AJ Bell 419V + 10O 1.1 50.3 4,336.99 Tritax Big Box REIT‡ 232V + 5K 2.7 5.5
332.51 Gresham Housev 875 + 5 0.6 35.1 39.81 Metal Tigerv 23K + 2 … 5.5 69.31 Clarke T 161 – 2O 2.7 18.0 3.75 Image Scanv 2O + V … …
529.47 Amryt Pharmav 166K – 12K … -4.6
786.18 Tyman 400K + 12 1.0 15.4
58.65 Gresh Hse Stratv 1685 – 135 1.4 3.5 220.01 Metro Bank 127K – 3O … -1.0 879.97 CLS Hldgs 216 – 6K 3.5 13.5 4,694.80 IMI 1792 + 12 2.7 26.9
49,210.22 Aon Corpn 22334K + 794N 0.6 33.8
186.27 U+I 148K + K … -2.1
48.36 Appreciate Groupv 25Y … 1.5 56.4 108.63 H&T Groupv 272K – 2K 3.1 8.7 53,580.05 Nat Aust Bk 1632K + 63Y 2.0 19.3 2,400.61 Countryside Prop 466 – 3O … … 1.75 Inspirit Energyv … … … -3.4
4,397.38 Unite Group 1102 – 12K 1.1 51.9
127.69 Arbuthnot Bkgv 850 + 2K … 48.8 68.78 Hansard Global 50 + 1 8.9 13.8 24,813.48 NWG 218X + 1Y 1.3 14.4 1.24 Craven Housev 32 – 4W … -0.1 507.86 Judges Scientificv 8040 – 260 0.6 50.5
2,553.09 Vistry Group‡ 1148K – 2K 1.7 12.1
6.69 Arden Partnersv 23 – 1K … 5.7 8.67 LPAv 64K – 1 … 15.1
7,285.53 Hargreaves L 1536 + 43 2.4 24.5 385.42 Numisv 337 – 6 3.5 7.1 29,301.04 CRH 3786 + 112 2.2 27.4
710.37 Warehouse REITv 167V + 7 3.7 4.7
7.21 Argo Groupv 18K … … 8.5 5,813.11 Meggitt 743W – 5V … 99.1
113.29 Helios Underv 165 + 5 1.8 … 2,244.46 Onesavings Bank 500K + 6N 2.9 8.0 3,866.38 Derwent London 3446 + 38 2.1 74.7
1,517.82 Workspace Grp 838 – 18K 2.9 -6.4
2,292.17 Ashmore Gp‡ 321K + 5 5.2 9.4
2,891.57 Hiscox 834K + 10W … … 0.45 Origo Partnersv … … -0.4 37.54 Dolphin Capitalv 4V … … -2.8 7,496.53 Melrose 171W + 3Y 0.4 …
V 19.66 Wynnstay Propsv 725 … 2.1 5.3
43,580.76 Aus New Z 1544K – 25V 2.1 16.9
1,040.17 Morgan Advanced‡ 364K – K 1.5 24.1
88,548.90 HSBC 434V – 3 2.4 13.3 470.20 PayPoint 684 – 31 4.5 31.2 34.77 First Propv 31K + 1 5.3 -4.6
15,420.53 Aviva 403K – W 6.6 13.4
112.15 Mpacv 556 – 15 … 26.7
46,683.96 Banco Santander 271O – 7Y … -6.8 3,387.86 IG Group 785 – 5 5.5 7.8 60.24 PCF Groupv# 24 … 1.6 10.4 4.47 Fletcher Kingv 48K – 1K 1.0 -6.4
Consumer goods 36.76 MS Intlv 227 – 2 1.5 32.4
761.26 Bank of Georgia 1600 + 38 … 5.4 1,832.48 Impaxv 1382 + 218 0.6 83.2 6,616.68 Phoenix Gp 662 – V 7.1 … 143.44 Foxtons Group 44Y – V … …
32,808.25 Barclays 195N + 2Y 0.5 6.3 46.80 Northbrdg Indv 161 … … …
6,833.78 Intermed Cap 2352 + 60 2.2 14.9 947.58 Provident 373K + 18W … -8.6 224.99 Galliford Try‡ 202K – 3V 0.5 22.2 1.17 Agriterrav 5K … … -0.5
2,463.74 Beazley 404W – 12Y … 32.8 12.20 Aireav 29K … … 13.1 1,302.67 Oxford Inst 2260 – 140 0.1 31.4
313.28 IPF 140 – 1K … 16.4 41,443.34 Prudential 1509 + 33K 0.7 20.9 1,585.80 Genuit Group 639 – 15 0.7 41.2
9.49 Blue Star Capitalv V … … 3.8 32,693.04 Philips El nv 3563X + 35 2.0 37.4
2,902.55 Intl Public Pntshp‡ 170V + 1W 4.3 52.6 30.20 Quantum Blockchain techv3N – V … … 459.45 Gleeson (MJ)‡ 788 – 32 … 45.6 281.02 Anglo-Eastern 709 – 23 0.1 6.5
128.13 BP Marsh&Ptnrsv 342 + 5 0.6 8.9 4.83 PipeHawkv 13K – K … …
3,366.08 Investec 349N + 19 1.5 14.0 2,578.07 Quilter PLC 153N – 3W 3.0 42.5 3,049.93 Grafton Gp Uts 1270 – 90 2.1 15.1 216.33 Animalcarev‡ 360 – 2 1.1 …
14.37 Braveheart Invv 27K – 1K … 0.7
15,904.73 AB Foods 2009 + 122K … 39.7 24.39 Pressure Techv 78K … … -0.8
14.36 Investment Co 301 + 1 1.0 10.3 495.38 Randall & Quilterv 180 – 2O 2.1 … 2,312.77 Grainger 312 – 3 1.7 21.9
1,183.67 Brewin Dolphin 390 – 4K 4.2 24.5
689.52 Bakkavor Group 119 – W 3.3 13.0 3,788.64 Renishaw‡ 5205 + 70 … 83.5
4,511.51 Bridgepoint 548 + 2 … … 1,259.93 IP Group 119O – 3 0.8 4.4 1,232.03 Rathbone Brs 1988 – 57 3.6 24.8 1,904.01 Gr Portland 750 – 6 1.6 -9.4
550.62 Barr (AG) 491K – 2K … 17.4 75.74 Renoldv 33K + 3X … 21.0
43.65 Cenkos Secsv 77 … 4.5 15.7 131.50 Jarvis Securitiesv 300 + 25 4.3 20.7 11.05 RiverFort Global Oppsv 1W … 1.4 4.1 1,338.05 Hammerson‡ 31O – 2V 1.2 -1.7
19.80 Bidstack Groupv 2V … … -1.7 11,989.09 Rolls-Royce 143N + N … 3.1
268.06 Charles Stanley 515 + 5 1.7 25.7 1,462.40 Jupiter Fund Mgmt 264W + 3 6.4 11.5 346.14 S & U‡ 2850 – 30 3.1 13.4 569.61 Harworth Gp 176K – K 1.0 6.5
439.93 Chesnara 293 + 5K 7.4 9.6 23.09 Brand Architektsv 134 – 3K … -5.6 6.99 Ross Gp 3 … … -7.2
909.70 Just Group 87K – 5N … -6.1 14.34 Sancus Lending Grpv 3 + V … -0.9 13.94 Heath (Samuel)v 550 + 60 … 35.4
67.83 City of Lon Gpv 63K – 5N … -3.7 59,959.36 Brit Amer Tob 2613 + 69 8.1 9.6 3,177.69 Rotork 369K + 4W 2.7 33.6
1,240.48 Lancashire Hdgs 511 – 6 2.3 20.7 240.63 Schroder REIT 49 – O 3.2 54.4 547.41 Helical Bar 447K – 22K 1.9 30.8
259.48 City Lon Inv Gp 512 … 5.8 18.6 2,403.33 Britvic 899 – 1 2.4 27.0 210.07 SDI Groupv 211 – 4 … 46.0
17,570.14 Legal & Gen 294N + 1N 5.9 8.7 9,894.42 Schroders 3743 + 76 3.0 18.9 45.36 Highcroft Invs 875 … 5.8 5.9
2,122.47 Close Bros‡ 1410 – 29 4.1 10.5 7,842.01 Burberry Grp 1936K – 71K … 20.8 627.45 Senior 149K – 5O … …
1,243.06 Liberty Group 434N – 6W … 23.0 9,894.42 Schroders N/V 2540 – 10 4.4 12.8 9,811.80 HK Land 424 + 5V 3.7 -8.1
754.77 CMC Markets 259 – 10 8.2 4.2 1,005.01 C&C Grp 255O + 4O … -9.3 221.46 Severfield 71K … 4.0 12.7
7,432.24 Commerzbk 593W + 19X … -2.6 1,344.48 Liontrust 2195 – 45 1.5 47.4 8,681.65 St James Place 1607 – 6K 3.0 42.5 827.46 Ibstock 202 – 5 0.7 25.2
19.49 Capital Metalsv 11N – W … -2.7 17.03 Six Hundredv 14K + 1K … -9.1
19,692.57 Deutsche Bk 952O – V … 17.7 77.86 Livermore Invsv 47K … 7.4 3.0 14,213.21 Stand Chart 461K + 3 1.4 16.4 1,260.02 James Halsteadv 562 – 16 2.5 33.4
133.33 Carr's Grp 142N + O 3.3 15.8 7,799.99 SKF B 1836K + 61W 3.0 15.0
114.40 Character Grpv 535 + 5 0.9 14.3
2.00 Slingsby (HC)v 190 … … 3.1
Investment companies 187.39 Churchill Chinav 1700 + 75 … …
5,868.26 Smiths‡ 1480 + 45 2.3 78.7
9,473.89 Coca Cola HBC 2592 + 10 … 20.9
100.85 Solid Statev 1180 + 5 1.0 25.8
Mkt cap Price Wkly Forecast Mkt cap Price Wkly Forecast
(million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E (million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E 51.20 Colefaxv 645 … … 14.3
280.42 Somero Enterv 500 … 4.3 12.5
1,907.02 Cranswick 3600 + 112 1.7 20.5
4,287.69 Spectris‡ 3870 + 140 2.8 19.5
14,145.57 3I Group 1453K + 81 3.4 23.9 242.01 Invesco Asia Tr 362 + 4 3.8 -10.2 368.96 Devro 221 + 6K 6.9 13.5
3,039.79 3i Infrastructure 341 + 10 3.4 16.5 310.60 Invesco BondInc 184N – O 5.4 -5.3 12,573.42 Spirax-Sarco‡ 17045 + 770 0.6 61.2
89,208.67 Diageo 3826 + 47K 1.8 33.7
309.27 Abrdn Div I&G 100 + O 4.5 -17.5 7.03 IPST Bal 168K … … -4.1 116.14 Surface Trsfmsv 59K + 2 … …
1,321.81 Aberforth Smlr 1498 – 30 2.0 -12.0 61.07 IPST Gbl Eq 245 … 2.8 -5.7 9.94 Distilv 1K + V … 21.4
3,309.84 Alliance 1072 – 6 1.3 -5.7 1.54 IPST Managed 103 … 0.9 -3.7 3.32 Tanfieldv 2 – V … -5.6
456.17 Evans (M.P.)v 834 – 40 2.6 13.8
660.12 Asia Dragon Tr 533 + 19 0.8 -8.8 150.01 IPST UK Eq 194 + 1 3.3 -4.4
504.34 Thorpe FWv‡ 431 + 1 1.3 31.8
5.07 Athelney Trust 235 … 3.3 -23.5 203.98 IP UKSmallerCos 603 + 1 0.5 -12.2 127.12 Finsbury Foodv 97K + 2 … …
1,127.53 AVI Global Trust 1108 + 10 1.4 -7.1 1,446.76 JPM American 746 – 5 0.9 -2.5 32.34 TP Groupv 4V – N … -6.2
3,171.65 Games Workshop 9660 – 175 2.4 26.0
257.35 Baillie Gifford Ch Gr 415 + 20K 1.7 -1.6 452.32 JPM Asia 463 + 11 4.2 -0.1
17.92 Transense Techv 109 – 13K … …
591.38 Baillie Gifford Eu Gr 162V – 1W 0.2 -2.9 480.91 JPM Chinese 578 + 37 4.0 -1.4 3,380.88 Glanbia 1174O – 4N 1.9 23.7
960.26 Baillie Gifford Jpn Tr 1018 – 42 0.4 -0.9 458.87 JPM Claverhs 774 + 16 4.0 … 2,272.74 Ultra Electrncs 3184 – 66 3.0 23.3
705.58 Greencore 134 – K … …
760.49 Baillie Gifford SN 242 – 8K … 0.1 7.83 JPM Elect Mg C 102K … 0.3 -0.6
1,302.37 Vesuvius 480V + 9O 3.6 21.1
357.64 Baillie Gifford UK Gr 233 + 1 1.0 -4.9 303.44 JPM Elect Mg G 1100 – 5 1.4 -3.7 383.81 Headlam‡ 450 – 5 0.4 26.4
1,588.82 Bankers 121 + 2W 1.8 -2.0 79.78 JPM Elect Mg I 107K … 4.3 -3.6 679.66 Vitec 1470 + 50 0.3 44.2
979.79 Hilton Food‡ 1190 – 12 1.8 24.8
937.57 BH Macro 3680 – 70 … 8.5 1,602.22 JPM Em Mkts 135O + V 0.9 -5.9
71.78 Hornbyv 43 + 1K … 53.7 650.75 Volexv 410 – 61 0.7 23.6
499.67 Biotech Growth 1214 – 12 … -6.0 279.62 JPM Eur IT Gth 389 – 3 1.3 -10.9
115.29 BlckRck Com Inc 99V + 1K 3.8 -8.1 140.92 JPM Eur IT Inc 164K + 2K 3.7 -9.8 4,745.71 Weir 1828 + 8 … 31.1
14,797.09 Imperial Brands 1563K – 2 11.8 9.8
259.38 BlckRck Fro Inv 137 + 3K 3.7 -8.2 896.68 JPM Euro disc 563 – 19 1.0 -12.2
2.72 J Lewis Hfordv 1W + N … -4.3 1,031.22 XP Power 5250 – 190 1.7 28.0
722.52 BlckRck Grt Euro 730 + 8 0.2 1.3 439.92 JPM GEMI 148 + 4 3.2 -10.2
40.51 BlckRck Inc & Gwth 189K + 6K 3.6 -9.1 730.41 JPM GG&I 467 + 10 3.2 2.3 17,451.17 Kerry Gp‡ 9868V + 128V 0.7 35.9 28.88 Zytronicv 180 – 10 … …
132.70 BlckRck Latin Am 338 + 11 5.9 -9.7 663.95 JPM Indian 855 + 15 … -16.5
288.36 JPM Jap Sml Co 529 + 13 4.0 -7.4 117.29 McBride 67W – K 1.6 8.6
163.27 BlckRck Sustain Amer 203K + 3K 3.8 -6.5
973.67 BlckRck Smlr 1994 – 31 1.5 -8.1 1,099.78
313.23
JPM Japan#
JPM Mid Cap
702
1335
– 3
…
0.7
2.0
-5.6
-10.7
186.24 Mulberry Groupv 310 + 25 … 38.6 Health
989.73 BlckRck Throgmorton 987 – 2 1.0 1.6
86.95 JPM Multi-Ass G&I 107N – O 3.7 -2.2 468.94 Nicholsv 1270 + 70 2.9 46.2
1,045.15 BlckRck Wld Min 569 + 9 4.0 -7.4
338.44 JPM Russian 830 – 22 3.7 -12.2 255.12 Norcros 315 – 8 … 16.9 3,865.52 Abcamv 1704 + 7 … …
11.87 Blue Plan Int Fn# 24 … 1.6 -32.1
311.43 JPM Smllr Co 399 + 6 1.3 -11.9
349.90 BMO Cap&Inc 326K – K 3.5 -4.4 354.12 Origin Entsv 281Y … 0.9 17.3 721.27 AdvancedMedicalv 334 + 4K 0.5 52.5
207.70 Keystone IT 336 – 2 3.1 -2.6
763.12 BMO Comm Prop 99O + O 3.1 -21.1
972.17 Law Debenture 791 + 3 3.5 -0.6 7.17 Pittardsv‡ 55K – 6K … 59.0 231.05 Allergy Therapv 36 + O … 83.7
975.79 BMO Glbl Smaller 173K + V 0.9 -9.1
359.35 Lowland 1330 + 5 4.1 -7.7
341.61 BMO Priv Eq Ord 462 – 7 3.1 -15.5 95.80 Portmeirionv 685 + 5 … 29.2 552.86 Allnce Pharmav 103 + 1W 1.5 30.5
127.46 Majedie 240K + 10K 4.0 -16.7
199.79 BMO Real Estate 83 – 1V 3.2 -23.3
370.20 M Currie Port 430K + 1K 1.0 -1.1 20.45 Provexisv Y … … 0.4 301.90 Anglev 128K + 8K … …
80.49 BMO UK HIT 94K + N 5.3 -7.2
65.07 Marwyn Val In 116K – 2K 3.7 -35.7
29.79 BMO UK HIT B 97 … … -4.8 904.61 PZ Cussons‡ 211 – 1K 2.7 43.5 131.29 Anpariov‡ 565 – 25 1.4 29.7
2,156.90 Mercantile IT 272K – 4 2.2 -8.7 9.57 Starvestv 16K … … 0.9 674.04 Keller 932 + 32 6.1 12.7
122.44 BMO UK HIT UNIT 382 + 4 4.0 -6.2
693.63 Merchants 553 – 1 4.9 0.9 20.20 STM Groupv‡ 34 + K 4.1 13.0 42.28 REA 96K – 1 … -7.6 … Aqua Bounty … … … …
179.28 Brown Advsr US Sm 1500 + 12K … -6.8 15,684.06 Kingspan Group 8650X – 51N 0.2 39.2
518.47 Mid Wynd 846 + 12 0.8 1.8
474.96 Brunner 1112K + 17K 1.7 -8.2 24,527.79 Sun Life Can 4186Y – 11N 3.0 12.6 2.24 Real Gd Fdv 2N … … -0.3 136,340.41 AstraZeneca 8801 – 508 2.3 42.3
3,404.94 Monks Inv Tst 1440 – 8 0.1 -2.7 5,237.80 Land Sec 706W – 1W 2.5 -3.7
2,065.06 Caledonia Inv 3770 – 105 1.3 -18.1
383.62 Montanaro Eur Sml 213K + 3K 0.4 -4.7 25.18 Tavistock Invv 4N + K … 33.4 747.00 Stock Spirits 373K – K 2.2 42.3 171.47 Circassia Groupv 41 … … -8.5
310.60 Invesco BondInc 184N – O 5.4 -5.3 12.80 Lon & Assoc 15 – N … -2.0
1,072.77 Murray Income Trust 918 – 2 2.3 -6.7 882.49 TBC Bank Group 1600 + 12 … 5.9
1,757.17 City of Lon IT 393K – 1K 4.9 -0.4 33.04 Tandemv‡ 630 + 15 1.3 8.7 4,403.86 Convatec Group 218K – 3W 1.8 44.4
1,458.01 Murray Int 1150 + 20 4.7 -6.6 2,474.42 London Metric Prop 271O – O 3.1 9.5
98.11 Crystal Amber Fd 117K – 1 3.3 -25.0 68.56 Ternv 19K – 1O … …
220.98 Nb Global Floating 89W – K 4.8 -6.0 3,195.13 Tate & Lyle 682 + 7V 4.3 12.6 69.73 Creighton 102 + 4 0.6 17.3
99.92 Dunedin Entp 484 + 4 3.3 -8.5 20.58 Time Financev 22N – N … 12.0 36.79 Macau Prop Op 59K … … -3.2
443.92 Pacific Assets 367 + 13 0.6 -7.7
1,079.59 Edinburgh IT 627 + 1 4.2 -9.0 714.24 Treatt 1195 + 45 0.4 66.5
1,759.89 Pantheon Int 326 + 3 … -18.6 5,578.49 Dechra Pharma‡ 5150 + 224 0.6 …
1,102.68 TP ICAP PLC 141N + 2O 4.9 20.9 1,480.39 Marshalls‡ 740 – 11 0.5 31.2
1,318.94 Edin Wwide 325K – 9K … -0.4 1.79 Ukrproduct Gpv 4K … … -3.0
6,053.27 Pershing Sq 3040 + 20 0.7 -27.7 8.48 Deltex Medicalv 1W … … …
35.86 Electra Pte Eq 92 – 9K … -82.5 2,460.23 Virgin Money UK 170O – 6W … …
1,763.01 Personal Assets 50700 + 300 1.1 1.6 200.81 McKay Secs 219 + 4 3.2 … 117,938.48 Unilever (NV) 4586 + 30K 2.3 25.9
105.57 EP Global Opp 289 + 3 1.9 -11.7 34.67 Volverev 1350 … … … 216.11 e-Therapeuticsv 42 – 1K … …
3,613.07 Polar Cap Tech 2676 – 2 … -8.5
519.40 European Assets 144N – N 5.3 -6.3 118.16 Michelmershv 124 + K 2.0 17.3 100,697.69 Unilever‡ 3915K + 15K 3.7 22.1
36.48 Prem Glb & Inf 200 – 1 4.2 -4.2 31.96 WH Irelandv 51K … … 24.8 165.92 Eco Animal Hlthv 245 – 15 … 20.3
921.88 European Opp Tr 880 – 2 0.2 -9.5 3,000.03 Renewables Inf 132W + 1K 6.0 15.4
12.56 Walker Crips Grp 29K … 0.5 … 1,099.02 Morgan Sindall 2370 + 70 2.5 14.7 1,232.79 Victoriav 1055 … … …
4,926.62 F&C Investment Tr 933 + 1 1.2 -7.2 4,324.17 RIT Cap Ptnr 2760 + 50 … 0.4 381.35 EKF Diagnosticsv‡ 82V + 1V 1.2 23.2
365.16 Fidlty Asian Val 499 + 20 1.7 -2.9 271.38 Riverstone 492 + 4 … -39.7 155,550.62 Wells Fargo 3788 + 22W 0.7 13.9 536.11 Mountview 13750 – 200 2.9 17.3
1,736.26 Fidelity China Sp 337K + 17 1.3 -4.8 101.91 Futura Medicalv 35K + K … …
782.55 Fdlty Emer Mkts 859 + 1 1.4 -11.3
565.63
999.68
Schroder TotRt
Schrd Asia Pac
520
608
+
+
14
8
1.4
1.2
0.6
-9.1
45,495.09 Westpac 1240 – 27O 1.3 19.2 232.09 NewRiver REIT 75 – 2O … -1.5 Engineering 3,679.68 Genus 5595 + 105 0.5 76.0
1,401.56 Fidlty Euro Val 341 + K 1.9 -6.8 10.70 Worsley Investors Ltd 31X + 1N … 99.0
213.60 Schrod Inc Gwth 307K – K 4.2 0.6 114.33 Palace Capital 247 – 1 4.0 …
331.19 Fidlty Jap Tru 255 + 2 … -6.4 48,993.73 Zurich Fincl 32562K – 834N 4.8 13.9 80,176.03 GlaxoSmKline 1593W + 17W 5.0 18.3
271.01 Schrod Jap Gwth 222 + 1 2.0 -9.6 0.31 Ass Br Eng# 15 … … -0.2
962.84 Fidlty Spec Val 307 – 1 1.9 1.7 55.70 Panther Securitiesv 315 + 40 3.8 2.8
248.27 Schrod UKMid 708 + 4 1.7 -11.1 4.50 Gunsyndv 1 … … -6.4
2,038.09 Fins Gwth & Inc 908 + 3 1.8 -4.5 287.90 Avon Rubber 928 – 1016 2.8 46.7
305.98 Schroder UK PP Tr 33X + K … -24.7 8,701.86 Persimmon 2727 + 44 8.6 11.0
951.02 GCP Infrastructure 107O … 7.0 4.4 932.97 Scot American 533 + 4 2.4 0.9 Construction & 10.86 Pires Investmentsv 7 + V … …
1,612.85 Babcock 319 – 10Y … -0.9
5,458.37 Hikma Pharms 2358 – 33 1.5 16.2
957.82 GCP Student Living 210K … 0.3 6.1
41.26 Gldn Prosp Prc Mtl 48N + 2N … -19.6
561.81
21,428.63
Scot IT
Scot Mtge
849
1500K
+
–
17
28
2.6
0.2
-5.9
4.7
property 5.14 Plaza Cent 75 … … -0.1
18,145.10 BAE Sys‡ 570O – 3V 6.5 10.3
3,972.11 Hutchmed Chinav 459K + 10K … …

2,639.80 Greencoat UK Wind 133K – 1K 6.0 4.0 109.44 Immunodiag Sysv 378 … 0.5 …
225.07 Secs Tst Scot 225 + 3 2.6 -1.1 1,602.49 Bodycote 837 – 4K 3.9 46.7
85.60 Hansa Investment 214 + 1 0.9 -36.9 1,897.05 Sequoia Eco 107W – K 6.1 6.3 2,010.43 Primary Hlth‡ 150Y – 3Y 3.0 14.2 17.87 ImmuPharmav 7V … … -2.2
87.62 Alumascv 242K + 2K 2.1 11.6 34.56 Braime A N/Vv 2400 … 0.4 27.0
174.40 Hansa Inv Co 'A' 218 + 1 0.9 -36.3 745.42 Temple Bar 1122 + 24 3.1 -8.3
33.37 Aseana Props 16O … … -1.4 197.14 Raven Property 34O – X … 3.1 1,665.18 Indivior 232V – 22 … 17.8
2,108.37 Hbrvest Glbl Pt Eq 2640 – 35 … -18.9 2,225.11 Tplton Emg Mkt 188W + 3K 2.8 -9.5 38.02 Braime Groupv 2640 + 90 0.4 29.7
359.32 Hend Euro Foc 1682K + 12K 1.7 -9.6 1.57 Tiger Royal and Invv N … … 52.1 1,882.30 Assura Grp 70N – 2X 4.0 17.1 271.76 Raven Property Gr 125K + 3 … … 89.24 Inspiration Healthv 131 + 2K 0.4 20.2
13.48 Caffyns 500 … … 9.6
217.97 Hend High Inc 169K – 1 5.6 -4.9 1,569.54 TR Property 494K – 9K 2.9 -3.0 3.30 Aukett Swankev 2 … … -4.8 69.96 Real Estate Invsv 39 … 8.3 -8.4 33.22 IXICOv 69 – 1 … 25.7
914.35 Hend Smlr 1224 – 18 1.7 -8.1 253.99 Troy Inc&Gth 80W + 1 1.8 -0.9 27.20 Cap XX Ldv 5N … … …
1,572.94 Balfour Beatty‡ 246 – 2 0.6 27.0
1,624.02 Herald 2505 – 15 … -10.9 204.91 Utilico Ord 244 – 12 2.1 -37.3 2,251.20 Redrow‡ 639V + 5O 0.9 8.6 2,453.55 Mediclinic Int 332O – 10W … 36.1
163.18 Castings 374 + 18 4.0 39.3
1,893.18 HgCapital Trust 425 + 10 1.3 14.2 477.92 Utilico Emerging Mkt 218 + 4 3.3 -10.9 7,011.12 Barratt Devs 685O + 29K 1.0 10.7
2,624.76 Safestore 1245 – 1 1.4 10.7 5.05 Chamberlinv 7N … … -0.5 13.58 N4 Pharmav 7K – N … -7.3
3,323.57 HICL Infra 171K + V 5.4 12.0 50.15 UtilFin RdZDP 2022 141 … … 1.7 3,895.76 Bellway 3157 – 62 1.5 21.3
18.17 Highbridge Tactical 270 … … -1.5 1,654.99 Vietnam Ent Inv 774 + 4 … -16.7 2,027.49 Savills 1417 + 3 1.2 18.2 31.22 Checkitv 50 + 1 … -6.1 CHF170.511bn Novartis CHF76.22 + 0.09 3.8 21.5
4,848.63 Berkeley 4319 + 28 2.6 12.9
883.87 ICG Ent Tr 1290 + 2 1.6 -15.0 1,910.60 Witan 255K – K 2.0 -7.1
1,659.68 Impax Env Mkts 560 + 7 0.4 9.3 2,440.64 Ww Health 3730 – 45 0.5 0.5 2,787.10 Big Yellow Group 1515 – 8 2.2 9.9 9.37 Secure Propertyv 7N … … 19.1 246.02 Cohortv 598 + 6 1.7 45.1 79.01 Omega Diagsv 43N – O … …
 the times | Monday November 15 2021 49

Equity prices Business

Mkt cap Price Wkly Mkt cap Price Wkly Mkt cap Price Wkly Mkt cap Price Wkly Mkt cap Price Wkly Mkt cap Price Wkly
(million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E (million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E (million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E (million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E (million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E (million) Company (p) +/- Yld% P/E

10.60 Ovoca Biov 13 – 2 … -3.6 4.70 DCD Mediav 185 … … 10.2 741.35 Eurasia Miningv 25Y + X … … 9.17 Tower Resourcesv W … … -8.3 4,337.00 Royal Mail 433X – 4K … 7.0 49.77 Intercedev 87 + K … 31.0

1,291.33 Oxford Biomedica 1500 – 32 … 67.4 43.40 Ebiquityv 52K + K … … 7.22 Europa Oil&Gasv 1N – V … -2.2 667.17 Tullow Oil 46K + 2V … 4.6 359.10 RPS Group 129W + 3W … 42.7 168.84 Iomartv 153O – 5W 4.2 16.9

6.86 Physiomicsv 7 + K … … 19.97 UK Oil & Gasv … … … -0.5 6.81 RTC Groupv 46K … … 12.2 387.98 IQEv 48N … … …
1,151.91 Euromoney In Inv 1054 – 14 2.1 36.6 9,043.88 Evraz 620 + 19 8.1 8.1
15.50 Proteome Sciesv 5N + V … 40.3 2,357.93 RWS Hldgsv 605K – 10 1.4 43.8 79.18 K3 Business Tchv 177 – 1 … -3.0
4,118.13 Future 3414 + 98 … 53.0 1,785.89 Ferrexpo 303W + 18W 4.7 2.3 3.54 URU Metalsv 215 … … -6.7
44,587.35 Reckitt Benck 6242 + 212 2.8 … 7,259.12 LG Electronics 2015X + 59X 1.9 4.6
1,622.12 GlobalDatav 1370 + 30 1.2 3.0 6.59 Vast Resv 2X … … -0.6 207.89 Science Groupv 455 – 3 1.3 19.6
7,159.66 Fresnillo 971K + 70K 1.9 16.1
33.83 RUA Life Sciencesv 152K – 9 … … 13.03 Location Sciencesv K … … -2.7
291.64 Hyve Group 110 + N … -2.4 7.39 Victoria Oil&Gasv 2O – N … -1.1 1,593.16 Serco Gp 130O + 1K 1.0 5.5
43.86 G3 Exploration# 28 … … -2.6 1,356.01 Micro Focus Intl 404 – 7N 2.7 -0.8
192.14 Sareum Hldgsv 5X – N … … 96.60 Smiths News 39 – O 2.5 7.9
224.71 IG Design Grpv 232 + 3 3.5 38.1 7.60 W Resourcesv 6N + N … -0.7
16.34 Galantas Goldv 22 – 1 … -3.4 65.92 MTI Wirelessv 74K + 3K 2.4 25.2
491.12 Silence Therapv 547 – 8 … …
10.80 Westmount Engyv 7K – 1 … … 10,291.41 Smurfit Kappa 3973 + 111 4.2 20.2
5.12 Immedia Grpv 13X – X … -3.5 69.09 Nanoco Gp 22K + 1W … …
11,619.85 Smith & Neph 1321K – 47K 2.0 28.9 6.88 GCM Resourcesv 5 … … -2.8
1,320.92 Wood Grp (J) 191Y – 14K … -7.8 111.23 Staffline Gpv 67 – W … …
8,071.72 Informa 537 – 11W … … 27.41 NAPSTER GROUP PLCv Y … … -0.9
966.64 Spire Hcare 241 – K … … 73.77 Gem Diamonds 52K – 1X 3.4 3.7
86.35 Woodboisv 4X – N … 17.8 768.38 SThree‡ 575 + 2 0.8 26.5
5,035.79 ITV 125 + 13 … 13.9 124.02 Netcallv 83 – K 0.3 70.3
350.33 Synairgenv 174 – 7 … -7.6 19.39 Getechv 29 – V … -6.9
49.44 Xtract Resourcesv 5O + O … … 21.80 Synecticsv 122K – 2K … -6.1
11.20 Jaywingv 12 … … … 15.93 Northamberv 58K … 0.5 39.0
42.48 Tissue Regenixv K … … -7.5 48,713.28 Glencore 367Y + 14K 1.1 31.7
26.09 Thruvision Groupv 17Y + V … … 8.66 Online Blockchainv 60K + 11 … …
5.30 Live Company Gpv 3K + V … -0.7 94.90 Zephyr Energyv 7N + X … -9.4
63.34 Totallyv 34O + 2O 1.4 …
4.34 Global Petrolv K … … -0.5 202.96 Tribalv 96K + 1K 1.1 29.2
31.94 Zoltav Resourcev 22K – 5 … -4.3 152.97 Oxford Metricsv 120K + 1 1.4 54.0
224.13 Tristelv 475 – 15 1.3 42.4 1.33 Mediazestv … … … -2.9
7,015.46 Gold Fields 790N + 105V 2.8 10.3 11.88 Universe Grpv 4K + K … … 7.73 Parityv 7K … … …
21.95 ValiRxv 33O – Y … … 12.47 Merit Grpv 55K … … -4.2
12.99 Goldplatv 7K + W … 4.5
6.24 Miradav 70 … … -2.8 Professional & 25.92

396.72
Vianetv

Vp
89K +

988 –
3

4
…

…
…

…
10.96
2,234.87
Pennant Intlv
Playtech
29Y –
729K + 21K
K …
…
…
7.6
60.23 Goldstone Resv 13W – N … …
Industrials 63.71 Mission Groupv‡ 70 + 1 2.1 75.2
670.01 Greatld Gldv 16Y + V … …
support services 16.03 Westminsterv 4O … … -5.8 1,534.86 QinetiQ 265V – 6W 2.4 12.2
1,134.93 Moneysupermarket 211W – 3O 5.5 20.1 163.77 RM 195N – 6O 1.5 14.0
300.59 Accsys Techv 156N – 1O … … 184.39 Griffin Miningv 106 + 4 … 11.6
6,998.12 News Corp A 1780K – 38O 0.8 43.9 813.08 4imprint Grp 2895 – 30 … …
49,163.97 BASF 5352O + 48X 5.2 29.4
3,552.22 News Corp B 1779W – 31X 0.8 43.9
426.61 Gulf Keystone 199K – 5Y 4.2 12.5 223.52 Andrews Sykesv 530 + 10 4.4 16.9
Retailing 7,721.20
430.19
Sage Gp
Seeing Machinesv
752K +
11 +
8W 2.2 35.9
N … …
42,631.83 Bayer DM50 4339W + 90Y 3.9 -6.5 3,348.58 Harbour Energy 361O + 4V … … 28,793.65 Ashtead 6450 + 192 0.6 36.7
1,123.01 Next 15 Commsv‡ 1210 – 10 0.5 … 30.36 Shearwater Grpv 127K + 2K … …
619.54 AO World 129V – 5N … 35.1
13.71 Biome Techv 365 – 15 … -8.9 33.16 Harland & Wolff Group Holdingsv27N + 2O … 2.1 51.11 Asimilar Groupv 42 … … 2.5
4,819.16 Pearson 636O + 41O 3.0 17.2 2.42 SimiGonv 4O … … -2.1
2,860.29 Asosv 2862 + 271 … 15.9
23.15 Byotrolv 5 – V … 23.1 878.73 Hochschild 171 + 19N 2.6 19.6 24.31 Smartspace S'warev 84 … … …
143.22 AssetCov 1700 … … 5.3
224.53 Photo-Me 59W – 6O 14.2 6.6 6,001.35 B&M European 599W – 25 1.6 14.0
4.98 Camb Gbl Timberv 6O – N … -8.3 3,772.01 Softcat‡ 1895 – 86 0.8 42.4
141.96 Horizonte Minrlsv 8N … … … 54.14 Avisenv 49 – 3K … …
4.96 Primorus Invv 3K … … 6.4 199.39 Brown (N)v 43N + V … 12.7
992.11 Coats Grp‡ 68N – V 1.3 16.3 1,753.25 Spirent Comms 286K + V 1.5 29.7
66.36 Hummingbird Resv 16Y + V … … 220.05 Begbies Traynorv 144K – 1V 2.0 …
41.91 Quarto 102K – 1 … 5.6 184.61 Card Factory 54 + 4Y … …
13,801.19 Croda 9892 + 498 0.9 54.7 64.07 SRT Marinev 39 – 1 … …
266.87 Hunting 161O – 8O 2.6 -6.1 211.62 Blancco Techv 280 + 5 … …
1,041.43 Reach 333 + 18 1.2 … 1,661.87 CVS Groupv 2345 – 105 … 86.5
131.38 Cropper (James)v 1375 + 150 … 83.8 25,290.46 Tele. Ericsson 823V + 12N 1.8 16.4
17.44 IGas Energyv 13Y – 1 … -0.7 9,466.73 Bunzl 2806 + 74 3.2 20.6
802.89 Elementis 138 – 2W … 95.3 9.02 REACT Grpv 1O … … 44.3 3,413.83 Dairy Farm Intl 252N – 6X 4.7 27.3 7.20 Touchstarv 85 + 2K … …
7.98 Independ Resv K … … -0.6 784.20 Capita 46K – N … 3.0
19.28 Hardidev 34K … … -7.8 46,044.01 Relx 2380 + 30 1.9 34.3 736.40 DFS Furn 285 + 13K … 8.3 294.22 Tracsisv 1000 + 65 … …
10.19 CEPSv 48K … … …
32,278.10 Jardine Math 4479N + 176V 2.7 92.3 6,165.84 Rightmove 725 + 22 0.6 41.0 419.01 Indus Gasv 229 … … 21.0 2,776.56 Dunelm‡ 1366 + 34 … 25.3 12.99 Trakm8v 26 + 2K … …
31.04 Christie Groupv 117 + 4K … 49.7
4,399.01 Johnson Math 2273 – 445 2.2 21.3 2.34 SpaceandPeoplev 12 + 2K … -0.8 12.84 Ironveldv Y … … -7.5 3,429.15 Frasers Group 679 + 7K … 30.1 19.17 Triad Grp 117K … … 27.7
27,536.54 Compass 1543K – 58K … … 193.45 Wandiscov 325 + 4 … -5.9
9,055.58 Mondi 1865 + 38 4.2 18.1 165.63 STV Group 354K + 9K 1.6 8.5 2,791.84 ITM Powerv 507 + 29V … … 3,139.91 Greggs 3082 – 49 … 36.8
15.37 Robinsonv 92K … 9.1 … 35.77 CPPGroupv 405 – 5 6.1 … 220.43 Water Intelv 1200 – 55 … 66.0
45.40 System1 Groupv 352 – 18 … 26.8 65.68 JKX Oil & Gas 38N + N … 3.1 647.13 Halfords 325 + 43O … 12.3
5,397.69 Smith (DS) 392Y + 13 1.0 29.7 13.78 Croma Securityv‡ 92K + 1 2.1 … 5,543.55 Howden Join‡ 936W – 8V 0.9 21.8 129.19 Xaar 165 – 3V … …
9,896.22 21st Cent Fox Inc A 3089V – 7W 1.0 11.8 399.68 Jubilee Metalsv 16W + V … 11.1
4,258.24 Swire Pacific 470W + 6V 3.3 … 6,027.06 DCC 6112 – 156 2.4 20.6 3,281.36 Inchcape 850 – 17 0.8 45.7 91.20 Yourgenev 12K – V … -7.0
7,159.96 21st Cent Fox Inc B 2872X – 9X 1.1 10.9 2.16 Karel Diamd Resv 3V + V … -4.3
48.40 Symph Environv 27 + K … … 313.79 De La Rue 160O – 1V … 43.4 113.95 Zoo Digitalv 130 + K … …
9.75 Vela Techv … … … 12.0 12.09 IQ-AI 6X … … …
18.84 KEFI Gold and Copperv Y … … -3.5
2,369.39 Synthomer 507 – 4K 2.2 10.0 351.70 Dignity 703 – 16 … 20.6 11,992.67 JD Sports 1162K + 41K 0.1 28.0
199.67 Wilmington‡ 228 – 2 0.9 …
34,144.82 Takeda Pharm 2157Y + 15X 5.4 12.0
13,057.27 WPP 1109 + 36K 2.1 28.1
446.63 Kenmare Res 407 – 12 1.7 11.9
4,008.45 Diploma 3218 + 18 0.6 73.9 7,143.50 Kingfisher‡ 341 + 8K 2.4 8.7 Telecoms
131.94 Velocysv 12W + 5X … … 129.86 Lamprell 38 – 3Y … -3.3
967.02 Discoverie PLC 1020 – 72 0.3 78.4 237.09 Lookers 60K – 4K … 3.3
1,669.76 YouGov PLCv 1500 + 155 0.3 … 26.70 Landore Resv 25N – 2O … -5.7
2,043.78 Victrex 2350 + 12 1.9 37.9 53.81 AdEPT Technologyv 215 – 13 … …
34.44 Driver Groupv 66 – K 1.1 36.6 4,641.36 Marks Spencer 237 + 43 … …
11.75 Zinc Mediav 72K – 1 … -1.1 16,579.85 BT Group 167V + 7V … 11.4
98.96 Wynnstay Groupv 487K – 2K 2.9 15.5 4.59 Lansdowne O&Gv K – V … …
353.01 DWF 108K … 2.0 -9.1 6,929.62 Morrison (W) 286W + O 2.5 …
211.02 Zotefoams 434 + 15 1.4 26.1 1,615.54 Currys plc 138K + 5 … 6.5
6.56 Leeds Groupv 24 … … … 5,867.65 Electrocompnts 1246 + 41 1.2 45.3 107.27 Mothercarev 19 – V … -3.3
Natural resources 8.63 Lexington Goldv 3N … … -7.7 659.76 Equiniti Group 179W + V … 77.0 511.14 Naked Winesv 696 – 35 … …
1,760.20 Gamma Commsv 1828 – 10 0.6 25.5

Leisure 8.49 MC Miningv 5K … … -1.3 932.21 Essentra 309 + 4 1.0 52.3 10,835.37 Next 8150 + 28 … 17.9
1,687.28
10,843.68
Helios Towers
Just Eat T'away
161
5100
+ 12
– 111
…
…
…
…
2.92 ADM Energyv 1O … … -0.2
32.11 Metals Explornv 1K … … 2.6 32,160.28 Experian 3485 + 26 0.9 54.8 13,592.51 Ocado Gp 1809 + 83K … …
42.65 Advance Energyv 4V … … -3.8 13.14 Mobile Streamsv K … … -2.9
1,331.03 888 Hldgs 357K – 18W 2.7 …
3.06 Nostra Terrav W … … -2.6 26,286.95 Ferguson‡ 11870 + 555 1.2 33.3 270.31 Pendragon 19N + O … 6.0 9.68 Mobile Tornadov 2K – V … …
387.90 Accesso Techv 940 + 50 … … 431.88 AFC Energyv 58O – 3N … …
14.45 Nostrum O&G 7O + W … … 28.78 FIH Groupv 230 + 10 … … 2,331.00 Pets at Home 466V – 28V 1.6 24.0 1,057.35 Telecom Plus 1342 + 56 4.2 32.4
64.01 Best of the Bestv 680 + 22 0.4 5.5 … Afentra PLC … … … …
4,871.94 Oil Search 234W + 4N 0.1 64.6 56.51 Gattacav‡ 175 + 8K … … 404.90 Saga 289 – 27V … … 31,081.58 Vodafone Gp 113K + 2V 6.7 …
17,658.98 Carnival 1516 – 180 … -2.5 9.93 Alba Mineral Resv V … … -3.2
10.52 Oilexv V … … -8.4 5.44 Grafeniav 4O … … -2.6 6,881.03 Sainsbury J‡ 295 + 10X 1.0 …
89.73 Celticv 95 … … -3.6 27.44 Alien Metalsv O … … …
863.34 Cineworld 62Y – 1 … -0.7 3,005.30 Alumina 103K – 1X 3.9 31.8
8.97 Oriole Resourcesv W … … -3.7 149.28 Hargeaves Servv 462 + 12 1.5 6.7 2,137.74 Smith WH 1633 – 33K … -6.1 Transport
2,888.17 Homeserve 858K + 8 2.8 93.3 70.75 Sosandarv 32 + 3K … …
1,725.39 Domino's Pizza 381K – 11W 3.8 19.0 4.37 Ormonde Miningv Y … … -3.8
25.45 Aminex X … … -5.4
224.37 Impellam Grpv 495 … … 28.1 13.45 Stanley Gbbnsv 3V … … -3.3 54.03 Air Partner‡ 85 – 4V 2.8 25.0
11,713.40 Entain 1997K – 50K … 74.5 24.26 Orosur Miningv 12Y – 1K … …
28.00 Amur Mins Corpv 2 … … … 77.97 Braemar Ship‡ 242K – 18K … 12.1
32.21 Ince Gv# 47 … … 26.7 224.49 Studio Retail Group 258 – 2 … 6.9
21,361.46 Flutter Ent 12175 – 495 … … 382.58 Pan African Resv 19O + 2N 3.3 7.0
21,095.35 Anglo Amer Plat 7951X + 372V 2.9 5.8 1,190.03 Clarkson 3910 – 145 3.3 …
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Morningstar or this publication
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Football commentator
who called out racism
Gerald Sinstadt
Page 52
Obituaries
Wilbur Smith
Buccaneering novelist and self-proclaimed ‘gun buff’ whose books intertwined African history with high octane derring-do
Wilbur Smith stood alongside Alistair
MacLean and Hammond Innes at the
head of a postwar generation of action-
blockbuster writers for whom every-
thing was writ large and epic. But while
his contemporaries, along with those
who followed, such as Frederick For-
syth and Ken Follett, tended to deal in
war stories and espionage, Smith dug
his own furrow, inspired by his African
childhood.
Having shot his first lion at the age of
13 when it attacked the livestock on his
father’s cattle ranch, he drew on epi-
sodes from the Boer and Zulu wars, the
rise of gold and diamond-mining, colo-
nial exploitation and the independence
struggle to make the African historical
novel his own, creating a pioneer fic-
tion to stand alongside the American
western. A “Wilbur Smith” became
shorthand for a tale of virile men of
action, full of rivalry, revenge and
extended bloodshed, with meticulously
described hunting and sex scenes.
He was the first to admit that his
books were ripping yarns rather than
high literature and were frequently
mocked by critics, yet he appeared to be
not only unwounded by the brickbats
but to relish them. It was as if to be wel-
comed into the effete literary world
would not have sat well with his notion
of masculinity.
Although Smith was accused of
chauvinism, many of his readers were
female, drawn by the old-fashioned ro-
mance of passionate, decisive men and
wild but ultimately yielding women.
The formula was overwhelmingly
successful. After the publication of his
debut novel When the Lion Feeds in
1964, there were 48 more books, trans-
lated into more than 30 languages with
sales in excess of 140 million copies.
Despite a bout of polio at 16 that left
him with a limp, his private life was
almost as rich in epic adventure as his
novels. “When it is time to play, I play
very hard,” he said. “I travel and hunt
and scuba dive and climb mountains.”
He also had a private pilot’s licence. His
favourite saying was Rudyard Kipling’s
“Fill the unforgiving minute with sixty
seconds’ worth of distance run.”
A self-proclaimed “gun buff”, he went
on annual safaris to Botswana to shoot
elephants, an act he justified as a valu-
able source of income for the local com-
munity, and for many years he owned a
60-acre game ranch in the Cape. He
swam with tiger sharks and claimed to
have been chased by crocodiles, lions
and elephants. Even writing was an act
of machismo, begun at 8am with no
break until 3pm. His advice to young
hopefuls was: “It’s not a game for sissies.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and
then try some more.”
Smith confessed to what he called
“an Emperor Caesar complex” in which
he “had to buy almost everything”. At
one time he owned seven sports cars,
three motorboats, ten Rolex watches
and “more Montblanc pens than I can
count”. There were homes in Switzer-
land, London, Cape Town and the Sey-
chelles, where he owned part of an
island until he sold it in 2001. There
were also four marriages and an unfor-
tunate incident that made tabloid head-
lines in which he was blackmailed by a
£300-an-hour London call girl, who
threatened to go public with tales of
Smith in 2012 with some prized possessions, and with his fourth wife, Mokhiniso Rakhimova, below, in London in 2015
their encounters unless he paid her
£10,000. He was unabashed. “She tried
to blackmail me, but in the process she
said I was a helluva lover.”
Those who criticised his books for
their sexism might have detected fur-
ther evidence beyond his fiction. On
one occasion he was entertaining pub-
lishing executives at his home and they
were all waiting for his wife to arrive. “I
said, ‘Eat, guys. She’s not coming. She’s
serving!’ ” Another time he riled one
female interviewer by claiming that he
was a feminist because “I love to see a
woman with a cute bottom walking
past.”
He is survived by his fourth wife,
Mokhiniso Rakhimova, a student
almost 40 years his junior from Tajikis-
tan, whom he called Niso. They met
while both were browsing in the Sloane
Square branch of WH Smith.
His first two marriages he described
as “lust matches”. With his
first wife, Anne Rennie,
whom he married in 1957,
he had a daughter, Christ-
ian, and a son, Shaun,
before they divorced in
1962. A second marriage,
to Jewell Slabbert in
1964 produced
another son, Law-
rence. His third
marriage, to Dan-
ielle (née Thomas),
in 1971 lasted until
her death from brain
cancer in 1999. She
acted as his re-
searcher and he
adopted her son,
Dieter Schmidt,
from a previous
marriage.
Relations soured, however, and he
disowned Dieter after a legal dispute
over the assets from that marriage and
for a long time Smith had no contact
with his other children, a source of deep
regret in later years. He was later recon-
ciled with Shaun, a former SAS officer
turned businessman.
Wilbur Addison Smith was born in
1933, in what was then Broken Hill in
Northern Rhodesia and is now Kabwe,
Zambia. His father, Herbert, named
him after the aviator Wilbur Wright,
one of the Wright brothers (“Thank
God he didn’t choose Orville,” Smith
would joke). At 18 months he became
seriously ill with cerebral malaria that
threatened to leave him brain dam-
aged, but fortunately he recovered.
Herbert was a sheet-metal worker
who opened his own works and then
ran a cattle ranch of 25,000 acres.
Smith both worshipped and
feared this tough, aloof former
boxer who had never read a
book in his life. His mother, Elf-
reda, was in his eyes “an angel
from Heaven”. He grew
up roaming the bush
with the sons of his
father’s workers, re-
calling an idyllic
childhood except for
the occasional beat-
ings from his father.
At eight he was
sent to boarding
school in Natal, three
days away by train,
first at Cordwalles
and then Michael-
house, where the con-
ditions were as basic as
the Rugby of Tom Brown’s
Schooldays. Inspired by
Register
ROMI STERN/SUPERNOVA CREATIVE
the Biggles stories of WE Johns and the
derring-do tales of John Buchan and H
Rider Haggard, he developed a taste for
writing, encouraged by his mother and
a sympathetic teacher. He ran the
school newspaper and intended to go
into journalism but was told by his
father that writing was not “a proper
job” and was dispatched to study com-
merce at Rhodes University in Gra-
hamstown, South Africa.
After graduation he worked for the
Goodyear tyre company, then went
into partnership with his father. By the
early Sixties he had joined the Inland
He claimed to have been
chased by crocodiles,
lions and elephants
Revenue Service as an accountant,
writing in his spare time. Eventually he
sold a short story to a magazine, Argosy,
and had When the Lion Feeds accepted
for publication when he was 30. It told
the tale of the twin brothers Sean and
Garrick Courtney, whose adventures
brought to life the history of colonial
southern Africa, and was an immediate
success (despite a ban for obscenity in
South Africa). The characters’ surname
was a tribute to his grandfather, Court-
ney James Smith, who had commanded
a Maxim gun team during the Zulu wars.
Smith left his job to become a full-
time writer, producing a book of a thou-
sand or so pages every other year. Sub-
sequent novels followed the Courtney
family from the 17th century to the
present day, as they made their fortune
in mining against the backdrop of the
landmark events of the period, from the
Boer War to apartheid and the rise of
51
the African National Congress, chroni-
cled in Rage (1987). In between, there
were books about the fictitious Bal-
lantyne family, a more straight-
forwardly virtuous military dynasty,
beginning with A Falcon Flies (1980).
The series covered the history of
Rhodesia and Zimbabwe, from found-
ation to the exile of white settlers,
including a damning portrait of Cecil
Rhodes.
Several of his books were adapted
into films, beginning with his second
novel, The Dark of the Sun (1965), about
mercenaries fighting in the Congo after
independence. The film Gold (1974),
based on his novel Gold Mine, and a
1976 adaptation of Shout at the Devil,
about ivory poaching in German East
Africa, both starred Roger Moore. He
made a foray into screenplay-writing
himself with The Last Lion (1972), star-
ring Jack Hawkins as a dying American
millionaire living out his dream to
shoot a lion, but it was not a success.
For the most part he stayed close to
home, writing almost invariably about
his beloved Africa, enhancing the
thrills of territorial conquest and for-
tune-building by white settlers with
copious sex and bitter power struggles,
although in the 1990s he set off on a dif-
ferent tack with a series of six novels set
in ancient Egypt.
For their time his first books were
remarkably bloody in their depiction of
battle and torture and sexually explicit
enough to make them a favourite
among curious schoolboys. Boris John-
son recalled dog-eared Wilbur Smiths
being passed round the dorms at Eton
late at night.
Smith, who had done National Ser-
vice in the Rhodesian military police,
was variously accused of revelling in
brutality and of supporting imperial-
ism. His answer to the first charge was
that this was how Africa was and that
outsiders did not understand.
To the charge of imperialism he
offered a mixed defence. “My father
was a colonialist and I followed what he
said until I was in my twenties and
learnt to think for myself. I didn’t want
to perpetuate injustices so I left Rhode-
sia in the time of Ian Smith,” he said.
Yet he had no time for political cor-
rectness and railed openly against the
decline of manners and the extension of
social security. On the other hand, he
named Nelson Mandela as his personal
hero and claimed to have had his phone
tapped during the apartheid era. It was
also true that, for all his mythologising
of white colonial settlers, the black char-
acters in his books were more than
servants or spear-carriers and frequent-
ly more sympathetic than the white
characters.
He continued to write until his death
although a 2012 deal with HarperCol-
lins, said to be worth £15 million, includ-
ed co-authored novels, based on his
plotlines but written by others.
In his 2018 memoir On Leopard Rock,
he reflected on having had “tough
times, bad marriages . . . burnt the mid-
night oil getting nowhere, but it has all,
in the end, added up to a phenomenally
fulfilled and wonderful life.”
Wilbur Smith, novelist, was born on
January 9, 1933. He died of undisclosed
causes on November 13, 2021, aged 88
552
Register
Gerald Sinstadt
Bespectacled sports commentator who called out racism in football and marked a famous Liverpool win with a much-quoted line
On December 30 in 1978 three black
footballers demolished Manchester
United. Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunning-
ham and Brendan Batson took centre
stage as West Bromwich Albion won
5-3 with scintillating football to light up
the bleak “Winter of Discontent”.
When highlights of the game were
shown on Granada Television, booing
and monkey chants were clearly audible
from the terraces of United’s Old Traf-
ford ground. It was a familiar scene at
football grounds across the country as
the brave handful of trailblazing black
footballers were subjected to vile abuse.
Racist chanting seemed such a stan-
dard feature of the cultural landscape
that football commentators tended to
ignore it until Gerald Sinstadt, who was
holding the microphone that day, made
a powerful aside. “Once again some
unsavoury barracking of the black
players from certain sections of the
crowd that says nothing for their
sportsmanship at all.”
It may sound understated, even inap-
propriate, today to describe monkey
chants as merely lacking in sportsman-
ship, but it was a significant statement
in the context of a period that anti-
racism campaigners would later char-
acterise as a “conspiracy of silence”.
Sinstadt’s thoughtful comment
exemplified his career as a comment-
ator and sports broadcaster for ITV and
the BBC over more than half a century.
A bookish man in outsized horn-
rimmed spectacles, Sinstadt could have
been mistaken for a presenter on Open
University. And while he was less cele-
brated than John Motson, the arch “stat
man” in his sheepskin coat; Barry
Davies, who would go hoarse with ex-
citement; or the avuncular Brian
Moore, Sinstadt could offer commen-
tary that was just as quotable.
In March 1977 Liverpool beat the
crack French team St Etienne 3-1 in a
grandstand finish that has gone down
in the club’s folklore. Seven minutes
from the end David Fairclough, the per-
ennial substitute with a knack for scor-
ing important goals, raced on to a lofted
through ball from Ray Kennedy to
Margaret York
Los Angeles police officer who fought sexism as well as crime and helped to inspire the TV detective series Cagney & Lacey
In a case that did not lack incident, one
of the most dramatic episodes in the
trial of OJ Simpson involved not the
celebrity defendant but the judge.
“I love my wife dearly and I am
wounded by criticism of her, as any
spouse would be,” Lance Ito, the man
presiding over the sensational murder
trial, said as the proceedings threatened
to implode in August 1995.
The relevance of Margaret York to the
fate of the former actor and sportsman
stemmed from her status as a woman in
the Los Angeles Police Department
(LAPD). As a rare female detective in the
early Eighties she was one of the inspir-
ations for the television series Cagney &
Lacey and became the highest-ranking
woman in the LAPD. Yet the Simpson
trial was a reminder of the ugly behav-
iour often endured by women in law
enforcement.
“Women who operate within male-
dominated professions and who are
successful are always targets for this
kind of treatment,” Ito observed during
his address to the court, adding that
they were “tougher than most”. Prosec-
utors initially demanded that Ito recuse
himself because of possible bias if the
defence called his wife to the stand with
the goal of casting doubt on the credib-
ility of a key prosecution witness, a det-
ective called Mark Fuhrman who had
score in front of the Kop and book Liv-
erpool’s place in their first European
Cup final. Sinstadt initially let the deaf-
ening noise behind the goal do the talk-
ing as the sea of bodies swelled in col-
lective ecstasy. Then, as Fairclough was
engulfed by his team-mates, Sinstadt
timed his comment to perfection. “Su-
persub strikes again!” was repeated
around school playgrounds across Brit-
ain the next morning.
Sinstadt, an opera buff, was appreci-
ated by television producers as a word-
smith, delivering his succinct sum-
maries in a pleasingly modulated voice.
“His use of language was second to
none and he was brilliant at putting
words to pictures,” the BBC Sport exec-
utive producer Andrew Clement said.
“He used to sit in on the edit, which was
rare in those days. If I produced a shot
for him, he would bring it to life with a
perfectly chosen phrase or image. He
crafted his pieces.”
Sinstadt also worked on many World
An opera buff, he was
appreciated by producers
as a brilliant wordsmith
Cups, starting with the 1954 tourn-
ament in Switzerland, and comment-
ated on Diego Maradona scoring a
beautiful goal against Greece in the
group stages of the 1994 World Cup in
the US, the Argentinian playing a one-
two on the edge of the 18-yard line
before firing the ball into the top corner.
“Maradona. First time he’s pulled the
trigger and he hits the bull’s eye . . .
touch, touch, bingo. That was a magnif-
icent goal. Well, he might not run but he
can’t half score.” Hours later the “old
maestro” was thrown out of the tourn-
ament in disgrace after failing a drug
test, but Sinstadt had provided a fitting
denouement to Maradona’s final act as
a player in a World Cup.
Gerald Morris Sinstadt was born in
Folkestone, Kent, in 1930 to Jim and
Win Sinstadt, who lived above their
grocery shop. He attended St Mary’s
GUS RUELAS/LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS VIA GETTY IMAGES; ALAMY
York in 1992. Right, the TV detectives
Mary Beth Lacey and Christine Cagney
been caught on tape repeatedly using a
racial slur. York had been his supervisor
in the mid-Eighties. Fuhrman was also
recorded disparaging her amid a sexist
tirade, alleging that she owed her
career advancement to sexual favours.
With a mistrial or a long delay loom-
ing after seven months in court,
another judge ruled that any contrib-
ution from York would not be relevant
and so Ito, and the case, could continue.
York rose through the ranks after
joining the LAPD in 1965. In 1979 she
became a homicide detective, forming
Sinstadt commentating on the 1970 World Cup. He still worked into his seventies
primary school and The Harvey Gram-
mar School but was evacuated to north
Wales during the war. It was as well he
was sent away; his parents would be
killed by a parachute mine. Thereafter
he was raised by his aunt, Rosa Paine.
During his National Service he
worked for the British Forces Broad-
casting Service in 1949 while stationed
in Italy and Germany and got a job for
BBC Radio on his return to civilian life.
He worked his way up, succeeding
David Coleman as a sports comment-
ator for the BBC in Birmingham in 1959.
He moved to Anglia Television in
1966 and three years later landed a
plum job as a commentator for Gran-
ada Television, covering games in the
football hotbed of the northwest that
included Liverpool, Everton, Manches-
ter City and Manchester United.
Among the games he covered for
the department’s first female duo with
Helen Kidder because none of the men
in the department wanted a female
partner. At the time, fewer than 3 per
cent of LAPD officers were women. In
2020 the figure was 18 per cent.
With the city on edge in 1980 as the
police hunted a pair of serial murderers
known as the Sunset Strip Killers, Kid-
der and York were among the officers
assigned to the case and the press and
Hollywood took notice.
Since the mid-Seventies, a producer,
Barney Rosenzweig, had pitched the
REX
Granada was Manchester City’s 1-0 vic-
tory against Manchester United in
April 1974 when Denis Law scored with
a cheeky backheel and walked back to
the centre circle with a sickened
expression having confirmed releg-
ation from the First Division of United,
the club that he had served with such
distinction. “Pulled across for Law,”
shouted Sinstadt, anticipating the killer
blow. “Denis has done it.”
Sinstadt also established himself in
front of the camera, presenting the Fri-
day evening Granada football mag-
azine show Kick Off as well as the Satur-
day highlights show while sporting an
array of garish kipper ties and big-
collared shirts.
He left Granada in 1981, relocating
south with a plan to start producing
opera programmes, which he did while
continuing to work as a freelance foot-
idea of a film that would be a feminist
version of the male “buddy” shows such
as Starsky & Hutch with a same-sex
chemistry that recalled films with
Robert Redford and Paul Newman. The
attention on the case of the Sunset Strip
Killers helped to persuade the CBS net-
work that a show about female detect-
ives could be both credible and popular.
Cagney & Lacey, starring Sharon
Gless as Christine Cagney (from season
two) and Tyne Daly as Mary Beth Lac-
ey, ran from 1981 to 1988 with four
reunion movies from 1994 to 1996. Al-
though the series was set in New York it
was largely filmed in Los Angeles.
Margaret Ann Mandley, known as
Peggy, was born in Minerva, Ohio, in
1941, to florists Ralph and Hazel (née
Moore), who moved the family to the
Los Angeles area when she was 13. A
youthful marriage to Donald York end-
ed in divorce. She met Ito, then a deputy
district attorney, at a crime scene in
1980 at 3 or 4am “over a dead body”, he
told reporters. They married in 1981. He
survives her along with three children
from her first marriage, David, Dennis
and Cynthia, an estate agent.
Needing to support her family after
her divorce, she joined the LAPD as a
radio telephone operator and became a
policewoman three years later. Almost
all the available roles were clerical at
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
ball commentator for the ITV franchise
TVS. He also wrote two thrillers, one set
in the wetland area of Romney Marsh.
When ITV centralised its football
coverage in 1983 Sinstadt struggled to
find work and after a period commentat-
ing on golf for Channel 4 he rejoined the
BBC in the mid-1980s. He was firmly be-
hind the likes of Motson, Davies and
Tony Gubba in the pecking order for
commentating on games, but carved out
a niche on the Saturday lunchtime
magazine show Football Focus, present-
ing features and mastering the art of the
voiceover that accompanied a round-up
of that week’s action.
He covered rowing for the corpor-
ation at the Los Angeles Olympics in
1984, providing the commentary for the
first of Steve Redgrave’s five golds. In
the early 1990s he succeeded Harry
Carpenter as the commentator of the
annual Boat Race between Oxford and
Cambridge and also covered canoeing,
cross-country skiing, ice hockey and
greyhound racing.
At Sheffield Wednesday’s ground
Hillsborough in April 1989 he was a
pitchside reporter for the FA Cup semi-
final between Liverpool and Notting-
ham Forest. He faultlessly reported on
the unfolding tragedy that led to the
deaths of 97 Liverpool supporters and
featured in Jimmy McGovern’s ac-
claimed television film Hillsborough
(1996) based on the disaster.
Football was a hobby as well as a job.
During the Eighties Sinstadt managed a
team in the Sunday Youth League in
north London and became a qualified
referee, officiating at youth football
matches to a high level. He retired to
Stoke-on-Trent with his wife, Margaret
Moran Smith, a former commercial dir-
ector of Port Vale FC. She survives him.
Sinstadt carried on working for BBC
Sport until well into his seventies,
phoning in reports on matches for Final
Score, his voice synonymous with the
beautiful game.
Gerald Sinstadt, sports commentator,
was born on February 19, 1930. He died
on November 10, 2021, aged 91
the time, since women could not
advance beyond the rank of sergeant or
supervise men. She attained an under-
graduate degree in management at the
University of Redlands near Los Ange-
les and a master’s in public administra-
tion from the University of Southern
California.
In 1992 she became only the fourth
woman to rise to the level of captain in
the LAPD, where hostility towards
female officers was so pronounced that
some male officers were said to belong to
an informal cadre named Men Against
Women. She was made the department’s
first female deputy chief in 2000.
York was not an avid Cagney & Lacey
viewer. The storylines, she complained,
were “two women trying to do exactly
what men do”. Being female gave Kid-
der and York an advantage when
extracting confessions from male sus-
pects, she said in 1993: “These people
either look at us as a mother figure or
they think we are too stupid to know
what to do with the information.”
Margaret York, senior police officer, was
born on August 4, 1941. She died of
multiple organ failure on October 17,
2021, aged 80
Email: obituaries@thetimes.co.uk
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Court Circular
Windsor Castle
13th November, 2021
The Queen was represented by
the Earl of Dalhousie (Lord
Steward) at the Service of
Thanksgiving for the Life of
Captain Alwyne Farquharson of
Invercauld, which was held at
Crathie Kirk, Aberdeenshire,
this afternoon.
Clarence House
13th November, 2021
The Prince of Wales and The
Duchess of Cornwall were
present this evening at the Royal
British Legion Festival of
Remembrance at the Royal
Albert Hall.
Kensington Palace
13th November, 2021
The Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge were present this
evening at the Royal British
Legion Festival of
Remembrance at the Royal
Albert Hall.
St James’s Palace
13th November, 2021
The Earl and Countess of
Wessex were present this
evening at the Royal British
Readers’ Lives
Pianist who blazed a trail for
British performers in Europe
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FEATURED IN THE TIMES ON JULY 18, 2020
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Legion Festival of
Remembrance at the Royal
Albert Hall.
St James’s Palace
13th November, 2021
The Princess Royal and Vice
Admiral Sir Tim Laurence were
present this evening at the Royal
British Legion Festival of
Remembrance at the Royal
Albert Hall.
Kensington Palace
13th November, 2021
The Duke and Duchess of
Gloucester were present this
evening at the Royal British
Legion Festival of
Remembrance at the Royal
Albert Hall.
St James’s Palace
13th November, 2021
The Duke of Kent was present
this evening at the Royal British
Legion Festival of
Remembrance at the Royal
Albert Hall.
St James’s Palace
13th November, 2021
Princess Alexandra was present
this evening at the Royal British
Legion Festival of
Remembrance at the Royal
Albert Hall.
Windsor Castle
14th November, 2021
A wreath was laid on behalf of
The Queen this morning by The
Prince of Wales during the
Ceremony at the Cenotaph
on the occasion of
Remembrance Day.
Wreaths were also laid by The
Prince of Wales, The Duke of
Cambridge, The Earl of Wessex
and The Princess Royal.
A wreath was laid on behalf of
The Duke of Kent by Captain
James Calder-Smith.
The Duchess of Cornwall,
The Duchess of Cambridge, The
Countess of Wessex, The Duke
and Duchess of Gloucester, The
Duke of Kent, Princess
Alexandra, the Hon Lady
Ogilvy and Vice Admiral Sir
Tim Laurence were present
during the Ceremony.
The Duke of Cambridge
afterwards took the salute at
the March Past of Ex-
Servicemen and Civilian
Organisations on Horse Guards
Parade, London SW1.
Clarence House
14th November, 2021
Today is the Anniversary of the
Birthday of The Prince of Wales.
The Prince of Wales and The
Duchess of Cornwall this
afternoon departed Royal Air
Force Brize Norton for Jordan.
Mr Clive Alderton, Mr
Christopher Fitzgerald, Mr
Simon Enright, Mrs Jilly Hurley,
Dr Charles Deakin, Major
Jonathan Thompson and Mrs
Sophie Densham are in
attendance.
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TAKE heed to yourselves, that your heart
be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and
serve other gods, and worship them; and
then the LORD’s wrath be kindled against
you. Deuteronomy 11.16-17a (AV)
Bible verses provided by the Bible Society
Deaths
HENES John Derek died peacefully at
home after a long illness on 6th November,
aged 84. Beloved father, father-in-law and
grandad to George, Jessica and Rose, Mary,
Chris and Leonard. Forever in our hearts.
Funeral arrangements TH Sanders,
Richmond. Donations to Médecins Sans
Frontières or RNLI.
HODGSON Judith, antiquarian bookseller,
died suddenly at home. Funeral service at
West London Crematorium on Friday 3rd
December at 3.15pm. Inquiries to JH
Kenyon Funeral Directors. Tel: 020 3667
8664.
Birthdays
STEPHEN REDMOND Chair, Central
Arbitration Committee Dob 15/11/1955. 66
years of age this 15/11.
Legal Notices
53
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LEGAL, PUBLIC, COMPANY &
PARLIAMENTARY NOTICES
Tuesday 28th September
A ledger stone was placed in To place notices for these
Westminster Abbey in the scientists’ sections please call
corner inscribed in memory of Sir 020 7481 4000
Roger Bannister as a pioneering
neurologist and a pioneering Notices are subject to
athlete. The Dean of the Abbey, confirmation and should be
The Very Reverend Dr David received by 11.30am three
Hoyle, blessed the stone. days prior to insertion
His sons, Clive and Thurstan,
placed flowers on either side of the
tablet. Erin Townsend, his daughter,
read a verse from the Psalms, as did
his grandson, Barney. The Reverend The simple way to place your
Charlotte Bannister-Parker announcement in The Times.
conducted the prayers. His two Available 24 hours a day,
closest colleagues, Professor Dafydd
Thomas and Professor Christopher seven days a week.
Mathias, explained his work in the
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autonomic field in lay terms to the
60 guests in attendance. Finally,
Moyra, his widow, recited a poem,
Heraclitus.
The morning finished with a
lunch at The Athenaeum. Thurstan
welcomed all the guests, Clive gave
a short history of the Abbey and
Moyra closed the meal with brief
reminiscences of Roger’s life.
the times | Monday November 15 2021 57

Weather
Today Some dry and sunny spells in the north and west, but most areas will be cloudy. Max 12C (54F), min 0C (32F) Weather Eye
Paul Simons
Around Britain Five days ahead Wind speed Sea state Orkney
ney Shetland
Sh
Key: b=bright, c=cloud, d=drizzle, pc=partly cloudy Dry and mild over 34 Calm
du=dull, f=fair, fg=fog, h=hail, m=mist, r=rain, (mph) 23 8
sh=showers, sl=sleet, sn=snow, s=sun, t=thunder southern areas, but Slight 14
*=previous day **=data not available cloudy in the north with Temperature Moderate
Rough
Temp C Rain mm Sun hr* areas of rain or showers 28 (degrees C)
9
midday yesterday 24 hrs to 5pm yesterday
9 13
11 C 0.0 0.6
Tomorrow Flood alerts and warnings
Aberdeen
Mainly cloudy with showery light
Aberporth 11 C 0.0 0.4 9

M
rain spreading east over England and At 17:00 on Sunday there were no
Anglesey 12 C 0.0 0.1 Wales, but some sunshine is possible flood alerts or warnings in England, 7
Aviemore 11 PC 0.0 0.4 in places. A band of cloud and rain will Wales or Scotland.
Barnstaple 13
12
C
B
0.0
0.0
**
**
move into Scotland and Ireland.
For further information and updates 17
Aberdeen
C F ethane is a potent
Bedford
Belfast 13 DU 0.8 0.2
Max 13C, min 1C
in England visit flood-warning- 35
30
95
86
greenhouse gas,
information.service.gov.uk, for Wales
Birmingham 10 C 0.0 **
naturalresources.wales/flooding and 25 77 roughly 28 times more
Bournemouth 12 C 0.0 0.0 9 NORTH powerful than carbon
11 C 0.0 **
for Scotland SEPA.org.uk 20 68
Bridlington SEA 15 59 dioxide, although it
Bristol 11 B 0.0 2.8
Camborne 12 DU 0.8 0.1
10
9
Edinburgh
10 50
does not last nearly as long as CO2
Cardiff 13 S 0.0 0.2
11
16 Glasgow 5 41
in the atmosphere. At the Cop26
Edinburgh 9 PC 0.0 5.6 0 32
Eskdalemuir 7 C 0.2 7.0
9 10 -5 23 climate conference 103 countries,
Glasgow 8 DU 0.2 5.4
13
-10 14 including the UK, signed a pledge to
Hereford
Herstmonceux
11
14
B
PC
0.0
0.0
**
0.5 ATLANTIC
Londonderry -15 5 reduce methane gas emissions by
Ipswich 12 B 0.6 0.1 OCEAN
Newcastle 30 per cent by 2030, but how can
Carlisle
Isle of Man 12 B 0.4 0.0
Wednesday Belfast that be achieved?
Isle of Wight 12 C 0.0 ** 9
Jersey 12 B 0.0 0.1 Dry with sunny spells over southern 11 9 About a third of methane
Keswick 10 C 0.2 **
Britain and southeast Ireland. Rather
cloudy elsewhere with a scattering of
10
Yorkk emissions caused by human activity
Kinloss
Leeds
13
9
**
C
0.0
0.2
2.9
**
showers, perhaps wintry in Scotland. 18 come from cattle, sheep and other
Lerwick 10 DU 0.2 0.0
Max 11C, min 1C
Manchester Hull
ruminant livestock and a surprising
Leuchars 11 C 0.0 1.9 ooo
Liverpool 11 way to fight this problem is by using
Galway IRISH 4
Lincoln 12 PC 0.0 0.0
8
seaweed. About 15 years ago a
Liverpool 13 S 0.0 ** SEA Sheffield
London 13 DU 0.0 0.0 Dublin
LLlandudno
10 chance discovery was made in
Lyneham 10 C 0.0 0.0 Canada when cattle feeding on
Manchester
Margate
11
13
DU
C
0.0
2.6
3.4
0.0
9 11
Shrewsbury
Nottingham seaweed along a seashore were
Milford Haven 11 DU 0.0 ** 10
i h
Norwich
found to be heavier and healthier
Newcastle 11 PC 0.0 ** 18 10 than normal. A study later found
11 C 0.0 1.4
Nottingham
Orkney 11 PC 0.0 0.0 11
Cork
Birmingham Cambridge that they gave off less methane,
Oxford 11 DU 0.0 ** 11
Swansea Oxford 11 which represented wasted energy,
Plymouth
Portland
13
12
C
C
0.0
0.0
**
** Cardiff
and so by cutting their methane the
Scilly, St Mary’s 13 B 2.8 **
Thursday Channel Islands CELTIC 0
10 animals boosted their productivity.
Shoreham 12 C 0.4 0.0 Mainly cloudy with outbreaks of rain
SEA Bristol London Research in Australia and the US
over Scotland, northern England,
11
Shrewsbury
Snowdonia
8
11
**
R
0.2
0.0
0.0
**
western Wales and the north of
Ireland. Dry and feeling mild with Southampton
then showed that emissions from
1
11 cattle could be cut by up to 80 per
Southend 13 PC 0.2 0.0 sunny spells elsewhere. Exeterr
South Uist 13 R 8.0 ** Max 14C, min 6C 10 Plymouth Brighton cent by using certain types of red
Stornoway
Tiree
12
13
M
R
3.6
8.6
0.4
0.1
seaweed in their feed. These grow
Whitehaven 10 B 0.0 5.4 12
12
CHANNEL 11
abundantly in warmer climates but
Wick 11 C 0.0 ** 7 they also contain high levels of
Yeovilton 12 C 0.0 0.5
bromoform, a chemical known to be
14
11 General situation: Mainly cloudy over eas Light and vvariable winds.
coastal areas. variable winds. Maximum 11C (52F), damaging to the ozone layer.
The world England and Wales with some rain, Maximum 11C (52F), minimum minimum 2C (36F). An added problem for the UK and
All readings local midday yesterday
drier and brighter elsewhere. 4C (39F). Republic of Ireland, N Ireland, Argyll, Ireland is that the seas here are too
Alicante
Amsterdam
20
11
S
B
Madeira
Madrid
22
16
PC
S
12 Cen N Eng, NW Eng, W Mids, NE Eng, Cen S Eng, SW Eng, Channel Is, E Mids, Moray Firth, NW Scotland, N Isles, cold for these seaweeds to grow.
Lake District, Wales, IoM: Overcast E Eng: Any fog patches clearing to Cen Highland, NE Scotland: Any fog
Athens 16 B Malaga 21 S
with fog in places and outbreaks of bring a mainly dry and cloudy day with patches or light showers around at Instead researchers at Queen’s
Auckland 21 R Mallorca 15 R
light rain and drizzle spreading slowly a few sunny intervals in places. Light first will soon clear to bring a dry day University Belfast (QUB) have
Friday
Bahrain
Bangkok
27
29
S
B
Malta
Melbourne
20
14
PC
SH Rather cloudy with outbreaks of
eastwards. Light and variable winds. and variable winds. Maximum with plenty of sunshine, although hazy looked into using native British and
Barbados 30 B Mexico City 19 PC rain across northern and western Maximum 11C (52F), minimum 12C (54F), minimum 7C (45F). at times as high cloud thickens from Irish seaweeds in animal feeds to cut
2C (36F). Edinburgh and Dundee, Aberdeen, the west. Light and variable winds, but
Barcelona 17 PC Miami 28 B Britain and Ireland, heavy in western
Scotland. Dry and mild with sunny E Anglia, SE Eng, London: Mostly Glasgow, SW Scotland, Borders: Cloud moderate southwesterly in northwest
methane emissions. These seaweeds
14 S 11 R
Beijing
Beirut 25 S
Milan
Mombasa 31 PC
spells elsewhere.
cloudy with outbreaks of light rain and rain clearing east at first to bring Scotland. Maximum 11C (52F), tend to be brown or green types that
Belgrade 13 S Montreal 8 C
Max 15C, min 4C
and drizzle in places, mainly near a dry day with sunny spells. Light and minimum 0C (32F). do not contain bromoform and early
Berlin 7 B Moscow 2 B results have shown promising results
24 SH 34 S
Bermuda
Bordeaux 12 C
Mumbai
Munich 7 B
13 Tides Noon today in cutting the methane given off by
Brussels 10 B Nairobi 26 PC Tidal predictions. cattle. Now trials of native seaweeds
Bucharest 12 B Naples 17 PC
13
Heights in metres
LOW HIGH harvested from the Irish and North
8 M New Orleans 14 S Today Ht Ht
Budapest
Buenos Aires 25 S New York 17 B 14 Aberdeen 11:04 3.9 23:04 4.0
HIGH seas are about to begin on British
Cairo 26 S Nice 17 B Avonmouth 04:05 10.9 16:29 11.7 beef and dairy farms.
Calcutta 25 S Nicosia 26
0
S
DU 14
Belfast 08:27 3.1 20:40 3.4 LOW
968
976
1032
Sharon Huws, of QUB, said:
Canberra 11 SH Oslo
Cape Town ** ** Paris 11 B
Cardiff 04:00 10.3
02:51 4.7
16:24 10.9
15:04 5.0
984
1000 1024
“Using seaweed is a natural,
Devonport
Chicago 3 DU Perth 29 S
Dover 08:22 6.0 21:06 6.0
HIGH 992
1008 sustainable way of reducing
Copenhagen 8
18
DU
B
Prague 5
5
M
SN Saturday Dublin 09:10 3.7 21:12 3.9
1016 1016
1016 emissions and has great potential to
Corfu Reykjavik
Delhi 25 S Riga 3 DU A band of cloud and rain will spread Falmouth 02:29 4.3 14:40 4.6 1024
LOW
be scaled up. There is no reason why
Dubai 30 S Rio de Janeiro 22 PC south across Ireland, northern and
western England and Wales. Sunny
Greenock 09:52 3.1 21:57 3.4
HIGH LOW Cold front we can’t be farming seaweed, this
Harwich 08:32 3.5 21:10 3.8
Dublin
Faro
14
20
B
S
Riyadh
Rome
26
17
S
PC
spells and wintry showers in Scotland.
Holyhead 07:56 5.0 19:58 5.2 HIGH Warm front would also protect the biodiversity
Dry and mild over southeast England.
Florence 15 B San Francisco 17 PC Max 14C, min 0C Hull 02:57 6.6 15:56 6.6 Occluded front of our shorelines.”
Frankfurt 10 B Santiago 21 PC Leith 12:10 5.0 --:-- -- Trough
Geneva 11 B São Paulo 19 PC Liverpool 08:33 8.2 20:42 8.6
Gibraltar 19 PC Seoul 17 S 10 London Bridge 10:51 6.1 23:27 6.6
Synoptic situation Highs and lows Hours of darkness
Helsinki 2 S Seychelles 30 PC Lowestoft 06:00 2.4 19:30 2.4 24hrs to 5pm yesterday Aberdeen 16:24-07:23
Hong Kong 24 S Singapore 31 B Milford Haven 03:24 5.9 15:44 6.3 An area of high pressure will Belfast 16:52-07:26
Honolulu 27 B St Petersburg 2 DU extend across the British Isles Warmest: Kinlochewe,
11 Morecambe 08:45 8.1 20:54 8.6 Ross and Cromarty, 15.3C Birmingham 16:44-07:01
Istanbul 16 S Stockholm 4 B from Europe and the Atlantic, Coldest: Braemar, -1.7C
12 Newhaven 08:20 6.0 20:46 5.9 Cardiff 16:53-07:02
Jerusalem 29 S Sydney 22 S bringing mostly dry conditions. Wettest: Tiree,
Newquay 02:20 5.9 14:39 6.3 Exeter 16:57-07:01
Johannesburg 27 PC Tel Aviv 29 S A weak cold front will bring Argyll, 8.6mm
Oban 03:38 3.1 15:33 3.6 Sunniest: Morecambe, 8.0hrs* Glasgow 16:39-07:25
Kuala Lumpur 31 PC Tenerife 23 PC rather a lot of cloud and some
12 Penzance 01:55 4.7 14:10 5.0 Liverpool 16:45-07:09
Kyiv 4 M Tokyo 15 PC showery rain to northern and
21 B 9 R Portsmouth 09:23 4.5 21:49 4.2 Sun and moon London 16:41-06:50
Lanzarote Vancouver western parts of England For Greenwich Manchester 16:42-07:06
Las Palmas 23 PC Venice 14 PC Shoreham 08:33 5.6 20:57 5.5 Sun rises: 07.18
The Times weather Southampton 07:24 4.0 19:42 3.9
and Wales. The best of any Newcastle 16:33-07:10
Lima 17 DU Vienna 6 B Sun sets: 16.10
sunshine will be over Ireland Moon rises: 15.07 Norwich 16:31-06:49
Lisbon 19 S Warsaw 4 M page is provided Swansea 03:32 7.9 15:53 8.4
and Scotland due to a cooler Moon sets: 03.52 Tue Penzance 17:07-07:07
Los Angeles 30 S Washington 11 B Tees 00:29 4.9 13:19 5.0
28 S 9 R
by Weatherquest and drier polar air mass. Full moon: November 19 Sheffield 16:39-07:03
Luxor Zurich Weymouth 03:46 1.7 16:02 1.8
the times | Monday November 15 2021 59

Sport GARETH COPLEY/ICC/GETTY

Australia Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND
M J Guptill
c Stoinis b Zampa
Slogged to deep mid-wicket
R B
28 35

bully Kiwi
D J Mitchell 11 8
c Wade b Hazlewood
Slower ball, leg cutter, edged
*K S Williamson 85 48
c Smith b Hazlewood
Leg cutter, taken at long off
G D Phillips 18 17

nearlymen
c Maxwell b Hazlewood
Heaved to deep mid-wicket
J D S Neesham 13 7
not out
@T L Seifert 8 6
not out
Extras 9
(b 1, lb 3, w 4, nb 1)
as they were forced to increase their net TOTAL (4 wkts, 20 overs) 172
Mike Atherton run rate and this produced greater in-
M J Santner, A F Milne, T G Southee,
tent and aggression, which coincided I S Sodhi and T A Boult did not bat.
Chief Cricket with the return to form of Warner. The
Fall of wickets 1-28, 2-76, 3-144, 4-148.
Correspondent, Dubai 35-year-old made a rapid half-century
in the final, showing all his dash and Bowling Starc 4-0-60-0; Hazlewood
4-0-16-3; Maxwell 3-0-28-0; Cummins
flair, and Marsh adorned the occasion 4-0-27-0; Zampa 4-0-26-1; Marsh 1-0-11-0.
New Zealand v Australia with the quickest half-century in World
Dubai (Australia won toss): Australia T20 finals, a brutal innings that shut
beat New Zealand by eight wickets New Zealand out of the game. AUSTRALIA R B
New Zealand had set a challenging D A Warner 53 38
T20 World Cup final total thanks to their outstanding cap- b Boult
tain, Williamson, who played one of his Attempted sweep through leg
Oh to be a fly on the walls of the charter finest T20 innings. Having battled an *A J Finch 5 7
flight to Queensland today. England’s elbow injury that had prevented him c Mitchell b Boult
disappointed players had to wait until from practising to his usual assiduous Top-edged to deep mid-wicket
Australia’s tournament was complete standards, Williamson had been strug- M R Marsh 77 50
before leaving the United Arab Emir- gling for form and fluency. Now, not out
ates for the Ashes and now they must though, on the grand stage, with his G J Maxwell 28 18
accompany Aaron Finch’s victorious team needing him to lead from the not out
team home on the same flight, the front, he proved himself once again to Extras 10
gleaming T20 World Cup and all. No be a champion across formats. (lb 4, w 6)
doubt, Australia will celebrate their tri- Williamson was in early, but there
umph mindful of England’s presence. were few signs of a return to form TOTAL (2 wkts, 18.5 overs) 173
If they go at it with as much gusto as initially and there was no acceleration S P D Smith, M P Stoinis, @M S Wade,
they batted in the final, it will be quite a as the powerplay drifted to a close. The P J Cummins, M A Starc, A Zampa and
scene. In an intimidating display, they last three overs of it produced just nine J R Hazlewood did not bat.
bullied New Zealand off the park, runs and a glut of dot balls to Will- Fall of wickets 1-15, 2-107.
initially through David iamson, with the result that Bowling Boult 4-0-18-2; Southee
Warner, a man who had New Zealand were restrict- 3.5-0-43-0; Milne 4-0-30-0; Sodhi
been sidelined by his
Indian Premier League
franchise and whose
0-60
Starc’s figures were the
ed to their lowest power-
play score in the compe-
tition. At halfway, they
3-0-40-0; Santner 3-0-23-0; Neesham
1-0-15-0.

place had been ques- most expensive ever in a had only 57 runs. Umpires M Erasmus (South Africa) and
tioned in a poor start to T20 World Cup final Australia’s fielding has R A Kettleborough (England).
this tournament, and been unusually fallible. TV umpire N Menon (India).
then Mitchell Marsh, a They dropped three Match referee R Madugalle (Sri Lanka).
bull of a man who has catches in the semi-final Reserve umpire K Dharmasena
(Sri Lanka).
promised much over the and put another two down Man of the match M R Marsh
years but has not always de- here, one of which proved to (Australia).
livered and has divided
opinion in his homeland. 8 be the catalyst for
Williamson’s
Having dominated The past eight T20 World Mitchell Starc was the
revival. Marsh, left, and Maxwell, the not-out batsmen, celebrate in Dubai as Australia
clinch an eight-wicket win over New Zealand before heading home today for
continued from back
Test cricket and the 50- Cup knockout bowler, Josh Hazlewood the Ashes on the same flight as those England players switching to Test mode
over World Cup for matches have been won the culprit at fine leg Flight England are dreading
such long periods, by the chasing side, when he palmed a strode out winding his arms around like surface when he bowled more slowly,
Australia’s failure to lift dating back to 2014 straightforward catch to a threshing machine, and Marsh waited but the occasion proved too much for including Wood, Jonny Bairstow, Jos
the T20 World Cup has the boundary. It spurred in the wings. the leg spinner Ish Sodhi, who bowled Buttler, Dawid Malan and the coaches
always been something of a Williamson into action. He Finch’s modest tournament as a bats- poorly with little control. In the battle Chris Silverwood and Paul Colling-
puzzle, as has their uneven had made a run-a-ball 21 when man ended in a whimper and it was of the leg spinners, Sodhi was put in the wood to prepare for the first Test in
relationship with T20 internation- Hazlewood fluffed the catch; he Marsh’s arrival that changed things. He shade by Adam Zampa, the sparky Brisbane, which starts on December 8.
als in general. It would be wrong to say made 64 more in his next 27 balls. was brought up on the hard pitches of wrist-spinner from New South Wales, Wood, 31, speaking on the BBC’s
they dominated throughout this Starc suffered the brunt of the dam- Western Australia and rose to the chal- who was one of the players of the Good Pace for Radio podcast before the
tournament, but they peaked at the age. That over went for 19, as New Zea- lenge of Adam Milne’s thunderbolts. tournament. T20 World Cup final, said: “I just can’t
right time, beating very worthy land broke free of the shackles imposed He hit his first ball into the stands, a fe- Warner went to his half-century in have them [Australia] win that game.
opponents, Pakistan, in the semi-final by Australia’s fast bowlers. Finch got the rocious swivel-pull, and followed that 34 balls with a six off Jimmy Neesham It’s going to be unbearable.
and a Kane Williamson-inspired New four vulnerable overs from his fifth with consecutive fours. He looked like a and Marsh followed three balls quicker. “You can look them in the eye and say
Zealand in the final. bowler out of the way, although they man who meant business and Warner When Warner missed a heave to leg off congratulations to them but when you
They were not touted to win before- cost 42 runs, and New Zealand man- took his cue, blasting a six over mid- Boult, the match felt as good as done are about to head off to an Ashes series
hand and, following their eight-wicket aged to double their score in the five wicket off Trent Boult the follow- and there were no hiccups from Marsh against them the last thing you want is
evisceration at the hands of England overs after the halfway mark. William- ing over. and Maxwell, who finished in T20 style them feeling confident and waving a
early on, few gave them much of a son was now a man transformed, hit- In the absence of dew, with an audacious reverse scoop. trophy around in your face before
chance but they brushed themselves ting sixes into the stands one-handed. New Zealand’s hopes lay Australia, as is their wont, had come you’ve even got there.”
down, altered the balance of their team He shredded Starc’s third over, the mid-innings with their good at the business end of the tourna- Wood’s wife and son were with him in
slightly but significantly, and went on a 16th of the innings, for 22 runs more, spinners on a pitch that ment, a victory that will ease some Dubai during the T20 World Cup,
galloping, unbeaten run. In front of a with some remarkable hitting and w
was noticea- pressure on Justin Langer, their coach. where England were knocked out at the
healthy crowd, they were good value placement. Starc visibly shrunk bly drier and New Zealand, having missed out in semi-final stage by New Zealand, but
for their victory, showing few nerves in from the contest having con- barer than the World Cups of 2015 and 2019, fell at have flown home to England. The
the run chase and winning at a canter. ceded the most expen- seen previ- the final hurdle again, but remain out- remaining members of the Ashes squad
Winning the toss and chasing helped, sive figures of his ously. standing across formats. who have been in the United Arab
of course, as it has done throughout this T20 career and d Mitchell As for the plane journey today, well, Emirates will undergo a short period of
predictable tournament. the most by a Williamson Santner England’s players will just have to suck quarantine on their arrival on the Gold
After defeat by England, Australia bowler in a World T20 final. The made 85 found some it up and wait for their chance again. Coast before they play two warm-up
went back to playing the extra batsman pain, though, for the bowlers from only purchase Don’t forget the headphones, to cancel matches against the England Lions,
(Marsh had been left out in that match) was not yet done, as Warnerr 48 balls ffrom the out the noise. who are already in Australia.
60 Monday November 15 2021 | the times

Sport
STEVEN CARGILL/RACINGFOTOS.COM/SHUTTERSTOCK

What MPs must ask

on Yorkshire racism
Azeem Rafiq’s evidence Rafiq alleges he can offer on the inci-
dent and whether either of the other
of reference were changed halfway
through so that the investigating panel
to DCMS committee players in the group — Adil Rashid and
Ajmal Shahzad — claim to have heard
were not permitted to make any judg-
ment on whether the club were institu-
tomorrow will shed the comment Vaughan denies making. tionally racist — only on the individual
allegations.
light on key allegations, why does rafiq feel let down by
says Elizabeth Ammon joe root?
The committee will want to ask Rafiq
do other counties have a racism
problem?
about the frustration he expressed on The Essex chairman, John Faragher, re-
who is accused of what? social media last week at the England signed on Thursday after it was alleged
Azeem Rafiq will speak under parlia- Test captain’s claim that he hadn’t heard that he used the n-word at a board
mentary privilege, meaning that he can or witnessed any racism during his time meeting in 2017, although he
name individuals without fear of legal with Yorkshire. Root is the same age denies doing so. A former Essex player
reprisals. Rafiq has alleged 43 separate (30) as Rafiq and has been at Yorkshire of Asian heritage has alleged that he
instances of racism, of which seven for 14 years. Another former England was nicknamed “bomber” by team-
were upheld in a report written by an in- batsman, Gary Ballance, has admitted mates after the 9/11 attacks, and called a
dependent panel commissioned to in- calling Rafiq a “P**i” and it is under- “curry muncher”. MPs will ask Rafiq
vestigate by Yorkshire. That report has stood at least two other former England what he has heard from other players
never been made public, although pas- players are named in the report. emboldened by his public stand over his
sages have been leaked, but it was sent experiences at Yorkshire.
to the digital, culture, media and sport who else will we hear from?
committee, so it will be able to prepare In addition to Rafiq, MPs will question why did the ecb not act sooner?
questions in advance for Rafiq over spe- the former chairman, Roger Hutton, Also giving evidence to MPs will be the
cific incidents. About 12 former or who stepped down in the wake of the ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison, Nube Negra puts down a marker with victory in the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham
present employees of the club are un- scandal. The committee had also and Barry O’Brien, the interim yesterday. The seven-year-old beat 2020 Champion Chase winner Politologue
derstood to have been named in the re- suggested Mark Arthur, the York- chairman. They may be asked
port as having been accused of racist or d
shire chief executive who resigned
bullying behaviour. last week, would appear. However,
it now appears neither Arthur norr
t
why it took until late October for
the ECB to intervene and put
sanctions on Yorkshire, 18 months
Nube Negra turns the tables
who is right about michael Wayne Morton, Yorkshire’s head off after Rafiq’s allegations were
vaughan’s alleged “you lot” medical services, will be there. made — and even then only Rob Wright Racing Editor the hill to the line to beat 2020 Cham-
comment? Hutton has suggested that after sponsors had with- pion Chase winner Politologue by 6½
The former Yorkshire and England cap- many of the most senior drawn backing for the Nube Negra defeated the past two lengths, with Put The Kettle On nearly
tain is alleged by Rafiq to have figures at Yorkshire club and senior politi- Champion Chase winners in emphatic five lengths back in third.
addressed four Asian team-mates preferred to attack cians had chastised style to land the Shloer Chase at “I’m just chuffed to bits with the
before a match in 2009: “There’s too Rafiq and his character them. It has come to Cheltenham yesterday. horse,” Skelton said. “I know Put The
many of you lot, we need to do some- rather than examine light that the gov- Dan Skelton’s charge was beaten half Kettle On didn’t turn up but you’ve got
thing about that.” Vaughan, now a TV his allegations. Hut- erning body knew a length by Put The Kettle On in the Politologue in front going a hard gallop
and radio pundit, has strenuously ton is likely to be about the allega- Champion Chase at Cheltenham in — which he kept up all the way to the
denied having said it. Rana Naved-ul- asked why the in- t against Faragh-
tion March but turned the tables here. line. I’m so proud of the horse. I had a
Hasan, another of the group of four vestigation’s terms e in 2018 but appears
er Always travelling with ease at the rear tingle in my hands after he jumped the
players, is not thought to have been to have taken no action. of the four-runner field, Nube Negra last and I don’t think I’ve had that ever.”
interviewed by Yorkshire’s panel but The committee How many other allega- moved closer to the front-running Pol- Nube Negra, who was cut to 12-1 from
has since supported Rafiq’s account. will discuss tions or complaints have itologue three fences from home before 16-1 by Coral to lift the two-mile crown
Vaughan’s future as a high-profile pun- Rafiq’s allegations been received but not easing to the lead between the final two. at Cheltenham in March, may next run
dit may hinge on what more detail against Vaughan investigated? Nube Negra stayed on strongly up at Sandown on December 4.

2.15 Handicap Chase (£4,124: 2m 1f) (5) 2.30 Novices' Hurdle 3.30 Handicap Hurdle
Plumpton 1 33-22 LIGHT N STRIKE 29 E Lavelle 5-12-1 J R Wildman (10)
Leicester (£6,535: 1m 7f 113yd) (8) (£3,322: 2m 4f 110yd) (9)
Rob Wright 2 555-1 ONLY MONEY 193 C Gordon 7-11-12 T Cannon Rob Wright 1 00-U5 BLENDED STEALTH 14 (H) N Twiston-Davies 4-10-12 1 020-2 RABSKI 36 Jonjo O'Neill 5-11-13 K Brogan (3)
3 64-02 NUMBERS MAN 30 (T) C Tizzard 5-11-7 B J Powell S Twiston-Davies 2 F6132 MOTION IN LIMINE 17 Dr R Newland 6-11-12 C Leonard (3)
12.45 Annual Invictus 2.45 Mr Yeats 1.00 Credo 2.30 Zabeel Champion 2 6105/ DRUNKEN PIRATE 1049 (D) M Bosley 8-10-12 T Bellamy
4 055-U BLISTERING BOB 25 (H) R Walford 6-10-7 J Best 3 653-1 BARRICANE 169 (P) O Murphy 6-11-10 F Gregory (3)
1.15 Next Left 3.15 Silver Nickel (nb) 1.30 Cogital 3.00 Kalzari 3 P4-26 FIRST ANGEL 17 (H) L Morgan 5-10-12 A Wedge
1.45 Vision Clear 3.45 Top Man 5 41-03 EN COEUR 159 (W,T,CD) Seamus Mullins 7-10-5 2.00 Monarchofthegrange 3.30 Guguss Collonges 4 4-34P RUMBLE B 132 Justin Landy 7-11-7 O Brown
Sean Houlihan (3) 4 16- FOR FITZ SAKE 272 L Morgan 5-10-12 R McLernon 5 56530 THE RAVEN'S RETURN 51 (BF) C & A Pogson 8-11-5 C Todd
2.15 Only Money (nap) Going: good to soft, good in places
13-8 Only Money, 9-4 Numbers Man, 7-2 Light N Strike, 7-1 En Coeur, 14-1 5 LYDFORD F88 (W,T) D Skelton 4-10-12 H Skelton 6 P5P-5 BLACKFINCH 20 (B) S Edmunds 6-11-4 J Tudor
Going: good, good to firm in places Blistering Bob. Racing TV 6 06-30 ROCKINGHAM SOUTH 18 H Chisman 5-10-12 B Poste 7 320P3 METHAG 14 (D) A Hales 8-11-4 T Buckley
Sky Sports Racing Wright choice: Only Money was impressive when winning 7 3-0 ROGER RAREBIT 17 (H) T Lacey 4-10-12 S Sheppard 8 4P0-4 MAGGIES MOGUL 195 D Pipe 5-11-1 P Armson (6)
at Huntingdon and is unexposed Danger Numbers Man 1.00 Maiden Hurdle 8 ZABEEL CHAMPION F101 Jonjo O'Neill 4-10-12 N Scholfield
12.45 Handicap Chase (£4,084: 2m 4f 110yd) (10) 11-8 Zabeel Champion, 2-1 Lydford, 7-1 First Angel, 8-1 Drunken Pirate, 14-1 For
9 U-00F GUGUSS COLLONGES 15 G L Moore 5-10-8 N F Houlihan (3)
(£6,317: 2m 4f) (2 runners) 4-1 Barricane, 9-2 Rabski, 5-1 Guguss Collonges, Motion In Limine, 6-1
2.45 Handicap Hurdle 1 0 BATCH ME 10 H James 5-11-0 N Brennan (7) Fitz Sake, 16-1 Roger Rarebit, 25-1 Blended Stealth, 100-1 Rockingham South. Methag, 10-1 Maggies Mogul, Rumble B, Blackfinch, 16-1 The Raven's Return.
1 14-21 ANNUAL INVICTUS 24 (D) C Gordon 6-11-8 T Cannon 2 0- BRANDISOVA 216 L Wadham 5-11-0 Bryony Frost
(£3,594: 2m 4f 114yd) (7)
2 13223 DINO VELVET 30 A King 8-10-11 A P Heskin
1 00-35 MANNING ESTATE 34 (P) O Sherwood 7-11-12 A Jordan (10) 3 B2023 CALL THE FAIRIES 15 (BF) Dr R Newland 6-11-0 3.00 Juvenile Hurdle
2-5 Annual Invictus, 2-1 Dino Velvet.
Rob Wright’s choice: Annual Invictus has taken well to
2 45325 SOLDIER ON PARADE 31 (T) A Murphy 4-11-11 Jamie Moore
4 11-13 CREDO 17 (T) A Honeyball 6-11-0
S Twiston-Davies
R Dingle
(3-Y-O: £6,317: 1m 7f 113yd) (8) Course specialists
3 30-4B GLASHA'S PEAK 14 P Hobbs 7-11-9 T J O'Brien 1 21 KALZARI 53 D Pipe 11-4 D Noonan
fences and can follow up his recent Cheltenham success 5 1 EUREKA CREEK 198 E Lavelle 5-11-0 T Bellamy Leicester: Trainers D Skelton, 11 winners from
4 33044 JEN'S BOY 14 (P) N Henderson 7-11-8 N De Boinville 2 3 ANGELS LANDING 11 (BF) I Williams 10-12 C Todd (3)
6 134-2 GET A TONIC 17 D Skelton 5-11-0 H Skelton 29 runners, 37.9%; G L Moore, 6 from 19, 31.6%;
5 45232 CREMANT 31 (P,BF) N Mulholland 7-11-7 S Bowen 3 3 CIRRUS 45 (W,T) M Harris 10-12 K Jones (3) O Murphy, 6 from 19, 31.6%. Jockeys H Skelton,
1.15 Novices' Hurdle 6 05311 MR YEATS 6 (D) M Harris 4-10-2(7ex) J Best
7 12 HEREWEGOHONEY 12 (BF) F O'Brien 5-11-0 P Brennan 4 INSTANT DE BONHEUR N Hawke 10-12 K Buckley (5) 9 winners from 23 rides, 39.1%; C Gethings,
(£4,084: 2m 4f 114yd) (8) 8 1- MARSH WREN 238 S Edmunds 5-11-0 C Gethings 5 LADY PACIFICO F116 D Weston 10-12 Page Fuller
7 40/5- HARRY HAZARD 389 A Irvine 7-10-0 Tabitha Worsley (5) 6 from 26, 23.1%.
1 234-2 HARDE FASHION 30 Daniel Bourne 5-10-12 C Ring (3) 9 0 READY TO PLEASE 184 (W) Mrs C Bailey 5-11-0 R T Dunne 6 MACHA F143 (W) D Pipe 10-12 T Scudamore
2-1 Mr Yeats, 3-1 Jen's Boy, 5-1 Cremant, 6-1 Glasha's Peak, 10-1 Soldier On Plumpton: Trainers F O'Brien, 4 from 13, 30.8%;
4-23 NEXT LEFT 15 G L Moore 5-10-12 Jamie Moore 10 1 BETTY'S BANJO 190 Jonjo O'Neill 4-10-13 T Scudamore 7 4 PUMP IT UP 19 (P) R Spencer 10-12 F Gregory (3)
2 Parade, Manning Estate, 14-1 Harry Hazard. A King, 12 from 42, 28.6%; N Henderson, 6 from
4-150 POLLARDS FEN 30 (H,P) Georgie Howell 6-10-12 3-1 Get A Tonic, 4-1 Credo, 9-2 Call The Fairies, 5-1 Betty's Banjo, 7-1 Marsh 8 UNFINISHED BUSINES N Hawke 10-12 T Buckley (5) 25, 24%. Jockeys S Bowen, 5 from 26, 19.2%;
3 Wright choice: Mr Yeats stayed on well at Huntingdon last
Tabitha Worsley (5) Wren, 8-1 Eureka Creek, Herewegohoney, 25-1 Brandisova. 2-1 Kalzari, 11-4 Macha, 4-1 Angels Landing, 8-1 Lady Pacifico, 10-1 N de Boinville, 4 from 21, 19%.
time and can defy a 7lb penalty Danger Glasha’s Peak
4 U SQUIRE HOCKEY 153 Mrs D Grissell 8-10-12 D Sansom (3) Unfinished Busines, Instant De Bonheur, 16-1 Cirrus, 50-1 Pump It Up.
5 31-25 TED'S FRIEND 20 F O'Brien 5-10-12 M Kendrick 3.15 Handicap Chase 1.30 Handicap Hurdle
6 26-5 CRYSTAL MOON 20 A King 4-10-11 T Cannon (£3,314: 3m 4f 102yd) (5) (£3,322: 1m 7f 113yd) (8)
7 P0P HIGH COURT JUSTICE 14 (P) Harriet Brown 4-10-11 J Best
1 3P-PP MERCIAN KNIGHT 20 (B,T) A Murphy 7-12-1 Jamie Moore 1 1145- ROBINSHILL 235 (T,D) N Twiston-Davies 10-12-0
S Twiston-Davies
Yesterday’s racing results
8 4-6 STYLE COUNCIL 15 Miss S West 5-10-5 M Goldstein P64-3 UALLRIGHTHARRY 169 (P,C) J Best & K Jewell 9-12-0
2 2 226-2 SAYAR 187 (D) N Kent 8-11-12 C Hammond
6-4 Harde Fashion, 7-4 Next Left, 7-2 Ted's Friend, 6-1 Crystal Moon, 100-1
Squire Hockey, Style Council, High Court Justice, Pollards Fen. 3 201-P BLACK CENTAUR 180 (P,C) C Gordon 8-11-12
M Goldstein
T Cannon
3 613-4 ALBORKAN 28 (D) A Murphy 4-11-8 J Quinlan Cheltenham fav); 2, Washington (2-1). 3 ran. NR:
Sonigino. 2l, N A Twiston-Davies.
(Mr Finn Lambert,
2, Lifeisahighway (5-2 fav);
5-1);

4 244 COLDEN'S DREAM 39 D Skelton 4-11-2 H Skelton Going: good 3, Outlaw Jack (12-1). 7 ran. 1Kl, 8Kl.
Wright choice: Next Left shaped well on his debut over 4 6-362 SILVER NICKEL 14 (P) Seamus Mullins 7-11-7 D Sansom (3) 4.00 (2m 87yd Flat) 1,
hurdles at Lingfield Dangers Crystal Moon, Harde Fashion 53-P4 ABBEY STREET 26 P Henderson 10-10-0 J Best 5 /26-4 WELLAND 31 (D) Mrs P Sly 8-11-1 Paul O'Brien 1.10 (3m 80yd ch) 1, Timeforatune (H Cobden, 3-1); N A Twiston-Davies.
5
6 /13-5 COGITAL 22 (D) B J Llewellyn 6-11-1 Charlie Price (3) Threeunderthrufive (Adrian 2, Flying Sara (6-1); 3, Aucunrisque 2.00 (2m 1f 162yd hdle) 1, Boulette
13-8 Silver Nickel, 9-4 Uallrightharry, 9-2 Black Centaur, 5-1 Mercian Knight,
7 -1320 BEGIN THE LUCK 141 (BF,D) Mrs C Bailey 5-11-0 R T Dunne Heskin, 11-4); 2, Does He Know (2-1 (5-2 fav). 8 ran. Kl, 1l. P F Nicholls. (David Noonan, 12-1); 2, Rhebus
1.45 Selling Hurdle 14-1 Abbey Street.
Road (14-1); 3, Beowulf (3-1). 12 ran.
8 4/34- PECKINPAH 354 A King 5-10-10 T Bellamy fav). 5 ran. 4Nl, P F Nicholls. Jackpot: £2,956.70.
(£4,520: 2m) (7) Wright choice: Silver Nickel was a one-paced second here 2l, 11l. N J Hawke.
last time and this trip should suit Danger Uallrightharry 7-2 Peckinpah, 4-1 Colden's Dream, 9-2 Alborkan, 6-1 Sayar, 7-1 Robinshill, 8-1 1.45 (3m 3f 71yd ch) 1, Yala Enki Placepot: £41.10.
1 10-10 WHITLOCK F12 (P,BF,CD) A Irvine 6-11-7 J Bowen 2.35 (2m 3f 49yd hdle) 1, White Hart
Welland, 10-1 Begin The Luck, Cogital. (Bryony Frost, 3-1); 2, The Mighty Quadpot: £11.60.
2 0P000 CHEAT F14 Seamus Mullins 4-11-0 Sean Houlihan (3) Lady (Lorcan Murtagh, 5-2);
3.45 Handicap Hurdle (£2,723: 3m 1f) (8) Don (5-2 jt-fav); 3, Empire De
3 0- GREEK KODIAC F35 (T) M Bell 5-11-0
4 -0U00 JUMPING JACK 15 (P,CD) P Butler 7-11-0
S Bowen
H Kimber (7) 1 P-062 ANTONY 26 G L Moore 11-11-12 Jamie Moore
2.00 Selling Hurdle Maulde (5-2 jt-fav). 5 ran. NR: Forza Fontwell Park 2, Jaunty Soria (7-1); 3, Bleue Away
(7-2). 6 ran. Nk, 2Kl. H Fry.
(£4,084: 1m 7f 113yd) (8) Milan. 1Nl, 2Nl. P F Nicholls. Going: good (good to soft in
5 0-424 KARAKORAM 17 (P,T,D) G Harris 6-11-0 B R Jones 2 64P-2 JUNGLE PROSE 28 N Gifford 6-11-10 Tabitha Worsley (5) 3.10 (3m 3f 149yd ch) 1, Salty Boy
1 U CANAL ROCKS 8 (P) B J Llewellyn 5-11-9 Charlie Price (3) 2.20 (1m 7f 199yd ch) 1, Nube Negra places) (Mitchell Bastyan, 4-1); 2, Almazhar
6 -5042 VISION CLEAR 19 (B,D) G L Moore 6-11-0 Jamie Moore 3 60005 TOP MAN 26 (C) C Gordon 7-11-7 T Cannon (Harry Skelton, 9-4); 2, Politologue
2 00-40 GARRISON COMMANDER 13 (T) Katy Price 5-11-9 B Poste 12.25 (2m 1f 162yd hdle) Garde (13-2); 3, Gleno (2-1 fav).
7 65240 DOLLY MCQUEEN F17 (T) F Brennan 5-10-7 D Bass 4 033-5 DING DING 190 (P,C) Miss S West 10-11-6 M Goldstein (5-1); 3, Put The Kettle On (15-8 fav). 1, Datsalrightgino (Page Fuller,
3 545-3 MONARCHOFTHEGRANGE 11 (H) N Twiston-Davies 6-11-9 8 ran. NR: Eclair De Guye. 5Kl, 11l.
6-4 Vision Clear, 9-4 Karakoram, 11-2 Greek Kodiac, 6-1 Whitlock, 12-1 Dolly 5 0P-PP MR P 26 P Henderson 6-10-9 T J O'Brien S Twiston-Davies 4 ran. 6l, 4Kl. D Skelton. 9-4); 2, Calidad (12-1); 3, Wiseguy D G Bridgwater.
McQueen, 33-1 Cheat, Jumping Jack. 6 /4-4P IRON IN THE SOUL 14 Mrs H Cobb 9-10-8 M Kendrick 4 6-0 SAGHIR 26 (P) G L Moore 4-11-9 N F Houlihan (5) 2.55 (2m 87yd hdle) 1, West Cork (4-5 fav). 13 ran. 7Kl, 3Nl. Jamie 3.43 (2m 1f 162yd hdle) 1, Quinta Do
Wright choice: Vision Clear returned to form when second 7 01-F3 SOARLIKEANEAGLE 26 R Rowe 9-10-3 J Best 5 424F2 GAIA VALLIS 18 D Bridgwater 5-11-2 J Nailor (3) (Harry Skelton, 11-1); 2, Adagio (11-1); Snowden. Mar (Luca Morgan, 2-1); 2, Mercian
at Fakenham and now drops in class Danger Whitlock 8 404-P COMERAGH LAD 13 Ryan Chapman 7-10-3 Sean Houlihan (3) 6 04300 LADY P 11 (P) J Coulson 5-11-2 F Gregory (3) 3, No Ordinary Joe (8-1); 12.55 (2m 3f 104yd ch) Prince (4-1); 3, Humaniste (18-1).
2-1 Antony, 3-1 Jungle Prose, 7-2 Top Man, 6-1 Soarlikeaneagle, 7-1 Ding Ding, 7 05455 LIGHTNING BLUE 15 (P,T) S Drinkwater 4-11-2 R T Dunne 4, Camprond (17-2). 19 ran. NR: 1, Luckofthedraw (J Nailor, 12-1); 6 ran. NR: Pyramid Place, Tap Tap
33-1 Iron In The Soul, Mr P, Comeragh Lad. 8 P40 TARA ITI F13 (P) G L Moore 3-10-7 D Noonan Rockadenn. Ol, 2l. D Skelton. 2, Dorking Lad (5-4 fav); 3, Romanor Boom. 31l, 4l. B Pauling.
Wright choice: Top Man looked to be returning to form 4-7 Monarchofthegrange, 11-2 Gaia Vallis, 6-1 Garrison Commander, 8-1 3.30 (2m 87yd hdle) 1, I Like To (5-1). 7 ran. Kl, 3Kl. T Bulgin. Placepot: £74.80.
Blinkered first time: Leicester 3.30 Blackfinch. when fifth at Fontwell Dangers Antony, Jungle Prose Saghir, 25-1 Lightning Blue, 33-1 Lady P, Tara Iti, 50-1 Canal Rocks. 1.25 (2m 5f 135yd ch) 1, Rizzardo
Move It (Sam Twiston-Davies, 4-6 Quadpot: £44.40.
the times | Monday November 15 2021 2GM 61

Football Sport

Fat salaries and lofty ambitions League One round-up

Performance of the week

Charlton Athletic. Ben Purrington

in race to escape the bottleneck

scored the only goal away to Burton
Albion to extend caretaker manager
Johnnie Jackson’s unbeaten league
run to four matches.

Player of the week

Scott Quigley, who scored 15 goals for
Barrow last season in League Two, in
The swapping the EFL for non-League.
Journeyman John Rooney, whose brother, Wayne,
Gregor Robertson was a guest of Stott on Saturday, is
another player for whom Stockport
managed to outbid EFL clubs since
colleague at the performance analysis
company Prozone. When he joined
Southampton as performance analyst
in 2002, he became only the second
full-time analyst in British football.
Stockport have access to data and
tools unheard of in the fifth tier, a
Vanarama National League
P W D L F A GD Pts
Chesterfield.........15 9 5 1 31 13 18 32
Boreham Wood..15 9 4 2 21 12 9 31
Grimsby.................15 9 2 4 28 15 13 29
Bromley................14 8 4 2 27 14 13 28
Scott Twine (MK Dons). The
midfielder scored twice in a 4-1 win
over Cambridge United that took his
season’s tally to eight goals in 16
games.
Rising star
Max Watters (MK Dons). Another to
hit two goals in the victory against

E
ighty-nine minutes were on
the clock when Bromley
bundled home the equaliser
that sucked the air out of
Edgeley Park and handed
Stockport County the latest reminder
that, more than ever, the National
League is the country’s most
unforgiving of divisions.
Stockport, thanks to the largesse of
the local property entrepreneur Mark
Stott, have designs on reaching the
Championship within seven years but
must first extricate themselves from a
division in which 11 former Football
League clubs have eyes on that
solitary automatic promotion spot, or
a place in the division’s three-round
play-offs.
To that end, in the past fortnight
Stockport replaced their manager,
Simon Rusk, with Dave Challinor,
who swapped Sky Bet League Two
Hartlepool United for the National
League, and signed Antoni Sarcevic,
the captain of the League One side
Bolton Wanderers in the latest sign of
their ambition. Yet after 14 games,
and Saturday evening’s 1-1 draw,
Stockport are 11th.
When Challinor, who led
Hartlepool to promotion via the play-
offs at Stockport’s expense last
season, says the National League is
“stronger than it has ever been” it’s
hard to argue, considering the list of
players lured from higher leagues
with the offer of fatter pay packets
from clubs with lofty ambitions.
Sarcevic, who won his fourth
League Two promotion with Bolton
last season, joined on a three-year
contract this month after a reported
fall-out with the manager, Ian Evatt,
but he follows the likes of Paddy
Madden, who joined from League
One Fleetwood Town in January, and
Stott bought the club in January 2020. full-time analyst, Joppe Meulensteen, Notts County.......15 8 4 3 26 17 9 28 Cambridge. The 22-year-old forward,
There is no doubting the potential. son of the former Manchester United Halifax...................14 8 3 3 21 11 10 27 on loan from Cardiff City, now has
Dag & Red ............ 15 8 2 5 33 20 13 26
Stockport’s halcyon days were in the coach René. “We don’t want bells and Solihull Moors.....15 7 5 3 20 18 2 26
five goals in his past four games.
Championship in the Nineties, but whistles,” Wilson insists, “but for Wrexham..............14 6 5 3 29 17 12 23
they were followed by administration, every player here, there’s four Woking..................14 7 0 7 25 20 5 21 Quote of the day
ten years outside the Football League divisions’ worth of players above Stockport Co.......14 6 3 5 17 18 -1 21 “Stanley prides itself on being an
Altrincham...........14 6 2 6 24 21 3 20
and half a dozen seasons in the sixth- them, in theory, so there’s room Yeovil ..................... 13 5 3 5 13 13 0 18
inclusive club and we will take the
tier National League North. Stott has for growth. And if we can Torquay.................14 5 3 6 21 24 -3 18 appropriate action if required.”
cleared debts, invested in optimise that through Eastleigh...............14 5 3 6 18 21 -3 18 Accrington’s response after the
infrastructure, strengthened roots in conditioning, something Wealdstone..........14 4 5 5 13 19 -6 17 Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper, Mike
Barnet....................15 4 4 7 17 28 -11 16
the community. More than £1 million t
technical or tactical, then it Weymouth...........15 4 3 8 17 28 -11 15
Cooper, accused Accrington fans of
was spent on refurbishing Edgeley gives us the best chance. Maidenhead........14 4 2 8 18 26 -8 14 making homophobic slurs.
Park. Manchester City’s former W
We’ve created a good Southend..............14 3 2 9 11 23 -12 11 Words by Ian Whittell
training ground at Carrington e
environment, where the Aldershot..............15 3 1 11 16 30 -14 10
King’s Lynn..........14 2 2 10 13 28 -15 8
is now the players’ training facilities, the coaching, the *Dover ................... 14 0 3 11 10 33 -23 -9
base. culture can help them be more * deducted 12pts for breach of league rules
Simon Wilson, who spent consistent.” League Two round-up
a decade working for the But there are no guarantees
Abu Dhabi-owned City in the National League. that becomes stronger every year. Performance of the week
Group, first growing Stockport, like Hollywood Now, arguably, the top half of the Mansfield Town’s 2-1 victory against
the football actor-owned Wrexham and National League is as good, and often fellow strugglers Stevenage marked
department of o
others, have been helped in better, than the bottom half of the a first away win of the season for
Manchester City, th
their pursuit of players from league above. As Wilson says: “You Nigel Clough’s side — and the end for
was quickly h
higher divisions by the absence have to be really bad to get relegated Alex Revell, the Stevenage manager,
installed as director of of meaningful salary controls at out of that league, and you have to be who stepped down last night.
football — an their level, really good to get promoted out of
appointment that although a this league.” Player of the week
underlines Stott’s working group Is that healthy? Is it sustainable? Alex Newby (Rochdale). The striker
intent. h
has been tasked That no promoted team has ever scored in the first and last minutes
Wilson was at the w
with examining been relegated from League Two of the 2-2 draw with Leyton Orient
vanguard of English w
what a salary cap the following season tells its own to earn a valuable point.
football’s data might look like in the story.
revolution, a team- fifth tier from next Stockport’s potential ultimately Rising star
mate of Liverpool’s season. convinced Challinor to return to the Isaac Olaofe (Sutton United). The on-
out-going sporting Plans for a bear pit. A sell-out 10,000 crowd will loan Millwall forward continued an
director, Michael L
League Two salary be at Edgeley Park for the visit of impressive season with the only
Edwards, in the ccap were shelved Bolton in the FA Cup second-round goal away to Tranmere Rovers.
Peterborough b many clubs had
but replay on Wednesday night.
United aalready begun to cut “The plan is in place, the facilities Quote of the day
academy, t
their cloth accordingly, are in place,” Challinor says. “I’ve “We ran out of steam, which is
and a w
which, along with been at big football clubs — [down to] a lack of fitness, and the
c
constraints resulting from Hartlepool in terms of fan base, Fylde fitness is the responsibility of those
t pandemic, further
the in terms of ambition — but not really players individually and they know
strengthened the hand of a club with infrastructure that allows that.” The new Scunthorpe United
Sarcevic, the wealthy fifth-tier owners. a manager to focus on managing and manager, Keith Hill, is still waiting
former Bolton The consequence of this coaching. All the stuff I’ve had to deal for his first victory after three
captain, arrived sustained bottleneck with over the last ten years is taken games in charge — the latest a 1-1
at Stockport beneath League Two is a care of by someone else. We have all draw with Salford City on Saturday.
last month concentration of quality the tools to be successful.”
62 Monday November 15 2021 | the times

Sport Football

Ruthless Chelsea add to Lisbon Lion Auld, 83, dies

Mark Palmer

the pressure on Taylor Bertie Auld, one of the “Lisbon Lions”

who won the European Cup with Celtic
in 1967, has died at the age of 83.
The news came less than five months
after the club announced that the
JAMES GILL /DANEHOUSE/GETTY IMAGES

0
former midfielder had been diagnosed
Manchester City with dementia, asking fans to “keep him
in their prayers”.

4
Chelsea
Fleming 2, Kerr 45+4, Kirby 52,
Eriksson 55
Women’s Super League
Molly Hudson
Before this season a match involving
Chelsea and Manchester City would
have been one of the hardest-fought
and closest battles in the Women’s
Super League. It reflects City’s present
state that this emphatic victory could
have been predicted.
In the space of 14 days, between this
drubbing and an FA Cup semi-final exit
to the same opposition, City have
conceded seven goals and failed to
score themselves in two games against
Chelsea. They now languish in ninth in
the WSL table, eight points below the
coveted final Champions League quali-
fication spot.
The unwanted records keep stacking
up for Gareth Taylor, the City manager,
who, despite having the backing of
the club, must surely be feeling the
pressure. This was the first time in WSL
history that City have lost three home
matches in a row, and the first time that
Chelsea have won away from home
against City in the league.
“I feel fine,” Taylor said, when ques-
tioned about his future. “I feel the same
way as I always have done. I always look
at the level of performance we put in. Of
course we need to be better in the errors
that we make.
“But as long as I can see the positives,
even when we are really short of a
number of key players in the playing
squad, nothing changes in my mind.
There’s nothing for me to consider until
I’m told anything different.”
In the first half City controlled
possession and were arguably even the
better side. But Chelsea, the champions,
are wonderfully decisive and clinical in
the crucial moments, with Taylor
admitting that City had been punished
for their errors.
Only 67 seconds in, Jessie Fleming
coolly converted, nipping in ahead of
Alex Greenwood, who was unable to
collect an underhit pass from Karima
The captain Eriksson, left, celebrates with Millie Bright after scoring Chelsea’s
fourth goal to seal her side’s second win over City in the space of two weeks
Taieb, the City goalkeeper. Then came
City’s dominance.
Caroline Weir drew an excellent save
from Ann-Katrin Berger, the Chelsea
goalkeeper blocking the effort with her
boot. Then Berger spared the blushes of
Erin Cuthbert when the goalkeeper
beat Lauren Hemp to her pass to clear
the ball before the pair collided.
Chelsea had barely had a chance
aside from their goal, but then doubled
their lead. Georgia Stanway lost the ball
in the centre of the pitch, leaving Chel-
sea to break forward. For all of their
creative talents it is still on the counter-
attack when they are perhaps at the
most dangerous, a clever switch from
Ji So-yun finding Guro Reiten on the
right, who nodded down for Sam Kerr
to tap home.
While City could at least genuinely
claim to be the better side for much of
the first half, they conceded twice in
four minutes early in the second. “We
played like champions today in the
second half,” Emma Hayes, the Chelsea
manager, said. “We have had a game
every three, four days, this is not easy to
deliver a 4-0 away win, my hat is off to
my team.”
First Fran Kirby powered a strike into
the corner of the net through a crowd
of bodies after a well-worked short
corner, before Taieb was again at fault,
failing to command her area as Magda
Eriksson nodded in.
In the background of this defeat is the
context of a bulging City treatment
room, featuring a host of England inter-
nationals, including Steph Houghton
and Lucy Bronze. But as the weeks pass
it becomes more difficult for their
return to be soon enough to salvage this
season and Taylor’s long-term future.
Manchester City (4-3-3): K Taieb 4 — G Stanway 5,
J Scott 6, A Greenwood 6, D Stokes 6 — K Walsh
6, F Angeldahl 6 (L Coombs 69, 6), C Weir 7
(V Losada 77) — J Park 6 (J Beckie 69, 7), E White
5, L Hemp 7 (H Raso 79). Booked Greenwood.
Chelsea (3-4-3): A-K Berger 9 (Z Musovic 77) —
M Bright 8, J Carter 8, M Eriksson 7 — E Cuthbert
7, Ji So-yun 6 (S Ingle 45, 8), M Leupolz 7,
G Reiten 8 (D Spence 78) — J Fleming 8, S Kerr 8
(B England 67, 7), F Kirby 8 (N Charles 78).
Referee R Welch.
A player revered for both his tech-
nique and application, Auld spent 12
years at Celtic across two spells, win-
ning five Scottish league titles, three
Scottish Cups and four League Cups in Auld provided a link between Celtic’s
addition to the crowning glory of his glorious past and the modern fans
key role in the first British team to win
the European Cup. Famously, all of the generation of supporters. Celtic
Celtic players involved in that triumph chairman Ian Bankier said: “The most
were born within 30 miles of Glasgow. sincere thoughts and prayers of
Capped three times by Scotland, everyone at Celtic are with Bertie’s
Auld had four years at Birmingham family at such a difficult time, following
City, where he won the League Cup in this tragic loss.
1963. He also helped them to reach the “I don’t think words can ever ade-
final of the 1960-61 Inter-Cities Fairs quately describe what Bertie meant to
Cup, where they lost to Roma. the club and our supporters. He was a
Auld finished his playing days at giant of a player, a giant of a man and
Hibernian, who he also managed after quite simply Mr. Celtic.
starting his dugout career with Partick “He scaled the greatest of heights as
Thistle. He then moved to Hamilton a player with his talent but it is who he
Academical before returning to Partick was as a man that made him so much
in 1986 and finishing at Dumbarton. more to us all. He enriched all our lives
Auld remained an ambassador for so greatly with his humour, his
Celtic until the very end, providing a character and personality, and for that
vital, cherished link between the club’s we will for ever be grateful.
greatest achievement and the modern “May you rest in peace, Bertie.”
Smith in at Norwich today
Gary Jacob promotion to the Premier League in
2019 and kept them up in his first season
Norwich City are expected to before securing 11th place last season.
announce the appointment of Dean Norwich have scored only five goals,
Smith as head coach today, a week after two of which came from the penalty
he was sacked by Aston Villa. spot, but have conceded 26 times in the
He will sign a 2½-year contract to league this season. It is not clear what
replace Daniel Farke at the club, who funds Smith will have to strengthen the
are bottom of the Premier League, five squad in January, as the club spent
points adrift of safety. Norwich also £60 million in the summer.
held talks with Frank Lampard, who One beneficiary of Smith’s arrival is
pulled out of the running because he likely to be Todd Cantwell, who has ac-
did not feel it was the right opportunity. knowledged that he did not always see
Smith, 50, is expected to take charge eye to eye with Farke. Smith tried to sign
for the first time at home to Southamp- Cantwell, 23, in the summer when he
ton on Saturday. He parted ways with knew that he would lose Jack Grealish.
Villa after a run of five straight defeats Smith also has to decide if Billy Gil-
left them 16th in the table. mour is in his plans. The Scotland mid-
He impressed at Brentford and was fielder, 20, joined on loan from Chelsea
appointed Villa head coach in October in search of regular game time but he
2018, with the team 14th in the Sky Bet has either been dropped or left on the
Championship. He guided Villa to bench for the past six league matches.

Results
France (3) 8 Kazakhstan (0) 0 Today (7.45): Austria v Moldova; Israel v Group I Ipswich (0) 0 Oxford Utd (0) 0 Carlisle (0) 0 Barrow (0) 0
Football Mbappé 6, 12, 32, 87 Faroe Islands; Scotland v Denmark. P W D L F A GD Pts 21,322 7,470
World Cup qualifying: Group A Benzema 55, 59 Group G England 9 7 2 0 29 3 26 23
Rabiot 75 Poland 9 6 2 1 29 9 20 20 MK Dons (3) 4 Cambridge (0) 1 Exeter (1) 2 Oldham (0) 1
Luxembourg (0) 0 Ireland (0) 3 Griezmann 84 (pen) Montenegro (0) 2 Netherlands (1) 2 Albania 9 5 0 4 11 12 -1 15 Twine 13, 36 Smith 82
Duffy 68, Ogbene 75 Vukotic 82 Depay 25 (pen), 54 Hungary 9 4 2 3 17 12 5 14 Watters 25, 76 9,904 Jay 17 Bowden 84
Robinson 88 P W D L F A GD Pts Vujnovic 86 Brown 50 5,103
Andorra 9 2 0 7 8 23 -15 6 Sheff Wed (0) 1 Gillingham (1) 1
France (Q) 7 4 3 0 16 3 13 15 Norway (0) 0 Latvia (0) 0 San Marino 9 0 0 9 1 36 -35 0 Port Vale (0) 1 Bradford (0) 1
Portugal (1) 1 Serbia (1) 2
Finland 7 3 2 2 10 8 2 11 Kamberi 75 Oliver 22
Sanches 2 Tadic 33, Mitrovic 90 Turkey (3) 6 Gibraltar (0) 0 Today (7.45): Albania v Andorra; Poland v 20,593 Wilson 56 Angol 74
Ukraine 7 1 6 0 9 8 1 9 Hungary; San Marino v England.
P W D L F A GD Pts Bosnia-Herz 7 1 4 2 9 10 -1 7 Aktürkoglu 11 7,010
Dervisoglu 38, 41 Group J Wycombe (0) 0 Portsmouth (0) 1
Serbia (Q) 8 6 2 0 18 9 9 20 Kazakhstan 8 0 3 5 5 20 -15 3 Rochdale (1) 2 Leyton Orient (1) 2
Portugal (pl) 8 5 2 1 17 6 11 17 Demiral 65 6,471 Harness 73
Tomorrow (7.45): Bosnia-Herzegovina v Armenia (0) 1 Germany (2) 4 Newby 1, 90 Drinan 24
Ireland 8 2 3 3 11 8 3 9 Dursun 81, Müldür 84 P W D L F A GD Pts
Ukraine; Finland v France. Mkhitaryan 59 (pen) Havertz 15 2,751 Clay 66
Luxembourg 8 3 0 5 8 18 -10 9 Sent off: J Olivero (Gibraltar) 22 Gündogan Plymouth.............17 10 6 1 32 15 17 36
Azerbaijan 8 0 1 7 5 18 -13 1 Group E P W D L F A GD Pts 45+4 (pen), 50 Wigan...................16 11 1 4 30 13 17 34 Scunthorpe (1) 1 Salford (0) 1
Group B Belgium (1) 3 Estonia (0) 1 Holland 9 6 2 1 31 8 23 20 Hofmann 64 Rotherham.........16 9 4 3 29 12 17 31 Loft 37 McAleny 59
Turkey 9 5 3 1 25 15 10 18 Liechtenstein (0) 0 Romania (1) 2 Wycombe............17 9 4 4 26 21 5 31 2,614
Greece (1) 1 Kosovo (0) 1 Benteke 11 Sorga 70 MK Dons..............16 8 4 4 31 22 9 28
Carrasco 53 Norway 9 5 3 1 15 6 9 18
Masouras 44 Rrahmani 76 Man 7 Oxford Utd..........16 8 4 4 26 17 9 28 Stevenage (0) 1 Mansfield (1) 2
T Hazard 74 Montenegro 9 3 3 3 13 13 0 12 Bancu 87
Spain (0) 1 Sweden (0) 0 Latvia 9 1 3 5 8 13 -5 6 Sunderland.........15 9 1 5 25 21 4 28 Cuthbert 55 O’Toole 19
Morata 86 Wales (2) 5 Belarus (0) 1 Gibraltar 9 0 0 9 3 40 -37 0 N Macedonia (1) 3 Iceland (0) 1 Sheff Wed............17 6 8 3 21 16 5 26 2,946 Stirk 65
Ramsey 2, 50 (pen) Kontsevoy 87 Tomorrow (7.45): Gibraltar v Latvia; Holland Bardhi 7 Thorsteinsson 54 Ipswich.................17 6 6 5 34 25 9 24
P W D L F A GD Pts Elmas 65, 86 Portsmouth ........17 6 5 6 20 21 -1 23 Tranmere (0) 0 Sutton Utd (0) 1
Williams 20 v Norway; Montenegro v Turkey.
Spain (Q) 8 6 1 1 15 5 10 19 Davies 77 Sent off: I Johannesson (Iceland) 79 Bolton...................17 6 4 7 24 26 -2 22 Olaofe 71
Sweden (pl) 8 5 0 3 12 6 6 15 Group H Cambridge..........17 5 7 5 23 28 -5 22
Roberts 89 P W D L F A GD Pts Walsall (0) 1 Harrogate (1) 3
Greece 8 2 4 2 8 8 0 10 Croatia (0) 1 Russia (0) 0 Burton...................17 6 4 7 16 22 -6 22
Georgia 8 2 1 5 6 12 -6 7 P W D L F A GD Pts Germany (Q) 10 9 0 1 36 4 32 27 Accrington..........16 6 3 7 20 29 -9 21 Phillips 88 Power 20
Kudryashov 81 (og)
Kosovo 8 1 2 5 5 15 -10 5 Belgium (Q) 7 6 1 0 24 5 19 19 N Macedonia (pl) 10 5 3 2 23 11 12 18 Lincoln City........16 5 5 6 20 20 0 20 4,651 Diamond 61
Malta (0) 0 Slovakia (3) 6 Romania 10 5 2 3 13 8 7 17 Armstrong 82
Group C Wales 7 4 2 1 13 8 5 14 Cheltenham........16 5 5 6 20 27 -7 20
P W D L F A GD Pts Czech Rep 7 3 2 2 12 9 3 11 Rusnak 6, 16 Armenia 10 3 3 4 9 20 -11 12 Charlton...............17 5 4 8 22 24 -2 19
Duda 7, 69, 80 P W D L F A GD Pts
Italy 7 4 3 0 13 2 11 15 Estonia 7 1 1 5 9 19 -10 4 Iceland 10 2 3 5 12 18 -6 9 AFC Wimbledon 15 4 5 6 20 24 -4 17 Forest Green......15 9 4 2 27 13 14 31
De Marco 71 Liechtenstein 10 0 1 9 2 34 -32 1
Switzerland 7 4 3 0 11 2 9 15 Belarus 8 1 0 7 7 24 -17 3 Gillingham 17 3 8 6 16 22 -6 17 Port Vale ............. 16 8 5 3 28 16 12 29
N Ireland 7 2 2 3 6 7 -1 8 Sent off: R Camenzuli 46, T Teuma 51 Morecambe........16 4 3 9 25 30 -5 15
Tomorrow (7.45): Czech Republic v Estonia; (both Malta) Sky Bet League One Exeter...................16 7 8 1 27 16 11 29
Bulgaria 7 2 2 3 6 10 -4 8 Shrewsbury........16 4 3 9 15 22 -7 15 Northampton.....16 8 3 5 21 13 8 27
Lithuania 8 1 0 7 4 19 -15 3
Wales v Belgium. Slovenia (0) 2 Cyprus (0) 1 Accrington (0) 1 Plymouth (2) 4 Fleetwood...........15 3 5 7 26 27 -1 14
Leigh 50 Hamilton 23 (og) Harrogate ........... 16 7 5 4 30 21 9 26
Today (7.45): Northern Ireland v Italy; Group F Zajc 48, Cerin 84 Kakoullis 89 Doncaster ........... 16 3 3 10 11 29 -18 12 Newport Co........16 7 5 4 27 19 8 26
3,130 Houghton 44 Crewe....................17 1 6 10 12 31 -19 9
Switzerland v Bulgaria. P W D L F A GD Pts P W D L F A GD Pts Broom 63 Swindon...............15 7 5 3 22 15 7 26
Group D Denmark (Q) 9 9 0 0 30 1 29 27 Croatia (Q) 10 7 2 1 21 4 17 23 Hardie 76 League Two Sutton United....16 8 2 6 24 18 6 26
Scotland (pl) 9 6 2 1 15 7 8 20 Russia (pl) 10 7 1 2 19 6 13 22 Leyton Orient....16 5 9 2 27 14 13 24
Bosnia-Herz (0) 1 Finland (1) 3 Burton Albion (0) 0 Charlton (1) 1 Bristol Rovers (0) 2 Northampton (1) 1
Israel 9 4 1 4 20 19 1 13 Slovakia 10 3 5 2 17 10 7 14 Hartlepool...........16 7 2 7 18 22 -4 23
Menalo 69 Forss 29, Lod 50 Austria 9 4 1 4 15 16 -1 13 Slovenia 10 4 2 4 13 12 1 14 3,555 Purrington 20 Grant 54 Hoskins 39 (pen) Bradford..............16 5 7 4 22 19 3 22
O’Shaughnessy 73 Faroe Islands 9 1 1 7 5 20 -15 4 Cyprus 10 1 2 7 4 21 -17 5 Sent off: J Stockley (Charlton) 17; D Oshilaja Evans 59 6,884 Tranmere............16 6 4 6 11 11 0 22
Sent off: J Raitala (Finland) 37 Moldova 9 0 1 8 4 26 -22 1 Malta 10 1 2 7 9 30 -21 5 (Burton Albion) 18 Sent off: G Whelan (Bristol Rovers) 67 Rochdale.............16 5 6 5 21 21 0 21
the times | Monday November 15 2021 63

Sport

Road to World Cup 2022 in Qatar

World Cup finals: November 21 to December 18

Europe Portugal in play-offs after Serbia stun them with late winner Asia
Qualifying slots
Qualifying slots Qualified for play-offs heavyweight team at risk
Thirteen Scotland, Wales, Austria, of not even making the Five (including Qatar),
plus one play-off place
Czech Republic, Portugal, March play-offs, which
Qualified Sweden, Russia, North will feature ten group
Belgium, Denmark, Macedonia runners-up and two Qualified
Qatar (as hosts)
France, Germany, Spain, teams from the Nations
Serbia, Croatia Still in contention League. Three of the 12
Qualified for play-offs
Finland, Ukraine, Holland, play-off teams will reach
Qualified for play-offs Turkey, Norway, Romania Qatar: each of three four- at least
at least team groupings will None
Italy, Switzerland, State of play feature one-leg semi-
England, Poland Holland are the only finals and a one-leg final. Qualified for play-offs
None

Mitrovic’s header Still in contention

South America condemned Iran, South Korea,
Ronaldo, above, Lebanon, Iraq, United
and Portugal Arab Emirates, Syria,
Qualifying slots None Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia, to a place in
Four, plus one play-off Venezuela Saudi Arabia, Australia,
the play-offs Japan, Oman, China,
place Qualified for play-offs
Fulham’s Aleksandar Qatar and consigned Portugal to qualify, but Vietnam
None State of play
Qualified Argentina are almost Mitrovic stunned Cristiano Ronaldo and Mitrovic’s dramatic goal
Brazil Still in contention certain to qualify, with Portugal last night with a his team to the play-offs in Lisbon gave his team a State of play
All other nine teams Ecuador well placed. 90th-minute header that in March. A draw would 2-1 win. Spain qualified Iran and South Korea are
Qualified for play-offs in the confederation: Venezuela are the only secured Serbia’s place in have been enough for by beating Sweden 1-0. best placed to qualify,
at least Argentina, Ecuador, side who are very while Saudi Arabia,
Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, unlikely to progress. Australia and Japan are
The venues also in strong contention.

Stadium Capacity
North/Central America 10 miles
BAHRAIN 1 Al Bayt 60,000 Oceania
Qualifying slots Qualified for play-offs State of play 2 Lusail 86,250
Three, plus one play-off None Seven sets of matches 3 Al Rayyan 40,000 Qualifying slots
place remain in the eight-team 4 Qatar Foundation 45,350 One play-off place
Still in contention group, which is the final 1
5 Khalifa International 48,000
Qualified United States, Mexico, round of qualifying. Qualified
None Canada, Panama, United States, Mexico, 6 Ras Abu Aboud 40,000 None
2
Costa Rica, Jamaica, Canada and Panama Doha 7 Al Thumana 40,000
Qualified for play-offs El Salvador, Honduras have a clear lead over 3 4 Still in contention
at least the rest. QATAR 5 7
6 8 Al Janoub (Al Wakrah) 40,000
All 11 Oceania members
None 8
How size compares State of play
The qualifying
Africa competition is expected
to be played in March.
Qatar Plans have been
Qualifying slots Morocco, DR Congo, State of play changed by the Covid-19
Five (all via a two-legged Ghana The winners in each of pandemic. New Zealand
play-off) ten groups of four are are the favourites to
Still in contention paired in five two-legged Wales advance to a two-legged
Qualified Algeria, Burkina Faso, play-offs in March; the play-off against a team
None Tunisia, Equatorial winners qualify for the from another
Guinea, Zambia, Nigeria, finals. Six teams have QATAR
confederation.
Qualified for play-offs Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, won their groups, sealing SAUDI 100 miles
Mali, Egypt, Senegal, Cameroon play-off spots. ARABIA

Bristol Rovers....16 6 3 7 19 24 -5 21 Stockport (0) 1 Bromley (0) 1 Stourbridge 2; Cheshunt 1 Berkhamsted 0; P W D L F A GD Pts 64, 69, 70; A Sullivan 65, 71, 67, 65; J Stadium, Edinburgh). Saturday France 38
Walsall..................16 5 5 6 20 22 -2 20 Quigley 49 Hogan 89 (og) Colne 1 Tamworth 1 (Tamworth win 4-3 on Kilmarnock.........14 9 2 3 20 8 12 29 Janewattananond (Thai) 70, 68, 63, 67. 269 T New Zealand 13; Wales 29 South Africa 19
Barrow.................16 4 7 5 20 20 0 19 5,515 pens); Cray 2 Bedfont Sports 1; Farnborough Raith Rovers ...... 14 7 5 2 24 15 9 26 Olesen (Den) 67, 68, 68, 66; P Harrington 68, (Cardiff Arms Park).
Salford..................16 4 5 7 17 18 -1 17 1 Banbury 0; Felixstowe & Walton 2 Inverness CT......14 7 4 3 16 10 6 25 67, 67, 67; K Samooja (Fin) 67, 64, 68, 70; S Premiership Cup: Pool One Exeter 27 Bristol
Mansfield............16 4 5 7 16 21 -5 17 Torquay (1) 2 Dover (1) 1 Peterborough Sports 1; Folkestone Invicta 2 Partick Thistle...14 7 3 4 28 14 14 24 Crocker (US) 67, 66, 69, 67; A Meronk (Pol) 72, 33. Pool Two Leicester Tigers 32 Sale Sharks
Colchester...........15 4 5 6 12 19 -7 17 Little 34, 90 Gregory 4 Faversham 1; Gainsborough 1 Lancaster 2; Arbroath..............14 6 6 2 25 13 12 24 67, 63, 67. 270 T Fleetwood 66, 66, 68, 70; M 23; Newcastle Falcons 34 Wasps 27. Pool
Crawley................15 5 2 8 17 25 -8 17 2,892 Hanwell 1 Wingate & Finchley 0; Hartley Ayr United .......... 14 3 4 7 13 23 -10 13 Kaymer (Ger) 69, 67, 65, 69; P Waring. 65, 67, Three Northampton Saints 26 London Irish
Stevenage...........16 3 5 8 12 28 -16 14 Wintney 3 Willand 0; Hayes & Yeading 0 Hamilton..............14 3 4 7 13 28 -15 13 70, 68; S Jamieson 69, 65, 70, 66. 271 E Molinari 36; Saracens 28 Harlequins 21.
Carlisle.................16 2 7 7 11 24 -13 13
Wealdstone (0) 1 Barnet (0) 0 Worthing 3; Leiston 3 Harrow 0; Liversedge 3 (It) 69, 66, 67, 69; M Kieffer (Ger) 68, 71, 66, 66.
Morton.................14 2 6 6 11 18 -7 12 National League One Birmingham Moseley
Oldham................16 3 3 10 12 24 -12 12 Browne 77 2,662 Basford 2; Marine 2 Dunston 2 (Marine win Queen of South.14 3 3 8 12 21 -9 12 US PGA Tour Houston Open 8 Rosslyn Park 29; Blackheath 42 Taunton
Scunthorpe.........16 2 6 8 12 30 -18 12 5-4 on pens); Marlow 2 Larkhall 2 (Larkhall
Yeovil (1) 2 Eastleigh (0) 1 win 6-5 on pens); Marske 3 FC United of
Dunfermline.......14 1 7 6 12 24 -12 10 Leading final scores (United States unless Titans 19; Caldy 31 Leeds Tykes 28;
Vanarama National League Knowles 42 Pritchard 68 Manchester 2; Nantwich 2 Grantham 1; League One Alloa 2 Montrose 2; Cove stated): 270 J Kokrak 68, 71, 66, 65. 272 S Cambridge 45 Tonbridge Juddians 14;
Yussuf 76 2,494 Needham Market 3 Margate 2; Plymouth Rangers 3 Peterhead 0; Dumbarton 0 Falkirk Scheffler 72, 62, 69, 69; K Tway 67, 64, 73, 68. Chinnor 36 Plymouth Albion 41; Cinderford
Aldershot (1) 2 Grimsby (1) 1 3; East Fife 0 Airdrieonians 1; Queen’s Park 0 273 K Hickok 67, 67, 70, 69. 274 J Dahmen 70, 55 Bishop’s Stortford 39; Darlington Mowden
Willard 12 Clifton 17 6 Table on page 61 Parkway 4 Salisbury 0; Radcliffe 2 Nuneaton
69, 70, 65; M Trainer 65, 65, 74, 70. 275 S Burns
0; Royston 1 Kingstonian 1 (Kingstonian win Clyde 0. League Two Albion 1 Stirling Albion Park 15 Sale 32. League Two: North Hull 41
Whittingham 60 2,343 North AFC Fylde 3 Brackley Town 3; Bradford 4-3 on pens); Rushall Olympic 0 Matlock 4; 0; Elgin 1 Cowdenbeath 0; Kelty Hearts 1 70, 67, 71, 67; R Henley 65, 72, 68, 70; R Streb 68, Wharfedale 8; Hull Ionians 51 Blaydon 19;
Park Avenue 1 Spennymoor Town 1; Chester Forfar 0; Stenhousemuir 2 Annan 0. 71, 71, 65; C Tringale 69, 70, 68, 68. 276 L List 65, Loughborough Students 33 Huddersfield 29;
Altrincham (0) 1 Boreham Wood (0) 1 Walton Casuals 2 Uxbridge 6; Warrington 2
71, 69, 71; A Long 66, 67, 73, 70; D McCarthy 72,
FC 2 Darlington 2; Chorley 1 Leamington 0; Chasetown 0; Welwyn Garden 2 Carshalton 1; Luctonians 17 Bournville 11; Sheffield Tigers
Hancock 76 Fyfield 57 Women’s Super League Birmingham 0 69, 71, 64; M Wolff 68, 67, 69, 72. 277 H Lebioda
Curzon Ashton 0 York City 0; Gateshead 2 Weston-super-Mare 1 Wimborne 2; Whitby 5 12 Fylde 43; Stourbridge 32 Sedgley Park 31;
2,283 Aston Villa 1; Brighton 1 Leicester 0; Everton 1 67, 72, 69, 69; C Smith (Aus) 71, 69, 68, 69; V
Alfreton Town 1; Gloucester City 2 Farsley Mossley 0. Abandoned Bedford v Potters Tynedale 31 Harrogate 38. South Barnes 23
Manchester United 1; Manchester City 0 Whaley 69, 72, 65, 71; A Smalley 68, 72, 69, 68.
Chesterfield (2) 4 Weymouth (0) 0 Celtic 0; Guiseley 0 Hereford 2; Kettering Bar. Chelsea 4; West Ham 2 Reading 2. Saturday
Rochford Hundred 15; Clifton 40 Guernsey 17;
Tshimanga 23 (pen) 5,862 Town 4 Blyth Spartans 0; Kidderminster LPGA Tour Pelican Championship Henley 43 Worthing 26; Leicester Lions 32
Cinch Scottish Championship Tottenham 1 Arsenal 1.
45, 58 Harriers 3 AFC Telford United 0; Southport 4 Belleair, Florida: Leading final scores Dings Crusaders 15; Old Albanians 45
P W D L F A GD Pts Barnstaple 21; Redruth 31 Bury St Edmunds
Khan 73 Boston United 1. South Chelmsford City 1 Arbroath (0) 1 Queen of South (0) 1 Arsenal 7 6 1 0 24 3 21 19 (United States unless stated): 263 N Korda 65,
Hemel Hempstead Town 2; Chippenham 66, 63, 69; Sei Young Kim (S Kor) 64, 67, 65, 18; Westcliff 7 Esher 80.
Sent off: O Harfield (Weymouth) 22 McKenna 67 Cameron 55 Chelsea 7 6 0 1 22 5 17 18
Town 3 Billericay Town 0; Concord Rangers 2
Kings Lynn (1) 2 Wrexham (1) 6 Eastbourne Borough 1; Dartford 0 Oxford 1,408 Brighton 7 5 0 2 12 5 7 15 67; L Ko (NZ) 67, 66, 64, 66; L Thompson 65,
64, 65, 69 (Korda won play-off at first extra
Tennis
Tottenham 7 4 2 1 9 5 4 14
Clunan 12 Hayden 22 City 0; Dulwich Hamlet 3 Bath City 0; Ayr United (0) 0 Partick Thistle (2) 4 hole). 266 B Henderson (Can) 67, 69, 65, 65. ATP Stockholm Open
Linton 86 Davies 52 Man Utd 7 3 3 1 12 11 1 12
Hampton & Richmond A Braintree Town A; 267 A Ashok (India) 67, 71, 65, 64; G Lopez Final T Paul (US) bt D Shapovalov (Can) 6-4,
Mullin 63 2,037 Docherty 30 Aston Villa 7 3 1 3 5 10 -5 10
Havant & Waterlooville 0 Maidstone United (Mex) 66, 67, 68, 66; P Phatlum (Thai) 67, 66, 2-6, 6-4.
Ponticelli 76 Graham 33, 81 West Ham 7 2 3 2 10 10 0 9
0; Hungerford Town 3 Ebbsfleet United 4; 67, 67; P Tavatanakit (Thai) 68, 65, 64, 70 Jin
Jarvis 90 Gordon 90+2 Reading 7 2 1 4 8 12 -4 7 Nitto ATP World Tour Finals Turin
Slough Town 2 Dorking Wanderers 1; Welling Young ko (S Kor) 68, 66, 67, 66. 268 C Inglis
Green 90+4 Man City 7 2 1 4 11 16 -5 7 Pala Alpitour: Green Group N Mektic (Cro)
United 1 Tonbridge Angels 0. Hamilton (0) 0 Raith Rovers (3) 3 68, 70, 64, 66; J Korda 67, 67, 67, 67; Jeong-
Everton 7 2 1 4 7 14 -7 7 and M Pavic (Cro) bt K Krawietz (Ger) and H
Maidenhead (0) 1 Dag & Red (2) 4 FA Trophy: First round Truro City 1 Bognor Birmingham 7 0 1 6 2 16 -14 1 Eun Lee6 (S Kor) 68, 64, 69, 67.
1,303 MacDonald 6 (og) Tecau (Rom) 6-4, 6-4. Red Group D
Regis Town 1 (Truro City win 4-2 on pens).
Kelly 58
1,331
Balanta 28, 39, 66
Akanbi 72 Saturday AFC Totton 2 Frome 2 (AFC Totton Ross 34, 45 Leicester 7 0 0 7 3 18 -15 0 Rugby union Medvedev (Russ) bt H Hurkacz (Pol) 6-7 (5-7),
6-3, 6-4; M Granollers (Sp) and H Zeballos
Notts County (0) 2 Solihull Moors (0) 0
win 4-2on pens); Ashton Utd 5 Sutton Inverness CT (1) 1 Dunfermline (0) 2 Golf International matches: Men France 41 (Arg) bt I Dodig (Cro) and F Polasek (Slovakia)
Coldfield 1; Biggleswade 1 Enfield Town 2; Georgia 15; Wales 38 Fiji 23 (Principality
Wootton 55 12,843 Mckay 22 Devine 51 (og) European Tour AVIV Dubai Championship 4-6, 7-6 (12-10), 10-6.
Binfield 3 Cinderford 0; Bishop’s Stortford 2 Stadium). Saturday England 32 Australia 15
Mitchell 83 Chipstead 1; Bootle 3 Stalybridge 3 (Bootle 2,111 Thomas 64 Leading final scores (Great Britain and (Twickenham); Ireland 29 New Zealand 20 Akron WTA World Tour Finals Guadalajara
win 5-3 on pens); Bracknell 1 Tiverton 3; Morton (0) 0 Kilmarnock (2) 2 Ireland unless stated): 265 J Hansen (Den) 63, (Aviva Stadium); Italy 16 Argentina 37; Zapopan: Group A A Sabalenka (Bela) bt I
Southend (0) 0 Woking (1) 2 Brentwood 4 Staines 1; Bromsgrove Sporting 67, 67, 68. 266 B Wiesberger (Austria) 67, 66, Scotland 15 South Africa 30 (Murrayfield). Swiatek (Pol) 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Group B A Guarachi
5,821 Campbell 22 0 Morpeth 0 (Morpeth win 4-3 on pens); 2,878 Alston 34 68, 65; F Laporta (It) 66, 64, 67, 69. 268 Lee Women England 51 Canada 12 (Twickenham (Chile) and D Krawczyk (US) bt S Fichman
Kretzschmar 88 (pen) Canvey Island 6 Yaxley 0; Carlton 1 Shaw 43 Min-woo (Aus) 67, 67, 66, 68; A Rozner (Fr) 65, Stoop); Scotland 36 Japan 12 (DAM Health (Can) and G Olmos (Mex) 0-6, 6-3, 11-9.
64
Sport World Cup qualifying
Southgate should
only get his deal if
he reaches semis
Henry Winter
Chief Football Writer
England will qualify for the World Cup
tonight, Harry Kane will surely shoot
closer to Wayne Rooney’s goalscoring
record and Gareth Southgate will sign a
two-year extension imminently. No
wonder 3,000 noisy England fans are
hurrying to San Marino to raise a toast
or three.
England require only a point against
San Marino to reach Qatar, and the
hard qualifying work was done in the
away games against Hungary (a 4-0
win) and Poland (1-1). With Kane
scoring in Budapest and Warsaw,
Southgate’s men have controlled group
I, as they should, with this calibre of
playing talent.
Now for the real challenge: actually
winning a trophy. Southgate deserves
an improved deal, taking him from
£3 million a year to £5 million, but the
FA also has to ensure such a financial
commitment is performance-related.
The deal needs to be agreed and
announced but predicated on England
making the semi-finals in Qatar.
Signed, sealed, but deliver.
Just look at the quality of players he
can pick from, including the prolific
captain, Kane, and those who have
conquered Europe with their clubs,
Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexan-
der-Arnold, Mason Mount, Reece
James and Ben Chilwell. Southgate can
call on English champions such as Phil
Foden, Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker
and John Stones, on £100 million
players such as Jack Grealish, mobile
engine rooms in Declan Rice and
Kalvin Phillips, and a strong corps of
goalkeepers led by Jordan Pickford,
who has never let his country down.
Southgate has more excellence
emerging in Bukayo Saka, Jude Belling-
ham, Emile Smith Rowe and now
Conor Gallagher, who may win his
senior debut in Serravalle tonight. The
manager has able understudies for
Kane in Dominic Calvert-Lewin,
Tammy Abraham, Ollie Watkins and
Patrick Bamford. Harry Maguire, Luke
Shaw, Marcus Rashford, Mason
Greenwood and Jadon Sancho may not
be in the best of form for Manchester
United — and Dean Henderson on the
bench — but all are players of sub-
stance. England enjoy a fabulous gen-
eration of players, most of them of an
age where they will only improve, and it
is Southgate’s job, and duty, to guide
them to a trophy.
The FA believes that the man it is giv-
ing a new deal to is the real deal. Yet it
also needs remembering that in key
moments, against Croatia in the semi-
final of the 2018 World Cup and against
Italy at the Euros this summer, South-
gate failed to respond as cleverly as
Zlatko Dalic and Roberto Mancini did,
respectively. Southgate still has to
prove he can get England over the line.
Yet the desire for Southgate to stay on
longer term is understandable. The
players like and respect him. There has
been clear progress in terms of
tournament finishes, whatever the
frustration around Southgate’s slow
reaction to a turning tide. The fans sing
his name. He has removed the fear,
ended the club cliques, blooded young
players and made England likeable and
watchable after the horrors of Iceland
in Nice at Euro 2016.
The FA hierarchy has changed in the
past decade but the present powerbro-
kers, mainly the chief executive, Mark
Bullingham, would be wise at least to
recall the lessons of history. It was even
mentioned to Southgate yesterday
about how one of his predecessors, Fa-
bio Capello, renegotiated his position
on the eve of the 2010 World Cup finals.
The FA agreed to remove a break
clause amid interest from Inter Milan,
with Capello hugely popular after
storming qualifying with nine wins
from ten games. The new deal in effect
bound both parties until the end of
San Marino v England
World Cup qualifier, Stadio Olimpico di
Serravalle, Kick-off 7.45pm. ITV, talkSPORT
San Marino
(possible
E Benedettini
4-5-1)
D Rossi A Grandoni F Fabbri M Battistini
D Tomassini F Tomassini M Malaroni
L Lunadei E Golinucci
N Nanni
E Smith Rowe H Kane B Saka
J Bellingham K Phillips P Foden
T Mings C Coady
B Chilwell T Alexander-Arnold
4-3-3)
A Ramsdale (possible
England
Euro 2012 and meant that the FA was
liable to a £10 million payoff should it
want to get rid of Capello after the
World Cup.
England promptly stank South
Africa out, got played off the park by
Germany in Bloemfontein and, off the
pitch, Capello’s players flitted between
boredom and mutiny in the strict camp
run by the Italian. He refused to resign
and placed the onus for any decision on
the FA, which was reluctant to fork out
that settlement.
An uneasy truce reigned until Capel-
lo eventually resigned in February
2012, having guided England to Euro
2012 (but having been outraged by the
FA’s insistence that he strip John Terry
of the captaincy after he was charged
over racially abusing Queens Park
Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand).
Southgate was the FA’s head of elite
development at the time and very
aware of the Capello saga. He under-
stood the FA’s pre-tournament backing
of Capello. “You’d never have a contract
if you didn’t judge somebody before a
tournament,” Southgate said, before
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
Foden appears
to take one for
the team in
England
training,
watched by
new call-up
Gallagher,
centre, and
Smith Rowe
flying out to San Marino. The situations
are different in that Southgate can
point to the 2018 World Cup in Russia
and Euro 2020. “I think on the back of
two tournaments and progress made
that’s a more acceptable sort of conver-
sation to be having,” Southgate said, on
why he deserved a new deal now.
He added that he delayed negotia-
tions to focus on qualifying first. “I
didn’t think it would be right to be
holding too much of those detailed dis-
cussions ahead of such a tight schedule
of qualifying matches,” Southgate said.
“I can understand people are always
going to have a view of whatever way
you do it. We’ve tried to do it
professionally by focusing on the
summer, by focusing on qualification,
and then we will see where it leads after
that.” It will lead to the two-year exten-
sion proposed by Bullingham during
the Euros.
One of the reasons why there is
pressure on Southgate to deliver, the
squad quality, is something he also
deserves praise for. Southgate was in-
strumental in transforming the age-
group development pathway and now
the boys of 2017 have become seniors.
That year Foden, Gallagher and
Smith Rowe won the Under-17 World
Cup along with two players not in
Southgate’s squad at present, Sancho
and Callum Hudson-Odoi. James was
named young player of the Toulon
tournament that England won. Also in
2017, Mount and Aaron Ramsdale be-
came European Under-19 champions.
Three other players Southgate has
capped, Fikayo Tomori, Dean
Henderson and Calvert-Lewin, lifted
the Under-20 World Cup.
The changes that Southgate put in Terrible opponents, yes,
but here’s why it matters
place brought more intense match-day
challenges. “The more winning
experiences they could have, the more
big-match experience they can have
and the feeling of playing well and
succeeding in an England shirt, that’s Paul Joyce had 85 per cent of possession and
definitely been something that through mustered 32 shots. “Phil can play in a
Dan [Ashworth], Matt Crocker and workload england’s own fault number of positions,” Southgate said.
now John [McDermott] is a desire for The Nations League has been heavily “There is a certain opponent when he
us,” Southgate said of past and present derided, but amid complaints that the plays as a midfield player and I think
technical gurus. San Marino game is inconvenient, it that’s how we would see it.”
There is a pathway towards the sen- is worth remembering England are in San Marino, international football’s
iors, and strong bonds between players a six-team group only because they lowest-ranked team, fall under the
get built on the way. “John’s out with our flopped in their qualifying campaign, category of a “certain opponent”.
under-19s in Sweden at the moment, taking just four points from home and
and he was with the under-21s earlier in away fixtures with Belgium and under-21s still best way in
the week, but we’re in communication Denmark. It left them exposed to The promotions of Conor Gallagher
with all those coaches,” Southgate con- international football’s cannon fodder. and Emile Smith Rowe from the
tinued. “Conor and Emile have played France, Belgium, Spain and Italy — under-21 set-up serve to highlight the
well with the under-21s and they’ve the four Nations League finalists — pathway England will always favour.
played very well with their clubs and were all drawn in groups of five. The If Callum Hudson-Odoi is serious
their progress is really exciting.” qualifying draw for the next Nations about his international career, he may
So the FA’s gratitude to Southgate League tournament takes place on have to reconsider his refusal to play
runs deep. Having built a coach-devel- December 16, with four games in June for the junior side in the belief his
opment centre at St George’s Park, the and two next September. The benefits performances at Chelsea are enough.
FA knows it has to back homegrown of performing adeptly are clear. “Clearly, the process for us is much
coaches, narrowing the field for when- more straightforward when the boys
ever Southgate does move on. Those expect foden to go deep with the under-21s can come and
who fit the FA mould would be Brigh- There would be little surprise if train with us and they can slide across
ton & Hove Albion’s Graham Potter, Gareth Southgate deploys Phil Foden for the matches,” Southgate said.
the favourite, followed by Eddie Howe, in a deeper midfield role in the Stadio “We know exactly what they’ve
of Newcastle United. For now, the FA Olimpico di Serravalle, as he did with been doing all week in terms of their
pours all its hope, and increasing the Manchester City youngster last training load. These two boys have
amounts of money, into Southgate. month in Andorra. That night Foden earned their opportunity through
Officials will tonight celebrate pulled the strings in the 5-0 success both what they’ve done with England
qualification for another lucrative and showcased his full repertoire of but also their club form.”
tournament, and then trust that passing. When England beat San Smith Rowe, the Arsenal attacker,
Southgate can deliver at the World Cup. Marino at Wembley in March, they is under consideration to make his full
the times | Monday November 15 2021
debut this evening and Gallagher, on
loan at Crystal Palace from Chelsea,
should make his bow at some point.
chance for alexander-arnold
Trent Alexander-Arnold will get an
opportunity to impress at right back,
having seen Reece James catch the
eye in Friday’s win over Albania.
James played as a right wing-back
and his ability in that 3-4-3 is making
him indispensable. The efforts of
Alexander-Arnold, the Liverpool
defender, to establish himself have
proved more difficult. He should see
plenty of the ball and runs in behind
the San Marino defence could be an
important part of England’s plans.
one eye on the world cup
England’s bubbling optimism about
the World Cup was outlined by the
defender Conor Coady. “I’ll be honest,
we speak about it all the time,” the
Wolverhampton Wanderers captain
said. “The coaching staff speak about
the excitement, the manager speaks
about the excitement of trying to get
to the biggest show on earth. That’s
where we want to be, that’s what
we’ve worked so hard for.”
Clarification
In the second edition of Saturday’s
paper, we said that Ron Flowers, who
died on Friday aged 87, was a
goalkeeper. He was, in fact, a midfield
player. We apologise for the error.
San Marino
v England
World Cup qualifier
Tonight, 7.45pm
TV: ITV
Radio: talkSPORT
Q&A
How bad are San Marino?
Literally the worst team in the world.
At No 210 and bottom of the Fifa
rankings, they are pipping Anguilla
and the British Virgin Islands for
international football’s wooden spoon.
How has it got so bad?
San Marino have lost all but two of
their 53 matches since 2014. You have
to go back to George W Bush’s first
term and the dawn of Facebook for
their previous win, a 1-0 victory over
Liechtenstein in April 2004. In total,
they have played 181 games in 31
continued from back
Kane wants to face San Marino
he scores at the Stadio Olimpico Di
Serravalle. No England player has
scored more than 12 goals in a single
year, with Kane (2019), George Hilsdon
(1908) and Dixie Dean (1927) jointly
holding the record at present.
Southgate said: “For sure, [Kane] is
keen to play. We have got to make sure
we get this game won and we still have
to try to qualify for the World Cup.”
England yesterday called up Conor
Gallagher, the midfielder on loan at
Crystal Palace from Chelsea, from the
under-21s, while Jordan Henderson
and Jack Grealish pulled out with
JOHN SIBLEY/ACTION IMAGES/REUTERS
How they stand in group I
P W D L F A
England 9 7 2 0 29 3 26
Poland 9 6 2 1 29 9 20
Albania 9 5 0 4 11 12
Hungary 9 4 2 3 17 12
Andorra 9 2 0 7 8 23
San Marino 9 0 0 9 1 36
years and have lost 174 times, scoring
26 goals and conceding 769.
Any memorable moments?
Barring that one win, their best days
involve holding more fancied sides to
draws — a 1993 stalemate with Turkey
is a high point. And don’t forget
Davide Gualtieri’s strike after eight
seconds against England in 1993, the
second-fastest goal in World Cup
qualifying history. Who cares if they
went on to concede seven?
Why are they so bad?
A tiny enclave near the Italian Riviera
with only 33,000 inhabitants, San
Marino has fewer than 2,000 registered
players — England has 14 million.
Prodigious talents switch to Italy.
injuries. Raheem Sterling has also with-
drawn because of a personal issue.
The Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron
Ramsdale could make his England
debut, while Trent Alexander-Arnold,
Jude Bellingham and Emile Smith
Rowe may all feature.
The England players plan to hold
talks on how they can address concerns
about human rights in Qatar, which
include the deaths of thousands of
migrant workers, after they seal qualifi-
cation for the 2022 World Cup.
“We’ve always said that we make sure
we do our job first,” Conor Coady, part
of England’s leadership group, said.
“Then the conversation will be had
with the players.”
Bale v Hazard: meeting
of the Real hate figures
Unwanted in Madrid,
the club-mates collide
tomorrow as lodestars
for Wales and Belgium,
writes Ian Hawkey
‘L
amentable,” thought one
pundit. “A disgrace,” said
another. And so the
bidding rose. “He’s toying
with the badge of the club
he represents.” “He’s a bad example to
the dressing room.” All in all, an
unusual way of marking a player’s
100th cap for his country and quite
distinct from the serenades being
broadcast to listeners of BBC Radio
Wales.
These were some of the phrases
bandied around on one of the more
sober Spanish late-night football
shows, El Larguero, as discussion on
Saturday turned to Gareth Bale’s 45
minutes captaining Wales. He was
withdrawn at half-time, with the win
against Belarus apparently assured
and his thoughts turning to
preserving his fitness for the final
World Cup group qualifier against
Belgium tomorrow, where a
favourable seeding in the play-offs
may be at stake.
Bale, 32, may be tempted shake
hands at kick-off with the Belgium
captain and his Real Madrid team-
mate, Eden Hazard, and share a
knowing smile. Both are entitled to
wonder if the dense cloud created by
pundits fulminating about them will
have cleared from the skies above
Madrid when they return to the city
GD Pts they call home. It is fair to say that
23
20
Bale, who joined from Tottenham
-1 15 Hotspur for £85 million in 2013, and
5 14 Hazard, who arrived from Chelsea for
-15 6 £130 million in 2019, are hardly
-35 0 beloved in the Spanish capital.
Hazard, 30, reached his own
milestone as Bale was winning his
100th cap — his 51st time (a Belgian
record) captaining a country whose
rise from failing to qualify for the
2010 World Cup finals to Fifa’s world
No 1 team has coincided with his
senior career. He has been as much of
a national lodestar as Bale, although
if you read the coverage in the
Madrid-based newspaper AS of
Belgium sealing their place at Qatar
2022 with a 3-1 win over Estonia, you
would have missed that. Hazard had
“his umpteenth anonymous game” as
it reported a “grey” night for
“Belgium’s star of yesteryear”.
If Bale agitated pundits by playing,
from kick-off, for Wales after two
months out for Real because of injury,
Bale and Hazard, pictured playing against Levante in August, have spent far more
time on the pitch for their countries than for Real Madrid in the past six months
65
Sport
Hazard did so with his symptoms of
rustiness after starting only five of the
17 club matches for which he has been
available this season. What irks in
both cases is the low yield of club
action set against very elevated
salaries. The two best-paid players
and most expensive recruits at Real
have, over the past six months, spent
far more time on the pitch for their
countries than their employer.
There’s the hobby — golf in Bale’s
case — that gets viewed as a vice. Then
there’s the moment you’re caught being
insufficiently grave on camera. Bale’s
was when, as a non-playing substitute
during the run-in of the successful
2019-20 title race, he distractedly rolled
up some medical tape and put it to his
eye as if it were a telescope. For
Hazard, it was smiling and laughing
with former Chelsea colleagues straight
after his former club knocked Real out
of a Champions League semi-final. The
giggling Belgian moved a step nearer to
the golfing Welshman for the sceptics.
Nobody obliges either of them to
listen to El Larguero, read AS or dwell
in the angrier corners of social media.
But the sound of scepticism is
suddenly more immediate. Crowds
are back in Spanish stadiums, and
those at the Bernabéu have been
quick with their disapproval.
Bale endured many episodes of
Bernabéu booing pre-pandemic, while
knowing that there is an unerasable
record of his brilliance: the four
European Cups, featuring decisive
roles in two of the finals plus the
match-winning goals against
Liverpool in 2018; the two La Liga
titles and a Copa del Rey in which a
dazzling Bale solo settled the final
against Barcelona. When he reaches
the end of his contract in June, Bale
will be reminded that he outstayed his
welcome. But more people will thank
him for the great moments he spread
across his first five years.
The Belgian has no such alibis.
When Madrid won La Liga at the end
of his first season, 2019-20, Hazard,
bedevilled with injuries, played fewer
minutes than even Bale.
Hazard’s total playing time since
joining Real amounts to barely more
than one game in four. It is nearly
two years since he played a full 90
minutes in a Real shirt and six
months since the most recent of his
five goals for them. He has fallen
behind Vinícius Júnior in the pecking
order for the wide attacking positions.
That queue may just have got
longer. Bale, deemed fit enough to
start for Wales, will be in contention
— at least until Real try to usher him
off the wage bill in January.
Wales v Belgium, tomorrow 7.45pm, Sky
Sports Main Event
QUALITY SPORT IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES
66 Monday November 15 2021 | the times

Sport Rugby union

Farrell: from English reject

stick with what they were good at, they
David Walsh avoided the intricacies. Skill-sets were
Dublin what Kiwis had. That has all changed.
The Irish team has lost its inferiority Three wins out of five

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complex, and good riddance to that. Margin of defeat or victory for Ireland in their 33 games against the All Blacks
Ireland
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coach of South Africa at the time,
Rassie Erasmus, was dismissive on one -1 0

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count. Speaking of Wales, he said: -6 -8
-9 -8 -11 -9 -11 -10 -10
Walking past the Beggars Bush pub on “They are not softies. They’re not like -11 -12
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Haddington Road an hour before the Ireland. They are tough f*****s.” -19 -20
game, it felt reassuringly like old times. That’s quite an accusation. So, let’s -24
So many people in green rugby shirts, jump to the ninth minute of Saturday’s -32 -32 -32
people spilling on to the pavement wonderful Test at the Aviva Stadium. -38 -38
outside, finding the space to make sure Having been pinned deep inside their
they didn’t spill their drinks. With each half for the first eight minutes, the All -48
sip, they could taste the anticipation, Blacks got a penalty and an attacking -53
the sense that maybe today could be opportunity inside Ireland’s half. -60
Ireland’s day. Five years before, after 111 Beauden Barrett then floated the most
years, Ireland had finally discovered precise cross-field kick into Will
that the All Blacks were beatable. Jordan’s arms.
It was on a day such as this in 1973, in The hugely impressive Jordan
this very pub, that I first felt the pre- stepped inside Hugo Keenan before
game excitement and heard the accent being brought down by James Lowe
of our Northern Irish brothers. Most of close to the Irish line. In an instant the
them would have been Unionists and ball was recycled and fed to the surging
yet they came to support the same team Jordie Barrett. The Kiwi full back is 6ft
as us because it was their team as much 5in and 15st. He is also massively
as ours. That January afternoon in ’73 is powerful and bloody quick. Taking the
remembered as the day that England ball at speed, it seemed impossible that
turned up, a year after Wales and Scot- he could be stopped. Somehow Andrew
land had refused to travel to Dublin. Conway, sprinting from his station on
England came at a time when the the right wing, came across to make the
Troubles were raging, killings almost most perfect tackle.
every day, and inside the Shelbourne Softies? Not on Saturday. It was
Hotel the visiting players needed to amusing to read the comments of Kiwi
sidestep all the police officers to get to fans as they poured out their grief on
their rooms. Shortly before 3 o’clock
that Saturday afternoon John Pullin
emerged from the Havelock Road How Ireland dominated
corner of the old Lansdowne Road and
everyone in the stadium stood and
applauded.
Ireland New Zealand
Not for one minute or two, but for
four or five. It was, if you were fortunate 101 Tackles 238
to have been inside the stadium, 19 Missed Tackles 18
something that could never be 145 Carries 83
forgotten. In the 48 years since, only the 463 Metres gained 328
atmosphere at Croke Park for
22min 10sec Time 14min 51sec
England’s first game at that historic sta-
in possession
dium in 2007 comes anywhere close.
Ireland won in 1973 and in 2007 but the 8min 11sec Time in 1min 56sec
results were dwarfed by the occasion. opposition 22
There is, though, quite a difference 14min 59sec Time in 5min 39sec
between the Ireland of Saturday and opposition half

‘We poked the bear but

the rugby country that we had in 1973.
Back then we played with emotion and,
occasionally in Dublin, that would be
enough to beat superior opposition.
Tim Rodber, an England back-row
forward in the 1990s, used to say that
the trick to beating Ireland was to sur-
vive the 20 minutes of “boot and bol-
lock”. Through the Eighties, Nineties
and early Noughties, England
routinely dismantled Ireland.
You may wonder how bad it could
have been. Well, on June 2, 1992, Ireland
played Manawatu at the Showgrounds
Oval in Palmerston North. Manawatu
were then a second division team in
New Zealand’s provincial hierarchy.
They shouldn’t have been able to troub-
le Ireland, but Manawatu won 58-24.
Stu Cruden, the home skipper, wasn’t
impressed. “I’m disappointed,” he
lamented, “we’ve got Samoa next week
and we were hoping for a better hit-
out.”
So, in truth, the scene in the bars of
Dublin early on Saturday afternoon
wasn’t at all like old times. The pessi-
mism, not to say fatalism, that was once
part of our match-day kit is no longer
on sale. No demand. No Irish person
would disagree with the contention
that the All Blacks are the No 1 team in
world rugby. Irish fans would have all
demurred if you’d dare to suggest that
their team had no chance.
Ireland’s team has evolved and is
continuing to evolve. Once content to
social media, bemoaning that their
pack had been bullied by the Irish. At
last the boot was on the other foot.
There was so much to like in the way
Ireland played. Conway, a wing, sprint-
ing to get to a restart and jumping so
high and so aggressively that the giant
Sam Whitelock was forced into an
error. Conway and Lowe on the other
wing found so many ways to insinuate
themselves into the action that their
team-sheet positions seemed almost an
irrelevance.
Historically, Ireland had produced
the occasional good front-row forward
but it has never had a threesome such
as Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and
Tadhg Furlong. They scrum, they ruck,
they tackle and they run. They throw
no-look passes with the nonchalance of
a fly half and they utterly outplayed
their Kiwi rivals. Kelleher, a Johnny-
come-lately really, was outstanding.
It was the same story in the back row
where the newest addition, Caelan
Doris, stood out. When Doris received
that short pass from Jamison Gibson-
Park early in the second half, it was
second nature for him to take an inside
line on to Codie Taylor’s weaker left
shoulder. The Kiwi hooker’s attempted
tackle was woeful and he would soon be
replaced. Doris is quite a footballer.
And, finally, to the delicious irony of
a brilliant performance. It was master-
minded by an Englishman. Andy
Farrell is a graduate from the school of
rugby league and he came to union
with some fundamental beliefs about
rugby. Foremost is that his team must
win the physical battle. Ireland’s ag-
gressive defence was straight from Far-
rell’s playbook. Softies? I don’t think so.
The head coach’s greatest contribu-
tion is, however, not in defence but
attack. He must be a very persuasive
man because he has convinced this side
that they can play ball-in-hand rugby
against the best in the world. For all his
excellence as coach, Joe Schmidt was
never so adventurous and his rugby was
never so entertaining.
When they ushered out Farrell after
the 2015 World Cup, English rugby
really didn’t know what it was doing.
Scorers: Ireland: Tries Lowe 14, Kelleher 45, Doris
50. Con Sexton. Pens Sexton, Carbery 3.
New Zealand: Tries Taylor 32, Jordan 62. Cons
J Barrett 2. Pens J Barrett 2.
Ireland H Keenan; A Conway, G Ringrose, B Aki
(K Earls 72min), J Lowe; J Sexton (J Carbery 65),
J Gibson-Park (C Murray 72); A Porter (C Healy
76), R Kelleher (R Herring 59), T Furlong
(F Bealham 66), I Henderson (T Beirne 48),
J Ryan, C Doris, J Van der Flier (P O’Mahony 59),
J Conan.
New Zealand J Barrett; W Jordan, R Ioane,
A Lienert-Brown (D Havili 38), S Reece; B Barrett
(R Mo’unga 22), T Perenara; J Moody
(K Tu’inukuafe 52), C Taylor (sin-bin 13-23; Coles
52), N Laulala (T Lomax 52), B Retallick,
S Whitelock, E Blackadder (D Coles 23-30;
A Ioane 61), D Papalii, A Savea.
Referee L Pearce (Eng). Attendance 51,700.
Peter O’Reilly Dublin
If present rankings are any sort of
guide, Ireland are due to meet New
Zealand in the World Cup quarter-
finals at the Stade de France on Sunday,
October 23, 2023. If Saturday’s seismic
clash in Dublin was any sort of
precursor, it should be the game of the
tournament.
Ireland’s victory will encourage them
to believe that they are capable of going
where no previous Irish team have
gone before — to the semi-finals of
rugby’s showpiece event. Ian Foster, the
New Zealand head coach, described it
as “the best Irish performance in my
time” — this from a man who was
involved in the All Blacks’ coaching set-
up for their two previous defeats
against the Irish, in 2016 and 2018.
Foster’s crumb of comfort is that the
All Blacks can reassert themselves next
July, when Ireland’s season ends with
three Tests in New Zealand. The Ireland
head coach, Andy Farrell, conceded
that his team had “poked the bear” and
he expects the reaction to be nasty.
But Farrell welcomes any opportunity
to take on these opponents. Their brand
of high-tempo relentlessness is what
Ireland wish to emulate. “History shows,
the next time you play against the All
Blacks, that’s the most difficult,” Farrell
said after this, Ireland’s seventh consecu-
tive win this year. “That’s part of our jour-
ney and it’s a great one. We want to test
ourselves against the best.
“[Having] 50,000 people behind us
here tonight and getting the victory
against them is all well and good, but we
know it’s going to be harder down the
track. That’s what I said during the
week. The more we’re going to play
these guys, the better we’re going to get.
“I’ve no doubt they’ll come firing
back at us in the first Test. But it’s the
place that we want to be.”
The idea of being excited by these
opportunities had been one of Farrell’s
main themes during the build-up, and it
proved to be a highly charged occasion
— some of the verbal exchanges
between Johnny Sexton and Dane
Coles were for after the watershed.
When it came down to it, however,
Ireland’s ability to maintain their
equilibrium was the key to victory.
Their work rate and execution were
consistent for 80 minutes, allowing
them to cope with setbacks that might
have derailed lesser teams.
the times | Monday November 15 2021
to Ireland’s hero
we want All Blacks coming for us’
By half-time, for example, they
should have felt utterly deflated, having
enjoyed a three-quarter share of
possession and territory only to find
themselves trailing 10-5.
New Zealand lost Beauden Barrett
and Anton Lienert-Brown to injury in
that period and had Codie Taylor in the
sin-bin for ten minutes for a high shot
on Sexton. But their defence was
freakishly good. They made 160
tackles in that first half, compared to
32 by Ireland.
After Tadhg Furlong was denied a
try after a double movement by
Ronan Kelleher was spotted by
the TMO, the All Blacks then
sucker-punched Ireland with
Taylor’s try at the other end.
Ireland were unfazed,
however. “We’re getting
pretty good at staying in thee
moment, being nice and
controlled,” Farrell said.
“Trusting ourselves, sticking
to the process and keep p “It’s tough, particularly when people
believing in what we are trying
to achieve. That is the crux of it.””
Farrell, Paul O’Connell and d reaction when his
the other members of the
coaching staff clearly earned d Blacks again in July
their corn at the break for it was in the
next ten minutes that Ireland regained
the lead and a measure of control.
Appropriately enough, their second
and third tries came from two of the
younger stars, Kelleher and Caelan
Doris. The latter’s effort, after a 20-
metre surge towards the posts, is sure to
earn iconic status.
At this point the All Blacks looked
drained. They made more handling
errors in those ten minutes than
t
they would normally make in an
entire season. And yet they are
phenomenally resilient and
lethal in attack.
Will Jordan’s try in the
62nd minute ripped the
game back open. Six
minutes later, Akira
Ioane touched down
only for the officials to
decide that the scoring
p
pass had been forward.
“I saw it differently,”
Farrell hailed the
win but expects a
side face the All
BRENDAN MORAN/SPORTSFILE
Lowe crosses
for the first try
despite the
best efforts of
Jordie Barrett
Foster said. “That’s life. It was really,
really marginal.”
If this was a stroke of good luck for
Ireland, there was nothing fortunate
about the way that they closed out the
game, with the bench players such as
Peter O’Mahony and Tadhg Beirne
helping to quell any attempted
counterattacks.
Also reassuring for Farrell was that
his team kept playing until the end, and
they did so without Sexton, who was off
the field for the final 15 minutes. His
replacement, Joey Carbery, kicked
three nerveless penalties, including
one monster from 50 metres.
Carbery will surely start on Sunday
against Argentina, as Farrell seeks to
complete an autumnal clean sweep
while also building depth.
“We want to finish on a high,” Farrell
said. “The aim is to be as consistently
good as we possibly can be. That’s the
hardest thing in any sport, to be
consistently at your best.
are chasing you down. It’s a lot easier to
be the underdog. To be the favourite, to
keep your feet on the ground, we have
to train well this week, prepare as we
have over the last few weeks.”
Rivals’ form paints
ominous World Cup
picture for Scotland
0
Scotland
15
2
1
South Africa
30
Alasdair Reid
Scottish Rugby Correspondent
As if the portents from this match were
not bad enough for Gregor Townsend,
the Scotland head coach would have
found a few more when the news
filtered through from Dublin that
Ireland had beaten the All Blacks.
Combined, those two results moved
South Africa to the top of the world
rankings and Ireland up to fourth place
— an ominous scenario as Scotland
have been drawn in the same pool as
both teams for the World Cup in France
in 2023.
A lot can happen between now and
then, but if those rankings count for
anything — and they usually do — then
Scotland look destined to exit the tour-
nament before the knockout stage for
the second time in a row. South Africa
looked fearsomely strong at Murray-
field and their team will be far from over
the hill in two years’ time. Ireland,
meanwhile, keep churning out the
players and results that would have
been inconceivable when they were the
whipping boys of Test rugby at the
dawn of the professional era.
It was an act of stark and indefensible
stupidity of World Cup organisers to
base their draw on seedings that will be
almost four years old by the time the
tournament takes place, but it is the
hand that Scotland have been dealt and
the one they want to play.
There were indications in the Scots’
victory over Australia six days earlier
that Townsend has a team and a
strategy that could peak in 2023, but
you might have said the same when
Scotland hammered Australia in No-
vember 2017. Two years later, they
made an early and humiliating exit
from the World Cup in Japan.
The Glasgow Warriors team that
Townsend coached before he moved up
to the Scotland job could be relied upon
to run rings round a side they matched
physically. Inconveniently, they could
usually be relied upon to lose heavily to
teams that outmuscled them as well.
That pattern was painfully obvious
against South Africa, although the
Scots could hardly claim that they were
always going to be bullied out of the
game, as they actually went into it with
a pack that was substantially heavier
than their opponents’.
Weights listed in the match-day
programme have to be taken with a
pinch of salt, but they usually provide a
reasonable guide. The numbers on
Saturday suggested that Scotland’s
pack was fully 53kg heavier than South
Africa’s. That works out at 6.6kg — just
over a stone in old money — per player.
And yet those Scottish forwards were a
poor second best in just about every
significant area of the game.
The set piece was brutal for Scotland.
A good number of the 15 penalties they
conceded — an indefensible total at
this level — happened in the scrum.
Townsend suggested that Angus Gard-
ner, the Australian referee, ignored
advice from his assistants to the effect
that the Springboks were scrummaging
illegally, but it is doubtful whether
another official would have made much
of a difference to the overall pattern.
“We knew the set piece was going to
be a real challenge,” Townsend said.
67
Sport
“South Africa are up there with the best
in the world around their scrum and
lineout, their game is based on having
more set pieces.
“Our scrum wasn’t good enough
throughout the 80 minutes. At times it
looked good and at times the assistant
referee was shouting ‘green, green’ but
the referee didn’t seem to hear him. But
we know at times that South Africa had
the upper hand at the scrum.”
Scotland somehow managed to hold
a two-point lead, 10-8, after the first 40
minutes of punishment, but they caved
in thereafter as South Africa beat them
and beasted them at the breakdown.
Rugby these days is largely about
winning collisions, but in those terms
the South African steamroller had the
Scots heading for the scrapyard long
before the end.
So now South Africa head to
Twickenham with a team that is broad-
ly similar and a game plan that is pretty
much identical to the one they used to
hammer England in the World Cup
final in Yokohama two years ago.
They warmed up for this tour by
beating the All Blacks and they have
now put away Wales and Scotland with
something to spare. Physically,
England may give them more of a test,
but many of us expected that to happen
Scotland’s pack had a 53kg advantage
but could not make it tell in the scrum
in Japan as well. England will certainly
have to find some way to reduce the
influence of Kwagga Smith, the out-
standing flanker, and to at least partial-
ly defuse the front-row bomb squad
who made their customary entry from
the bench at Murrayfield and made
their customary nuisance of them-
selves.
It should be a matter of some concern
to Scotland that they were routinely
beaten to and at the breakdown by that
lumbering Springbok trio.
On the plus side, the day provided
another couple of milestones in the life
of Stuart Hogg, the Scotland captain,
who broke the world record for most
Tier One Test starts at full back and
who drew level with Ian Smith and
Tony Stanger as Scotland’s all-time top
tryscorer with the two touchdowns that
brought his personal tally up to 24.
Scorers: Scotland: Tries Hogg (35, 58) Con
Russell. Pen Russell. South Africa: Tries Mapimpi
(28, 43) Con E Jantjies. Pens E Jantjies (3), Pollard
(2), Steyn.
Scotland S Hogg; R McLean (B Kinghorn 52min),
C Harris, M Scott (A Hastings 71), D van der
Merwe; F Russell, A Price (G Horne 71);
P Schoeman (J Bhatti 62), S McInally (E Ashman
62), Z Fagerson (O Kebble 69), S Skinner
(J Hodgson 71), G Gilchrist, N Haining (H Watson
52), J Ritchie, M Fagerson.
South Africa W Le Roux (F Steyn 64); J Kriel,
L Am, D de Allende, M Mapimpi; E Jantjies
(H Pollard 63), H Jantjies (C Reinach 41); R Nche
(S Kitshoff 41), M Mbonambi (M Marx 41),
T Nyakane (V Koch 41), E Etzebeth, F Mostert
(L de Jager 62), S Kolisi, A Smith, D Vermeulen
(J Wiese 75).
Referee A Gardner (Aus). Attendance 67,144.
68 Monday November 15 2021 | the times

Sport Rugby union

Wales survive glorious Fiji onslaught

ANDREW FOSKER/SECONDS LEFT/SHUTTERSTOCK

Steve James
Cardiff

Wales
0
38
2
Fiji
1
23
The victory eventually went to Wales,
but in truth much of the glory in an
entertaining Test belonged to Fiji, who
were reduced to 14 men after just 24
minutes when the wing Eroni Sau was
sent off, and then went down to 13 men
twice for two yellow cards, but through-
out they were wonderfully physical and
resilient.
Despite the ill discipline this was a
performance of quality and pride, with
the hooker Sam Matavesi quite out-
standing, against a Wales side that was
not as experimental as so many in these
autumn Tests against Tier Two sides.
“It was everything you’d expect in a
Fiji-Wales game,” the Wales head
coach Wayne Pivac said. “The biggest
problem for us in the first 60 minutes
was the fact that we had separation at
the breakdown and they were very
strong over the ball. We talked about
that all week long. That is a concern.”
In the end Wales were indebted to
their driving lineout and two stunning
finishes from their wings, Alex
Cuthbert and Louis Rees-Zammit,
while they were often ushered out of
trouble by the experience and calmness
of Liam Williams at full back. He scored
a try at the death to crown a man-of-
the-match effort, but that score gave
the scoreline a rather lopsided feel.
That was harsh on Fiji who had made
so much of the running and had started
sensationally. There had already been Cuthbert produced a superb finish for Wales’ fourth try against a Fiji side who pushed their opponents all the way despite the red card for Sau’s swinging arm, inset
warning of their power when Sau
bumped off Nick Tompkins, and in just plunged over. Dan Biggar converted. mage under the posts. The try was Tuicuvu after he had marked Biggar’s ishing it off after a break from Tomp-
the fourth minute there was evidence of Biggar, though, uncharacteristically almost a formality for the sharp scrum long kick. Wales’ chasers and defenders kins. Sheedy again converted.
their superb running lines as the No 8 kicked a ball straight out, allowing Fiji half Kieran Hardy. Biggar converted were scarce to say the least and the Australia may be struggling, but
Viliame Mata took a short ball from the an easy attacking position from which and Wales led 14-13. centre raced away. Volavola converted Wales will need to be a whole lot better
fly half Ben Volavola to burst through Volavola eventually kicked a second Wales thought they had scored and it was 23-14. against them next weekend, with the
and feed the captain and centre Waisea penalty. Fiji led 13-7 after 22 minutes. another try before the break. Rees- Wales had to wise up. And they did so lock Will Rowlands another injury
Nayacalevu to score. But then calamity struck for them, as Zammit had begun it by athletically from the familiar source of the set piece. doubt after a head knock.
Volavola converted and soon kicked Sau was sent off for a reckless swinging keeping Hardy’s clearance kick in play The replacement prop Eroni Mawi was .
a penalty to make it 10-0. arm on Johnny Williams who was on and then Alex Cuthbert made ground yellow-carded and from the resultant
Wales had been forced into two late the ground. Sau had already tackled the on the right. When the ball came left lineout Elias went over for his second Scorers: Wales: Tries Elias 10, 62, Hardy 37,
Cuthbert 66, Rees-Zammit 73, L Williams 81. Cons
changes, with both the prop Tomas Wales centre with a big hit and, though Biggar’s cross kick was pinpoint accu- try. Biggar’s conversion hit a post, but it Biggar 2, Sheedy 2. Fiji: Tries Nayacalevu 3, 56.
Francis (head injury) and Josh Adams the referee Nic Berry initially wanted to rate to Rees-Zammit to sprint away to was now 23-19 to Fiji. Cons Volavola 2. Pens Volavola 3.
(calf), who was in line to play at centre, use the fact that Williams was falling as cross, but the television replays showed Soon Wales were in front at 24-23. It Wales L Williams; A Cuthbert, N Tompkins,
pulling out. WillGriff John and mitigation, he was rightly persuaded by that Rees-Zammit had not in fact kept was a popular score for the wing J Williams (W Halaholo 50), L Rees-Zammit;
D Biggar (C Sheedy 65), K Hardy (T Williams 50);
Tompkins replaced them, but John the TMO Stuart Terheege that it had to the ball in play right at the movement’s Cuthbert on his first appearance for R Carré (Thomas 45), R Elias, WG John (D Lewis
lasted only six minutes before suffering be a red card. beginning. four years, brilliantly finishing a fine 6), W Rowlands (C Tshiunza 70), A Beard,
a head injury and being replaced by At last Wales began to string some Fiji would not lie down, though, even passing movement. Callum Sheedy E Jenkins, T Young (S Davies 58), T Basham.
Fiji S Tuicuvu (A Tuimaba 75); J Tuisova,
Dillon Lewis. This was not how Wales phases together — ten in all — and when still with 13 men. Adam Beard was missed the conversion. W Nayacalevu, V Botitu ( A Naqalevu 58), E Sau
would have wanted to start. again went to the corner instead of penalised for a high tackle and Volavola Rees-Zammit then brought the (red card 24); B Volavola, F Lomani (N Matawalu
Two penalty kicks to the corner im- taking the points from the penalty. Now kicked the long-range penalty for the house down with a kick and chase try 71); P Ravai (E Mawi 50 [sin bin 62]), S Matavesi
mediately brought some balm for the there were another eight phases of visitors to regain the lead at 16-14. from halfway, showing astounding pace (Z Togiatama 79), M Doge (L Atalifo 50),
A Ratuniyarawa (T Ratuva 71), T Mayanavanua,
home side, and from the second the pressure that resulted in a yellow card That was extended when the captain to beat Volavola to the touchdown. A Tuisue (sin-bin 37), M Kunavula (M Dakuwaqa
lineout drive twisted inexorably to the for the flanker Albert Tuisue. Fiji were Nayacalevu scored a second try soon Sheedy converted and Wales were 50), V Mata.
open side and the hooker Ryan Elias down to 13 and Wales took a scrum- afterwards, begun by the full back Seta home, with the full back Williams fin- Referee N Berry (Aus). Attendance 63,383.

Dominant England’s late flurry extends their winning run to 17

0
51
centre Helena Rowland. Cowell, a Har- Minutes later Amy Cokayne provid- Next MacDonald managed to sell a score of the match. The scoreline does
England Women
2
lequins speedster, knows how to score ed the perfect throw-in for the England dummy to Rowland, holding on to cross not reflect Canada’s effort in the first
here and how to score on debut, doing lineout to transform into a driving the line herself. At the hour mark, En- half, but it is England’s 17th win in a row

1
12
Canada Women
Jessica Hayden Twickenham Stoop
England faced their first real test of the
autumn from a relentless Canada at the
Twickenham Stoop — but, despite a
challenging first half, the Red Roses
regained composure with seven tries.
Both teams started the match un-
beaten this autumn. Heather Cowell,
the England debutant on the right
wing, opened the scoring in the far cor-
ner after collecting from the inside
so for team GB sevens in September in
their title-winning Canada series.
Fifteen minutes in, England had their
scrum turned. Canada’s entire starting
front five have played in the Premier 15s
in the past year, with Olivia DeMer-
chant, Emily Tuttosi and DaLaeka Men-
in also the starting front row for Exeter
Chiefs. That experience seemed to help
as they challenged at each maul and
managed to push over at the scrum. Pai-
ge Farries of Canada intercepted a loose
pass and lost defenders to power over
the line. The Red Roses were 7-5 down,
trailing for the first time this autumn.
maul. The ball was released by scrum
half Claudia MacDonald into the hands
of the prop Sarah Bern, who scored.
The away team got their second try in
the 35th minute. From a Canada scrum,
the backs passed through the hands
before right winger Sabrina Poulin ran
straight through for a try.
In the last play of the first half, Cowell
crossed for her second try to put
England 20-12 up. They scored four
more tries in the second half. Bern got
her second by poking through a hole
in the Canadian line and scoring by
the posts.
gland were 34-12 ahead and Harrison’s
penalty soon put them 25 points clear.
Alex Matthews came on to score her
ninth England try, the product of a
wonderful take by MacDonald. Then
MacDonald became the third England
player to score two tries. She was push-
ed out to the wing as Leanne Infante
came on to take over at scrum half.
After a strong England lineout five me-
tres from the tryline, MacDonald was
shouting in the ear of Infante, having
spotted a gap on the blind side of the
maul. Infante delivered quickly and
MacDonald sprinted to make the final
and yet another dominant performance.
Scorers: England: Tries Cowell 4, 40, Bern 29, 41,
MacDonald 50, 51, Matthews 70. Cons Harrison
(2). Pens Harrison (4). Canada: Tries Farries 22,
Poulin 35. Con Miller.
England S McKenna; H Cowell L Tuima, H
Rowland, A Dow, Z Harrison, C MacDonald; H
Botterman, A Cokayne, S Bern, Z Aldcroft, A Ward,
S Hunter (capt), S Kabeya, P Cleall. Replacements
L Davies; V Cornborough, M Muir, H Millar-Mills,
A Matthews, M Packer, L Infante, H Aitchison.
Canada E Alarie; S Poulin, S Kaljuvee, A Tessier,
P Farries, E Belchos, B Miller; O DeMerchant
(capt), E Tuttosi, D Menin, E Taylor, C Holtkamp,
F Forteza, K Paquin, G Senft Replacements
L Russell, B Kassil, A Ellis, T Beukeboom, P Buisa,
L Royer, J Pelletier, R Gonzalez.
Referee H Davidson (SRU). Attendance 6,310.
the times | Monday November 15 2021
Roving Slade
needs trust
of ‘new’ Eddie
Stuart Barnes
T
his was not one of the more
exciting Test matches but I
cannot remember being
more fascinated with
England’s intentions. Top of
the list was the sight of Henry Slade
operating as a quasi-full back. My
mind went back to 2010 and a long
forgotten English victory against
Wales.
England won 30-17 but the man of
the match was James Hook. The
Osprey was one of the most gifted
players produced by Wales in the
professional era. Maybe he is not
regarded as one of the greats, though;
a peripheral genius who did not find
the perfect position.
That day he scythed through
England, playing out of position at
outside centre. Away from his day job,
fly half, Hook revealed the full sweep
of his potential. Like Slade, he was a
long-legged No 10 in his youth.
Indeed that was where Wales often
played him. Slade had a similar
reputation in Devon but it did not
click in the early days at Exeter
Chiefs.
Slade, as Hook did, requires a little
more time to make his plays. Both
men are long and rangy, without a
quick snap to their kicking game. On
that day in 2010 Hook shifted out to
No 13; on Saturday Slade travelled
even further from the hub of the
action, a free spirit roaming between
outside centre and full back. The
Welshman flourished in the novelty
of an open field. Slade did not dazzle
like Hook but he did show elements
of an extra dimension as
counterattacker and kicker.
Slade’s career has moved from
No 10 to No 13, from being bit-part
brilliant at Exeter to a regular
contender for man of the match. In
Exeter’s 2019 run to domestic and
European glory, he was sublime. Just
as Hook was that February day at
Jones looks at Japan blueprint to claim Springbok scalp
Alex Lowe Rugby Correspondent
Eddie Jones is preparing to dust off the
blueprint from the biggest shock in
Rugby World Cup history as England
construct a plan to defeat South Africa
at Twickenham.
The England head coach was in
charge of Japan when they stunned the
Springboks in the pool stage of the 2015
World Cup by playing a style of ruck-
and-run rugby that denied South
Africa a chance to exert their strengths.
England face the Springboks on Sat-
urday for the first time since they were
outmuscled in the 2019 World Cup final.
Twickenham. Broken fields can
liberate rugby’s visionaries.
Marcus Smith would hate all that
room in which to gather his thoughts.
The short-levered Harlequin thinks
and acts as quickly as any fly half has
in a long time. Slade, however, could
become the consummate floating
three-quarter operator that Hook
could have been. For that to occur,
Eddie Jones will need to be braver in
his rugby philosophy than Warren
Gatland was with Wales. Hook
eventually drifted to full back but he
was a reluctant choice, as Wales
settled for the durable duo of Stephen
Jones and Leigh Halfpenny at No 10
and full back respectively.
In Gatland’s glory days Wales were
tenacious but the quality of the rugby
“
was far from glorious. Wales
The success of Slade
in his new hybrid role
is a good barometer
by which to measure
transitional England
conquered Europe on a few occasions
but their record against the southern-
hemisphere triumvirate was average.
They could not take the next step.
Two years out from England’s bid
to win a second World Cup, the
example of Slade poses the question
that few have yet to ask: as a roving
presence, can he lift England to the
next level?
If Jones believes this fascinating
shifting of positions between Freddie
Steward (named as full back but
defensively a wing), Manu Tuilagi
(the so-called right wing who spent
most of his time as a centre) and
Slade (the outside centre who
dropped deep) is the answer, we could
witness something rarely seen from
English club and international sides
— a kaleidoscopic ability to carve
open an opposition. Slade has the left
foot to drive opposing teams deep
Jones is determined that his side do not
play into South African hands as
England target an autumn clean sweep,
having defeated Tonga nine days ago
and retained the Cook Cup with a 32-15
victory over Australia.
“It’s the final game and we want to go
into the [2022] Six Nations with a South
African scalp,” Jones said. “I worked
with the Springboks for a year [in 2007]
so I have a pretty reasonable
understanding of what they try to do.
That is one of the reasons we were
successful with Japan, that we were able
to take away a few things they are good
at and expose them in a few areas.
Australia’s James O’Connor attempts to tackle Slade, whose time at fly half in his youth has made him much more versatile
into their own territory and the rugby
brain to exploit a fragmented field.
However, he has to adjust to his
extra space. Twice on Saturday he
went on long counterattacks. On both
occasions, he took off diagonally and
deprived others of oxygen.
It looked pretty naive but, in time,
men such as Jonny May will learn to
operate on the same wavelength and
see the possibility of a scissors move
cutting back inside.
Kicking away possession to Slade
could become the last resort against
England. To have an individual with
the vision of a fly half and the touch
of an outside centre fits the bill so
succinctly described by the England
head coach in the post-match press
conference. “The game is a lot more
fluid and transitional [than it used to
be] . . . the numbers [players wear] are
fairly archaic.”
“You have got to take away their
scrum, take away their maul and
successfully catch their high balls and
not give them attacking opportunities.
“We were able to do that because we
had four months to prepare for one
game. With England, we will have to play
differently to beat them because if you
are taking on a heavyweight contest and
you are fighting George Foreman, who
can whack and whack, you have to do
something different.
“We have got four days to come up
with something different. And we will.”
England were yesterday assessing
the injuries that forced Jamie George
Jones is not the first man to state
that the numbers on a player’s back
should be irrelevant. Clive Woodward
was an advocate of the Rugby
Everyman. Hook could have been
that man. Slade may mature into him.
But Jones made the point, with the
Springboks coming to Twickenham
on Saturday, that “you have to handle
their kicking”.
Slade handled Australia’s kicking
well. Most of the time he fitted into
full back, with the box-kick the
obvious and regular option for
Australia. Steward waited wide for it
to drop. On present form there is no
one in Europe better equipped than
the young Leicester Tiger to handle
the flak coming England’s way from
the South Africans.
We think of the full back being the
predominant presence under the high
ball but more often than not the
(knee) and Owen Farrell (ankle) to
leave the field against Australia, with a
squad update to be issued today.
They will definitely be without Ellis
Genge, the loose-head prop and vice-
captain, who has Covid-19, but Jones
confirmed that Joe Marler will come in-
to the selection equation even though
he only emerges from quarantine on
Thursday, the day the team is an-
nounced, underlining his importance.
Jones praised Bevan Rodd, the Sale
Sharks loose-head prop, for his debut
performance, against the Wallabies,
knowing an even stiffer test lies ahead
for the 21-year-old. “We are running a
69
Sport
26-25
England are at last in
front of Australia in their
head-to-head record.
Australia won the first
game in 1909 and had
never before trailed
blind-side wing is tasked with
defusing the aerial assault. Tuilagi
wore No 14 but played the role of hit
man, with or without ball in the
midfield; Steward was the No 15 who
did much of the wing’s defending.
And then there is Slade, the Exeter
No 13, wearing the same jersey for his
country but playing a potentially
groundbreaking game as a hybrid
13-15. Eleven years ago, I saw the
future of the Welsh attacking game in
Hook. However, the Wales
management lacked the trust to tell a
man of game-changing potential to
play it as he saw it.
A year ago the other Eddie, the
negative one, would have baulked at
such fanciful chat. Now he talks up a
different way of thinking. The success
or otherwise of the Slade experiment
is a good barometer by which to
measure this transitional England.
bit short of troops,” Jones said. Never-
theless, Mako Vunipola, the Saracens
prop, will not be called into the squad.
England will be treating the South
Africa game as a final, Jones added, but
not as revenge for their World Cup loss
in Yokohama just over two years ago.
“It is the final game of the autumn.
We want to go away with a good feeling
and so the guys can’t wait to get back in-
to camp for the Six Nations,” Jones said.
“The way you finish is important. It’s
like you go out on a date with a girlfriend
— the night finishes well and you can’t
wait for the next date. We want to make
sure the players have that feeling.”
70
Sport Rugby union
Sinckler: Boks
heartache is
motivating me
Alex Lowe
Rugby Correspondent
0
32
England
2
1
15
Australia
Three weeks after the 2019 World Cup
final, Kyle Sinckler sat in a darkened
room at home, still dealing with the
after-effects of being knocked out cold
only three minutes into the game
against South Africa. Everything he
had worked for, everything he had
committed to, had been wiped out in
the split-second that his head collided
with Maro Itoje’s hip. Sinckler has no
memory of the game or the biggest day
in his career. Somehow he had to
process the sense of loss.
The British & Irish Lions offered little
solace. Initially Sinckler was not select-
ed for the tour to South Africa, which
stung him hard, but he eventually made
the Test team only to suffer a 2-1 series
defeat at the hands of the world
champions. Little wonder, then, that
Saturday’s game for England against
the Springboks has been ringed in
Sinckler’s diary for some time.
As a team, England are not billing
this as an opportunity for revenge.
Sinckler, too, has found a way to move
on from the bitter disappointment of
that evening in Yokohama but we are all
a product of our experiences. That
history will bleed into the occasion on
Saturday afternoon. It is unavoidable.
Sinckler, 28, uses it to stoke the fire in
his belly.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t look at that
fixture and was like, ‘I need to be ready
for that game,’ ” the Bristol Bears prop
said. “I am disappointed with the result
in the summer and obviously how it
ended two years ago. I was only on the
field for a minute or two.
“Since I could remember, all I wanted
to do was play for my country — and
then you get to that moment and I can’t
remember any of it.
“It’s a tough one. Two or three weeks
after, I just sat in my house in a dark
room, obviously concussed, trying to
process what happened. It took me a
while.
“It would have been very easy for me
to throw my toys out the pram or feel
Sinckler gets
better of Rob
Leota but
South Africa
are the team
he is really
waiting for
Next weekend’s fixtures
Saturday
Italy v Uruguay 1pm, Parma
Scotland v Japan 1pm, Murrayfield
England v South Africa 3.15pm,
Twickenham
Wales v Australia 5.30pm, Cardiff
France v New Zealand 8pm, Paris
(All live on Amazon Prime)
Sunday
Ireland v Argentina 2.15pm, Dublin
(Live on Channel 4)
All games, apart from Italy-Uruguay,
are live on talkSPORT 2
sorry for myself, but I feel since then I
have tried to kick on and mature my
game and develop it in terms of the
fundamentals, along with the X-factor
game I feel like I have as well.
“It was quite tough, but that is the
universe’s plan for me and I have to just
keep my head and use it as motivation
now to give it all for my brothers.”
On the reunion with South Africa,
Sinckler added: “It is a huge game and
they are world champions for a reason.
We have to bring our A game — other-
wise we are going to be in trouble.”
England had expected a free-
flowing, high-volume game against
Australia at Twickenham on Saturday
but the Wallabies, shorn of three key
backs, competed ferociously hard at the
breakdown and into the scrum, turning
the contest into a dogfight at times.
Bevan Rodd acquitted himself
admirably on his England debut at
loose-head prop against James Slipper,
who had not played as a tight-head for
nine years but found the muscle
memory required to make life very
difficult. It took Sinckler until the
second half to get the better of Angus
Bell. With Trevor Nyakane, Vincent
Koch, Ox Nche and Steven Kitshoff
heading for Twickenham, it is no
surprise that Eddie Jones, the England
head coach, is talking about selecting
Joe Marler, even though he will be
allowed out of quarantine only on
Thursday.
Australia targeted England at the
breakdown, competing and counter-
rucking hard, either winning the con-
test or slowing down possession to
make it difficult for the home team’s’
much-vaunted new attacking shape to
click.
“I know if selected I’ve got to be at my
best otherwise they’re a world-class
side and they’ll make us pay, especially
up front in the scrum,” Sinckler added.
“They got quite a few scrum penalties
[in their 30-15 win against Scotland on
Saturday]. It’s going to be a huge task.
“I wouldn’t just single out their
scrum. Their maul, their rucks, their
kick-chase, they’re a top-quality outfit.
“They are the world champions for a
reason. The [England] breakdown
needs to improve; the set piece, we got
there in the end [against Australia]. We
need to address our discipline at times,
our attack, defence. Everything. You
can always improve.
“We were more satisfied by the result
than the performance. To put 30-odd
points against a top-quality Australia
side, we will take that, especially with
how chaotic the week was, but we feel
like we have so much more in the tank.
“We are under no illusions that next
week is going to be another step up and
it is something that we are relishing.”
Sinckler says that he finds it “weird”
to be considered a senior player in the
squad but it is a role that he takes seri-
ously. Jones described him and Ellis
Genge, two gritty props who did not
emerge from traditional rugby envi-
ronments, as the “poster boys” for the
new England team. It is not often that
props get the billboard treatment, espe-
cially with the more dazzling talents of
Marcus Smith and Freddie Steward in
the squad. Steward was outstanding on
Saturday as he rotated his role between
full back and wing, finishing his try
beautifully after being released by a
lovely delayed pass from Smith.
The fly half trod water for a second as
Manu Tuilagi caught the eye of
Andrew Kellaway and then gave a
double-pump pass to send Steward
through the gap vacated by the Wallaby
wing. “It’s great to be involved in creat-
ing a new group and a new vision two
years out from a World Cup,” Sinckler
said.
“We have only got 600-odd days. I
am always very conscious that my job is
to inspire kids and anyone — black,
white, Asian, man, woman — coming
through and anyone who’s going
through some tough times.”
England: Tries F Steward (6min), J Blamire (79).
Cons O Farrell, M Smith. Pens Farrell 5 (10, 17,
30, 30, 49), Smith (72). Australia: Pens J
O’Connor 5 (4, 13, 19, 39, 43). HT 16-12.
England F Steward; M Tuilagi, H Slade, O Farrell
(c) (rep: M Malins 68), J May; M Smith, B Youngs
(T Davison 72); B Rodd (R Quirke 72), J George
(J Blamire 41), K Sinckler (W Stuart 72), M Itoje,
J Hill (C Ewels 74), C Lawes (S Simmonds 75),
S Underhill (A Dombrandt 56), T Curry.
Australia K Beale; A Kellaway, L Ikitau, H
Paisami, T Wright (I Perese 67); J O’Connor
(N Lolesio 74), N White (T McDermott 73);
A Bell (T Robertson 73), F Fainga’a (T Latu 65),
J Slipper (O Hoskins 68), R Arnold (W Skelton
63), I Rodda, R Leota, M Hooper (c) (P Samu 56),
R Valetini.
Attendance 82,575.
Man of the match F Steward (Eng).
Referee J Peyper (SA). Assistant referees AJ
Jacobs (SA), P Brousset (Fr). TMO S Berry (SA).
Monday November 15 2021 | the times
How England’s
new-look back
line worked
Numbers on shirts don’t count
England’s backs did not generally play in the positions their shirt numbers
would have suggested as this example from the first half shows
1 2
Steward
Smith Smith
Farrell
Farrell
Tuilagi
Tuilagi
Slade
May May
May is on the left wing, Steward (the Farrell (the No 12) acts as first
full back) on the right wing, Slade receiver while Tuilagi, in the centre,
(the No 13) in a full-back position, draws in the Australia defenders.
and Tuilagi (No 14) in the centre May keeps the width
3 4
Slade
Smith
Slade
May
May
Smith (the No 10) moves around Smith passes to Slade, who has
behind the back of Farrell and come up to join the attack and runs
receives a pass in the space created across the field before passing to
by the attention afforded to Tuilagi May, who is stopped in the corner
Smith is not just
a pretty face
The fly half may have been picked for
his attacking flair, but Marcus Smith
shirked none of his defensive duties.
He completed eight tackles, the joint
most for England alongside the lock
Jonny Hill, and ahead of Tom Curry’s
seven from the back row. Smith also
passed 17 times, comfortably ahead of
anyone other than the scrum half Ben
Youngs. Likewise his seven kicks in
play were only topped by Youngs
Full marks for the
probably should have been in 14 and
Owen Slot Henry Slade, who wore 13, should
have had 15 on his back.
Or at least something like that.
Rugby is messy and chaotic and no
Chief Sports one is ever going to remain all day in
Writer the channel that their shirt number
L
might prescribe.
That is why the Australians weren’t
et’s be honest, if there was exactly bothered about trying to work
any obligation in rugby for this out. It is not as if Tom Wright,
players to wear the shirt who was their left wing, attempted to
number that reflects where man-mark Tuilagi because he was
they actually play, then nominally England’s right wing.
Marcus Smith would never have been Professional rugby players are experts
wearing the No 10 shirt. at computing their opponents and the
In Eddie Jones’s latest iteration of way in which they are manipulating
total rugby, against Australia under the space in front of them. As Jones
the lights of Twickenham’s Saturday has long been saying, the numbers on
night, Owen Farrell would have been the back don’t matter. They didn’t
in the No 10 jersey and Smith would matter to the Wallabies either.
have been wearing 12. Manu Tuilagi, What matters is whether your
who wore 14, would have been in 13. movement is sufficiently good as to
Freddie Steward, who wore 15, manipulate space with ball in hand so
the times | Monday November 15 2021 71

Sport
SANDRA MAILER/SHUTTERSTOCK

Tuilagi enjoys
Steward’s try
early on at
Steward’s ‘surprising’
Twickenham
on Saturday
pace a threat in attack
Freddie Steward was put
through a gap by
Marcus Smith for
England’s first try, in the
seventh minute,
showing a nice side-step
and a turn of pace that
may have surprised
some.
“I remember seeing
[him] with Leicester last
season and at first we
thought maybe he has
not got enough pace to
play Test match
football,” Eddie Jones,
the England head coach,
said. “We brought him in
for the summer to have
a look at him. He
surprised us with how
much pace that he has
got. He is brave in the
air and he has got quite
an uncomplicated game.
If you find the players
that have an
uncomplicated game,
they know their
strengths really well and
tend to adapt much
quicker. He is a guy like
that.”
There were fewer
doubts over his general
rugby intelligence. “He’s
got a good head on him,
wants to improve,
communicated well to
A Owen Farrell, at
first receiver after a the players around him,
breakdown, passes has got a good
to Marcus Smith awareness of
outside him
where the ball is and
where his support
players are” Jones said.
“I haven’t seen an
England full back like
him since Mike Brown,
who is courageous in
the air like him.”
Jones, though,
returned to his recent
theme on young
players. Asked whether
Steward could have as
good a career as Brown,
Jones said: “There’s no
reason why he won’t but
the big things for these
young players — and I
won’t make any
analogical statements
because I will get in too
much trouble [as he did
when he called out
Emma Raducanu] — but
it is hard for them to
keep their feet on the
ground. We have to try
to help him manage his
distractions because he
is going to be the talk of
the town.
“We are going to need
to manage what he is
thinking. If he keeps his
feet on the ground he
could have a great
career.”

B Smith delays his pass

and then plays Freddie
Steward into a space
Tuilagi kept out Steward side-steps
C
of line of fire Kurtley Beale and
sprints to the line C
Beale
The fear with Manu Tuilagi on the
wing was that he would struggle
under the high ball. Sure enough, 19
minutes in, he dropped one, albeit in a
central position. But the system meant
that he was rarely exposed. Instead,
he was kept in his more familiar B
central channels while Freddie Key
Steward (named at No 15) and Henry Steward Smith
Slade (No 13) alternated between full A Farrell
Run with ball
Run without ball
back and wing to cover for him. Pass

ambition but fluid formation hasn’t clicked yet

that opposition defences cannot
compute quickly enough what you
are doing. That is what every coach is
trying to achieve. On Saturday, Jones
was trying to do it by freeing his back
division of the constraints of
“positions”.
If you give too many players
freedom, though, you sow confusion.
There has to be some structure and,
against Australia, there was no point
when the England backs were in any
doubt as to where they needed to be.
At attacking set pieces, Farrell was
always at No 10 with Smith on his
shoulder. Even when Farrell went off
in the final quarter, when England
had an attacking lineout, Smith
remained on the shoulder, though
this time it was Slade’s.
For the job of backfield cover,
which is normally shared between the
full back and the wings, Tuilagi wasn’t
asked to contribute. Instead Slade
dropped back and would see-saw with
Steward. When defending at a set
piece, Smith would be on the wing.
All of this is innovative. The
concept of moving players around
isn’t, but the extent to which Jones
employed it is. Sometimes on
Saturday, it seemed like we were
watching a completely fluid back
division; on second viewing, you can
see that it was highly structured. It is
not exactly Dick Fosbury going
backwards over a high-jump bar and
it is only clever if it works.
Jones’s interpretation of the
modern game is that good rugby
players are good rugby players
wherever you put them. If he were to
follow this though completely, he
would take away the job spec of the
scrum half and have interchangeable
half backs. France are already halfway
there in this respect because they
don’t make it beholden to their No 10
to be the playmaker, they let the No 9
play too.
The counterargument is that, yes,
Slade may be a natural, but if he has
practised almost all his international
career at No 13 then his sheer
experience makes it his best position.
At full back, he is a comparative
novice.
Likewise Tom Curry is good
enough to fulfil the role at No 8.
However, when Jones brought on
Alex Dombrandt in that position —
someone who has played there most
of his life — England were
immediately improved. Of course,
Dombrandt came on when legs were
tiring and the game was breaking up
and maybe the ball just fell to him at
the right place and at the right time.
Conversely, maybe Dombrandt just
knew where the right place and the
right time were because that is what
years of experience have taught him.
Rugby is messy like that. Searching
for clear answers is often like a
referee deciding whom to penalise at
the scrum.
Likewise, you could argue that
holding Smith back to second receiver
limits his input. Sometimes, it wasn’t
until third phase that he finally
appeared in the quarterback position.
Jones, however, was using second
receiver as the attacking hub. Farrell
may have got his hands on the ball
first but he was playing the straight
man; he would draw the defence to
the ball to give Smith more space and
time and therefore more opportunity
to do something with it.
That is how England scored their
first try in the seventh minute. Farrell
was the link man who took the ball
away from the heavier traffic. When it
was in Smith’s hands, he was able to
read the defence, give the double-
pump delay to his pass and then send
Steward hurtling through the gap.
The problem was that gaps were so
rarely found thereafter. Steward’s try
was the best moment for this new-
age, interchanging attack; there were
another 73 minutes to run thereafter.
Jones and Martin Gleeson, the new
England attack coach, have a long
way to go to prove that their new
invention is a smarter way of
unlocking defences than that fusty
tradition where players are just asked
to play in their best position.
Saturday, though, was just a start. A
new formation takes time to click. Of
course, they will not get a better team
against whom to test-drive their new
toy than the Springboks this Saturday.
For now, though, they can assess
and improve. And all those tut-tutting
that maybe it is too new-world and
ambitious, remember that not so long
ago, ambition was the element that
England so sorely lacked.
72
Sport Brazilian Grand Prix
Sublime recovery leaves
Rebecca Clancy
Motor Racing
Correspondent
In the home country of his idol Ayrton
Senna, Lewis Hamilton delivered the
sort of stunning drive that was the
Brazilian icon’s trademark to claim
victory in a grand prix that — after the
events of the previous 48 hours — he
looked to have no right to win.
Hamilton was clearly emotional after
overcoming a disqualification and an
effective 25-place grid penalty over the
weekend to win at a track that had been
expected to favour his championship
rival, Max Verstappen. No wonder the
seven-times world champion described
this as the most challenging but also the
best grand-prix meeting of his long and
esteemed career.
It means that Verstappen’s lead in the
championship has been cut to 14 points
and keeps Hamilton’s championship
alive with three races remaining. Had
the Dutchman won in São Paulo, the
destiny of the title would not have been
in the 36-year-old’s own hands. As it is,
three wins would make for a 21-point
swing and give Hamilton a record
eighth world title.
Hamilton picked up a Brazilian flag
on his cooldown lap, to the delight of
the fans who flooded the track after the
chequered flag. He was still draped in
the flag as he took to the podium above
Verstappen, who moments before had
been booed when his name was an-
nounced in second place. Hamilton’s
Mercedes team-mate, Valtteri Bottas,
was third.
The weekend had started perfectly
for Hamilton when he was fastest in
qualifying on Friday evening but things
quickly deteriorated and he found
himself disqualified because Mercedes
had broken regulations in their rear-
wing drag reduction system. As a result,
he started at the back of the grid for the
third and final sprint race of the season
on Saturday. A stunning drive allowed
him to make up 15 places during the
24-lap sprint, which determined the
starting grid for the main race. How-
ever, because Hamilton was already
subject to a five-place grid penalty for
taking a new engine, he started yester-
day’s race from tenth.
With a fresh engine, Hamilton wast-
ed no time in going through the field,
making up four places in the first lap
alone. After five laps he was up to fifth
and behind Bottas, who duly let him
through.
Safety cars and virtual safety cars
meant Hamilton had to wait to attack
the second Red Bull of Sergio Pérez but
he finally got past him on lap 19. It meant
that in the equivalent of 44 laps of this
Interlagos track, Hamilton had overtak-
en every driver on the grid, except the
most important one — Verstappen.
Their battle raged on for lap after lap
and intensified further after the second
round of pitstops. It took Hamilton
three attempts but with 12 laps remain-
ing, the Briton finally got past his rival
for the lead and ultimately the win.
On the first attempt, it appeared that
Verstappen had pushed Hamilton wide,
so wide in fact that both drivers left the
track. The stewards noted the incident
but decided not to investigate. The
Dutchman argued that he did nothing
wrong but punishments have been
given for less and he was lucky to get
away without a five-second penalty.
“Of course not,” was Hamilton’s
sarcastic response when he heard that
2GM Monday November 15 2021 | the times
The final three races
Qatar Sunday
A Formula One debut for a track
How Verstappen got away with
which is best known for MotoGP. a risky manoeuvre in defence
Mercedes will hope that the edge
they gain from Hamilton’s new
engine will give them victory.
Saudi Arabia Dec 5
Another track making a debut, on Verstappen
the street circuit in Jeddah. Much of
the purpose-built track is designed
to be driven at full throttle which
could give Hamilton an advantage.
Abu Dhabi Dec 12
It still looks as if this could be the
clincher for the title. Max
Verstappen and Red Bull won it last
year after six consecutive victories Hamilton
on the track for Mercedes.
On lap 48 Verstappen is still in front but furiously trying to
there would be no investigation. On the fend off Hamilton, who is closing in and is on the fresher tyres
second attempt, Verstappen weaved
across the track to defend his position,
subsequently receiving a black and
white flag — a warning for unsports-
manlike behaviour. That ultimately
didn’t matter as Hamilton got through. Verstappen
Hamilton’s sarcasm was clearly
directed at the FIA, the sport’s govern-
ing body, who had handed him the
disqualification after it appeared that
Red Bull had referred their concerns
about the Mercedes rear wing to them.
Verstappen had been seen touching the
Hamilton
Mercedes rear wing after qualifying, for
which he was handed a hefty €50,000
(£42,625) fine. On turn four — a big left-hander — Hamilton briefly goes ahead
That was not the last time the stew- at the apex of the corner before Verstappen forces him wide
ards were involved, and Hamilton’s
victory was threatened momentarily
when they summoned Mercedes after it
emerged that Hamilton had undone his
seatbelt on his cooldown lap, in breach
of regulations. No one would be sur-
prised if it was Red Bull who tipped off Verstappen
the FIA, as all teams watch one another’s
onboard cameras. Hamilton was
handed a €5,000 fine but his victory
stood.
The battle away from track has been Hamilton
brewing all season and is set to continue
with Red Bull warning that they could
potentially launch a protest at some
point before the end of the season.
Christian Horner, the Red Bull team Both cars head off the track and on to the asphalt run-off area
principal, has described the straight- but Verstappen stays in front and the move goes unpunished
line pace of the Mercedes as “mind-
boggling” and questioned if it came
from more than just the new engine in
Hamilton’s car. “That’s a potent weapon
Memories of his hero Senna with fast tracks coming up,” Horner continued from back
said. “We won’t be protesting at this Hamilton: My hardest weekend
Hamilton race. It’s important to understand
drove around where the speed came from. When he his career, that gap has closed to 14 with
the Interlagos passed Max he was 30km/h quicker on three races remaining.
circuit on his that lap. It’s something we need to un- “Did I think we could come from last
cooldown derstand and it’s down to the FIA to [place]? I don’t know what was possible,
lap with police the sport. We trust their tests.” but I just gave it everything and this has
the Brazilian Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team prin- definitely been one of the best
flag after cipal, was unconcerned by the threat. weekends, if not the best weekend I
his victory “It’s part of the game that you look at have experienced in my whole career,”
yesterday, other parts of other teams and challenge the 36-year-old said.
bottom them,” he said. “You need to be sceptical “Mentally you can think, ‘It’s over, it’s
picture, and maybe an inch paranoid and that’s impossible,’ but then nothing is if you
bringing back OK for us. [The car is faster because] we put your mind to it. That’s really why we
memories of are having a much less draggy car, the cultivated a positive mental attitude
his great hero engine is fresh, which makes a big differ- and went in fighting, guns blazing.”
Ayrton Senna, ence. People are free to challenge that Hamilton had a fresh engine in his
who drove and protest, which may happen. We will Mercedes, which came with a five-place
around even offer them a rear wing to put it at grid penalty for yesterday’s race. The
carrying the home in the library or cut it up into a rules allow each driver a quota of three
flag after thousand pieces.” The war of words engines across the season; this was
winning between Horner and Wolff makes for Hamilton’s fifth.
his home almost as enthralling a battle as the one He was the fastest during Friday’s
country’s between their drivers on the track. qualifying but was stripped of the front
grand prix Hamilton’s win and Bottas’s third spot for Saturday’s sprint race after the
in 1993 for a place also widened Mercedes’s lead stewards found his drag reduction
second time, over Red Bull in the constructors’ system (DRS) opened more than the
pictured top. standings to 11 points. Both title fights allowed 85mm — by 0.2mm.
are set to go down to the wire. Starting the 24-lap race at the back,
the times | Monday November 15 2021 2GM 73

Sport

Red Bull befuddled Concern for

Peng amid
abuse claims

xxytxtxtxuytxuyuy
MOTORSPORT IMAGES/SPLASH

Tennis
Stuart Fraser Tennis Correspondent
The Women’s Tennis Association has
called for a “full, fair and transparent
investigation” into claims of sexual
abuse made by a Wimbledon women’s
doubles champion from China against
the country’s former vice-premier after
several players voiced concerns for her
safety yesterday.
Peng Shuai, 35, recently accused
Zhang Gaoli, a 75-year-old who was
once the seventh-highest official of the
ruling Communist Party, of forcing her
into a sexual relationship before she
agreed to be his mistress. The allega-
tions were made by Peng two weeks ago
in a post on the social media network
Weibo that was deleted within 20 min-
utes. Her account was also blocked.
The WTA intervened for the first
time yesterday after a series of Twitter
posts from players as a part of the hash-
tag #WhereIsPengShuai. Peng has not
made any further comments in public
since her post, but it is understood that
the WTA is confident she is not under
physical threat, despite being unable to
completely verify this because of issues
in making direct contact with her.
“These accusations are very disturb-
ing,” Chris Evert, the former world No 1,

Peng has not been heard from since

she made the claims on social media

wrote. “I’ve known Peng since she was

14; we should all be concerned; this is
serious; where is she? Is she safe? Any
information would be appreciated.”
Peng has not played on the WTA
Hamilton goes Tour since March 2020, when she
wheel to wheel represented China in a Billie Jean King
with the Red Cup match in Dubai. She is a former
Bull of his rival world No 1 in doubles who won two
Verstappen grand-slam titles, at Wimbledon in
2013 and the French Open in 2014.
defensive driving Verstappen managed She also reached a career-high world
Just like Bahrain in 2004 to keep his rival behind for most of the How they finished No 14 in singles.
race. In the end it took the Briton three L Hamilton (GB) Driver Team Points Peng said her affair with Zhang
attempts to get past the Red Bull, but Mercedes 1:32:22.851s started more than ten years ago in
with 12 laps remaining he found himself 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 332.5 Tianjin, where he was the party chief. It
M Verstappen (Neth)
at the front, with a clear line of sight to Red Bull +10.496s 2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 318.5 is the first time that a scandal associated
the chequered flag. 3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 203 with the #MeToo movement has come
Hamilton undid his seatbelt on the V Bottas (Fin) so close to China’s top political class.
Mercedes +13.576s 4 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 178
cooldown lap, for which he was fined, “Peng Shuai deserves to be heard, not
5 Lando Norris McLaren 151
but there was no doubt he deserved this 4 S Perez (Mex) Red Bull +39.940s censored,” Steve Simon, the chief exec-
victory. “That was one of the best drives 6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 148 utive of the WTA, said. “Her accusation
I’ve ever seen in F1. By anyone. Utterly 5 C Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari +49.517s 7 must be treated with the utmost seri-
Carlos Sainz Ferrari 139.5
awesome,” Damon Hill, the 1996 F1 6 C Sainz (Sp) Ferrari +51.820s 8 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 105 ousness. The behaviour she alleges
world champion declared. 7 P Gasly (Fr) AlphaTauri +1 lap 9
needs to be investigated, not condoned
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 92
Hamilton compared his win in Brazil Hamilton, who had not won a grand 8 E Ocon (Fr) Alpine +1 lap or ignored.
to his Formula 3 victory in Bahrain prix since Russia in September, 10 Fernando Alonso Alpine 62 “We commend Peng Shuai for her
in 2004, pictured, when he qualified admitted he had not expected to reduce 9 F Alonso (Sp) Alpine +1 lap remarkable courage and strength in
Fastest lap S Perez 1:11.010s
22nd on the grid but came back the gap to Verstappen. “I was pushing as 10 L Norris (GB) McLaren +1 lap
Constructors coming forward. We expect this issue to
superbly to claim the main race for hard as I could. I think this was my 11 S Vettel (Ger) Aston Martin +1 lap 1 Mercedes 521.5
be handled properly, meaning the alle-
the Manor Motorsport team. hardest weekend, but my dad reminded 12 K Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo +1 lap gations must be investigated fully, fairly,
me of 2004 when I was in Formula 3, in 2 Red Bull 510.5 transparently and without censorship.”
Bahrain, and started last, and then I 13 G Russell (GB) Williams +1 lap 3 Ferrari 287.5 Before the pandemic, the WTA host-
Hamilton made up 15 places to finish finished tenth [in the qualifying race] 14 A Giovinazzi (It) Alfa Romeo +1 lap 4 McLaren 256 ed several tournaments in China and
fifth. With his penalty, it meant he and finished first [in the main race]. So 15 Y Tsunoda (Japan) AlphaTauri +1 lap 5 Alpine 112 relied heavily on cash from the local
started yesterday’s main race in tenth. this one was for my dad,” he said. 16 N Latifi (Can) Williams +1 lap government. A ten-year deal agreed in
Within four laps he had dispatched six Verstappen, 24, admitted that the 6 AlphaTauri 112 2018 to host the season-ending champi-
cars. By lap 20, only Verstappen was weekend had been hard but was 17 N Mazepin (Russ) Haas +2 laps 7 Aston Martin 68 onships in Shenzhen was estimated to
ahead of him, which set the scene for confident he can still claim his maiden 18 M Schumacher (Ger) Haas +2 laps 8 Williams 23 be worth close to £800 million. Because
the two rivals to slug it out on the track. title. “We tried everything we could,” he D Ricciardo (Aus) McLaren DNF 9 Alfa Romeo 11 of health restrictions in China, the
Hamilton had the speed but with said. “It was a good battle, but at the end L Stroll (Can) Aston Martin DNF 10 Haas 0
event is at present being held in
some hard, and at times questionable, we just missed a little bit of pace.” Guadalajara, Mexico, instead.
 2GM Monday November 2021 | the times
mber 15 202

Sport The finest rugby coverage

Alex Lowe, Stuart Barnes, Owen Slot and
David Walsh on a thrilling weeekend
Rugby union, pages 66-71

FLORENT GOODEN/LIVEMEDIA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Kane wants to
Resurgent Hamilton bully minnows
Paul Joyce
Harry Kane has pleaded with Gareth

hails greatest drive

Southgate to be unleashed on the worst
team in international football as
England seek to seal qualification for
the 2022 World Cup finals.
Southgate wants to deliver a
statement performance against San
Marino, who are bottom of Fifa’s world
rankings. England need only a point
tonight to guarantee their place in
Qatar, while Kane is only nine goals
behind Wayne Rooney, England’s all-
time leading scorer with 53.
The England manager has con-
firmed that he will make changes to his
starting XI, but Kane is anxious to play
— partly with that record in mind —
and continue where he left off with a
hat-trick in Friday’s 5-0 rout of Albania.
Kane, 28, would set a new standard
for England goals in a calendar year if
Continued on page 65

Flight England
are dreading
Rebecca Clancy Elizabeth Ammon
Motor Racing Correspondent Several members of England’s Ashes
Lewis Hamilton hailed his best squad are facing a potentially uncom-
weekend in Formula One after fortable 15-hour flight down under with
winning the Brazilian Grand Prix the triumphant Australia team today
with a stunning drive that kept his after their T20 World Cup win.
championship hopes alive. Mark Wood, the England fast bowler,
The seven-times world had expressed fears that the Austra-
champion faced the toughest of lians would “wave the trophy around”
battles after receiving the and said it was a journey that he “wasn’t
equivalent of a 25-place grid looking forward to” — even before
penalty over the course of two Australia’s convincing eight-wicket win
races at the Interlagos track. over New Zealand in Dubai.
He had arrived in São Paulo England’s Ashes players and coaches
trailing his championship rival who have been involved in the World
Max Verstappen by 19 points, Hamilton Cup are booked on a special charter
which increased to 21 on Saturday drapes himself flight with Australia’s squad from Dubai
night after the sprint race. But in the flag of to Queensland. The Test specialists
with victory yesterday, the 101st of Brazil after his have been in their quarantine hotel on
Continued on page 72 stunning win the Gold Coast since November 5 but
in São Paulo they will be joined by their team-mates
Continued on page 59

Times Crossword 28,135 across down Prize solution 28,128

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 Scottish island’s current proprietor 1 Visible capacity for understanding C AMB E R COME D I A N
L U A O O E N
mentioned in speech (4) (7) R E P L A C E D P I L A T E
9 3 Cautious about girl serving wine 2 Rock plant! Want lover replaced! C L O I E I
(10) (9) S T A YON C O R NWA L L
O F T E R L
10 11 10 Plain southern woman digesting 4 Blooming troll finally dismissed, OV E R S H A D OW E D
version of Bible (7) like Erica (6) N R U L N S
11 Fine plan, regularly collecting cash 5 Factory initially releasing PON Y T R E K K I NG
B O I G F F
for floral ornament (7) extremely showy clothing (8) F OCU S S E D N EOCO N
12 Reward for service having the 6 Signed too much, having too many T T S M O R
12 Midas touch? (6,9) clients (14) S HO F A R K E E P T I M E
13 It gets confused with Mao’s 7 Operatic heroine, not quite typical E A
B R I GH T
U
ON
I N E
T UDOR
E
S
Chinese philosophy (6) (5)
Check today’s answers by ringing 0905 757
14 Dull quality of poet backed by head 8 US city taking ages to welcome 0141 by midnight. Calls cost £1 per minute
13 14 15 (8) English king (7) plus your telephone company’s network
17 Country dweller got cat doctored 9 Subject to update from bank? access charge. SP: Spoke 0333 202 3390.
16 with little hesitation (8) That’s putting it mildly (14)
The winners of Prize Crossword No 28,128 are
18 Ill-fated high-flyer in charge of a 15 Seriously bring in new style (9) B Karp, Kingston upon Thames, Greater London
17 18 19 sport stadium originally (6) 16 Eg Christmas fastener broken by a C Keep, Bromley, Greater London
21 State of French uniform received young relative (8) K Ricketts, Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire
J Swann, Cambridge
by this method? (7,8) 17 Male theologian trapped in R Thompson, Hinckley, Leicestershire
20 23 Importuner ultimately serving a vehicle? Hard cheese (7)
long time in prison cell (7) 19 Extremely pretty hotel protected Newspapers
21 22 24 Famous conductor in West, by lone method of checking callers support recycling
possibly, initially taking Ravel in (7) The recycled paper content of
thus (7) 20 The messenger god — or some UK newspapers in 2020 was 67%
25 Performer, one who’s rational other messenger? (6)
23 24 about one in court (10) 22 Peacekeepers in film relating to
26 Where cattle may be kept near ancient Carthage (5)
river Exe at first (4)

25 26