Animal
least of English cricket’s problems
attack!
The people
who survived
terrifying
 G2
‘Critical incidents’ at several NHS
trusts as Covid staff shortages hit
Many parts of service
now ‘in a state of crisis’,
warn health leaders
Andrew Gregory
Peter Walker
Robert Booth
Multiple NHS trusts across England
have declared “critical incidents”
amid soaring staff absences caused
by Covid, with health leaders warning
Epstein
paid duke’s
accuser
$500,000
Victoria Bekiempis
New York
Court papers unsealed yester-
day revealed that Virginia Giuffre
received $500,000 in a legal settle-
ment with Jeffrey Epstein, the late
financier and convicted sex offender
whom she accused of sexual abuse.
The unsealing stemmed from Giuf-
fre’s sexual abuse lawsuit against
Prince Andrew, which she filed on 9
August in Manhattan federal court.
Giuffre has long accused Epstein
and his sometime girlfriend Ghis-
laine Maxwell – now a convicted sex
trafficker, after her New York trial –
of forcing her into sex with the royal
when she was 17.
He vehemently maintains his
innocence.
Andrew filed Giuffre’s settlement
with Epstein as part of his attempt
to dismiss her case, arguing that it
shields him. Lawyers for the prince
contend the settlement contains
provisions that bar Giuffre from
taking legal action against 10 
many Epstein associates.
•
many parts of the service are now “in
a state of crisis”.
Boris Johnson yesterday ruled out
the introduction of new curbs “for
now” but said he recognised “that the
pressure on our NHS, on our hospitals,
is going to be considerable in the
course of the next couple of weeks,
and maybe more”. More than half a
dozen trusts have issued alerts over
“internal critical incidents” in recent
days, it is understood, as concerns
mount that some may be unable to
deliver vital care to patients.
Health leaders said the “rapidly
▲ Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001 R: RRI W D IR
Mark Ramprakash Root is the
 Sport
increasing” number of absent NHS
staff was piling “very serious” pres-
sure on hospitals already struggling
to cope with increasing Covid admis-
sions and “huge wider pressure” on
urgent and emergency services.
They said pressure was spreading
to hospitals outside London, with
those in the north-east and Yorkshire
reporting the fastest growth in Covid
patients in recent days.
Johnson said there was “no ques-
tion Omicron continues to surge
through the country”, adding itwould
be “folly” to think the pandemic was
‘The pressure on our
NHS is goingto be
considerable’
Boris Johnson
Prime minister
over. A further 157,758 lab-confirmed
Covid cases were recorded in England
and Scotland as of 9am yesterday, the
government said. However, speak-
ing publicly for the first time this year
Tuesday
4 January 2022
£2.50
From £1.75 for subscribers
during a visit to a vaccination centre
in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, he
insisted the UK remained in a “much
better position” than this time last
year thanks to vaccines and stressed
that Omicron was “plainly milder”
than previous variants.
NHS chiefs also expressed cau-
tious optimism that after weeks of
rising hospitalisations in London –
the centre of the Omicron outbreak
– the increases may have peaked and
were starting to level off. Chris Hop-
son, the chief executive 2 
of NHS Providers, which
National
Trust boss:
I had death
threats in
‘woke’ row
Harriet Sherwood
Arts and culture correspondent
The head of the National Trust has
said she received anonymous death
threats during a “culture war” row
over the organisation’s perceived
“wokeness”.
Hilary McGrady, the NT’s director
general, said she did not report the
intimidation to the police as “it comes
with the territory”.
The row was sparked byNT efforts
to learn more about the history of
its properties, including a report
published last year that found con-
nections between 93 of its historic
places and colonialism and 16 
slavery.
 The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
Inside4//22 News
Four sections every weekday ▼ Concerns are mounting that some
NHS trusts will be unable to deliver
vital care as staff absences rise
:   /
News and Sport Covid-19-related absence among staff
… is having a significant impact on
our frontline operations.”
In a blog published yesterday
Healthcare evening, Matthew Taylor, the chief
executive of the NHS Confederation,
NHS stru re which represents the healthcare sys-
children are hospitalised tem in England, Wales and Northern
with eating disorders Ireland, issued a stark warning that
Page 5 many parts of the health service were
“currently in a state of crisis”.
“In the face of high levels of
Football demand and staffabsence some hos-
pitals are having to declare a ‘critical
Lukaku issue looms larg incident’,” he wrote. “Some hospitals
but Tuchel must fi ay are making urgent calls to exhausted
to regain control at ea staffto give up rest days and leave to
Page 35 enable them to sustain core services.
 Continued from page 1 family and friends were in “total Many more hospitals are having to
imbalance” with the risk. ban visitors to try to reduce the
•

As the Tories implode, is the red wall in Labour’s grasp? Polly Toynbee, page 3 G2
JournalOutside G2 ‘Critical incidents’ at Hopson cautioned that the “big-
gest challenge” facing many NHS
spread of infection.”
Taylor also urged politicians “mak-
Opinions and ideas NHS trusts as Covid
Daily
pullout
The whales are back, andsome faith is restored PhilipHoare, page 4 life &
arts

trusts – like manyworkplaces across ing optimism and complacency a

section
Richard Leakey,Kenyan conservationist Obituaries,page 10 Inside

the country in the first week of the kind of political virility symbol” not
The Guardian Tuesday 4 January2022

Opinion
and ideas

Can we learn to live with Covid?

This is the week we’ll find out
The roulette wheel is spinning,
the ball already rattling towards
its final destination. Boris
Johnson has bet the house
on his Omicron gamble and
now there’s no going back.
The bullishness of ministers
Gaby
insisting over the weekend that
they see no case for further restrictions glosses over the
fact that it may now be too late for that anyway, given
Hinsliff an estimated one in 25 people in England already had
the virus before New Year’s Eve.
Double or quits it is, then, as a country drags itself
back out to work and school after the Christmas
 Can we learn to live
with Covid? This is the
staff shortages bite new year – was staffabsences. Covid-
related staff shortages are causing
to turn Covid policy “into a new ter-
rain for the culture wars”, but instead
havoc in many sectors, with bins in to focus on the facts and “listen to
week we’ll find out represents NHS hospital, mental some areas left “overflowing” with those trying to cope on the frontline”.
Gaby Hinsliff health, community and ambulance waste from the festive period and Meanwhile, the Royal College of
Page 1 services, said: “We were seeing schools scrambling to hire substitute Nursing (RCN) has written to minis-
increases in the number of Covid-19 teachers for the start of the new term. ters calling for further measures in
patients in London hospitals go up by Hopson said “a number of trusts England amid “confusing and con-
hospitals that can’t maintain safe staffing levels and
 As the Tories implode, 9% a day, 15% a day … in terms of 27, 28
and 29 December. Interestingly, in the
across [the] country have declared
internal critical incidents over the last
cerning” differences in restrictions
across the UK. “Nursing professionals
is the red wall in
large organisations being warned to plan for up to a
quarter of their people being offsick or self-isolating.
Now imagine what that worst-case scenario might do
to the everyday grind of supermarket deliveries, bin
collections and bus timetables, let alone to policing

last two days the increases haveonly few days”. United Lincolnshire hos- are questioning the level and nature of
hibernation period. We’re about to find out exactly or critical infrastructure such as the power and
what it means to experience unprecedented levels of water industries.

Covid infections, but from a strain that may be less
dangerous, at least in the fully vaccinated. Once again,
a virus we thought we’d got to know has abruptly
shapeshifted and once again, history isn’t necessarily
Labour’s grasp?
Education ministers have meanwhile vowed to
keep schools and nurseries open wherever possible
– rightly given the profound impact we now know
closures had on poorer children’s education, and on a

a reliable guide to the present. We’re all back on
the seesaw, lurching between hope and fear, never
knowing quite what to expect.
The novel threat this time is not death on the biblical
been 1% and 2%, so they’vedropped pitals NHS trust declared a “critical the variation between governments,”
vulnerable few who are sadly safer with their teachers
than with their parents – but are simultaneously letting
headteachers know they can send year groups home
if they have to. For secondary schools in England and

Polly Toynbee
scale forecast during the first wave – although sadly Wales hit by serious staff shortages, in practice that
there will be too many deaths, hospitalisations and would probably mean prioritising GCSE and A-level

pretty significantly,so there’s a hope incident” on Sunday, with “extreme wrote the RCN’s council chair, Carol
cases of long Covid disabling people for months to classes for pupils who need to sit their mocks this
come – but knock-on chaos and disruption caused by term but switching to home schooling for other years
the potential mass infection of key workers, leaving if necessary, something that was already happening


them unable to do their jobs. in some parts of the country before Christmas
We’ve entered an unpredictable world of people as Omicron hit.
who have heart attacks waiting well over an hour for Nurseries and primary schools catering

Page 3 we might have seen a possible peak and unprecedented” staff shortages Popplestone, and its general secre-
an ambulance, critical incidents being declared by for pupils too young to be vaccinated will

and plateau.” resulting in “compromised care”. tary, Pat Cullen. “We therefore ask
Another piece of positive news, Critical incidents are announced that, as secretary of state for health
G2 Centre pullout he added, was that hospitals were
still not admitting large numbers
by NHS trusts when they believe they
may no longer be able to provide a
and social care, you work with coun-
terparts across government on a more
Features and arts of seriously ill older people. Hop-
son said it was striking that hospital
range of critical services. Declaring an
incident enables local health chiefs
cautious approach for England with-
out further delay.”
Zoe Williams “I was in the
bear’s mouth! bosses were “pointing to the fact”
outbreaks in care homes were “not
to call for help from staff and other
organisations, and creates a formal
Parliament will return from its
Christmas recess tomorrow, when
Teenagers complain translating into hospital admissions”. interim emergency governance struc- the cabinet will meet to review the
constantly – but not about One of the UK’s biggest care home ture to make prioritisation decisions plan B rules. Ministers are expected
wearing Covid masks operators called on the government at speed, for example redeploying to keep restrictions – includingmask
Page 3 Terrifying animal attacks – by the people who survived them to lift visiting restrictions after it staff or reprioritising services. wearing, Covid passports and home
recorded one Covid death in the last Joe Harrison, the chief executive working – as they are.
fortnight. Four Seasons Healthcare, of Milton Keynes University hospi- Yesterday, Johnson rejected the
‘We screamed for a medic’ Tuesday 04/01/22
Zoe Williams
Why would which operates 165 care homes, said
close to 4,000 residents were living
tal, said while his trust was not yet
at this stage, he expected the “very
idea that England’s relativelylimited
restrictions amounted to a gamble.
Charlie Sheen on the teenagers balk at
wearing masks?
page 3
under strict lockdowns because of pressured” situation to get worse “The way forward for the country as
catastrophes that befell the ‘We screamed
for the medic!’ outbreaks, but Omicron was prov- before it got better. Meanwhile, a whole is to continue with the path
cast while making Platoon
Charlie Sheen on the
making ofPlatoon
page 9 ing so mild in a well-vaccinated in Yorkshire, the ambulance ser- that we’re on,” he said. “We’ll keep
Page 9 population that limits on seeing vice said: “The added challenge of everything under review.”

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was unable to collect 1,000 recy-
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Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
Has Netflix
hitits peak?
Growth slows
as rivals grab
the attention
of viewers
Mark Sweney
he UK may be approaching peak
etflix, with the streaming service
attractingthe lowest number of new
subscribers last year since launching
a decade ago.
With a seemingly endless pipeline
of big-budget content,from ouse of
Cards to he Crown and Squid ame,
a binge-watching strategy and bar-
gain basement pricing, etflix has
revolutionised V.
t is estimated, however, that
it attracted 800,000 new UK sub-
scribers in 2021 and is approaching
saturation point in British homes.
“t is peak etflix, in the sense we
are never likely to see the scale of
subscriber additions we have seen
over the past few years,” said ichard
Broughton of mpere nalysis, a
market research firm. “etflix will
continue to grow, but at a much
slower rate.”
etflix has said it expects to have
attracted 18.4m global subscriptions
in 2021 when it reports its full-year
figures next month, taking its global
base to 222m. he rate of growth is
half that seen in 2020, as pandemic
lockdowns led to almost 37m new
signups, the most the platform has
ever managed in a single year.
etflix’s rapid early success
prompted mazon to match its inter-
national expansion by rolling out
rime Video, but there is nowsignif-
icant competition from global rivals
and burgeoning domestic services.
Ukraine hits out over ‘insulting
caricature’ in Emily in Paris
Kate Abbott
Ukraine’s culture minister has
complained to etflix about what
he called an offensive stereotypical
image of a character in mily in aris.
leksandr kachenko wrote on
elegram: “We have a caricature
image of a Ukrainian woman that
is unacceptable. t is also insulting.
s that how Ukrainians are seen
abroad?”
•
News
he well-timed launch of is-
ney+ at the start of the pandemic,
populated by hit content such as the
$100m (£74m) Star Wars V spin-off
he andalorian, resulted in the ser-
vice adding more UK subscribers in a
year in 2020 than any other streaming
platform has ever managed.
nd since 2018, mazon’s rime
Video, which has built its content
base beyond entertainment into
live sport including remier eague
football and international rugby, has
outperformed etflix in annual sub-
scriber growth in the UK.
bout four-fifths of people aged
18 to 34 in the UK with internet con-
nections are now thought to be either
subscribers or to haveaccess through
their families or shared passwords,
eports in Ukraine confirmed he
had sent a letter to the streaming firm
about the actor aria anchenko’s
portrayal of etra, who is terrified of
being deported in the hit show,shop-
lifts while on a shopping spree with
mily and has bad fashion sense.
mily in aris is about the titu-
lar merican, played by ily Collins,
who moves to the rench capital to
work for a marketing firm and swiftly
becomes an influencer.
his is far from the first time the
show has been blasted for cliched
▼ Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe
Dynevor in Bridgerton, which
debuted on Netflix in 2020
PHOTOGRAPH: LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX/AP
▲ Line of Duty, which can be seen on priced at £6.99, but as saturation
iPlayer and Netflix; Claire Foy, left in comes closer to reality there will be
the hit series, The Crown PHOTOGRAPH: more pressure to revisit prices more
TEFFAN HILLIN/; ROERT IGLA/NETFLIX frequently.
and stereotypical depictions:
it has  become renowned for its
beret-wearing, chain-smoking and
philandering rench characters.
he uardian review of its debut
series declared it “astonishingly
tone-deaf”, adding: “You name a
stereotype, and within the first three
episodes, mily has not only encoun-
tered it, but tried to rectifyit, to adjust
it to the merican way.”
he rench critic Charles artin,
who writes for remière, was irate.
“rankly, watching mily in aris
there’s plenty to feel insulted about.
When they decided to caricature
us, the authors didn’t hold back …
no cliche is spared, not even the
weakest.”
n an interview with lle UK in with Daria Panchenko as Petra
3
according to research from mpere.
his is almost identical in the US,
where new subscriber growth has
stalled this year.
n the 35- to 44-year-old bracket
about 70% have access, while there
is more hope for new converts among
those aged 45-54, with the demo-
graphic just 62% won over by etflix.
he biggest opportunity is among
older people: only half of those aged
55-64 who are internet-connected are
subscribed or have access to etflix.
“he one thing holding etflix
back from converting more house-
holds is those that are not converting
don’t like all the content etflix cur-
rently offers,” said Broughton.
“hese are older consumers,
whose likes are more akin to tradi-
tional UK broadcast channels. hey
like things such as more local produc-
tions. etflix is beginning to tap into
that with more new productions tar-
geting these consumers.”
he internet service provider
alkalk has said the pandemic has
fuelled a rise of “silver streamers”.
he over-75s have seen the biggest
rise of any demographic in internet
usage since summer 2019, up 72%,
as stay-at-home health restrictions
forced them to become “more com-
fortable with leading online lives”,
according to alkalk.
When etflix’s inexorably rising
production and licensing budget –
expected to hit $17bn globally this
year to keep subscribers happy and
compete effectively against growing
numbers of deep-pocketed rivals – is
factored in, subscribers can expect
more price rises.
n arch, etflix put up the price
of its most-popular package by £1 a
month to £9.99, not a huge increase
given a decade ago at launch it was
eanwhile, isney, which despite
‘Silver-streamer’ picks having popular franchises including
arvel, ixar and isney classics, is
expected to saturate markets sooner
Top 10 TV shows most streamed because it has a narrower range of
by over-65 viewers in UK content overall.
1 Line of Duty here are already signs of this
2 The Crown trend in the UK, where its record
3 Peaky Blinders 3.5m subscriptions in its first year of
4 Bridgerton operations, 2020, slowed to just 1.2m
5 Squid Game last year.
6 The Queen’s Gambit While etflix’sclosest competitor,
7 The Handmaid’s Tale mazon, is still growing at a faster
8 Tiger King rate – it is expected to add 1.3 million
9 Below Deck regular video users this year – it is not
10 Normal People forecast to become the market leader
Source: TalkTalk in the coming years.
ecember, Collins declared that the
show was seeking to correct some of
the perceived errors in its second run,
stating that it would be “more inclu-
sive and diverse” as a result.
Collins said: “or me as mily, but
also as a producer, after season one,
hearing people’s thoughts, concerns,
questions, likes, dislikes, just feelings
about it, there were certain things
that spoke to the time that we’re liv-
ing in and what is right, moral and
correct and should be done.
“ wanted diversity and inclusion
in front of and behind the camera to
be something that we really put our
focus on.”
mily in aris is now one of the
▲ Lily Collins as Emily (left) in scene top 10 most-viewed shows on etflix
around the world.

4 News
‘33 years of waiting’:
man abducted in
1989 finds family
by posting map of
home village online
Peter Beaumont
Thirty years ago, when Li Jingwei was
four years old, a neighbour abducted
him from his home villagein China’s
Yunnan province and sold him to a
child-trafficking ring.
Now he has been reunited with
his mother after drawing a map of
his home village from his memories
of three decades ago and sharing it
on a popular video-sharingapp in the
hope that someone might be able to
identify it.
“I’m a child who’s looking for his
home,” Li said in the video. Unable
to recall the name of his village or his
address, Li’s recollection and recon-
struction of the village’s key features
– including a school, a bamboo forest
and a pond – proved crucial.
“I knew the trees, stones, cows
and even which roads turn and where
the water flows,” Li said in an inter-
view withthe Paper,a Chinese media
outlet.
Shared on Douyin – known outside
China as TikTok – on 24 December,
the map was matched by police to
a Yunnan village where there was a
woman whose son had disappeared.
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
▲ Li Jingwei miles from his That son was identiied as Li
and his mother home village. through DNA tests, leading to an
embrace during
an emotional
Li, holding his
mother, below,
emotional reunion on Saturday.
Video footage showed Li carefully
reunion on said she had removing his mother’smask to exam-
Saturday, 33
years after he
cried when they
immediately
ine her face, before breaking down in
tears and embracing her.
was abducted recognised each “Thirty-three years of waiting,
and sold to a other during an countless nights of yearning, and
family that lived earlier video call inally a map hand-drawn from
more than 1,100 R:  memory, this is the moment of per-
fect release after 13 days,” Li wrote on
his Douyin profile before the reun-
ion. “Thank you everyone who has
helped me reunite with my family.”
He told the Paper: “My mother
cried as soon as I got on the phone.
After the video call, I recognised her
at a glance. Mymother and I have the
same lips, even my teeth.”
Abducted in 1989, Li was sold
to a family in Lankao, more than
1,100 miles away. Child abductions
are common in China and Li was
probably taken because the family
wanted a boy.
Li said he was inspired to look
for his biological family after see-
ing high-profile stories in the media
describing two other abduction
cases that had ended in reunions. He
mentioned the case of Guo Gangtang,
who became a media celebrity after
▼ The map Li drew from memory of
his home village, which he had last
seen when he was four years old
R: 
‘I knew the trees and
stones,which roads
turn, andwhere
the water flows’
Li Jingwei
searching for his missing son for 24
years, travelling more than 300,000
miles by motorbike in his eventually
successful search. “When I saw the
story of Guo Gangtang, I thought to
myself: I should tryto find my biolog-
ical parents … I wanted to see them
when they are still alive.”
He told Henan Television: “I real-
ised I could not wait any longer
because my parents should be get-
ting older now. I worried that when
I figured out where I am from, they
might have passed away.”
Li, now livingin Guangdongprov-
ince in southern China, had had no
success when asking his adoptive
parents – who he said had brought
him up well – or consulting DNA data-
bases about his origins.
British Council
launches
inquiry after
Kenyan staff
allege racism
Rajeev Syal
The British Council has launched an
inquiry into allegations from black
current and former staffmembers in
Kenya who claim they were subjected
to systemic racism.
Senior white executives at the
organisation, which is the British
government’s cultural arm abroad,
have been accused of discriminating
against Kenyan-born staff, particu-
larly as they were selected and
assessed for redundancy.
A letter that claims to represent
seven currentand former staffmem-
bers sparked the inquiry in July when
it was sent to the British Council as
well as the Kenyan authorities.
It says: “The cases underline a
repeated practice by white members
of staffto constantly assign Kenyans
as underperformers, inadequate,
unskilled, unprofessional, and sus-
pects as the organisation abuses its
procedures and systems to validate
its discriminative practice.”
Five of the seven accusers claim
they were discriminated against dur-
ing a redundancy process that they
say favoured white colleagues. The
allegations come amid cuts in UK
central government funding for the
British Council as well as a shortfall
of income related to the Covid-19
pandemic.
The British Council, known as the
UK government’s main instrument
of soft power, launched an inquiry
into the claims in September and
says it takes racism claims seriously.
It claims it is still waiting for all of the
complainants to come forward with
evidence and has queried some of the
claims in the initial letter.
One of the complainants who was
made redundant said he would not
cooperate with the inquiry because
it was too narrow in scope to include
earlier allegations.
Apollo Edewa, 33, a former pro-
gramme manager at the office in
Nairobi for five years until February,
said staff believed the organisation
gave much greater weight to white
people’s opinions compared with
black people, and now wants to tailor
the inquiry to justify its prejudices.
He said: “The British Council says
it will only investigate these allega-
tions if we allow them to manage
the complaints process and select
the cases to be investigated. But
many former and currentemployees
believe that there is a racist culture
in the organisation which goes back
many years. White people’s opinions
are given more weight than black peo-
ple from Kenya.”
A spokesperson said the council
“takes all allegations of discrimina-
tion, racism, bullying and harassment
very seriously … On receiving the
anonymous letter, we immediately
initiated an investigation.”
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
Dinosaur hunter
Retired GP who found
two new species
Page 9
NHS struggles as 40% more children
are hospitalised with eating disorders
Andrew Gregory
Health editor
The NHS can no longer treat every
child with an eating disorder, a
leading psychiatrist has warned, as
“worrying” figures reveal hospital
admissions have risen 41% in a year.
A dramatic surge in cases dur-
ing the pandemic has left already
struggling community services over-
stretched with many now unable to
care for everyone who requires help,
experts said.
NHS Digital data for England shows
a sharp rise in admissions in every
area of the country. Provisional data
for April to October 2021 – the most
recent available – shows there were
4,238 hospital admissions for chil-
dren aged 17 and under, up 41% from
3,005 in the same period in 2020.
The 2021 figure is also up 69% on
the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
Charities said the rise in admis-
sions was “only the tip of the iceberg”,
Cabin feverDedicated daytrippers queued for more than 24 hours in the cold and rain atAvon Beach
in Christchurch, Dorset, to try to get their hands on one of 12 in-demand beach huts available to rent
for the year. The huts were only available to book from 8am yesterday,but staffarrived at7.30 on Sunday
:
Z UL/ morning to find several people already waiting,with the aid of blankets, foldingchairs and water bottles.
•
“Incel” threat
Plymouth gunman
glorified online
Page 14
with thousands more children need-
ing support for eating disorders.
Dr Agnes Ayton, chair of the eat-
ing disorders faculty at the Royal
College of Psychiatrists, said: “The
hidden epidemic of eating disorders
has surged during the pandemic,
with many community services now
overstretched and unable to treat the
sheer number of people needing help.
We are at the point where we cannot
afford to let this go on any longer.
“Early intervention is key to recov-
ery and to preventing serious illness,
which is why it’s crucial that the
money announced by government
[for mental health services] urgently
reaches the frontline. The govern-
ment must also deliver a workforce
plan to tackle the shortages in eating
disorder services so that they have
enough staff to treat everyone who
needs help.”
Tom Madders, director of cam-
paigns at YoungMinds, said the
figures were “worrying” and the
impact of the last two years had “left
many young people isolated, uncer-
tain about the future and with less
control over their lives”.
The Guardian reported in Septem-
ber how record numbers of children
and young people were seeking
access to NHS mental health ser-
vices, as the toll of the pandemic
was revealed in a new analysis. In
just three months, nearly 200,000
young people were referred to men-
tal health services – almost double
pre-pandemic levels, according to the
Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Madders said many young people
‘Many services are
now unable to treat
the sheer number
needing help’
Dr Agnes Ayton
Eating disorder expert
had struggled to get “timely support”
before the pandemic and the last two
years had deepened the crisis.
“We know the NHS is under
increasing pressure and staff are
working extremely hard to sup-
port those that need it, but it’s clear
the government must re-double its
efforts and ensure that it improves
access to NHS services,” he added.
“It’s also crucial that early support
is available for young people in their
local communities, which is whywe
want to see the government invest
in a network of early support hubs.”
Overall, the data shows there were
23,302 admissions for eating disor-
ders among all age groups in the
financial year 2020-21, up 13% from
20,647 admissions in 2019-20.
Provisional data for April to Octo-
ber 2021 shows there were 15,941
admissions among all age groups,
suggesting 2021-22 will be the highest
year yet for people needing inpatient
treatment, whatever their age.
The new NHS data shows that5,941
5
admissions among all ages from April
to October 2021 were for anorexia.
The next biggest set of admissions,
at 3,263, were for bulimia.
Hospital admissions are most
common in adults aged 18 to 39, the
figures show, with 8,298 in this age
group from April to October 2021.
There are also regional differ-
ences, with a higher number of
hospital admissions in the south-
east and south-west than in many
other regions.
Tom Quinn, director of external
affairs at the eating disorders char-
ity Beat, said: “It is concerning that
the number of hospital admissions
for people with eating disorders is
continuing to increase. We know
that accessing quality community
treatment reduces the chances of
somebody needing hospital care,
and so the rise in admissions suggests
that people are not getting the sup-
port that they need quickly enough.”
Quinn said the pandemic had had a
“devastating impact” on people with
eating disorders. He added: “The
number of hospital admissions is
only the tip of the iceberg, and there
are many other people needing sup-
port for an eating disorder.”
He urged ministers to publish data
about the number of people waiting
for treatment, in order to “better
understand” the scale of demand.
Wild birds
can be shot to
protect game
birds, says Defra
Helena Horton
Some wildbirds can now be killed in
order to protect game birds bred for
shooting in England, after the gov-
ernment updated its guidelines on
its general licences.
These give broad permissions to
shoot certain species of wild birds
to protect livestock, aid conserva-
tion, and preserve health and public
safety. There has been debate over
whether pheasants, partridges and
grouse count as livestock, as they are
wild birds.
The Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has
released a new definition of “live-
stock” including these birds, to give
explicit permission to shoot carrion
crows, jackdaws, magpies and rooks.
A Defra spokesperson said the
change was made after gamekeepers
asked for more clarity over the issue.
The new language makes it clear
the birds count as livestock only if
“kept in an enclosure or … free roam-
ing but significantly dependent on
the provision of food, water or shelter
by a keeper for their survival”.
Conservation groups raised con-
cerns that the update couldmean an
increase in the killing of wild birds.
 • The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
6 News
Coronavirus ▼ Boris Johnson during a visit to
a vaccination hub at the Guttman
centre in Stoke Mandeville yesterday
PRP: V PR/ P

Masks, FoI requests and include having to send home classes

or year groups for short periods of
secretary of the National Education
Union, said it was “alarming” that the

giant classes: schools

time to learn remotely.”
Heads are preparing for “difficult
conversations” with some parents
after the government called for masks
to be worn in secondary classrooms,
education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi,
was advocating combiningclasses of
pupils to overcome staff shortages.
“Collapsing classes will mix groups
of pupils and risks providingthe con-

brace for rockyreturn

while others are dealing with time- ditions for the virus to spread more
consuming subject access requests rapidly, which will result in greater
and freedom of information requests pupil and staff absence,” she said.
over vaccination programmes from Ben Davis is the headteacher of
anti-vaccination groups. St Ambrose Barlow C high school
Boris Johnson said yesterday in Greater Manchester, which opens
he was not happy about calling for to pupils again on Thursday with
masks in classrooms but it was a nec- a phased return to allow each year
A number of headteachers and essary step. “There’s an increasing group to be tested for Covid. “I do feel
Sally Weale one leading education union have Lateral flow tests body of scientificsupport for the idea a sense of trepidation,” he said. “My
expressed concern about new gov- Distributor’sholiday that face masks can contain transmis- expectation is there will be quite a lot
ernment advice to combine classes in sion,”he said. “I don’t like the idea of of disruption over the next few weeks
School leaders in England are warn- the event ofstaffshortages, warning having face masks in[the] classroom and we will have year groups work-
ing of weeks of disruption owing to that it risks spreading Covid further The sole distributor of Covid lateral any more than anybody else does, but ing from home.”
high levels of staff Covid absences, and increasing disruption. flow tests (LFTs) to pharmacies we won’t keep them on a day more Glyn otts, the head of Blessed
which could lead to children being In an email sent to schools on closed for four days over the than is necessary.” John Henry Newman C College in
sent home to learn remotely. Sunday, the Department for Educa- Christmas period just as it received With the risk of widespread dis- Oldham, has himself tested positive
One secondary headteacher said tion advised heads to deal with staff a delivery of 2.5m units. ruption to schools, Oak National for Covid and will not be in school at
he and 26 of his staff had tested pos- absences by teaching larger groups, Alliance Healthcare took Academy, the national online class- the start of term. A further 26 staff
itive for the virus, while others were but school leaders said this was not delivery of the Covid tests on room set up by government when the have also tested positive and he is
having to stay at home to look after a workable long-term solution, with Christmas Eve – and then shut, pandemic first hit, is preparing for waiting to find who will be out of iso-
their own children as nurseries were one warning it could lead to some- the Times reported. increased demand. lation and available for work when
closed, also owing to Covid absences. thing “like a scene out of Mad Max”. The company has been “Schools and teachers are doing pupils begin to return to school on
As the impact of the spread of Geoff Barton, the general secre- approached by the Guardian for all they can to makesure pupils have Thursday.
Omicron over Christmas becomes tary of the Association of School and comment, but a UK spokesperson a smooth return to the classroom “What we are going to get on our
apparent in Covid data, heads said College Leaders, said: “Schools and told the Times it had closed from after the holidays,” said Oak’s prin- return are absences of staff and
it was inevitable that some classes colleges desperately want to be able 25 December until 28 December, cipal, Matt Hood.“For those children children and a large number of chal-
and year groups would be sent home to maintain face-to-face teachingon a and distribution had resumed on who cannot be in the classroom, Oak lenging conversations with parents
to learn remotely because schools consistent basis, but the reality is that 29 December “when the majority of National Academy stands ready to – those who are for or against masks
would not have sufficient teachers if large numbers of staff are absent community pharmacies reopened”. support them.” and vaccinations – all of which dis-
or supply cover. this will cause disruption, which may Jamie Grierson Dr Mary Bousted, the joint general tracts and takes time,” he said.
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
Care homes
Provider calls
for easing of
visitor bans
for residents
Robert Booth
Social affairs correspondent
One of the UK’s biggest care home
operators is calling on the govern-
ment to lift visiting restrictions, after
it recorded only one Covid death in
the last fortnight.
Four Seasons Health Care, which
operates 165 care homes, said close to
4,000 residents are living under strict
lockdowns because of outbreaks,
but the Omicron variant is proving
so mild in a well-vaccinated popula-
tion that limits on seeing family and
friends were in “total imbalance”
with the risk.
Of 132 deaths among the chain’s
residents in the last two weeks, just
one was attributed to Covid, but
because two or more staff or res-
idents have tested positive in 86
homes, indoor visits are now largely
banned. That is in step with govern-
ment guidelines imposed before
Christmas amid uncertainty about
the danger of the latest coronavirus
variant.
“We are depriving people of their
right to visitors, which is an absolute
outrage,” said Jeremy Richardson,
the chief executive of the UK’s third
largest care home provider.
“The government restrictions at
the moment are making it very dif-
ficult to give people a quality of life.
Face coverings
Rule already in
place for many
pupils in EU
T
Jon Henley
Europe correspondent
he return of a
requirement
in England for
secondary pupils to
wear face masks in
class has sparked a
backlash at the start of the new
term, but several EU countries
have already adopted the measure
even for primary school children.
In countries such as France,
however, where a mask mandate
for pupils aged 11 and over was
reimposed in November after
a brief relaxation at the start
of the new school year, face
coverings have been compulsory
in all primary schools since
15 December. The measure,
previously applicable to children
aged six and over only in areas
•
“We run care homes,” he said. “We
do not run prisons.”
“The impact of loneliness and iso-
lation has far outweighed the impact
Residents and relatives have been
left distraught by the further restric-
of Covid in the later part of the pan-
demic, so are we going to continue
tions. Before Christmas, the health
secretary, Sajid Javid, announced
with these strict visiting policies?”
asked Jenny Morrison, the cofounder
that in England any care home with of the Rights for Residents campaign
an outbreak should shut its doors to group. “It’s completely dispropor-
indoor visitors for up to 28 days after tionate to what we are facing.”
the last positivecase, except for peo-
ple designated as essential care givers
and if a resident is at the end of their
Richardson said that since March
2021, 2,320 Four Seasons residents
had died from all causes, but only
life. Movements out of the care home 29 of them from Covid – 1.25%. Over
should also be minimised. that period, the overall death rate has
It has meant thousands of fami- been below the average of the previ-
lies have only been able to see loved ous four years prior to Covid.
ones through windows or in plastic Nadra Ahmed, the executive
visiting pods. chair of the National Care Associa-
Meanwhile, around half of the care tion, which represents independent
homes operated by MHA, one of the operators, said more than a quarter
largest not-for-profitproviders, have of her members were facing staffing
outbreaks that have restricted visit- shortages because of the requirement
ing, it said yesterday. to isolate for seven days after a posi-
But deaths from Covid in care tive PCR test.
homes in England, which accom- One operator has reported that half
modate 350,000 people, stood at 40 of their staffwere offdue to a positive
in the week to Christmas Eve com- test or sickness.
pared with the peak of Covid’s fatal ADepartment of Health and Social
impact in January2021, when around Care spokesperson said: “Our prior-
1,800 care home residents died in a ity continues to be the safety of care
single week. The latest NHS figures home residents and staff.
show 95% of care home residents in “We are doing everything we can
England havehad two vaccine doses to support care providers to facili-
and 81% have been boosted. tate safe visits.”
 Four Seasons
says it has
4,000 residents
in lockdowns
because of Covid
cases, but has
had only one
Covid death in
two weeks
G: 
L/G
with a particularly high incidence,
has not so far met with significant
Spain has also required all
school children over the age of six
resistance during a record-breaking to wear face masks in class since
surge in infections fuelled by the September, when the country
Omicron variant. was recording the highest Covid
With infections exceeding
200,000 a day, children aged six
and over are also now required to
incidence rate in western Europe.
The rule has met little
resistance, although the far-right
wear masks in indoor places open
to the public, including shops,
cinemas, sports complexes, trains
Vox party has sought to make
political capital out of opposing
it, warning the measure “could be
and buses, and outside in big citiescounter-productive”.
such as Paris and Lyon. “Almost all children over
Unless the entire class has been six have worn masks without
vaccinated, Italy has also required rejecting it, they’ve normalised
all pupils aged six and over to wearit,” said Mireia Orgilés, the author
a mask indoors at school since of a study on the psychological
last year, while Greece extended impact of the pandemic on young
the mandate to nursery school people in Italy and Spain.
children. In Germany, where federal
Belgium made mask wearing states can set their own rules,
mandatory for all children over the mask requirements have been
age of six, including at school, in reimposed as the Omicron surge
early December. looms. Masks are mandatory
inside all school buildings for all
age groups, but can be taken off
for exams and presentations.
However, pupils in Swedish
schools are not required to wear
masks. Norway, too, does not
require masks to be worn at
school, although children over
12 must wear them on public
transport, and Poland has so far
not imposed a mask mandate on
▲ Schoolchildren wear face masks in pupils but warned yesterday new
elementary school in Gent, Belgium restrictions could be imminent.
Analysis
Linda Geddes
Peak Omicron may not be far
off now – but that doesn’t mean
the modelling is all wrong
T
he family gatherings
have disbanded, the
new year hangovers
have lifted. Despite
record Covid infection
figures over the
holiday period, evidence that the
rate of increase in cases may be
slowing has prompted speculation
that London, at least, may be close
to reaching “peak Omicron”.
Boris Johnson is said to be
obsessed with this hypothetical
time point, seeing it as crucial
to how Omicron might play out
nationwide. If hospitalisations
follow the same trajectory and
peak without the NHS being
overwhelmed, the prime minister’s
decision not to impose lockdown-
style restrictions before the holiday
period may be vindicated.
Johnson is correct that peak
Omicron will be an important
moment. “The reason it matters
when it peaks – and particularly
when cases peak in the over-50s –
is it’s likely that a week later we’ll
see the peak in hospitalisations,
and roughly two weeks later, we’ll
see a peak in the number of deaths.
It’s helpful, because it helps us to
plan ahead,” said Dr Raghib Ali, a
senior clinical research associate at
the University of Cambridge’s MRC
Epidemiology Unit.
In London, cases appear to
have stabilised, or even fallen
during the past two weeks. New
hospitalisations also appear to have
stabilised in recent days, with 319
people admitted with Covid on 31
December, compared with 450 the
day before, and 511 the day before
that. “We would guess, based on
what case numbers are doing in
London, that the peak in hospital
admissions should be this week,
and nationally, maybe a week
later,” Ali said.
This is roughly in line with the
scenarios outlined in modelling
studies, which suggested Omicron
cases would peak in early to
mid-January. However, the
magnitude of the peak appears to
be significantly lower than some of
the worst-case scenarios predicted.
According to modelling data
published by the University
of Warwick on 30 December,
hospital admissions should by
now be approaching about 5,000
a day in England. Yet, according
to the latest figures, the number
of Covid-19 patients admitted to
hospital on 1 January was 1,819,
down from 2,370 two days earlier.
This doesn’t necessarily mean
that we should disregard such
models, as some hawkish MPs have
suggested. Ali said: “Modelling,
post-vaccination, has become
7
extremely difficult. And trying to
predict people’s behaviour, well,
they don’t even try to include
that in the models, so, inevitably,
they’re not going to be able to
predict what’s going to happen.
“Instead, they give a variety of
scenarios, which are necessary
because we have to have some
idea of the range of possibilities.
But when the range is so wide, it
doesn’t really help policymakers,
because the difference between
100 deaths a day and 6,000 deaths
a day is just so huge.”
Although the gloomiest
predictions may have not come to
pass, experts caution that we’re
not out of the woods yet. Some of
the slowing could be a reflection
of altered behaviour in the run-up
to Christmas, when concern about
escalating cases and a desire to
spend the festive period with older
relatives prompted many to behave
more cautiously. They may also
have been less likely to take a Covid
test in the run-up to Christmas –
assuming they could access one.
Now that Christmas is over,
some of us may have relaxed our
behaviour; any rise in cases as a
result of New Year’s Eve won’t
become apparent for about another
week, as it takes five to six days
on average after being exposed to
the virus to develop symptoms,
and then a further couple of
days for people to seek a test.
Children returning to schools this
week – many of whom remain
unvaccinated – may also prompt a
surge in cases.
A further fly in the ointment is
that younger age groups accounted
for most Omicron infections
during early to mid-December, but
increased intergenerational mixing
over Christmas could yet trigger a
surge of infections in older adults.
The good news is that most of
these people have now received a
booster, and their levels of immune
protection should remain high for
a few months yet. The ramped-up
booster programme has been under
way for several weeks, meaning
many younger people should also
soon have additional immunity.
The combination of this vaccine-
induced protection and so many
people having been infected
means we will eventually hit peak
Omicron, after which cases should
begin to fall.
This will certainly be cause
for celebration, but for as
long as significant numbers of
people around the world remain
unvaccinated, the global death
toll will continue to rise, and
the chances of further variants
emerging will remain.
 • The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
8 National
Calls for Peter Walker
ministers to Political correspondent
Labour has called on the government
explain why to explain why it had claimed that
Liz Truss hosted a £3,000 lunch at a
Truss hosted
private members’ club because it was
available at short notice, when leaked
correspondence later showed she had
£3,000 lunch insisted on the venue.
In a letter to the international
trade minister, Anne-Marie Trev-
elyan, Labour also asked why Truss,
Trevelyan’s predecessor in the role,
had overruled civil servants’ con-
cerns about the cost of the club,
which is owned by a Tory donor.
The correspondence, disclosed
by the Sunday Times, showed that
Truss, now the foreign secretary and
a favouriteto succeed Boris Johnson,
“refused to consider anywhere else”
and asked that public funds should
pay for the event with Joe Biden’s
trade representative.
According to the correspond-
ence, Truss, then the trade secretary,
“explicitly asked that we book
5 Hertford Street”, owned by Robin
Birley,a £20,000 donor to Boris John-
son’s leadership campaign and the
half-brother of Zac Goldsmith, an
environment minister.
The venue agreed to reduce the bill
to £1,400, but on condition of imme-
diate payment – which meant civil
servants had to use an emergency
process to pay up straight away.
In the letter to Trevelyan, Labour’s
shadow international trade secretary,
Nick Thomas-Symonds, said when
the Mail on Sunday asked about the
event in November, “it is understood
that the department’s own press
Call for safer
routes after
28,400 cross
Channel on
small boats
Rajeev Syal
Refugee charities are urging the
government to open safe routes
or risk a new wave of fatalities in the
Channel after the number of people
who travelled to the UK by small
boats trebled last year.
Data released today shows that
almost 28,400 people crossed the
Channel in 2021. The record num-
ber came despite tens of millions of
pounds being spent on new measures
to discourage the journeys.
Organisations that help new arriv-
als said the figures show that the
government’s current strategy risks
more deaths at sea. On 24 November,
27 people, including a seven-year-old
boy and a pregnant woman, drowned
in the worst tragedy of its kind.
Enver Solomon, the chief execu-
tive of the Refugee Council, said he
could envisage more fatalities if there
was not a rethink. “This govern-
ment must change its approach, and
instead of seeking to punish or push
away people seeking safety because
of the type of journey they have
made to the UK, they must create
and commit to safe routes.”
Clare Moseley, founder of the
charity Care4Calais,which supports
refugees living in northern France,
said: “The government tells us that
people should travel by legal means,
but if this were truly possible why
would so many be risking their lives
in flimsy boats?”
office stated that the reason for such
expense was due to it being organised
at ‘short notice’ and therefore down
to availability”.
Department for International
Trade officials argued that the book-
ing was made just a day before the
event, and that alternative venues
might not have been cheaper.
A spokesperson said: “This was a
diplomatic workingdinner attended
by the previous international trade
secretary, senior UK officials, and US
counterparts from our largest single
trading partner.”
Minnie Rahman, the interim head
of the Joint Council for the Welfare
of Immigrants,said:“What’s changed
is that safe routes to get here … have
completely shut down, forcing more
people into the hands of people traf-
fickers to get here,” she said.
At least 28,395 people reached
the UK aboard small boats in 2021,
according to the Press Association.
Arrivals peaked in November when
at least 6,869 people reached the UK.
Between 10 and 16 November, more
than 3,100 made the crossing, the
most in any seven-day stretch in the
current crisis. The same month also
saw a new record for crossings in a
single day, with 1,185 people reach-
ing British shores aboard 33 boats on
11 November.
Despite international efforts to
crack down on people smugglers,
gangs charge thousands of pounds
for a place in flimsy inflatable boats.
The dinghies have increased in size
over the past year, with some carry-
ing as many as 50 people.
An average of about 28 people trav-
elled aboard each small boat that
arrived in the UK in 2021, up from
just over 13 in 2020. The Home Office
collects its own data, but refuses to
release annual figures, which instead
are compiled daily by journalists.
The Home Office minister Tom
Pursglove said the government
was  “reforming” its approach to
asylum through its new plan for
immigration. “Seeking asylum for
protection should not involve people
asylum-shopping country to coun-
try,or risking their lives by lining the
pockets of criminal gangs to cross the
Channel,” he said.
“The nationality and borders
bill will make it a criminal offence
to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally
and introduce life sentences for those
who facilitate illegal entry into the
country. It will also strengthen the
powers of Border Force to stop and
redirect vessels, while introducing
new powers to remove asylum seek-
ers to have their claims processed
outside the UK.”
Deadly journeys to Spain Page 19 
 RNLI staff
assist people
arriving in Kent
after crossing
the Channel on
19 December
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
Dinosaur hunter The
retired GP who helped
find two new species
S
Hannah Devlin
Science correspondent
ome of us binged on box
sets, others grappled
with home schooling
and zoned out of Zoom
meetings: for many, life
under lockdown felt
glum. But for Jeremy Lockwood, a
retired  turned palaeontologist,
2021 was a standout year featuring
two big dinosaur discoveries
and plans to make the sle of
Wight famous for its prehistoric
inhabitants again.“t was an
absolutely thrilling time,” he said.
Lockwood, 64, who retired as a
family doctor in the idlands seven
years ago, was behind the widely
publicised discovery of a new
species of iguanodontian dinosaur,
with a distinctively large nose, and
a second species nicknamed “the
horned crocodile-faced hell heron”.
•
National
t the start of the pandemic,
Lockwood re-registered with
the eneral edical Council and
volunteered to work. owever, his
daughter, also a doctor, pointed out
that before vaccines were available,
hospitals would not want people in
their 60s on walking around wards.
o for two years, Lockwood has
immersed himself in fossil hunting
and sifting through boxes of bones.
n palaeontology, like astronomy,
amateurs often work alongside
academics. n retirement,
Lockwood decided to put his
lifelong interest in dinosaurs on a
formal footing and persuaded his
wife to move to the sle of Wight,
where dinosaur fossils regularly
emerge from the eroding cliffs.
e contacted rof David artill,
of the niversity of ortsmouth,
about doing a hD and was quickly
accepted.
Lockwood is revisiting a golden
era for dinosaur discovery with
9
eating Iguanodon bernissartensis or
Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis.
fter examining many hundreds
of bones in the atural istory
useum and the Dinosaur sle
museum, Lockwood identified
a clear outlier with an enormous
bulbous nose. he finding suggests
there were far more iguanodontian
dinosaurs in the arly Cretaceous
of the K than previously thought.
“ou can almost liken this huge
collection of iguanodontian bones
to several jigsaw puzzles that are all
mixed up,” he said.
Lockwood is doing his doctorate
part-time, but acknowledges being
“a bit obsessed”. “ometimes ’ll
work for 16 hours a day,” he said.
“riends and family have to put up
▲ Jeremy Lockwood a focus on iguanodons, the first with you talking about dinosaurs all
at Compton Bay, specimen of which was unearthed the time.”
Isle of Wight by ideon antell, also a doctor longside his work on archive
PHOTOGRAPH: UNIVERSITY turned palaeontologist, in ussex in specimens, Lockwood makes daily
OF PORTSMOUTH/PA 1825. ome have assumed that the surveys of the beach to spot bones
long timeline of discovery means emerging from the cliffs.
that the understanding of British e is also coordinating an effort
dinosaurs is “done and dusted”. by a charitable group to redevelop
n the contrary, Lockwood said, the Dinosaur sle museum
certain dogmas had remained together with a erman company,
unchallenged. nd modern Dinosaurier-ark nternational,
methods, such as using software to after the council launched a tender
cluster specimens into a most likely process. “’m trying to take over
family tree, had not always been the museum,” Lockwood said.
The distinctive nose of applied to earlier finds. “he sle of Wight undersells
the new dinosaur species ost dinosaurs found on the its dinosaurs. ost people are
Brighstoneus simmondsi sle of Wight had been assigned as unaware we’re urope’s hotspot for
either one of two species: the plant- dinosaurs and early mammals.”
 • The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
10 National
Inside Epstein
TV review: FourLives settlement
How the families of paid duke’s
Stephen Port’s victims
accuser
fought forjustice
$500,000
G2 
 Continued from page 1
The unsealed settlement states that
upon receipt of the stipulated sum,
Giuffre, referred to under her maiden
name, agrees to “remise, release,
acquit, satisfy and forever discharge
the said second parties and any other
person or entity who could have been
included as a potential defendant …
from all, and all manner of,action and
actions of Virginia Roberts, includ-
ing state or federal, cause and causes
of action”.
Andrew is not mentioned. Nor is
the lawyer Alan Dershowitz, whom
Giuffre has accused of sexual miscon-
duct facilitated by Epstein, which he
has repeatedly denied.
In a court filing on 29 October,
Andrew’s attorneys said: “Giuffre
settled her sex-traficking and
sexual-abuse claims against Epstein
in 2009. In doing so, she provided
Epstein with a general release of all
claims against him and numerous
other individuals and entities. To
avoid beingdragged into future legal
disputes, Epstein negotiated for this
broad release, insisting that it cover
any and all persons who Giuffre iden-
tified as potential targets of future
lawsuits, regardless of the merit – or
lack thereof – to any such claims.”
The attorneys also said: “Because
Prince Andrew is a senior member of
the British royal family, he falls into
one of the expressly identified cate-
gories of persons, ie, royalty,released
from liability under the release
agreement, along with politicians,
academicians, businessmen and oth-
ers allegedly associated with Epstein.
“As a third-party beneficiary of the
release agreement, Prince Andrew is
entitled to enforce the general release
contained therein.”
Lawyers for Andrew will argue
for dismissal today. Giuffre’s set-
tlement is discussed extensively in
their motion to dismiss. Attorneys for
Andrew did not comment yesterday.
▲ Jeffrey Epstein was accused of
sexual abuse by Virginia Giuffre
A representative for Giuffre’slawyers
said the release was “irrelevant to
Ms Giuffre’s claim against Prince
Andrew” as it “does not mention
Prince Andrew”.
“He did not even know about it.
He could not have been a ‘potential
defendant’ in the settled case against
Jeffrey Epstein both because he was
not subject to jurisdiction in Florida
and because the Florida case involved
federal claims to which he was not a
part. The actual parties to the release
have made clear that Prince Andrew
was not covered by it.
“Lastly, the reason we sought to
have the release made public was to
refute the claims being made about
it by Prince Andrew’s PR campaign.”
The settlement with Epstein has
come up in Giuffre’s lawsuit against
Dershowitz. On 16 April 2019,she filed
a defamation suit over his denials of
sexual misconduct. Dershowitz filed
the Epstein settlement agreement
in his fight against that suit. “Pro-
fessor Dershowitz, as a third-party
beneficiary of the 2009 settlement
agreement, was entitled to rely upon
and enforce the terms of that secret
deal,” lawyers for Andrew said.
Yesterday, Dershowitz told the
Guardian the settlement prevented
Giuffre from legal action against him.
“I’m delighted that this document
was unsealed,” he said. “I want all
documents, all photographs, all vid-
eotapes, I want everythingunsealed
so the whole truth comes out.
“This document demonstrates
that, in exchange for $500,000 …
she agreed that she would not sue
any of the following people, and
they included anybody who she had
accused or could accuse, including
[academics] and royalty.”
On 14 December, judges in the
Prince Andrew and Dershowitz cases
said: “Mr Epstein, as is well known,
is deceased. The document is well
known to Ms Giuffre and, although
under seal, has been available to all
parties in these cases for some time.
“Wequestion whether any proper
purpose would be served by the con-
tinued secrecyof the document save,
perhaps, the dollar amount of the set-
tlement it provided for.”
On 29 December, judges ordered
the unsealing, saying no one – includ-
ing representatives of Epstein’s estate
– had made an adequate showing
otherwise.
Lawyers for Giuffre have requested
documents as part of her litigation,
such as proof of Prince Andrew’s
claim that he cannot sweat.
Giuffre has claimed the duke was
“sweatingprofusely all over me” at a
London discotheque on a night when
she alleges they had sex. Andrew told
the BBC the allegation could not be
true, “because I havea peculiar med-
ical condition which is that I don’t
sweat or I didn’t sweat at the time”.
The prince also maintained that
on the day cited by Giuffre he took
his daughter Beatrice to a children’s
party at a Pizza Express restaurant in
Woking, Surrey. After that, he said, he
was home with his children all night.
On 29 December, a federal jury
in Manhattan found Maxwell, the
daughter of the late press baron
Robert Maxwell, guilty on five counts
for luring girls as young as 14 into
Epstein’s orbit for him to sexually
abuse. Maxwell, 60, says she is
innocent. Her lawyers have said they
plan to appeal.
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
‘A year of mixed blessings’
Clouds on the horizon as Queen
prepares for platinum jubilee
A
Caroline Davies
s the Queen, the
longest-serving
British monarch in
history, attains 70
years on the throne,
this year is expected
to be one of mixed blessings – with
celebrations and the possibility of
more unwelcome headlines.
The monarch joins an extremely
exclusive club in February when
she marks her platinum jubilee,
also achieved by Louis XIV of
France, Johann II, Prince of
Liechtenstein, and, most recently
King Bhumibol of Thailand.
It is a first in UK royal history,
due to be celebrated over a four-day
weekend in June. The festivities,
including a service of thanksgiving
and a jubilee pageant, will be
an undoubted highlight for the
monarch, who will be 96 in April,
and preparations have long been in
the planning at Buckingham Palace.
“But 2022 is going to be a year of
mixed blessings for her, I think,”
said Joe Little, the managing editor
of Majesty magazine. “Clearly,
there are various clouds on the
•
National
Royal family
horizon, the Duke of York perhaps
being the biggest at the moment.
But, blowing in from the west, the
Duke of Sussex’s book, whatever
form that may take.”
The platinum jubilee
The anniversary of her accession is
6 February, but it has always been
a day of mixed emotions for the
Queen as it is the anniversary of the
death of her father, George VI.
Trooping the Colour, bringing
together more than 1,400 soldiers
and 200 horses, will kick off the
jubilee bank holiday weekend on
2 June, when she and her family
will be on the Buckingham Palace
balcony watching the traditional
RAF fly-past. Over the weekend
there will be beacons lit, a St Paul’s
Cathedral service of thanksgiving, a
BBC “party at the palace”, a jubilee
pageant and street parties.
“But the highlight, for her,
will be the Derby,” said the royal
historian Hugo Vickers.
It is her first jubilee without
the Duke of Edinburgh at her
side – though he missed much
of her diamond jubilee in 2012
after becoming ill. Her 2002
golden jubilee year was blighted
by the deaths of her sister,
▼ The Queen’s 70 years on the
throne will be celebrated during
a four-day weekend from 2 June
:  /
But they were also tiring.
“I remember Princess Anne saying
at the time of diamond jubilee that
the family had to rally to make sure
the Queen and Prince Philip did not
get overtired. So I think she is going
to do about 10 notable things that
will be high profile,” said Vickers.
Family reunion?
One big question is whether Harry
and Meghan will be on the palace
balcony for the June festivities.
“You would expect the Sussexes
Princess Margaret, and her mother. to return to the UK for that, if not
Little said account would be beforehand. So that could be the
taken of the Queen’s age and health first opportunities for the Queen
at the time of key events. “She will to meet the newest member of the
be less visible than she has been for Sussex family, Lilibet,” said Little.
all the previous jubilees.” Royal watchers will have
So Charles and Camilla, and their metaphorical – and literal
William and Kate, are likely to be – binoculars trained for any
bobbing around the country and signs of family tension. Harry’s
Commonwealth on her behalf. vocal criticism of the family, and
Vickers said: “If you look at 70 institution, include being cut off
years of service as a monarch, it financially by his father, Charles.
does put some of the grumbly His comments that he wished to
things that are going on rather into break the cycle of “genetic pain and
perspective. Jubilees are great fun.” suffering” was seen as a swipe at
Will the Sussexes be reuniting with
Prince Charles and the royal family?
11
Charles’s parenting, as well as the
Queen and Philip’s.
Observers have suggested an
unravelling of the father-son
relationship, with the two last
speaking face-to-face at Philip’s
funeral in April. Charles has still
not met Lilibet – named after the
Queen’s family nickname.
Harry’s memoirs
Penguin Random House pulled off
a coup in landing Harry’s memoirs,
due to be published near the end
of the year. The publishers have
described his story as “honest”
and “courageous”. Harry, who is
working with the Pulitzer prize
winner JR Moehringer as his
ghostwriter, has said: “I’m writing
this not as the prince I was born but
as the man I have become.”
Some question whether he has
much left to reveal, having been
vocal since moving to California.
“Presumably, the publishers
will want him to come up with
something. But if he comes up with
something unattractive, I think
it will backfire, in this country
anyway,” said Vickers.
Royal watchers are primed. One,
predicting “mayhem” within palace
walls, has said: “It will become an
international bestseller, but at what
cost to the monarchy?”
If Harry goes into detail about
issues involving his wife, or alleged
racism, which is denied, within the
royal family, it will be damaging.
Andrew’scourt case
The Duke of York’s legal battle
with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who
has alleged he sexually abused
her when she was 17, while being
trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, could
be the biggest cloud on the horizon.
The allegations are strongly denied
by Andrew, with his lawyers asking
for the case to be dismissed.
Yesterday a previously
confidential document was
made public, showing Giuffre
had entered into a “settlement
agreement” in 2009 with Epstein
for $500,000 (£371,000). The
document provided a release
for “any other person or entity
who could have been included
as a potential defendant” against
various claims by Giuffre. Andrew’s
lawyers are expected to argue in
a New York court today that even
though they say her allegations
against him are baseless, Giuffre
cannot bring the case because of
the document. If the case is not
dismissed, the New York judge
Lewis Kaplan is aiming for trial
between September and December,
ith depositions by 14 July.
Andrew’s name had already
tured in the Ghislaine Maxwell
criminal case, which last week saw
ell, a friend of Andrew’s,
c victed on five of the six charges
sshe faced relating to sex trafficking
e victims of Epstein’s.
The Queen is, reportedly, footing
the legal bill for her second son in
ivil action case bought against
Andrew by Giuffre.
Vickers observed: “At this time
of her reign she should be sailing
ward glorious, golden uplands,
yet she has had a lot of stress,
not only Harry and Andrew, but
a xit, and possibly Scottish
independence.”

12
Author’s memoir of
communist Albania
stirs ‘vicious’ abuse
Matthew Weaver
A memoir about growing up before
and after the fall of communism in
Albania has won rave reviews in the
west but has prompted “vicious”
abuse from a vocal minority of
Albanians, its author says.
Free byLea Ypi, a Marxist Albanian
professor of political theory at the
London School of Economics, might
seem an unlikely bestseller.
But in its first full month on sale in
November the memoir sold 10,000
copies. It has been shortlisted for
the Costa biography of the year and
will soon be available in 17 languages
including Korean and Mandarin.
Despite its criticisms of the disas-
trous impact of market changes in
Albania, the book received five-star
reviews in the Daily Mail and the
Daily Telegraph, and was named the
Sunday Times book of the year.
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
National
But in Albania the book generated
such a torrent of online abuse that
Ypi had to appeal to Albanians to stop
sending her “offensive, accusatory
and defamatory” messages.
She told the Guardian she usually
enjoyed engaging with her detrac-
tors. But she said this abuse was
different because it came from peo-
ple who had either not read the book
or misunderstood its criticism of cap-
italism and communism.
The book is told from her per-
spective as a child in 1980s Albania,
when she was taught to worship the
dictator Enver Hoxha, and her fam-
ily’s dissident views became clear
only after the regime fell.
“One of the most important mes-
sages in the book is that however
oppressive a regime, it never com-
pletely crushes human dignity,”
she said. Some of Ypi’s Albanian
critics have mistaken such ideas
as an apology for communism and
have accused her of experiencing
Boy, 15, charged
with murder of
teenager in
south London
Kevin Rawlinson
A teenager has been charged with the
murder of 15-year-old Zaian Aima-
ble-Lina in Croydon, one of two boys
killed within about an hour of each
other in separate stabbing incidents
in London on Thursday evening.
▲ Lea Ypi was told she looked ‘more like a showgirl than an academic’ in The suspect, also 15 and not named
some of the sexist reactions that have greeted her book PRP: R  by police because of his age, was
arrested on Saturday and is to appear
Stockholm syndrome. This has been former self. She said: “It’s a minority at Bromley magistrates court today.
particularly hard for Ypi to take. “It but it’s so vocal and so personal and Another 15-year-old was released
touches you personally if you havea so vicious, it affects you a lot more under investigation after his arrest on
grandfather who spent 15 years in a than the other responses which have suspicion of murder on Friday.He has
communist prison to be told you are been overwhelmingly positive.” been bailed until late January, police
somehow trying to rehabilitate com- Ypi, who wrote the book in paral- said. A postmortem gave the cause
munist murderers,” she said. lel in English and Albanian, feels that of Zaian’s death in south London as
Some of the reaction has been sex- for all the negativeonline comments, a stab wound to the heart.
ist – in one message Ypi was told she the book has succeeded in sparking The second boy stabbed to death, a
looked “more likea showgirl than an constructive discussions about the 16-year-old in Yiewsley, west London,
academic”. Another dredged up an merits of socialism and capitalism. has yet to be named. A 16-year-old
old newspaper cutting that quoted She said: “Itry to engageeveryone boy was arrested on suspicion of his
Ypi as an 11-year-old expressing in a big conversation about freedom. murder on Sunday. The two incidents
a desire to help her country, and When it works it opens up big conver- made last year the deadliest on record
accused her of turning against her sations not shuts them down.” in terms of homicides of teenagers.
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
Cold snap to bring‘shock to the
system’ after unseasonal highs
Georgina Quach
The unusually warm spell of weather,
which included record high temper-
atures over the new year, will come
to an abrupt end overnight, plunging
by up to 10C across parts of the UK.
The forecast follows the warmest
new year’s weekend on recordwhen
16.5C (61.7F) was reached at Bala,
Gwynedd – a New Year’s Eve record
for the UK and Wales, when itis usu-
ally about 7C.
The Met Office has issued warnings
for snow, ice and winds in northern
and eastern Scotland, with the cold
air expected to sink south across the
Pennines and into the Lake District,
north Wales and the Peak District.
These areas could get snow flurries.
Tom Morgan, a Met Office mete-
orologist, said: “Compared to the
16C experienced in London over the
weekend, for example, tomorrow it
will likely be 6C or 7C. It’s not just
the cold air which will make us feel
so much colder – it’s also going to be
Climate science
Is this global heating?
Why have we had such mild
weather this winter?
The Met Office says: “The
extremely mild spell is driven by
a flow of warm, moist air pushing
across the UK from the Canary
Islands and further south in the
Atlantic.”
Where was this warm air
flow coming from?
Low pressure in the Atlantic
below Iceland meant conditions
were perfect for a stream of
subtropical air known as the
Azores plume to drift up to the
UK. Michael Dukes, the director
of forecasting at MetDesk, said:
“This subtropical air came in
on south to south-westerly
winds across the UK. As the
air mass came from so far
south, temperatures were well
above normal for the time of
year,with date records broken
on New Year’s Eve and New
Year’s Day.”
Which records were broken?
According to the Met Office, Bala
in north Wales reached 16.5C
on New Year’s Eve, a record for
the day in the UK – although not
the warmest ever recorded in
December; that was in 2019, when
the Azores plume also reached
the UK and brought temperatures
as high as 18.7C.
New Year’s Eve temperature
records were set across all the
other UK nations. Keswick in
England hit 15.9C, Kinlochewe
in Scotland reached 16.1C, and it
was 15.0C in Magilligan, Northern
Ireland.
•
National
the strength of the wind. When these
factors are combined, the change will
be a shock to the system.”
An Arctic chill will engulf most
of the country by the middle of
the week, bringing frost and icy
conditions for many. “Factoring in
the wind speed, in many areas of the
country it will feel like-1C or -2C,” said
Morgan. Northern parts of Scotland
including the Highlands, Aberdeen-
shire and Moray are under a yellow
alert for frequent snow showers and
gale-force winds from 3pm until 6am
tomorrow. The Met Office warned of
difficult driving conditions, espe-
cially on coastal and mountain roads.
It said: “In combination with
winds gusting 50 to 60mph at times,
temporary blizzard conditions and
some drifting of snow on higher-level
routes is likely.”
With cold air spreading south
across Scotland and bringing wintry
showers, icy stretches were expected
to form by late afternoon yesterday.
Forecasters anticipate some train
or bus services could be cancelled or
delayed by rain and ice.
Why did it happen, and is it linked
to climate change?
The Azores plume has drifted up to
the UK before, and there are always
areas of low and high pressure in
the Atlantic. When the conditions
are right, subtropical air will be
drawn up to the north.
It is hard to link a single
weather event to climate change,
although the science in this field is
improving rapidly. However, said
Dukes, as the planet slowly warms
it means “we are just a touch
warmer than we used to be in
similar weather set-ups. So if this
weather pattern had occurred in
the 1980s, say, temperatures would
still have been way above normal,
▲ Fun in the
Cairngorms
yesterday after
record new year
temperatures
‘Factoring in the
wind speed, inmany
areas it will feel like
-1C or -2C’
Tom Morgan
Met Office meteorologist
but probably half a degree lower
than they were on this occasion.”
Will we see more of this in future?
Nasa scientists have established
that in 2020 the planet’s global
average temperature had increased
by 1.02C from the baseline between
1951 and 1980. In the next week or
so, Nasa, the US National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration,
and the Met office will publish
assessments of how hot 2021 was,
but we already know that Death
Valley, California, hit the world’s
highest recorded temperature of
54.4C for the second year in a row.
In the last couple of days, there
have been extreme contrasts
Though the Met Office has only
issued warnings for Scotland,
commuters in England and Wales
returning to work today could also
see some snow, said Morgan. “There
is a band of rain that could briefly turn
to sleet or snow around breakfast
time to mid-morning. Seeing flakes
of snow could be a surprise for many
people, given how mild it has been.”
Jack Cousens, the head of roads
policy for the AA, said: “A mild start
to the year will suddenly become cold
and blustery over the coming days,
with warnings of snow and ice in the
Highlands. Drivers shouldmake sure
their cars are in good condition prior
to setting off. Most breakdowns can
be avoided by checking fuel, oil and
coolant levels while ensuring tyres
are undamaged and have plenty
of tread. Preparing for the worst is
worthwhile, so keeping some warm
clothes and coats in the car, along
with some sweets and water, is
recommended.”
The UK Health Security Agency
urged people to check on vulnerable
people in the coming days, includ-
ing elderly people and those with
illnesses.
A consultant with the UKHSA,
Agostinho Sousa, said: “Cold weather
can havea serious impact on health,
particularly for older people and
those with heart and lung prob-
lems, as it increases the risks of heart
attacks, strokes and chest infections.”
▲ Long Sands beach in North
Tyneside yesterday
R: R  & R
in the US: while Texas hit the
highest January temperature in
US history, an icy front coming
down the west coast meant a huge
difference with northern Montana
of 37.2C to -39.4C – a gap of 76.6C
The Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change predicts that
if carbon emissions continue
to grow and no action is taken,
global temperatures could rise by
between 2.6C and 4.8C by the end
of the century, bringing more rain,
more drought, and more heat.
Bibi van der Zee
13
Key Starmer
speech aims
to cement
Labour’s lead
in the polls
Aubrey Allegretti
Political correspondent
Keir Starmer will today launch his
plan to maintain Labour’s poll lead in
the run-up to the next election, accus-
ing Boris Johnson of losing voters’
trust after numerous sleaze scandals
and treating power like a “branch of
the entertainment industry”.
Keen to progress from criticising
the government to presenting his
own team as a viable alternative,
Starmer is expected to flesh out how
Labour hopes to spend 2022 climb-
ing closer to power.
In a speech in Birmingham this
morning, the Labour leader will
stress the importance of security,
prosperity and respect, contrasted
with months of what he called incom-
petent and untrustworthy behaviour
by the prime minister.
Johnson has been blighted by fury
over alleged Downing Street Christ-
mas parties in defiance of Covid rules,
his botched bid to save a disgraced MP
who broke lobbying rules from sus-
pension, and an investigation into
payments coveringthe prime minis-
ter’sDowning Street flat renovation.
Labour has spent a month ahead
in the polls for the first time in a
year, while the Conservatives’ fall
has sparked nervousness among
Johnson’s ministers and backbench-
ers. Starmer’s party was also put 16
points ahead in a Deltapoll survey
of 57 key “red wall” constituencies
in its traditional heartlands – seats
seen as crucial to winning the keys
to Downing Street.
Starmer will seek to paint himself
as a patriot, saying 2022 will showoff
“all that the British have to be proud
of”in an attempt to neutralise John-
son’s claims that the Labour leader
should back the government instead
of criticising its handling of Covid.
“I don’t think you cease to be a
patriot because you notice your coun-
try has flaws,” Starmer will say. “On
the contrary, the reason we in this
party want to correct those flaws is
precisely because we are patriotic.
I came into politics to make things
happen not just to talk about them.
“I don’t think politics is a branch
of the entertainmentindustry, I think
it’s the serious business of getting
things done.”
Heralding a “new phase” for the
country, Starmer is expected to warn
of a looming cost of living crisis, with
energy bills expected to rise, wages
stagnant and tax rises on the hori-
zon – namely the national insurance
rise coming into effect in the spring.
He will also claim manypeople feel
unsafe on the streets and that they
have to rely on “good luck” to get a
quick GP appointment. And Starmer
will stress that “the best still lies
ahead for this country”.

14
Plymouth gunman’s
glorification by ‘incels’
prompts calls for action
Ben Quinn
he man who gunned down seven
people, killing five, in lymouth is
being lionised by an online “incel”
community, with some celebrating
the attack as an aid to recruitment.
Jake Davison,22,killed his mother,
Maxine, 51, before fatally shoot-
ing four others and then himself in
ugust last year.efore his death, he
expressed misogynistic and homo-
phobic views, and angrily lamented
his failure to find a girlfriend.
e also shared hate-filled posts on
eddit forums used by incels – men
who express online hostility and
resentment towards those who are
sexually active, particularly women.
nalysis by counter-extremism
experts of online forums popular
with incels reveals the extent to
which the killings struck a chordwith
many who,like Davison, were drawn
to the subculture.
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
National
Plymouthshooting
Despite debate as to whether Davi-
son was truly one of them, most of
those posting on at least 13 threads
hosted on the main nglish-language
incel forum celebrated the attack,
according to research by Moonshot,
a counter-extremism tech company.
he killings also prompted spec-
ulation about where another attack
could occur, and the possibility of
media coverage of the attacks bring-
ing an influx of new incels.
he imes has reported that web
traffic since March to three of the
biggest incel sites has grown from
114,420 visits a month to 638,505.
mong those who said they lived
in the UK, discussions in the months
after the attack showed how these
sites can be fertile ground for the far
right and conspiracy theorists.
n responses to the fuel crisis,some
UK incels embraced “accelerationist”
notions that shortages would lead to
a larger crisis, while others suggested
they were engineered to reform soci-
ety around “climate goals”.
▲ A member of ▼ Jake Davison, lex mend, the director of
the congregation 22, who shot communications at Moonshot, said it
at a service for five people, was notable that UK-based incels did
victims of the including a not only deride what they regarded
Plymouth attack three-year-old as UK society’s “gynocentricism”and
PHOTOGRAPH: BEN girl, before “progressive”politics, or share famil-
BIRCHALL/AFP/GETTY killing himself iar extreme rightwing sentiment.
“UK users also discuss broader
societal issues and criticise the UK
government, complain about their
difficulties finding affordable hous-
ing and sustainable employment, as
well as accessing mental health sup-
port through the S.”
mend suggested there should
be investment in outreach, adding:
“reating alternative spaces for
at-risk men and boys to share
grievances in a healthy environment
would also help, especially if those
environments are connected to avail-
able mental health resources.”
im Squirrell, a researcher at
the nstitute for Strategic Dialogue,
a ondon-based extremism think-
tank, warned against “securitising”
the incel community.
“We need to recognise that many
people, particularly young men, who
essentially need some combination
of social services, mental health
support and other kinds of non-
securitised intervention are instead
being caughtup by counter-terrorism
programmes,” he added.
aura ates, the founder of the
veryday Sexism roject, said the
police’s understanding of the poten-
tial incel threat was “patchy”, adding
that she had carriedout training with
some forces to raise awareness.
“My day-to-day interactions with
young people would suggest the
impact of this form of radicalisa-
tion when it comes to the treatment
of teenage girls by their male peers is
enormous,” said ates, who called for
greater resources and training
for teachers.
“ne optimistic thing is that
more schools are reaching out for
training now. here is more aware-
ness and appreciation of the link
between the epidemic of school
sexual violence and factors such as
incel radicalisation.”
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
‘Awful memories are everywhere’
Keyham still traumatised by attack
T
Steven Morris
here are tiny but
telling hints of what
happened in the
Keyham area of
Plymouth on 12 August them, while some elderly people
last year. A stretch of are too afraid to leave their homes.
freshly laid pavement at the corner
where Jake Davison turned his
pump action shotgun on himself
after killing five people. A pile of
compost in a community garden,
created from the thousands of
flowers left for the victims and set
aside to be used when memorial
trees or flower beds are planted.
The new bench in the park installed mother, Maxine, when 18-year-old
in memory of two victims.
“Everywhere you look there
are awful memories,” said Hazel
Lynch, a member of Keyham
neighbourhood watch, one of the
groups leading the recovery from
that evening in late summer when
Davison, a 22-year-old apprentice
crane operator who harboured
extreme misogynistic views,
carried out his 12-minute attack.
Lynch pointed out where the air figures overall are down in Devon
ambulance landed as children raced and Cornwall, sexual attacks have
for safety and the spot where one
boy sat for three days afterwards,
trying to process what happened:
“He wanted to be there to try to
understand what had happened.
People are still doing that.”
•
The attack hit not just the
relatives and friends of those
affected but the whole community.
Three hundred people, many of
them children, witnessed Davison’s
attack or the immediate aftermath.
Children still struggle to sleep,
worried the “bad man” will get
Hundreds of personal alarms
have been handed out to girls and
women; Lynch said she now carries
one for the first time in her life.
“I wouldn’t go to the park by myself
after dark now,” she said.
The city had scarcely caught
its breath after Davison’s attack,
which began with him killing his
Bobbi-Anne McLeod vanished from
a bus stop in the Leigham area of
the city in November. Her body was
found near a beach three days later,
a second disturbing crime with a
woman at its centre.
Much soul-searching has been
prompted in Plymouth with the
launch of a commission in the
city to examine violence against
women and girls. While crime
risen. Stalking and harassment is
up by 24% on 2019, rape by 18%
and other sexual offences by 13.5%.
Since September there have been
more than 200 referrals to an app
that allows people to highlight
areas in Plymouth where they do
not feel safe.
Millions of pounds is being spent
to try to help make the city safer for
girls and women through initiatives
such as setting up new CCTV
cameras, increasing the number of
taxi drivers after a post-Brexit drop
and introducing initiatives such as
‘People have had
to make sense of
the world in a
different way’
Heather Welch
Victim Support
▼ A mural on Royal Navy Avenue
in Plymouth, painted in memory
of the victims of Jake Davison
 :  Z/
bystander training to help people
challenge bad behaviour.
Alison Hernandez, the police
and crime commissioner for
Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of
Scilly, said a lot of work was being
done but that girls and women
were too often victims – and did
not feel safe. “Bobbi-Anne’s death
reminds us that policing must be
relentlessly focused on making our
communities safer, but we need to
engage schools, local government
and our public in that effort.”
She believes society needs to
look deeply at problems ranging
from the accessibility to young
people of violent pornography to
domestic abuse. “This is a problem
that cannot be resolved by police
officers alone,” she said.
 Flowers at the
Sheepstor Road
bus stop, where
Bobbi-Anne
McLeod was last
seen alive. Her
body was found
near a beach
three days later
15
▲ Floral tributes left in Keyham last
August after Davison’s attack
Lyn Gooding, chief executive of
the charity First Light, which works
with victims of domestic abuse
and sexual violence, agreed. She
told a Q&A organised by the new
commission that work was needed
in primary schools to help young
people understand what a healthy
relationship looked like. “We need
to have difficult conversations with
our young sons.”
For Keyham specifically,
the Home Office has provided
£800,000 to pay for additional
crime prevention measures and
additional policing, and almost
as much again has been made
available in the area to pay for extra
children’s social care workers and
educational psychologists to work
in schools.
So many Keyham people have a
sad story to tell. Olivia, 15, who lives
close to the spot where Davison
killed himself, said she still thought
often about his body slumped
on the pavement. “It is still very
difficult for a lot of people here,”
she said. Rosemary, whose teenage
son witnessed one of the shootings,
said she feared his mental health
had been compromised: “He is
very confused, he finds it hard to
understand what happened.”
The Labour MP for Plymouth
Sutton and Devonport, Luke
Pollard, who lives half a mile from
the scene, warned that tragedies
could lead to long-running
social problems such as children
struggling at school, rising crime
and more people suffering from
depression: “A whole community,
a whole city can be traumatised.”
Heather Welch, of Victim
Support in Devon, said the shock
waves would be felt for many years.
It has called for the experiences of
survivors of the Manchester Arena
attack and the Grenfell fire to learn
how to help people in Keyham.
“People have had to make sense of
the world in a different way.”
The politicians and experts are
keen to flag up the great work being
done by people such as Lynch,
who is leading the transformation
of a rickety old shed on the sports
field where the shootings vigil
took place into a community
cafe. The neighbourhood watch
chairman, Kevin Sproston, was
still dashing around organising the
Safer Keyham programme, which
includes providing new security
measures, such as better locks
and peepholes, to help vulnerable
people feel safer in their homes.
Richard Baron, the managing
director of a double glazing firm,
said he and his team had improved
the security at 150 homes,
providing the materials at cost.
“If we can help make people a bit
safer then we’re very happy to do
that,” he said. “It will take a long
time for this community to heal.”

16
National
Trust
chief got
death
threats in
‘woke’ row
 Continued from page 1
Criticism of what some saw as a polit-
icised assault on heritage spilled on to
social media and the press. McGrady
said the academic author of the
report “had a much harder time”
than she had.
More recently, a group calling
itself Restore Trust sought to win
seats on the NT’s governing council
at its annual general meeting in Octo-
ber. The group claimed to represent
grassroots opposition to what itchar-
acterised as the NT’s“woke”agenda,
and said it wanted to steer the trust
“back to its core purpose of looking
after our heritage and countryside”.
Three of Restore Trust’s candi-
dates were elected to the 36-seat
council, although one has denied he
endorses the group’s concerns.
McGrady said she suspected
Restore Trust would continue its
campaign despite its failure to real-
ise its goal of six council members.
“I would liketo engage with them
honestly and openly. What isn’t help-
ful is a war of words. I’m really up for
having those conversations … I have
to accept I can’t lead an organisation
of this scale and not take on these
challenges. It comes with the terri-
tory and I’m pretty sanguine about
that,” she said.
Some members and visitors had
been “really cross and angry with
us” over theissues raised by Restore
Trust, she said. “There were also
people really delighted and relieved
that we’re inally looking at the
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
National ▼ Hilary McGrady, director general
of the National Trust, at Hughenden
Manor, Buckinghamshire
:  DD/Y
 The southern history that they want to learn.”
end of Lundy in McGrady said the past two years had
Devon, where been difficult for the NT but there was
convicts were “a sense of beingable to draw a line”
once forced into despite worries around the Omicron
unpaid labour. variant of Covid.
The island is There had been a “huge jump” in
owned by the membership in the past few months,
National Trust she said. The NT had been on the
verge of reaching 6 million mem-
bers when the pandemic struck. “We
did lose a lot of people for all sorts
of reasons – financial worries or just
knowing that they wouldn’t be able
to use their membership – but I think
we’ll be back to 6million this coming
year,” she said.
The trust has ambitious plans for
2022, including picnics, fetes, beacon
lighting andtree plantingto mark the
Queen’s platinum jubilee, and an
exhibition on Beatrix Potter in con-
 Bateman’s, junction with the V&A in London.
in Burwash, It has also set a goal of being net
East Sussex, the zero by 2030. “As a very significant
former home of landowner, we have a huge part to
Rudyard Kipling play in dealing with climate harm,”
– the British McGrady said. The trust aims to con-
empire played vert 10% of its 250,000 hectares of
a central role land to “nature rich” and is planting
in his work 20m trees this decade.
It plans to build on work after the
report published last year detail-
ing connections between 93 of its
properties and colonialism and
historical slavery. “Every day we
uncover another bit of history. We
have an obligation to tell this huge,
complex, layered story of the history
of the three countries we’re respon-
sible for.The idea that history stands
still is nonsense because you keep
finding new things.”
McGrady said the 2020 report was
“first-stage research. The next step is,
property by property, to [ask if] we
need to do more research. And how
would we weave that into the story
so that we get a whole history of the
place? It will take a long time.”
She insisted: “No one is forcing this
down your throat. No one is trying
to make you read this stuff. There’s
no sense that we’re trying to preach
and, certainly, definitely not judge.
We’re trying to provide layers of
information; we’re taking nothing
away. We’re adding to the complex-
ity of the information available. But if
[people] want to come alongand walk
around the garden and have a lovely
cup of tea, I am delighted about that.”
When McGrady was appointed to
lead the NT in 2018, she wanted to
make it a “truly accessible” organi-
sation, she said. “It certainly wasn’t
an organisation thatfeels necessarily
for everybody, and it still doesn’t. My
mission was to take down any barrier
that might get in the way of anyone
feeling the trust is here for them.”
That included practical meas-
ures such as wheelchair access and
audio loops, and ensuring that staff
reflect “the UK as it is”. She said the
demographics of its membership
were changing from the perception
of white, middle-class and middle-
aged, but “it’s not as diverse as Iwant
it to be. And I’m as interested in the
socio-economic split as I am BAME
[black, Asian and minority ethnic]
and people with disabilities.”
The organisation’s strategy was to
reflect the communities it served, but
the community in the south-west was
very different to the community in
Birmingham, she said. “I’mvery con-
scious that across the country there
are different communities who want
different thingsfrom the trust … How
do we make ourselves accessible to
the people who want to engage with
us? But what a long way to go, and I’m
the first to acknowledge that.”
Tue January 2022 The Guardian
Elton John’s
Diamonds ranked
8th among albums
Freddie Mercury – Queen
made it into the top five
Queen and Elton Johnreturn
to charts but Adele is year’s No 1
Rupert Jones
Adele and Ed Sheeran may have
topped the UK sales charts in 2021,
but it was decades-old songs by
“heritage acts” such as Queen and
Fleetwood Mac that helped millions
of Britons through the pandemic,
music industry figures suggest.
British artists accounted for eight
of the top 10 albums listened to in
the UK last year, and many will not
be surprised to learn that the No 1 and
No 2 spots were taken by Adele and
Ed Sheeran respectively with their
blockbuster releases 30 and =. Both
achieved more than 500m streams
in 2021 in the UK alone, plus billions
Bragg: protect the BBC from
politically motivated attacks
Kevin Rawlinson
The government’s politically moti-
vated attacks on the BBC are part of a
general abasement of British institu-
tions in recent years, the broadcaster
Melvyn Bragg warned as he called for
the corporation to be protected.
Bragg accused ministers of fail-
ing to recognise the value of the
•
on
First-week sales of Adele’s
album 30 hit 262,000
more globally, according to data
released by the record labels’ asso-
ciation the BPI today.
Adele’salbum, her fourth, notched
up first-week chart sales of 262,000.
Sheeran had the bestselling single of
2021 with Bad Habits.
However, the list revealed that
many people reached for classic
acts, many of which are being dis-
covered by new generations thanks
to streaming. At No 5 in the table of
2021’s bestselling and most streamed
albums was a record originally
released 40 years ago: Greatest Hits
by Queen, featuring tracks includ-
ing Bohemian Rhapsody and We
Will Rock You. No 8 was Diamonds,
a greatest hits album from Elton John.
Originally issued in 2017, it features
institution, which he said had earned
the country’s support.
His comments follow what some
see as a campaign by government
ministers intent on waging a culture
war, with the BBC as a key front.
“I hope the BBC is not allowed to
become part of this surrender to a
creeping deterioration,” he told Radio
Times. “Indeed, I believe itcould lead
by example if we want to escape a sit-
uation where our great institutions
Ed Sheeran’s =
recorded over
500m streams
classic songs from 1970 to 2016. No 9
was 50 Years – Don’t Stop, a career-
spanning collection from Fleetwood
Mac released in 2018. In third place
was another heritage act, albeit one
releasing new music. Abba staged
pop’s biggest comeback with their
album Voyage, which will be accom-
panied by a “digital avatar” concert
residency in London from May.
Newcomers also got a look-in,with
the US singer Olivia Rodrigo and the
UK rapper Dave in the albums Top 10.
83%
The proportion of overall music
consumption that took place via
streaming in the UK last year
are increasingly damaged for polit-
ical purposes.
“It comes down to what sort of
country we want this to be. The BBC
has earned our respect and repaid
our support, in war and peace, over
many years. It has built itself in our
image. Surely,now that it is so clearly
up against it, we cannot let it down.”
Bragg, who has spent most of his
television career at ITV, has previ-
ously spoken out in defence of the
BBC, declaring himself “foursquare”
behind it. In an interview with the
same magazine last summer,he said
the BBC was worth “storming the
Bastille” to save and would never be
reinvented were it destroyed. “Have
Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac
– the band took 9th spot
The BPI said streaming in particu-
lar was enabling a vast array of new
British artists, from guitar bands such
as the Lathums to soul singers includ-
ing Joy Crookes, to break through.
Over the past 12 months 180 artists
achieved more than 100m streams in
the UK, while more than 1,900 acts
had their songs streamed at least 10m
times in Britain.
While streaming continues to dom-
inate the way we listen to music, the
vinyl renaissance continued apace in
2021, with sales at their highest level
in three decades. Another blast from
the past – audio cassettes – enjoyeda
resurgence, with sales increasing by
a fifth to hit an 18-year high.
Overall, recorded music consump-
tion in the UK rose by 2.5% in 2021,
with 159m albums or their equiva-
lent either streamed or bought across
all formats.
Streaming accounted for 83% of
overall music consumption in the
UK last year, when people listened
to more than 147bn audio streams,
up 5.7%on the 139bn in 2020, accord-
ing to the BPI.
ago at it,fine. But to try to damage it,
as some people are doing, try to pull it
down? The BBC is worth fighting hard
for, worth storming the Bastille for,
and saying: ‘No, you can’t do that.’”
In recent years, government min-
isters have sought to influence the
BBC’snews coverage by painting crit-
icism of them as political bias. They
threatened to decriminalise non-
payment of the licence fee – which
would hit the BBC’s finances – and
tried to pave the way for a long-
standing opponent to be installed as
head of regulator Ofcom. The prime
minister also used a minor row over
playing Rule, Britannia! at the Proms ▲ Bowie’s songs were ‘milestones
to portray the BBC as unpatriotic.
17
David Bowie’s
back catalogue
sold to Warner
Chappell Music
for $250m
Ben Beaumont-Thomas
Publishing rights to David Bowie’s
huge and peerless catalogue of songs
have been soldby his estate to Warner
Chappell Music (WCM), the publish-
ing arm of Warner Music Group, in
a deal worth at least $250m (£185m)
according to anonymous sources
speaking to Variety.
Guy Moot, chief executive of WCM,
said: “These are not only extraordi-
nary songs, but milestones thathave
changed the course of modern music
for ever … We are looking forward
to tending his unparalleled body of
songs with passion and care as we
strive to build on the legacy of this
most extraordinary human being.”
The deal means that Warner now
owns the rights to Bowie’ssongwrit-
ing itself, as well as to almost all the
recordings of it. In September 2021,
the company completed a deal to
acquire Bowie’s recordings from
2000 until his death in 2016, adding
to the recordings it already owned
from 1968 to 1999.
Just a small cache of recorded
music made prior to Bowie’s late-
60s breakthrough is now not owned
by Warner Music. The company has
been lavishly repackaging Bowie’s
back catalogue in a series of box sets
in recent years.
The deal is the latest in a series of
major acquisitions of artists’ cata-
logues, with Bruce Springsteen,Bob
Dylan, Neil Young and members of
Fleetwood Mac selling the rights for
their songs for large sums to various
publishing companies.
The firms make income from roy-
alties and when music is licensed for
use in films, TV and advertising.
The terms of the Bowie deal have
not been disclosed but the late star’s
estate has historically closely con-
trolled the use of his work. The 2020
biopic Stardust, about the birth of
Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona,was
forbidden from usingBowie’s music
by the estate.
WCM co-chair Carianne Mar-
shall said: “We were pleased that
the estate felt that Warner Chappell
has the knowledge, experience, and
resources to continue to promote a
collection of this stature. All of our
global leaders and departments are
incredibly excited.”
that have changed music’, said WCM
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
‘People have given up’
Covid pushes South
Africa to the brink
Page 22
EU ministers condemn ‘greenwash’ plans
to label gas and nuclear as sustainable
Jennifer Rankin
Brussels
The European Commission is facing
a furious backlash over plans to
allow gas and nuclear to be labelled
as “green”investments, with Germa-
ny’s economy minister leading the
charge against “greenwashing”.
The EU executive was accused of
tryingto bury the proposals by releas-
ing long-delayed technical rules on
its green investment guidebook to
diplomats on New Year’s Eve, hours
before a deadline expired.
More than 4,400 died in 2021
tryingto reach Spain, says NGO
Ashifa Kassam
Madrid
An estimated 12 people a day – more
than 4,400 in total – died or disap-
peared while trying to reach Spain
in 2021, more than double the total
for the previous year.
The 4,404 refugees who perished
•
Italian history
Statue proposed for
first female doctorate
Page 25
The draft proposals seen by the
Guardian would allow gas and
nuclear to be included in the EU
“taxonomy of environmentally
sustainable economic activities”,
subject to certain conditions.
The taxonomy is a classification
system intended to direct billions to
clean-energy projects to meet the EU
goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
Robert Habeck, who became
the German economy and climate
action minister last month as part of
a coalition of Social Democrats, busi-
ness-friendly Free Democrats (FDP)
and Greens, said the plans “water
included 205 children, according to
Caminando Fronteras (Walking Bor-
ders). In a report published yesterday,
the NGO noted that the number was
double the 2,170 deaths and disap-
pearances recorded in 2020.It said it
was the highest figure since it began
keeping records in 2007.
The report drew a direct link
between the steep rise in the number
down the good label for sustaina-
bility”. Habeck, a co-leader of the
Greens, told the German press agency
dpa it was “questionable whether this
greenwashing will even find accept-
ance on the financial market”.
‘If these plans are
implemented in this
way, we will sue’
Leonore Gewessler
Climate minister, Austria
of deaths and European efforts to
curb migration in the Mediterranean.
As a result, refugees have turned
increasingly to the treacherous
Canary Islands route, setting off in
unstable vessels that are often unfit
to face the fierce Atlantic currents.
Up until 28 December last year,
22,200 migrants landed in the Canary
Islands, according to the Spanish
government. Caminando Fronteras
estimated that 4,016 people died
or vanished on the route, suggest-
ing that for approximately every six
people who make it to the Spanish
archipelago, one dies or disappears.
Austria’s government again said
it would sue the commission if the
plans go ahead. Leonore Gewessler,
the climate action minister, said gas
and nuclear did not belong in the tax-
onomy “because they are harmful to
the climate and the environment and
destroy the future of our children”.
She added: “We will examine the
current draft carefully and have
already commissioned a legal opinion
on nuclear power in the taxonomy.
If these plans are implemented in this
way, we will sue.”
She also accused the commis-
sion of a “night-and-fog operation”
The NGO’s figures are drawn from
its work in fielding distress calls from
migrants or their families and alerting
rescue services. It also logs missing
vessels and works with relatives to
identify the missing and the dead.
“The 4,404 is the minimum num-
ber,” said Helena Maleno,the group’s
head. “There could be more victims
that we aren’t aware of.” Boats en
route to Spain often vanish without
a trace, in part explaining why the
bodies of 95% of those who die or dis-
appear are never recovered.
People who were lost attempt-
ing to reach Spain came from 21
19
 Grohnde, one of three German
nuclear plants shut down last year.
The final three will close this year
:  /
in the timing of the publication, a
charge echoed by Luxembourg’s
energy minister,Claude Turmes,who
described the draft as a provocation.
However, opponents are not
expected to secure the supermajor-
ity needed to block the plans.
France and other pro-nuclear
states, such as the Czech Republic
and Hungary, support the inclusion
of nuclear,while many governments
in central, eastern and southern
Europe lobbied for gas to be included
as a “bridge” fuel.
Germany’s finance minister, Chris-
tian Lindner of the FDP, told the
Süddeutsche Zeitungon Sunday that
Germany needed gas power plants
as a transition technology because it
was forgoing coal and nuclear power.
France’sEuropean affairs minister,
Clément Beaune, said the EU could
not reach its goal of carbon neutral-
ity by 2050 without nuclear power.
Under the draft, gas could only
be classed as a “sustainable invest-
ment” if “the same energy capacity
cannot be generated with renewa-
ble sources” and plans are in place to
switch to renewables or “low-carbon
gases” by a specific date. Nuclear
power could only be included if
a project demonstrated it had a plan
to deal with radioactive waste.
NGOs accused the commission
of seeking to evade scrutiny. WWF,
a member of an official expert group
on the taxonomy,said it had allowed
just eight working days – until 12
January –to provide a formal response
“to this highly complex and contro-
versial file”, whereas most Brussels
consultations last four weeks.
The WWF spokesperson on sus-
tainable inance, Henry Eviston,
said: “For fossil gas and nuclear,
we get a document written behind
closed doors and published on New
Year’s Eve. If the EU is confident in
this proposal, it must hold a public
consultation.”
The plans have already attracted
t he ire of Greta Thunberg and
other young climate activists, who
say this “fake climate action” con-
tradicts the EU’s goal of net zero
emissions by 2050.
Additional reporting
Philip Oltermann Berlin
countries, from the Ivory Coast to Sri
Lanka, many fleeing armed conflict or
the consequences of climate change.
Those who do make it to Spain,
particularly via the Canary Islands
route, are often haunted by the jour-
ney. “The waves were taller than
the dinghy,” one survivor told Cam-
inando Fronteras after a voyage in
which 15 of the 58 people onboard
were lost. “The waves washed people
away, sweeping them off the boat.”
The International Organization for
Migration has described 2021 as the
deadliest for migration routes to and
within Europe since 2018.
 • The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
20
Eyewitness
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
•
▼ Ha’il, Saudi Arabia 21
Truck drivers race through the
mountains of Ha’il province
on Stage 1B of the Dakar Rally
PHOTOGRAPH: DPPI/GIGI SOLDANO/SHUTTERSTOCK

22
‘People have given up on the state as a protector’
From policing tovaccines, locals try to fill the gap
O
Jason Burke
Thembokwezi
ne evening a week,
Natasha Msweswe
and Zanele Madasi
leave their children
at home and set out
to patrol the streets
of Thembokwezi. They return at
midnight. It is dangerous but they
feel they have little choice. “It can
be scary but we want to protect
our community,” said Madasi. “We
want to make a difference.”
Thembokwezi is a
neighbourhood of Khayelitsha, a
sprawling, overcrowded township
overlooked by Table Mountain that
has long been infamous for high
levels of gang violence, drug abuse
and unemployment. South Africa’s
police are stretched thin, and so a
network of neighbourhood watch
organisations plays a key role in
fighting crime here. Thembokwezi
is more prosperous and safer than
much of the rest of the township,
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
World
South Africa
and those who live here want to
keep it that way. “We work with
the police of course … but if we
fold our arms as a community,
the criminals will run amok,” said
Phindile George, the leader of the
Thembokwezi neighbourhood
watch, which counts 50 volunteers
including Msweswe and Madasi
among its members.
Across South Africa, tens of
thousands of people are making
similar resolutions. Some teach,
secure reliable electricity supplies,
organise vaccination drives, repair
roads, deliver protective gear
to hospitals or distribute water.
Many work almost alone, others
in NGOs or for wealthy businesses
that are now setting aside sums for
philanthropic work.
What all share is an almost
total lack of faith in South Africa’s
government to provide any kind of
a solution for their problems.
“People have given up on the
state as a protector … There is a
massive loss of faith. It’s a tragedy,”
said William Gumede, an analyst
and academic in Johannesburg.
The retreat of the state from
everyday life in the continent’s
most developed country has
widespread consequences,
changing the way people think,
behave and interact, especially
in a time of crisis. The death of
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who
▲ Police pursue ▼ A queue for was almost universally revered,
two suspected basic supplies provided a moment of paradoxical
looters at a being handed hope as well as grief: reminding
warehouse in out by an aid many South Africans of what they
Durban during organisation have in common after months
July’s unrest in Durban where circumstances have
HH: HH: conspired to drive them apart.
ULL / H LL/ Most South Africans were
F/Y  F/Y  suffering even before Covid struck,
and discontent with the ruling
African National Congress (ANC),
in power since the end of the racist,
repressive apartheid regime in
1994, has been growing for years.
Economic growth was slowing even
before the nine-year rule of Jacob
Zuma, the president ousted in 2018
amid corruption allegations.
Despite the apparent good
intentions of the current president,
Cyril Ramaphosa, a former labour
activist turned tycoon, there has
been little to celebrate since. The
pandemic has delivered a series of
crushing blows to the economy,
while the public healthcare
system has been undermined by
mismanagement and corruption.
The government claims 90,000
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
South Africans have died from
Covid, but reliable excess mortality
figures suggest the toll is between
two and three times higher.
Depending on the definition,
unemployment could be 46.6%.
In June, in the worst breakdown
in public order for decades,
shopping malls were looted,
warehouses torched and key
infrastructure targeted across a
swath of South Africa. Much of
the violence appears to have been
instigated by renegade factions
within the ruling party. This shook
faith in the state too, and a few
people turned to vigilante violence.
The neighbourhood watch in
Thembokwezi aims to reinforce
official efforts, but in a rougher
part of Khayelitsha a community
has come together to confront
authorities. When a lockdown at
the start of the pandemic in 2020
led to widespread illegal evictions,
hundreds of homeless people
occupied a patch of wasteland and
built homes of tin and wood.
“For years the politicians said
they would use this land for homes
for us. They failed to fulfil their
promises … So we decided to take
it over and do it ourselves,” said
Mabhelandile Twani, a local leader.
Despite efforts to evict them
anew, this neighbourhood has
thrived. Now more than 15,000
people live in rows of shacks on the
sandy soil. Electricity is diverted
from better-supplied streets
nearby. Twani calls it “people’s
power”. The neighbourhood is
known as Lockdown Village.
There are many other such
settlements born of the misery
inflicted by Covid in a country
unable to afford the expensive
support offered to individuals and
businesses in Europe, the UK or
the US. In Khayelitsha, there are
now settlements called Sanitiser,
Quarantine and Social Distance.
“Now things are so difficult.
We don’t get help from the
government. We try to help
ourselves,” said Nondwebi Kasba,
73, who helps to run a communal
vegetable garden set up by
neighbours in Khayelithsa’s Illitha
Park to help the poorest.
Seven hundred miles to the
east, in Graaff-Reinet, a small
and conservative town in the
Karoo desert, there is also a new
struggle for the basics the state
once provided. In the townships
on Graaff-Reinet’s outskirts,
drug dealers steal water tanks
from schools and hawk their
contents alongside cannabis and
methamphetamine. No one bothers
to tell the police, assuming they
will not come.
Jobs are rare. So too are the
means by which young people
could gain the skills to escape.
Khanya Mbaile, a 31-year-old office
administrator, hopes to start an
internet cafe that would provide
a safe meeting place for young
people in the township where she
lives. She has already sourced six
computers from an NGO. “We are
all exhausted but there is a glimmer
of hope,” Mbaile said.
Louise Masimela, 58, who runs
a community school for young
children in a township just south
of Graaff-Reinet, is another of
South Africa’s perpetual problem-
•
▼ Zanele Madasi and (right)
Natasha Msweswe, neighbourhood
watch members in Khayelitsha
HH:  /H 
‘It’stough,but we
want togivekids an
education that will
allow them to go
out into the world,
not get stuck here’
Louise
Masimela
Educator
Arson charge Man due in court over parliament fire
South African police said a man
had been charged with arson over a Nomthandazo Mbambo, of the
fire that caused extensive damage
to the national parliament building television. “There is a possibility funds to pay teachers. “It’s tough,
in Cape Town, as firefighters
struggled to extinguish the last
remains of the blaze.
The fire broke out early on
Sunday at the parliamentary
complex, some of which dates back member responsible for security, church offers a space, and seven
to 1884 and includes the national
assembly, or lower house, of
parliament. It caused the collapse interior had been destroyed.
of the roof above the upper
chamber, or National Council of
Provinces, and gutted an entire
floor, though there were no reports
of injuries.
A 49-year-old suspect arrested
in connection with the blaze was
likely to appear in court today on
charges of breaking and entering,
theft and arson, police said.
“It is alleged that he gained
entrance through the window
in one of the offices,” Brig
elite Hawks police unit, told eNCA her students, scarce water and no
of other charges being added as
there was a security breach here,” our kids an education that will
Mbambo said.
Jean-Pierre Smith, a Cape
Town mayoral committee
said firefighters were still dealing volunteers teach. Water comes
with “hotspots” yesterday. The
Reuters Cape Town
▲ Kobus Potgieter, and, middle
right, Mabhelandile Twani
HH:  /H 
solvers. The former journalist
has no permanent premises for
really tough … but we want to give By November, 85% of those in
allow them to go out into the world, tourists began returning,Omicron
not get stuck here,” said Masimela. brought more misery.
So she has found solutions: a
from Gift of the Givers, now one
of South Africa’s biggest NGOs.
Funded entirely by private donors, admit Franshhoek is a “bit of a
mainly businesses, it distributes
400m rand (£20m) of aid annually. its half a million inhabitants have
In Eastern Cape province,
the NGO works in hospitals,
providing much-needed PPE,
medicine, oxygen delivery devices, Africa we are living in a timebomb,”
food for patients, and even
goody bags for health workers.
Elsewhere in the province, one
of South Africa’s poorest, it has
provided seeds, and food for
23
orphanages, trucked water into
poor communities, and even dug
boreholes. “There are a lot of good
people in government who want to
do the right thing … and I can see
things changing. It’s not massive
change but people want to fix
things,” said Dr Imtiaz Sooliman,
the NGO’s founder. “We have to
fill the gap but by filling the gap we
are putting on pressure. People are
asking why we are doing what the
government should do.”
Recent local elections have
been seen by many analysts as a
cause for optimism. The ANC was
punished by voters, losing 8.3% of
its vote share and just under 1,000
council seats. The party was forced
I
to share power in many small
towns – including Graaff-Reinet
– and its grasp on cities such as
Johannesburg and Pretoria slipped.
n several towns, local
communities joined
together to create political
alternatives that frequently
won support. “A lot of this
is hopeful … It shows a
desire for a new inclusive project,”
said Gumede, the Johannesburg
academic. Many see a need for
political options that offer an
authentic alternative to the ANC.
Judith February, an analyst,
wrote for the Daily Maverick
website in December: “From the
insurrection in July to the shambles
which is our intelligence services,
[from] an increasing … anti-vaxx
position to a commitment to coal,
the tensions within the party
are … at odds with the country’s
best interests. Ramaphosa’s grip
on power appears reluctant and
tenuous.”
The tourism industry has been
badly hit by the pandemic, with
huge losses of income and jobs. “It
has been a disaster, a total disaster,”
said 59-year-old Kobus Potgieter,
who runs a farm guesthouse
outside the town of Oudtshoorn.
In Franschhoek, a centre of
fine dining and wine-making an
hour’s drive from Cape Town, the
absence of overseas visitors has
forced restaurants and hotels to
shut for months, and led to the loss
of thousands of jobs. As elsewhere,
the national vaccination campaign
has lacked resources.
To convince would-be
visitors that the town was safe,
Franschhoek’s tourist office sought
to organise its own vaccine drive,
supported by crowdfunding,
businesses and the administration.
hospitality were jabbed. But just as
In a country with some of the
highest levels of inequality in the
world, some have been able to
weather the economic and political
storm better. Even its residents
bubble”. Khayelitsha is not, and
little protection from the forces
buffeting the country.
“My fear is that here in South
said Twani, the community leader
in Lockdown Village interviewed in
mid-December.
“People are angry … Eventually,
anything can happen.”

24
French feminists condemnstate
‘silence’ over New Year’s Day deaths
Kim Willsher
Paris
Feminist campaigners in France
are calling for tougher government
action over violence against women
and girls after three women were
allegedly killed by their current or for-
mer partner on the first day of 2022.
The body of a 28-year-old mili-
tary recruit who had been stabbed
to death was found near Saumur in
western France on Saturday. The
local prosecutor, Alexandra Verron,
said a 21-year-old man, also a soldier,
had been arrested and investigators
were looking into a possible femicide
– the killing of a woman by her part-
ner or ex-partner.
In eastern France, police
Bear-faced cheek: grizzly caught
stealing Yellowstone wolves’ kill
Richard Luscombe
Wildlife oficials in Yellowstone
national park have captured the
unusual sight of a grizzly bear tagging
along with a pack of hunting wolves,
then making off with their kill.
The video, filmed in October and
posted to the National Park Service
Facebook page, shows wolves from
the Junction Butte pack in northern
Yellowstone being joined by a grizzly
as they hunted a herd of elk.
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
World
discovered the body of a 56-year-old
woman with a knife in her chest after
neighbours at Meurthe-et-Moselle
reported a violent dispute. The vic-
tim’s husband was questioned by
police and was due to appear before
a judge yesterday.
On Sunday, the body of a 45-year-
old woman was found in the boot of
a car at a property in Nice. She had
been strangled. Police were inter-
viewing the woman’s former partner,
a 60-year-old man who reportedly
admitted having a violentaltercation
with his ex-wife, and their 24-year-
old son, in whose vehicle the body
was allegedly discovered.
The mayor of Nice, Christian
Estrosi, said he was devastated by
the alleged killing and described it
as a “horror”.
After the wolves took down an
elk, the bear moved in and stole
the carcass: a phenomenon known
as kleptoparasitism, in which one
species steals resources, most usually
food, from another.
The incident was unusual, the
NPS said, because wolves and bears
usually compete for food and hunt
separately. While bears stealing
food wolves have captured is not
uncommon, in this case the bear
actively joined the hunt.
“From the bear’s perspective, it
takes a lot of energy to follow a wolf
The collective #NousToutes
accused the government of remain-
ing “scandalously” silent on the grim
start to the year for women. It said an
estimated 220,000 women reported
conjugal violence every year, but
judges had ordered the use of elec-
tronic bracelets in only 379 cases.
Lena Ben Ahmed, of #NousToutes,
told France Info radio: “These femi-
cides are not isolated cases. They’re
not the occasional news story. They
are systematic violence. The whole
system colludes in these murders …
it minimises sexist and sexual vio-
lence. That’s why we are scandalised
by the government’s silence.”
In France, there were at least 113
femicides last year, a rise on the 102
officially recorded in 2020.In 2019,a
record 146 women were killed.
pack around, but the reward is high if
it successfully takes over a carcass,”
the NPS said.
“Afresh elk carcass is a wonderful
source of fat and protein for a grizzly
bear preparing for hibernation. This
bear seems to have figured out that
following the wolves in the morning
will increase its chances of encoun-
tering a high-calorie meal.”
The wolves were forced to wait
until the bear had finished its meal
before taking advantage of their own
kill.
“Typically, wolves will yield to
incoming bears,” the NPS said. “Since
hunting is dangerous and often
unsuccessful, it’s better for wolves
to wait their turn at a carcass thathas
been usurped by a bear than it is for
them to continue hunting.”
Féminicides Par Compagnons ou
Ex, the Femicide by Partner or Ex
association, which announced the
figures for last year, said it was only an
approximate figure and almost cer-
tainly an underestimate.
“Numerous events that are being
looked into and are subject to the
omerta of the prosecutors’ offices
haven’t been counted,” it said.
“No, these’s aren’t ‘family dramas’
or ‘separation dramas’ or ‘crimes of
passion’; they are conjugal killings
carried out by frustrated men who
think they have the right to kill … who
because of the patriarchal education
given to men think they possess their
women and children and can do with
their lives as they wish,” the associ-
ation added.
Last August, the interior minister,
Gérald Darmanin, announced new
measures to combat violence against
women and girls, including prioritis-
ing complaints of conjugal violence
and ensuring each police station and
gendarmerie had at least one officer
who specialised in treating female
victims.
▲ One of the 150 grizzly bears
living in Yellowstone national
park, a female nicknamed Snow
HRH: H RR/ 
In one episode, filmed in Yellow-
stone in 2019, a tour guide captured
closeup images of a grizzly defending
itself from a pack of wolves trying to
reclaim an elk carcass.
Yellowstone is home to about 120
grey wolves, with 90% of their winter
diet consisting of elk. The park also
has about 150 grizzly bears, listed as a
threatened species in the US in 1975.
A federal judge restored protec-
tions for grizzly bears in the greater
Yellowstone ecosystem in 2018, after
the US Fish and Wildlife Service,
claiming a “remarkable recovery”,
delisted the species a year earlier.
In brief
Afghanistan
Taliban pour away
3,000 litres of alcohol
Afghan intelligence agents have
poured about 3,000 litres (660
gallons) of liquor into a canal in
Kabul, the country’s spy agency
said, as the Taliban authorities
crack down on the sale of alcohol.
Footage released by the General
Directorate of Intelligence showed
agents pouring alcohol from barrels
into the canal after seizing it during
a raid in the capital. A statement
issued by the agency on Sunday
said three dealers were arrested.
Selling and consuming alcohol
was banned under the previous
western-backed regime, but
the Taliban are stricter in their
opposition. AFP Kabul
Brazil
Bolsonaro in hospital
over 2018 stabbing
The Brazilian president, Jair
Bolsonaro, has been taken to a São
Paulo hospital with an intestinal
blockage and may need to undergo
surgery, in the latest complication
from a 2018 stabbing.
Bolsonaro said he started
feeling unwell on Sunday and was
taken to hospital early yesterday.
“More tests will be conducted for
a potential surgery on an internal
obstruction in the abdominal
region,” he tweeted along with a
photo of himself in hospital.
He said it was the second
hospitalisation since he was
stabbed during a 2018 campaign
event. Reuters
Japan
World’s oldest person
celebrates 119th year
The world’s oldest person has
celebrated her 119th birthday.
Kane Tanaka marked the
milestone on Sunday at the care
home where she lives in Fukuoka
prefecture, south-west Japan.
The Guinness World Records
recognised Tanaka’s status in
March 2019, when she was 116; she
went on to achieve a Japanese age
record when she reached 117 years
and 261 days in September 2020.
Tanaka is one of a growing
number of Japanese centenarians.
In September, the health ministry
said a record 86,510 people were
aged 100 or older, up 6,060 from
2020. Justin McCurry Tokyo
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian •
World 25

Detained or disappeared  Elena Piscopia was the first woman

in the world to earn a PhD, gaining
her doctorate in 1678

Heavytoll for reporting :  /Y

However, 10 statues dedicated to

on Covid in Xi’s China

Venetian Doges were destroyed by
Napoleon’s army after it conquered
the Republic of Venice; eight were
later replaced by obelisks, while two
of the pedestals remained empty.

C
Although a statue honouring
detailed a worsening “nightmare” Piscopia already exists at the Univer-
Helen Davidson for journalists under the rule of sity of Padua, two local councillors,
Taipei Xi Jinping, with 128 known to be Simone Pillitteri and Margherita Col-
behind bars or disappeared. More onnello, proposed celebrating her
hen Kun was living in than 70 are Uyghur journalists, and with another on one of the empty
Indonesia with his wife at least 10 people were arrested pedestals at Prato della Valle. “Per-
and daughter when he for reporting on the coronavirus haps it is not so well known that the
learned his brother Mei outbreak and lockdown in Wuhan. figures to whom the stone effigies are
had been “taken away “I’m sure the reason why my dedicated are all, without exception,
for investigation” by brother was arrested was because men,” the pair wrote in a motion pre-
Chinese police. of Covid,” Chen said. sented to the city’s council.
He immediately suspected Mei was formally arrested for The suggestion came after Mi
it was to do with his brother’s “picking quarrels and provoking Riconosci, an association of profes-
website, a citizen news project trouble” and sent to residential sionals in the cultural heritage sector,
called Terminus 2049. Since 2018 surveillance in a designated carried out a census of all statues of
Mei, his colleague Cai Wei, and location (RSDL) – China’s Italian figures in public spaces across
Cai’s partner – surnamed Tang – increasingly utilised form of the country and found that only
had been archiving articles about detention, where the accused can about 148 were of women.
issues including #MeToo and be held for up to six months and Federica Arcoraci, an art historian
migrant rights, and reposting them interrogated without charge, or with Mi Riconosci, said the square’s
whenever they were deleted from access to lawyers or family. male-only line-up “has an impact on
China’s strictly censored online Since Mei’s release Chen has our lives and collective imagination”.
platforms. It was April 2020, and in continued advocating for those She said: “The Prato della Valle regu-
previous months Terminus 2049 still detained, but said neither his lation of 1776 forbade having statues
had been targeting stories about the brother nor their parents were of saints, living people and people
Covid-19 outbreak and response. aware of his campaigning. with no ties to the city,but never pro-
In an interview with the The independent journalist hibited the representation of women.

Plan for statue of lone female

Guardian from France, Chen Sophia Huang Xueqin is also Obviously, that was the result of a
recalled warning his brother about believed to be held under RSDL. She particular trend in history. But today
setting up such a website, but had written about Mei and #MeToo it is possible to create a project that
thinking the worst case scenario
was that Mei would be “invited
to drink tea”, a euphemism for
and has not been seen since she and
the activist Wang Jianbing were
arrested in September on the eve
interrogation by security agencies, of her planned departure to study
scholar sparks controversy is connected with the history of the
square in its entirety.”
However,the idea sparked debate,
with detractors arguing that placing a
not arrested. in Europe. In October her parents statue of Piscopia in the square would
Instead Mei and Cai spent almost were told she had been arrested for in Italy – dedicated to illustrious his- be “out of context” with its history.
16 months in detention. Tang was “subverting state power”. Angela Giuffrida torical figures who were either from Carlo Fumian, a history professor
released in May, when the other Cédric Alviari, RSF’s east Asia Rome the city or had links to it. at the University of Padua, said the
two were convicted at a trial that bureau director, said China’s Originally there were 88 statues “expensive and bizarre” idea was
Chen said lasted just 100 minutes. crackdown on journalists and A proposal to put a statue of the first in the square, including the Italian “a bit trendy, but culturally incon-
Mei and Cai were sentenced to press freedom defenders had been woman in the world to earn a PhD scientist Galileo Galilei, the sculptor sistent”. “Moving monuments as if
15 months in jail and released in driven by Xi, who had “declared a among the 78 dedicated to histor- Antonio Canova, and several popes. they were Lego is a dangerous and
August on time served. Mei is war on independent journalism” ical male figures on a prominent unintelligent game,” he told the local
potentially still under surveillance. after tightening controls on northern Italian square has sparked newspaper, Il Mattino di Padova.
The group is on a growing list of traditional media. “Everything he controversy. ‘The figures to whom “Instead, we should help people
journalists and others who have
been arrested and detained by
and the CCP [Chinese Communist
party] have been doing over the
Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia
received her doctorate degree in phi- the stone effigies are discover the original [statue], tri-
umphantly seated at the university.”
Chinese authorities, often without past eight years … has been to losophy from the University of Padua dedicated are all men’ Art historian Davide Tramarin
trial, in a crackdown that appeared suppress independent voices,” he in 1678. But she was not included said the two empty pedestals should
to escalate during the pandemic. said. “The Chinese people ... crave when officials devised a project in remain like that as they represented a
In December a report by information on what’s happening the late 18th centuryto erect statues Padua councillors historical symbol of the destruction
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) around them.” in Prato della Valle – the largest square Plan for Piscopia statue by Napoleon’s troops.
 The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
26 Classified 7-13 March 2020
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
FTSE 100 All share
Closed Closed
7384.54 4208.02
Tech giant Apple becomes
world’s first $3tn company
Dominic Rushe New York
Jillian Ambrose
Apple became the first US company to
be valued at more than $3tn (£2.23tn)
yesterday as the tech firm continued
its phenomenal stock price growth,
tripling in value in under four years.
A pandemic-era surge in tech
stocks has driven the major US tech
companies to new highs, pulling
US stock markets with them. Apple
became the world’s first trillion dollar
company in August 2018,passed $2tn
in 2020 and hit its new high as trad-
ing began after the holidays and its
shares passed $182.8 before dipping.
Apple alone is now more valuable
than the combined values of Boeing,
Coca-Cola, Disney, ExxonMobil,
McDonalds, Netflix and WalMart.
Its shares have risen 38% since the
beginning of 2021, one of the largest
gains on the Dow Jones Industrial
Average stock market index.
First home
purchases at
19-year high,
says Yorkshire
Rupert Jones
The number of UK first-time home-
buyers has hit its highest level since
2002, according to a new estimate.
Despite the uncertainty gener-
ated by the pandemic and strong
house price growth, the number of
first-time buyer transactions with
a mortgage in 2021 is estimated to
be 408,300, according to Yorkshire
Building Society.
That would be a 35% increase on
the 303,000 transactions in 2020, and
more than double the levels in the
years following the global financial
crisis of 2007-08.
The previous first-time buyer peak
was in 2002, when 531,800 house-
holds took their first step on to the
housing ladder, and one would need
to go back 15 years to see numbers
similar to those being predicted for
2021, said the Yorkshire. In 2006
the number of first-time buyers was
400,900.
“Clearly, new buyers have not
been deterred by the price of a typi-
cal first-time buyer home, which has
increased by 9% to £222,997 in the
year to October,” the building soci-
ety said in a statement.
•
Dow Indl Nikkei 225
+ 50.49 Closed
36388.79 28791.71
The company released its last quar-
terly earnings in October, making a
profit of $20.6bn over the previous
three months, despite suffering from
Covid-related supply chain issues.
It is unlikely to remain the only
$3tn company; analysts expect
Microsoft will also hit the mark later
this year.
The news came as US markets
edged higher and European shares
bounded to record highs in the first
day of trading in 2022, as investors
bet on a steady economic recovery
despite the rising Omicron cases.
Europe’s benchmark stock index,
the Stoxx 600, rose to a record intra-
day high of 491.73 points yesterday,
surpassing its November peak of
490.58, as global oil and equity mar-
kets climbed. It later closed at 489.99,
up 0.45%.
The Stoxx 600 recorded a 22.4%
jump last year, its second-best yearly
performance in over a decade, after
the global rollout of Covid-19 vaccines
Average house prices havereached
record highs over the past year,
presenting an obstacle to many.
Meanwhile, the pandemic is likely to
have caused some to put their home-
buying plans on hold.
However, a range of factors –
including low borrowing costs and
government guarantees for mort-
gages – arguably helped others to
take their first step on to the prop-
erty ladder.
The stamp duty holiday – which
ended on 30 September 2021 in
England and Northern Ireland – has
£/€ £/$
1.1909 1.3447
-0.0001 -0.0097
and government stimulus spending
encouraged investors to pour money
back into the markets.
The share price of the airlines
Lufthansa and Air France KLM were
two of the biggest climbers across
Europe’s equity markets after ana-
lysts at Citi forecast the reopening
of travel routes to Asia could help
bolster the beleaguered travel sec-
tor. Lufthansa shares rose by almost
8.9% to €6.73 a share, and Air France
KLM rose by 4.9% to €4.06.
Europe’s record start to the new
year set the stage for US markets to
continue their late 2021 recovery. The
opening of the S& 500 index, which
climbed by a record 47.7% last year,
was bolstered by a 9% jump in Tesla
38%
Rise in Apple’s share price since
the beginning of 2021, one of the
largest gains on the Dow Jones
been credited with fuelling a boom.
First-time buyers already bene-
fited from stamp duty relief on the
first £300,000 of the purchase price,
but the additional relief between
£300,000 and £500,000 will have led
to savings – and reduced borrowing –
in many cases, benefiting new buyers
in pricier areas such as London and
the south-east, said the society.
Meanwhile, many people’s
spending plummeted during the
lockdowns, which meant some
were able to save up a larger sum for
a deposit more quickly.
shares after the company’squarterly
deliveries exceeded expectations.
In another boost to US markets
global oil prices, which last year
recorded their biggest annual rise
since at least 2016, resumed their
rise towards $80 a barrel as fears that
emerged late last year over the impact
of the Omicron variant waned.The oil
price helped shares in US oil majors
Chevron and ExxonMobil climb by
1% each.
The London Stock Exchange,
which has lagged behind its Euro-
pean and US rivals byclimbing 14.3%
last year, was closed yesterday for the
bank holiday. It remained 6.5% below
its May 2018 peak last year while the
US, erman and French markets all
hit record highs.
Sean Darby, a global equity strat-
egist at Jefferies, said: “Although
Covid-19 variants permeated the
global economy, 2021 was the year
of records with many bourses closing
at or near record highs, while inflows
into equities surpassed their largest
accumulation ever. eering into 2022,
we expect volatility to rise.”
Oil markets are also expected to
face ongoing volatility in the year
ahead as traders balance the risk
that the Omicron variant may stall
a rebound in demand for transport
fuels, against uncertain supplies from
the world’s biggest oil producers.
▲ Stamp duty relief, lockdown
savings and low borrowing costs
helped some buyers get on the ladder
PGRP: PRR/G G
However, Yorkshire said it was
unlikely that irst-time buyer
numbers would continue at this level
during 2022 and beyond.
First-time buyers accounted for
half (50%) of house purchases with
a mortgage in 2021, which is the same
proportion as the previous year,
though in the years between 2006
and 2011 the figure was below 40%.
27
Ministers get
extra powers
to block
foreign-led
takeovers
Rob Davies
Ministers have greater powers to
block foreign takeovers of Brit-
ish firms after new rules came into
effect today, giving them more scope
to unpick deals that have the poten-
tial to harm national security.
The National Security and
Investment Act is described by the
government as the “biggest shake-up
of the UK’s national security regime
for 20 years”. Ministers were already
able to intervene in deals where a
foreign-led takeover could affect eco-
nomic stability, media plurality, the
UK’spandemic response, or national
security. However, the act builds on
the government’s ability to deploy
the national security rationale for
“calling in” a takeover.
It identifies 17 areas that warrant
greater scrutiny when overseas inves-
tors seek to make an acquisition. As
well as defence and military technol-
ogy, ministers will be able to examine
deals in sectors such as advanced
robotics, artificial intelligence, civil
nuclear and quantum technology.
Officials will be notified that a
deal is worthy of examination when
a buyer takes its stake above three
trigger points: 25%, 50% and 75%.
The government can block these
deals and even unwind them retro-
spectively if they were completed on
or after 12 November 2020, the day
the bill was introduced to parliament.
The business secretary, Kwasi
Kwarteng, said: “The UK is world-
renowned as an attractive place to
invest but we have always been clear
that we will not hesitate to step in
where necessary to protect our
national security.”
The act is viewed by some as a
response to concern about Chinese
takeovers of strategically important
technology businesses, with some
deals already being pored over by offi-
cials under existing rules.
They include relatively small
deals, such as the sale of the semi-
conductor manufacturer Newport
Wafer Fab to a Dutch company owned
by China’s Wingtech, which is par-
tially backed by the state. Much larger
buyouts by US firms also came under
the microscope in 2021. Takeovers
of the defence suppliers Ultra Elec-
tronics and Meggitt drew government
scrutiny, as did the $75bn (£56bn)
takeover of the chipmaker Arm by
its rival Nvidia. The business depart-
ment said the act would not lead to
ministers “arbitrarily” intervening.
 The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
28 Classified 7-13 March 2020
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
‘A sort of Jurassic Park’ London
at risk of losing out as investors
in hi-tech firms look elsewhere
L
Graeme Wearden
ondon’s stock market
is facing a barrage of
criticism, with global
investors likening it to
a “global backwater”
struggling to attract and
retain growth companies.
After a surge of stock flotations
in 2021, including cutting-edge
firms such as Oxford Nanopore,
and new listing rules, London’s
status as a global financial centre
could brighten this year. But
currently the FTSE 100 index
of blue-chip companies looks
dated. Technology only makes up
William Hill
could face
fine over
pandemic
data error
•
Financial
about 2% of the London market,
compared with 20% across global
markets. “That means London is
tenfold underweight in the part
of the economy growing faster,
and which is attracting high
valuations,” says Simon French,
the chief economist at Panmure
Gordon. “If you’re an investor
looking to invest in growth, you
haven’t got a lot of options on the begets performance, so London’s
UK public market, with the greatest underperformance can lead to a
respect to Sage and Micro Focus.”
Paul Marshall, the boss of the
£40m hedge fund Marshall Wace,
wrote in the Financial Times that
the City of London risked becoming
“a sort of Jurassic Park”, and that beaming up some fast-growing
fund managers were content to
collect dividends from ponderous Deliveroo, and Darktrace coming
Rob Davies
The bookmaker William Hill could be
fined after it emerged that it submit-
ted incorrect data to the Gambling
Commission.
The information forced the regula-
tor to tear up its analysis of the impact
Covid-19 has had on betting habits.
Responding to concern that suc-
cessive lockdowns could drive people
to bet too much online, the Gambling
▼ The City of London is too often
29
content just to collect dividends from
old-economy players, say critics
:  / 
‘If you’re looking to
invest in growth, you
haven’t got a lot of
options in the UK’
Simon French
Panmure Gordon
as attracting new ones. A string
of listed firms became takeover
targets, often from US private
equity firms taking advantage
of depressed valuations, such as
the defence firm Meggitt and the
UK tech firm Blue Prism, with
speculation that BT could be next.
The weaker pound also left some
growth companies as sitting ducks
– the chip designer Arm, the crown
jewel of UK tech, was snaffled
by SoftBank just after the Brexit
vote in 2016. This hoovering up of
British tech firms by US investors
is worrying MPs, with 130 UK tech
firms reportedly acquired by US
companies between January and
mid-December 2021.
But David Miller, the executive
director at Quilter Cheviot, pushes
back on the idea that the City
of London itself risks becoming
a backwater. “In many ways it
remains an ideal location for
investment managers, with its time
zone, language, huge infrastructure
and the right attitude,” he says.
to market. In total, 122 companies The balance between growth
listed on the London Stock and value stocks today is different
Exchange last year, raising more than before the dotcom crash two
than £16.8bn – the biggest initial decades ago. “In 1999, people sold
public offering pot since 2007. dividend-paying firms to buy firms
But the journey has been shaky: that just evaporated,” Miller says.
Deliveroo tumbled by 30% on its There’s also a different mindset
debut in March, and is languishing to investing across the Atlantic.
at record lows, while Darktrace was “Investors in the US want the
ejected from the FTSE 100 after its companies they invest in to grow
initial share surge faded. market share – market share really
Others have done better, such excites US fund managers,” Miller
as the consumer review site says. In the UK and Europe there’s
Trustpilot, which has gained 25% much more focus on profitability.
old economy players rather than since its float. “For every Deliveroo “If a company isn’t profitable now,
encouraging and rewarding or Darktrace, there is a Trustpilot or we want to know when it will be
innovation. French points out that Auction Technologies out there,” profitable.”
in the US market, liquidity has says French. In the long run, local exchanges
doubled since the financial crisis, London’s new listing rules could be pushed further to the
but on the FTSE All-Share it has mean private firms needn’t sell margins. 24 Exchange, a Bermuda-
more than halved, putting some as much stock to go public. They based crypto and foreign exchange
fund managers off investing in also allow firms with dual class trading platform, is planning to
London. share structures popular with bring in around-the-clock stock
“Performance begets liquidity entrepreneurs and founders on to trading, which is already possible
the FTSE 100 and the 250 index of with cryptocurrencies.
smaller firms. Marshall, though, Miller says the idea of 24-hour
vicious circle,” French explains. He says London needs to move “faster trading is not a “totally ridiculous”
fears that recent reviews of the UK’s and harder still” to lure growth one. Non-stop trading could be
listing regime have failed to tackle companies, close the gap with New gruelling for equities traders,
this issue. York and become a more attractive although nothing that other
There are signs that London is place to list and raise capital than industries don’t handle.
the EU and Asia. “If the car industry can work
companies, with Oxford Nanopore, London’s problem in 2021 was on three shifts per day, why can’t
as much retaining companies traders?” he asks.
Commission has published regular
updates since March 2020 on how
during Covid-19, which use submis-
sions from firms with 80% of the UK
that breach the terms of their licence.
The risk of a penalty comes as William
much customers of big firms such as
William Hill are losing.
market, are seen as a key resource for
academics and health workers try-
Hill’sUK operation is in the process of
a £2.2bn sale,after London-listed 888
But, in an update published on 23
December, the regulator said it had
ing to assess how the pandemic has
affected gambling. The commission
Holdings bought it from the US casino
operator Caesars Entertainment.
discovered that William Hill pro- said it was now “reviewing any regu- News of William Hill’s data error
vided “incorrect datapoints” for the latory consequences of William Hill’s comes as the government is putting
16 months between March 2020 and failure to submit accurate data”. the finishing touches to a review of
September 2021. The commission
said it would have to re-analyse its
data and would notbe able to publish
The regulator can suspend or
revoke a gambling operator’s licence,
although it does so only in extreme
how gambling is regulated,with pro-
posals due to be announced in the
spring.
correct information until February. cases. However,itfrequently reaches The Guardian approached William
The regulator’s statistical bulletins financial settlements with companies Hill for comment.
 • The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
30

Weather
Tuesday 4 January2022
UK and Ireland Noon today Forecast Around the UK
Low 1 High 5 London
Sunny Mist Fog 1000 992 Lows and highs Precipitation Air pollution
1012 1008
1004 996 988 Tomorrow
5 984 1 7 55% Low
Sunny intervals Hazy Manchester
Mostly cloudy
24 Inverness Shetland 988 1 5 0% Low
Overcast/dull 1
Edinburgh
3 38
Moderate
0 4 10% Low
Sunny showers
Belfast
Edinburgh
35 Low -1 High 6
Sunny and heavy showers Glasgow Thursday 1 4 85% Low
Birmingham
Light showers 6
2 5 25% Low
Rough
Rain Sleet Light
snow
Belfast
6 Brighton
York
Snow showers Dublin Liv
2 9 55% Low
5 Bristol
Heavy snow Ice Carbon
Thundery rain
35C
30
3 Norwich
count 3
Cardiff
5 55% Low
25 Daily atmospheric CO2
20 readings from Mauna Loa,
6 Hawaii (ppm):
Thundery showers 15
Latest
3 7 25% Low
X
10 7 02 Jan 2022 417.78 Newcastle
5 Dover Weekly average
Temperature, 0 26 Dec 2021 417.46
ºC -5
8
03 Jan 2021 416.32
1 3 25% Low
Plymouth
-10 7 03 Jan 2012 392.43 Penzance
-15 Slight 16 Pre-industrial base 280
Wind speed, Windy
mph -20 The Channel Islands
Safe level 350 7 8 55% Low
Source: NOAAESRL

Atlantic front 1016

L
992
984
H 992 L
1000
Weatherwatch Around the world
992
976
L
1016
984 H The principality of Andorra is Algiers 23 Lisbon 13
H 1008 976 sandwiched between France and Ams’dam 7 Madrid 12
1024
L 1000 Spain in the eastern Pyrenees. The Athens 17 Malaga 21
1008 1000 1016 1000 L sixth-smallest country in Europe, Auckland 27 Melb’rne 23
1000 with an area of 180 sq miles, it is B Aires 31 Mexico C 22
L smaller than every English county Bangkok 32 Miami 25
1008 apart from Rutland. Landlocked, Barcelona 17 Milan 9
Cold front and lying entirely above 840 metres Basra 13 Mombasa 33
(2,750ft), its climate is, as you Beijing 2 Moscow -11
Warm front would expect, mostly continental Berlin 7 Mumbai 31
H and alpine. Because Andorra lies Bermuda 20 N Orleans 15
1024 on the southern, Spanish side of Brussels 8 Nairobi 27
Occluded front the highest peaks, which run along Budapest 11 New Delhi 21
its northern border, it is more C’hagen 4 New York 2
Trough 1016 sheltered and drier than locations Cairo 18 Oslo 0
on the French side. Cape Town 23 Paris 10
Winters are fairly cold, dry and Chicago 2 Perth 34
High tides Source: © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Times are local UK times
Sun & Lighting sunny, with as much as five hours
of daily sunshine in January and
Corfu 16 Prague 9

Moon up February. Winter temperatures

Dakar
Dhaka
28
26
Reykjavik
Rio de J
-2
29
in the capital, Andorra la Vella, Dublin 5 Rome 15
Aberdeen 0207 4.5m 1416 4.5m London Bridge 0232 6.9m 1455 7.4m Belfast 1613 to 0846 are mostly a few degrees above Florence 15 Shanghai 12
Avonmouth 0808 13.6m 2035 13.3m Lossiemouth 0041 4.3m 1249 4.3m Birm’ham 1607 to 0817 freezing and precipitation is mostly Gibraltar 18 Singapore 29
Barrow 0001 9.4m 1219 9.7m Milford Haven 0708 7.3m 1935 7.0m Brighton 1609 to 0802 low – just 160mm from December H Kong 21 Stockh’m 1
Belfast -- -- 1203 3.7m Newquay 0558 7.4m 1825 7.1m Bristol 1617 to 0815 to February. However, heavy Harare 23 Strasb’g 13
Cobh 0621 4.3m 1842 4.1m North Shields 0413 5.2m 1623 5.3m Carlisle 1558 to 0834 snowfalls can occur, especially Helsinki 1 Sydney 26
Cromer 0729 5.1m 1932 5.2m Oban 0634 4.2m 1853 3.9m Cork 1637 to 0840 when fronts sweep in from the Istanbul 12 Tel Aviv 17
Dover -- -- 1158 6.7m Penzance 0531 5.8m 1756 5.5m Sun rises 0805 Dublin 1620 to 0840 Atlantic to the west. Jo’burg 26 Tenerife 25
Dublin 0011 4.1m 1224 4.3m Plymouth 0642 5.7m 1912 5.4m Sun sets 1605 Glasgow 1559 to 0847 Temperatures rise rapidly from K Lumpur 31 Tokyo 11
Galway 0554 5.6m 1826 5.3m Portsmouth -- -- 1210 4.8m Moon rises 0957 Harlech 1615 to 0828 May, with average daily maxima of K’mandu 18 Toronto 1
Greenock 0105 3.5m 1326 3.7m Southport -- -- 1144 9.4m Moon sets
First Quarter
1803
9 Jan
Inverness 1546 to 0856 the mid-20s celsius in the summer Kabul 5 Vancouv’r 2
Harwich 0014 4.0m 1239 4.2m Stornoway 0742 5.2m 2016 4.8m London 1605 to 0805 months; pleasantly warm but rarely Kingston 30 Vienna 8
Holyhead 1113 6.0m 2346 5.7m Weymouth 0757 1.6m 2027 1.3m M’chester 1605 to 0823 very hot. The wettest months Kolkata 24 Warsaw 7
Hull 0709 7.7m 1918 7.8m Whitby 0448 5.7m 1701 5.7m
Forecasts and
Newcastle 1553 to 0831 are usually May and June, when L Angeles 15 Wash’ton 3
Leith 0319 5.8m 1534 5.7m Wick 0002 3.6m 1213 3.7m
graphics provided by
Norwich 1554 to 0806 there are regular thunderstorms. Lagos 32 Well’ton 23
Liverpool -- -- 1203 9.7m Workington 0002 8.4m 1222 8.7m AccuWeather ©2022 Penzance 1634 to 0821 Stephen Moss @stephenmoss_tv Lima 24 Zurich 13
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian •
Football Cricket
JonathanWilson: Root tells England
how Tuchel’s to remember good
Blues lost control times in Sydney
Page 35  Page 32 
I
▲ The Test at the SCG
is a dead rubber – by
E
the end of this series,
27 of the last 88 Ashes
Tests will have had
nothing riding on them
 /
Fade to grey
ven with the Ashes gone, the inquests Is there not more varied and textured challenge,
under way and his future under the
spotlight, Joe Root was talking a good
Radical change is
game ahead of the Sydney Test. “For us of doing
it’s a must-win game,” he said. “I know this?A
the series isn’t winnable, but it’s a good
opportunity.” On the Australian side,
needed to stop the
meanwhile, Steve Smith was urging
his team to turn the screw by making it 4-0. “We’ve
wrapped up the series which is great, and we want to
continue winning,” he said. “That’s important.”
Ashes becoming
So far so routine, although in the spirit of
transparency it seems fair to point out that the above
quotes were taken not from the current series, but from need exists treated to the sight of the Ashes being
the corresponding mismatch in January 2018, four
a museum piece
years ago to the day. Well, they do say one of the best
things about Test cricket is its timelessness.
And so once again the Ashes circus arrives in
Sydney smelling faintly of rust, ennui and elephant
shit, as players and broadcasters desperately try
to inject a little jeopardy into this long-moribund
series. Nathan Lyon insists there is no such thing
as a “dead rubber when you’re wearing the baggy
green”. There are World Test Championship points
at stake, after all, and places for the forthcoming
tour of New Zealand to be contested. As for England,
the quadrennial fit of introspection and ritual
bloodletting, the comforting fixation on County
Jonathan Liew Championship schedules and ball manufacturers,
has perhaps obscured the wider implications of
another hopelessly unequal encounter. This is, we are
constantly told, a flagship series: a yardstick for the
health of the game as a whole.
31
What, then, does it say when India and South Africa
are currently serving up a more compelling show than
anything seen in Australia over the last month? This is
hardly a new phenomenon, either. It is 39 years since
a men’s Ashes series in Australia reached its final Test
with the fate of the urn in the balance. In England it
has happened just twice in my lifetime – in 2005 and
2009. The lack of alarm over this should be alarming
in itself. The bare minimum we demand of sport is
that it has consequence. Yet by the end of this series,
27 of the last 88 Ashes Tests will essentially have been
cold product, nothing riding on them but pride and
broadcasting contracts.
s there not a better way of doing this? Part
of the issue is that Test cricket itself has
changed. Five-match series made sense in
previous eras because of the frequency of
draws and washouts. No such need exists
these days. The last 23 Ashes Tests have
produced two draws. That drops to one from
the last 32 in Australia, home of some of the
most favourable batting conditions in world cricket.
Increasingly a five-match series – particularly where
one team is demonstrably worse than the other – feel
like an elaborate form of torture, a way of forcing
imploding teams to keep imploding until there is
nothing left.
Even a theoretically-close series gains little from
being drawn out over its full length. Both the 2015 and
2019 series felt pale and drained by their conclusion,
and not in a good way: flawed sides taking wild swings
at each other, exhausted players desperately trying to
cling to the precipice.
The virtue of a long series used to be in their ebb and
flow, the possibility of redemption and learning. But
with schedules trimmed to the skeleton and warm-up
games hunted to extinction, that hardly happens any
more. The simplest solution would be to cut the Ashes
down to three or four Tests, perhaps with an optional
decider in the case of a tie. But there is a more radical
alternative out there, taking its inspiration from the
women’s Ashes, which has flourished since switching
to a multi-format competition in 2013. Three Tests,
three one-day internationals, three Twenty20s: the
overall winner being either the first to a certain number
of points, or to win two series.
Fewer days of cricket overall, but a
a better way and arguably a truer test of systems
and cultures, which at its heart
is what the Ashes was originally
supposed to be about. Teams would
be forced to strike a balance between
five-match red and white-ball structures,
series made
between specialists and all-format
sense in players. Bigger squads and more rest days
past eras … would give the series a chance to
but no such breathe
in a packed calendar. At least
once a decade we would probably be
these days decided in the final over. And really,
we need to decide what we want this
venerable competition to be in the
modern age. A museum piece, a fading heritage tour, a
sort of fancy dress historical re-enactment that bears
less and less resemblance to the cutting edge of the
sport with every passing iteration?
At the very least, it’s time to consider whether five
compressed five-day Tests every couple of years really
is the best way to settle and sell this oldest of rivalries.
(You could, if you were feeling particularly daring,
even combine men’s and women’s Ashes under a
single banner.) Or, alternatively, we can keep rocking
up in Sydney every four years with empty platitudes
and crossed fingers, hoping that things will be different
this time.
And maybe they will. Doing nothing is certainly an
option. But as the game fractures and old certainties
erode, it’s increasingly hard to argue it’s the best one.

32
Root hoping
England find
inspiration in
‘special’ Test
Ali Martin
Sydney
The Sydney Football Stadium in
Moore Park serves a decent reminder
Australia is a country that rarely
stands still. Originally built in 1988,
what appeared to be a serviceable
venue has been bulldozed since the
last Ashes tour four years ago and
in its place an eye-catching new
AU$828m replacement is approach-
ing completion.
Barely a stone’s throw from the
latest sporting UFO to land on Aus-
tralian soil sits the wonderful Syd-
ney Cricket Ground, which despite
being upgraded and swollen by way
of capacity over the years still retains
a sense of history. Its green-roofed
19th century ladies’ and members’
pavilions are untouched through
their heritage listing. So,too, the old
clock tower and an array of statues
that denote past greats of the game.
It remains a truly evocative place to
watch Test cricket.
Inspiration has been in short sup-
ply for England’s cricketers since
they arrived for this pandemic-era
Ashes tour and their issues have been
myriad en route to 68 all out and 3-0
down with two Tests to play. But as
they step out onto the cambered
baize outfield, Joe Root hopes his
men take in the surroundings, think
of the charity angle to proceedings,
remember past English success sto-
ries and realise how fortunate they all
are to be representing their country
during admittedly tough times.
“It’s obviously a special Test
match,” said Root, before training
yesterday. “You’ve got the McGrath
Foundation [raising funds for breast
cancer support] and you look at some
of the performances on previous
tours, like the 2010-11 team winning
here, how special that was and how
it will live long in the memory.
“It was here [Darren] Gough got
his hat-trick in 1999,too. It’s a venue
where a number of special things
have happened for England players
and it’san opportunity to do just that.
I’d love more than anything to walk
away with a win. Personal achieve-
ments make you proud and it means
you are pulling your weight. But
nothing compares to winning a Test
match and I’m desperate to do that.”
If there is a positive to be found
beyond the red lines on various lat-
eral flow tests during a disrupted
buildup, it’s that the tourists appear
to have just about held together off
the field while disintegrating on it.
There has been grumbling about the
Covid lifestyle and Stuart Broad has
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
Sport
Cricket Fourth Ashes Test
SCG details
Australia
Possible
England
Possible
David Warner, Marcus Zak Crawley, Haseeb
Harris, Marnus Hameed, Dawid Malan,
Labuschagne, Steve Joe Root (capt),
Smith, Usman Khawaja, Ben Stokes, Jonny
Cameron Green, Bairstow, Jos Buttler
Alex Carey (wkt),
Pat Cummins (capt),
(wkt), Mark Wood,
Jack Leach, Stuart Broad,
Mitchell Starc, Jhye Jimmy Anderson
Richardson, Nathan Lyon
Venue Umpires
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Start 11.30pm tonight TV umpire Paul Wilson
TV BT Sport 1 Referee Steve Bernard
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gone public with his annoyance at
missing out on green surfaces in Bris-
bane and Melbourne. But any serious
angst is yet to bleed out of the dress-
ing room while Australia have been
tearing them up with barelya sledge
to be heard.
Perhaps this should be a concern;
a sign that a team which has been
forced to plough through 21 Test
matches since the start of the pan-
demic, compared to seven for their
hosts, has entered a dazed fug of mere
fixture fulfilment. Australia are on a
heady roll, their series win one of con-
tributions throughout the team, and
will be hard to stop now. Either way, to contend, even if they have been pairing in preparation for the upcom-
performances in this fourth Test, fol-
lowed by a fifth still slated for Hobart,
ticked offfor not drinking the official
beer sponsor of Cricket Australia dur-
11 long yearssince glory … ing tour of Pakistan seems optimistic.
Instead, beyond a return for the
may provide an answer as to the state ing the celebrations in Melbourne. experienced Khawaja, and with lit-
of minds among Root’s troupe. Two days out from the toss neither It was 11 years tle reason to press Josh Hazlewood
They may also serve to inform how side was giving much away selec- ago this week: into service too soon after the side
much substance there is to all the pri- tion-wise, other than the peripheral England’s most strain picked up duringthe first Test,
vate and public support for Root’s roles of Rory Burns and Ollie Pope at recent Test win Australia’s final decision appeared
continuation as captain as he passes training pointing to more 12th man- in Australia between whether to retain Scott
Alastair Cook’s record of 59 Tests in duties and an unchanged England top came at Sydney Boland after his remarkable six for
charge. The 31-year-old once again seven. Unlike Haseeb Hameed, the in 2011, when seven in Melbourne or return to the
insisted it was a topic to be discussed opener sporting a new-look haircut in they wrapped up a 3-1 series established pecking order by recall-
at the end of the tour, but stressed his the nets as he readied himself for the victory with an innings-and-83- ing the fit-again Jhye Richardson.
pride at being given the opportunity latest encounter with Pat Cummins run rout. The scores – Australia With the latter’s last outing in Ade-
to lead “has not wavered from day and Mitchell Starc, the pitch was yet 280 (Jimmy Anderson 4-66) & laide delivering a maiden five-wicket
one”, adding: “I’ll keep throwing eve- to receive a proper trim, and so the 281 (Anderson 3-61); England 644 haul, it’s a good dilemma to have.
rything I can into trying to give Eng- final spots among the two bowling (Alastair Cook  189 , Ian Bell 115, England, meanwhile, were pon-
land the best chances of winning.” attacks were still to be named. Matt Prior 118) – look preposterous dering a return for Broad in place of
In the past week this has involved Gone are the days of Sydney to contemporary eyes; England Ollie Robinson, who for all his obvi-
Root literally throwing everything he being the ground where spinners have lost 12 and drawn one away ous skill has looked heavy-legged at
can at teammates in the nets due to lick their lips, however, with Nathan Ashes Test since. World leaders times. But ultimately the question
the Covid-enforced absences of the Lyon, one of a number on the books then included Barack Obama and will be whether their batting lineup
head coach, Chris Silverwood, and of New South Wales, averaging 40 David Cameron; X Factor winner can finally stand up to an attack that
three members of his staff. England’s with the ball here in Test cricket. As Matt Cardle was at No 1 with When has been relentless from ball one of
opponents, though forced to bringin such, and with some rain forecast We Collide and Sir Alex Ferguson this uncompetitiveseries or find itself
Usman Khawaja at No 5 after Travis over the coming days, recent talk of was leading Manchester United once again unsentimentally razed to
Head tested positive for the virus, the Queensland leg-spinner Mitch to their 19th league title. It was a the ground like the old football sta-
have had far fewer issues with which Swepson coming in to join him as a different time. dium next door.
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
Broad ready
to return after
frustration of
missing out
 Continued from back page
over the 39-year-old’s fitness after
a rain-interrupted buildup and calf
niggle upon arrival in ustralia.
While Broad has said he will not
make any “emotional decisions”
about the continuation of a career of
150 caps and 526 wickets until after
the conclusion of the tour,nderson
wrote in the Daily elegraph “I have
no intention of finishing” and added
“from speaking to Stuart Broad,
it is clear he definitely has not had
enough yet either”.
Yesterday oot declined to con-
firm Broad’s return for obinson
•
▼ Ben Stokes (centre) and
England train at the SCG
before tonight’s fourth Test
ANCA E MARC/AAP
and when, asked about the all-
rounder’sfuture, the captain replied:
“ll I’d say is from Stuart’s point of
view is when he gets his opportu-
nity he’s going to look to take it.
He’s someone who always try to
prove everybody wrong. When he’s
missed out in the past he’s done that
extremely well.”
sked about recent support from
teammates regarding his own cap-
taincy, including the only viable
replacement in Ben Stokes, oot
said: “bviously that’s nice to hear.
I’m very passionate about getting
the opportunity to play for ngland.
hen to captain ngland as well is a
huge honour for me.
“ ll I ever want to do is try to get
the best out of the group, to see us
perform and play ata level everyone
back home is proud of. It’s hurt me
deeply that we’ve not managed to
do that on this trip and I’mdesperate
for us to put in those performances. I
really care about the role and it would
be nice to finish this tour offin a much
better way.”
Leading question
English cricket has bigger
problems than Root’s
captaincytoworry about
T
Mark Ramprakash
hree matches and
three heavy defeats
into the series, the
Ashes already lost,
seven defeats and no
wins in eight Tests in
Australia as captain, and after a
poor year for England’s red-ball
team there are several obvious
reasons for removing Joe Root from
the England captaincy – but I would
like him to stick around.
In his book The Captain
Class, the Wall Street Journal’s
Sam Walker identifies the key
characteristics of elite captains
which include: extreme
doggedness and focus in
competition; a low-key, practical
and democratic communication
style; motivating others with
passionate non-verbal displays;
strong convictions and the courage
to stand apart; and ironclad
emotional control. England’s
failures will bring criticism, but
Root has many of the qualities you
would look for in an ideal captain.
He is also incredibly popular
among the playing group, meaning
he can comfortably socialise with
any of the players in his squad. He
has a great sense of humour, which
helps to put people at ease. Anyone
going into that dressing room has
a captain who is approachable,
knowledgeable, and who they
can learn from. What he needs is
an experienced coach who is able
to provide a vision and strategy
across the England set-up, while
also helping Joe with his leadership
skills and his tactics.
Sometimes under Root there
have been tactical missteps, both
in individual sessions and across
entire series. For example he went
to Sri Lanka in 2018 wanting the
team to play an aggressive style
of batting, a different approach
to many England sides against
Sri Lanka’s spinners, and although
that tactic worked in those
conditions England then went to the
West Indies wanting to continue in
that vein. Against accurate swing
bowling England started the series
by being bowled out for 77 when a
more orthodox attitude was needed.
I have one particularly strong
memory of Joe from later in that
tour. England were 2-0 down when
they arrived in St Lucia for the final
Test, and though the team had the
day off Joe wasn’t happy with the
way he was batting so we went to
the beautiful ground at Gros Islet
and had two hours in the nets. It
was probably my most enjoyable
session as a coach, to be with a
great player, to listen to how he
spoke about the game and watch
how he worked on it.
With players of that calibre you
don’t tell them anything, you try
to ask the right questions so they
problem-solve. In those two hours
in the hot Caribbean sun Joe worked
hard on his alignment, his bat path
and his basics. My job was to listen,
to encourage, support, and now
and again to challenge. He scored a
second-innings century as England
won the third Test comfortably.
I think we have seen Joe improve
as a captain, but while he has
tried to be more proactive it isn’t a
particular strength of his. Too often
we don’t see him dictating terms
through good captaincy.
For example, he dismissed Travis
Head in the first innings in Adelaide
but has not bowled a single delivery
at him since. I’m convinced that a
captain such as MS Dhoni or Kane
Williamson would have brought Joe
straight on to bowl the next time
Head came out. Small things like
that can make life uncomfortable
for a new batter, and show a
flexibility in approach.
Root also often fails to use his
fielding positions to create doubt in
the minds of incoming batters: stick
a man short on the leg side when a

What he needs is an
experienced coachwho
is able to provide vision
and strategyacross
the England set-up
▲ Joe Root’s position is under scrutiny but he is a popular England captain
JOEL CARRETT/AAP
33
batsman is on nought, put someone
at silly point, try to build pressure.
But regardless of how good
a captain you are, if you’re
consistently not scoring enough
runs as a team you never have
the chance to be innovative with
your bowling attack. Problems
with player availability and
team selection have hindered
England in the past year. The
big one is Ben Stokes, one of the
team’s core players, who missed
too much cricket to come in and
perform in this Ashes series. Jonny
Bairstow has been marginalised
despite having a good record
as wicketkeeper-batsman, the
gloves taken off him, not being
consistently picked, and I think his
confidence has been affected. His
treatment contrasts with that of Jos
Buttler, who has never given me the
impression that either technically
or in terms of mindset he is
comfortable batting in Test cricket.
With the bat there is no doubt
Root has led by example. To score
1,708 runs in a calendar year,
more than England’s next four
highest scorers put together, is a
monumental achievement, and
his ability to focus on his personal
game despite wickets falling
around him and the concerns of
captaincy is phenomenal. And he
has also been able to transition
from being successful in short-form
cricket to making thousands
of runs in Tests, which for me
demonstrates the importance of an
orthodox technique.
I remember watching Rohit
Sharma and KL Rahul open for
India last summer – two players
with huge amounts of runs in
the Indian Premier League, yet
also able to open in a Test against
Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad
in overcast English conditions.
With a few exceptions most of
the batters who have been able
to move between formats have,
like Sharma and Rahul, superb
defensive technique, good
judgment around off stump, and
excellent concentration.
When I visited India as assistant
coach to England Under-19s in 2016
the insistence within the Indian
structure on good batting basics
was obvious. Meanwhile I spoke
to an MCC coach recently who told
me that when kids come to Lord’s
he tells them to just smack the
ball and have fun. There are many
significant problems facing English
cricket at the moment, and I don’t
think Joe Root is one of them.
 • The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
34 Sport Online now World Darts Championship
Read Jonathan Liew’s report from last
night’s final at theguardian.com/sport

Getafe look to Eagles

Football 97th minute to draw 1-1, but it was
a miracle the goal hadn’t come
sooner and been followed by

for inspiration in bid

more. uis uárez’s penalty traced
an almost impossible vertical
trajectory over the bar, avid oria

to seal great escape

Like Palace four seasons ago, by
the club lost seven games but ofpreferring
a motivational video and
returning hero led to revival ncelotti
slapped one off the line and etafe,
moving to a back five, had 23% of
possession and faced 18 shots. “We
didn’t feel good with the ball so we
decided to defend,” Quique said.
hose were his first three games.
fter a 0-0 draw with allorca in
nal – the perfect illustration ovember, Jaume osta accused
arlo ncelotti’s line about etafe of constant fouling: “he
“pessimistic” defenders linesman said they’re smart. mart?
who fear the worst – and sure, o. ook one and it stops.” ut
insisted the visitors “were things had shifted, signs of life.

G
still on holiday”. ut that probably “We need a big heart and a hungry
overplayed their passivity and this mind but things only change with
Sid Lowe wasn’t only about adrid, it was a win,” Quique said after ranada
about etafe too. eemingly down and three days later it came, nal
then, they now have 18 points and scoring twice against spanyol
iovanni rapattoni are five places and 10 points off the and rick abaco stumbling down
carried a battle of bottom. nbeaten in six, they’ve the touchline with the coach in
holy water with him, lost only one in nine. “he mental his arms at full-time. “We needed
blessed by the sister state is different now,” their coach this jubilation to justify the effort,”
who actually was said afterwards. “t’s interesting Quique said. “t’s going to be long
his sister. n 2009 watching a team convert negative and we’re going to suffer: it’s battle
the spanyol manager auricio energy into positive.” for the broken-hearted.”
Pochettino hiked to ontserrat When íchel was sacked in  week on they lost against
to visit the black virgin, enlisting ctober, etafe had actually just illarreal but haven’t lost since, and
her help in avoiding relegation, got their first point with a 1-1 draw when a 93rd-minute arío Poveda
salvation delivered soon after. against eal ociedad but he was goal defeated sasuna and finally
nd aúl adero, the rgentinian replaced by Quique ánchez Flores, lifted them out of the relegation
national team doctor, twice visited returning for his third spell 16 years zone, 4,772 fans went wild. “We’re
the wailing wall. he first time, after the first. Forty years old when a single mind: we’re overcoming
before the 1986 World up, he he led etafe’s debut in primera, small barriers, which makes us
Back for moreAndy Murraywas back at asked for them to be champions; at 56 his mission now was to keep freer and braver,” the coach said.
when he went back four years later, them there. e couldn’t turn them “ feel emotional because  feel
Melbourne Park yesterday,where a tearful
press conference three years ago led many to he thought that would be pushing down: “etafe is a family, and the
it, so requested runners-up. When family has problems,” he said.
what  felt 16 years ago.”
unday felt even better: victory
believe he was set to retire. After the warm-up it comes to football you’ll try nder íchel, etafe earned against adrid, previously
event this week he has a wildcard for the anything. ometimes it even works. one point from 24. nder Quique, unbeaten in 12 games. “ou don’t
nd so it was that etafe turned they earned 17 of 33.  table of his look at the stats in advance because
GRAHAM DENHOLM/
GETTY IMAGES grand slam tournament startingon 17 January to rystal Palace. Which might time there has them fifth in a iga. they can depress you,” Quique
sound a bit weird, but while there’s Quique changed the mentality said. “nstead, games require an
no sign of the essiah they did and the approach was altered too. artisanal process that generates
Rugby union have Fosu-ensah, and etafe Perhaps they had to stop being the enthusiasm as you see what you can
Sport Exeter are handed were desperate. hey were also good guys. e had to rid them of do.” etafe, he said, had to know
In brief 28-0 victory over Bath own pointless and you can insert your
joke here. “ne point would
the fatalism, clear heads and offer
a clear plan. et closer to what
where to “strangle” adrid. nd as
uka odric hit the bar and oria
give us life,” the striker Jaime ata they had been with Pepe ordalás, made a late save, they did so. tefan
xeter have been awarded a 28-0 insisted, but their vital signs were perhaps: tough, defensive, itrovic’s insistence that their
Cycling win after ath were unable to fading fast, each defeat crueller resistant. nal soon talked about a mentality has changed was echoed
Froome suffers knee fulfil their Premiership ugby
fixture against the hiefs because
up than the last. even games in,
had lost all seven, adrift at the
they side getting its identity back.
t wasn’t always pretty, and it’s
in nal saying he smelt blood on
the goal, someone else’s weakness
injury in setback of ovid-19 and injuries. he sides bottom. “ou get the feeling you’ve not done yet. gainst evante, the revealed instead of theirs. “We
were due to meet at the ec on seen this film before,” íchel 0-0 felt inevitable. gainst elta, have an important combative spirit;
he four-times our de France 29 ecember, but the match was onzález, their then-manager, had they played four central midfielders we needed resilience and still
winner, hris Froome, has been postponed after ath were unable said, and it didn’t have a happy and a fifth, ikola aksimovic, up do: this has only just begun,” the
forced to delay his preparations to field enough forwards. PA Media ending. “nxiety is inevitable.” front – and lost, heavily. gainst coach said.
for the 2022 season due to a knee o one had ever started a top-flight ranada, they conceded in the n the stands they were jumping
injury. Froome has revealed he Tennis season as badly, after all. about singing, an old favourite
damaged a tendon in his knee Tsitsipas feeling upbeat longoagoonethere in pain, anyway. ot ‘We’re a single mind: adapted for new times. “ordalás,
during pre-season training. “’ve
just got back from doing some after elbow surgery ondon that
was a team in south
were even worse andwe’re overcoming  loved you,” it runs, “but now 
love Quique.” arry on like this and
scans at the hospital,” the ritish
cyclist said on his ouube tefanos sitsipas says he will
survived, rescued by oy odgson.
even weeks into the 2017-2018 small barriers, there might just be a little soft spot
for Wilfried Zaha, too.
channel. “For the last 10 days or so be close to full fitness for the season, rystal Palace had lost all which makes us
’ve been getting quite a bit of pain ustralian pen after a 6-7 (5), 6-3, seven games. n the eighth, they
on the outside of my knee while ’m 6-3 defeat to iego chwartzman defeated helsea and eventually freer and braver’
pedalling. “nfortunately  think in the P up in ydney, his first finished 11th. etafe made a
just getting back into training these match since elbow surgery. “t gets motivational video, drawing on
past couple of weeks  might have better every single day almost,” Palace’s experience to declare:
been a little bit too keen, pushing said the world o 4. PA Media “When results don’t come … when
a little bit too much,” Froome you try but don’t succeed … history
added. “his was after a few weeks shows it’s still possible.” t was too.
off the bike and maybe the body
wasn’t ready to push that hard.
Greg Wood’sracing tips ndros ownsend moves in
mysterious ways. hat day, etafe
t’s flared up and caused a bit of had no points and were bottom. n
inflammation. What it means is ’m Lingfield 12.30 Helvetian 1.00 Exceling unday, they defeated eal adrid
1.30 Hannalite 2.00 Porfin (nap) 2.35Twistaline
going to have to take the best part of 3.10 Giovanni Baglione 3.40 Northern 1-0 at the oliseum, the afternoon
a week off the bike before starting Hereord 12.45 Brilliant Present spent singing in the sun, welcoming
very gradually,” the 36-year-old 1.15 Winterwatch 1.45 Art O Diplomacy in the new year. “iberation,” the
continued. “t’s definitely a setback 2.15Red Rookie 2.50Family Pot 3.20I Spy A Diva goalscorer nes nal called it.
for me. ’m not too sure where ’m Newcastle
3.50 Nocte Volatus
3.00 Thibault 3.30 Selecto
his was their first win against
going to start the racing year and 4.00Tyrrhenian Sea 4.30 Stand Free adrid in almost nine years, but
it’s going to push everything back 5.00 Imperial Command (nb) 5.30 Bakr it wasn’t a fluke. es, they were ▲ Getafe shocked La Liga leaders Real Madrid to boost their survival hopes
slightly.” PA Media 6.00 Fircombe Hall 6.30 Whittle Le Woods gifted the goal, Éder ilitão robbed OSCAR BARROSO/LIVEMEDIA/SHUTTERSTOCK
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian •
Sport 35
Football

Lukaku an
unwanted
Football
headache In brief
for Tuchel
Romelu Championship
Lukaku has Hughes ends three-year
angered his
manager by drought with winner
revealing he Andrew Hughes struck a late
is unhappy Preston winner as they came from
with life at behind to win 2-1 at Stoke. The
Stamford Welshman, who had not scored
Bridge a league goal for nearly three
V /
U years, headed in Ben Whiteman’s
84th-minute corner to make it
two wins out of two for the new
manager, Ryan Lowe. Stoke, now
with just one win in their last
six games, took the lead after 46
minutes courtesy of defender
Ben Wilmot’s goal-of-the-season
contender. The former Watford
centre-half’s first goal for the club
was a thumping 35-yard effort.
But Michael O’Neill’s play-off
hopefuls failed to press home
their advantage in one of only two
Championship matches taking
place yesterday. Brad Potts volleyed
home a spectacular equaliser after
59 minutes for his first goal since

Tuchel must find a way to

April before an unmarked Hughes
powered in Whiteman’s corner
cannot accommodate big signings from six yards. Stoke, five points off
is not good. the play-offs, have now won only

regain control at Chelsea

Restoring defensive balance
whichbrought suchsuccess
last season is more important
than resolving Lukaku issue
City have clearly worked on that.
Even in possession they often have
five men behind the ball. They are
more measured in their approach
than they were when Pep Guardiola
the right to create space for Kevin
De Bruyne that has worked so
well for Belgium work also with
Chelsea’s inside-forwards?
But as he has struggled to make
But everything, ultimately,
comes back to that loss of control.
It didn’t matter that Chelsea’s
wing-backs had scored more
than their forwards when they
were keeping clean sheets; the
grumbling of a high-profile player
matters less when you are winning
games. The loss of Mateo Kovacic,
first to a hamstring injury and then
to Covid, has been hugely costly:
Chelsea have conceded only four
goals in his 10 league starts this
one of their last eight home games
in all competitions and were booed
off at the final whistle. PA Media
Championship
Rooney given lift after
Derby’slate fightback
Derby’s bold survival fight in the
Championship continued after
they snatched a dramatic 2-2 draw
at Reading. The Derby manager,

T
first arrived in England. But it was an impact, so Chelsea’s forward season and three of those have Wayne Rooney, missed the game
Tuchel’s Chelsea who seemed to line has come under scrutiny: £71m come in the past two games when, after feeling unwell. He has since
Jonathan Wilson have found the balance, beating for Kai Havertz, £58m for Christian Tuchel has acknowledged, he was tested negative for Covid-19.
City three times in the final seven Pulisic, £47.5m for Timo Werner, rushed back. Rooney’s side flattered to deceive
weeks of the season, including £34m for Hakim Ziyech … some His absence, and N’Golo Kanté’s in a lacklustre first-half display and
homas Tuchel used in the FA Cup semi-final and the have suffered injury or illness and ongoing struggles with a knee went behind in the 37th minute
to be about control. Champions League final. some or all may yet come good, injury, have increased the pressure when Junior Hoilett curled home
When he arrived at But while City march on, only 10 but that’s £308m on five players on Jorginho, who has at times from distance. Hoilett struck again
Chelsea a year ago, that points dropped in the league this over two and half seasons, none of looked weary, notably in the defeat 11 minutes into the second half
was what he brought: season, Chelsea have lost that sense whom could be said to have been at West Ham. The deadline-day when he pounced from close range.
suddenly a team that of control. Having conceded four a resounding success. Chelsea’s loan signing of Saúl Ñíguez, who But Derby staged a remarkable late
had been desperately vulnerable goals in their first 12 league games, leading scorer in the league last has managed a total of 164 league fightback, first reducing the deficit
on the break stopped conceding they’ve leaked 12 in the past nine, season was Jorginho; this season it minutes for Chelsea, has not in the 86th minute through the
on the counter. They held the ball with only one clean sheet. Their is Mason Mount. worked out, and Ross Barkley, 154 substitute Colin Kazim-Richards
and a 3-4-2-1 formation gave them form has been far from disastrous: Tuchel arrived with a reputation league minutes this season, surely and then equalising through the
a naturally solid structure with two they have lost only one of those for prickliness, as somebody has no future at the club. defender Curtis Davies in added
midfielders stationed in front of games, but equally they have won with a tendency to fall out with Injuries have also played havoc time. Derby were deducted 12
the defensive line. They won the only three. And as so often, once players, directors and journalists in the back five, with Reece James points in September for entering
Champions League because they the rot sets in, it spreads rapidly. eventually, but for most of the and Ben Chilwell particular losses. administration and nine points
demonstrated how it was possible Romelu Lukaku, having past year has been drily charming. But there is also self-inflicted in November for EFL financial
to play pressing football without suggested he was unhappy with Only in the last weeks has that uncertainty, with Antonio Rüdiger breaches, but they had hit form
leaving yourself open in transition. the 3-4-2-1 to which Tuchel has begun to change, the Lukaku and Andreas Christensen out of towards the end of 2021, with
That had always been returned, had further talks with interview and its fallout the first contract in the summer and Thiago victories over Blackpool, West
Manchester City’s issue, less in the the management yesterday. That sign of tension with his squad. Silva finally agreeing an extension Brom and Stoke. PA Media
Premier League (although Leicester is significant not only because Resolving that situation feels vital, yesterday. After announcing
have often troubled them, as they he cost £97.5m and ideally would not only because Chelsea need a losses of £145.6m last week, a squad
did last week even in conceding six) not be talking about how he Lukaku figure scoring goals and that last season seemed vibrant,
than against top European sides. pines for Inter eight league starts leading the line, but because the ready for years of domination, has
They were a remorseless attacking after leaving them, but because history of Chelsea managers who come to look fragile.
force, as imposing as the Death he seemed the solution to the Which just goes to show how
Star, but they also had that fatal slight toothlessness that was the rapidly things can spin out of
exhaust port that meant they could only real doubt towards the end The history of control. The loss of the attribute
be destroyed. To an extent that is
intrinsic to the philosophy: push
of last season. Not only is he a
habitual goalscorer – only once in Chelsea managers that defined Chelsea in the
second half of last season is now
Curtis Davies celebrates
his late equaliser as
high and there will be space behind the past 12 seasons has he failed
the defensive line; the question was to get into double figures – but
who are unable threatening to undermine the
whole project. Sorting out Lukaku
Derby fought back
how to guard against balls played he is a player whose movement accommodate big may be the priority, but Chelsea
into that space without losing the
aggression of the press.
seemed ideal for Chelsea: why
wouldn’t the same drift out to signings is not good also have to get that sense of
control back.
 • The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
36 Sport
Football Premier League

Wolves bring United down to

Ferran Torres has signed
a five-and-a-half-year
contract at Barcelona
Torres signing
proves Barça
are ‘back’,
earth as Rangnick tastes defeat
Manchester United 0 Manchester United appear to be a Before Moutinho crashed home – Jones’s irst appearance since
work not in progress but regression. from a Phil Jones headed clearance – January 2020 – an FA Cup tie – vied
Ralf Rangnick is overseeing a team Romain Saïss hit a free-kick offDavid with Bruno Fernandes’sfailure to be
1 who set out with a structure against de Gea’s bar. United had existed in a reinstated followinga one-game sus-
Wolves
Moutinho 82
Crystal Palace, his irst game in
charge, but have since slid backwards.
quasi-survival mode for the entire
game, which is hardly how to prosper.
pension, as the headline team news.
Jones, who suffered a string of inju-
Possession
Man Utd Wolverhampton
João Moutinho’s 82nd-minute
volley handed Wolves a first league
This, though, is precisely what
Wolves did, moving to eighth place,
ries including a serious knee prob-
lem, was chosen because of the una-
win at Old Trafford since 1980 while one behind Rangnick’s side, cour- vailability of Victor Lindelöf, Harry
54% 46%
Shots on target starting an inquest into where tesy of scintillating team play and Maguire and Eric Bailly – the first two

claims Laporta 2 6 United are headed under an interim the brilliance of Moutinho who,at 35 with knocks, the latter because of
manager whose two main tenets years and 117 days, is the oldest player Covid – as the 29-year-old partnered
Fouls have gone awol. The “godfather of to score a Premier League winner at Raphaël Varane in central defence.
9 8 pressing” seems to have eschewed United. “What I want is to help the Fernandes’s non-selection
his beloved mode of intensive team,”he said. “Winninghere at Old was different: an uneven season
The Barcelona president, Joan Jamie Jackson shutting down. And the 4-2-2-2 to Trafford is amazing for us. Phil Jones with five goals, plus United’s win
Laporta, has insisted that the club Old Trafford which he adheres has become aim- headed out the ball – I said I need to against Burnley here last time out,
are “back as big players” in the trans- less and misshapen. shoot: a beautiful goal.” meant Rangnick felt neither Mason
fer market after Ferran Torres was
unveiled at Camp Nou.
When asked if Barça were inter-
ested in signing the Dortmund striker
Erling Haaland despite the club’s
financial problems, Laporta replied:
“We’re working to build a top team.
Everything is possible if we do things
well, and I’msure we will. Top players
are open to joining Barça.
“We’re deinitely recovering
our status. Everybody in the world
should get ready, as we are back as
big players in the market.”
The club president also praised
Torres, who has joined from
Manchester City, with Barcelona
securing a bank loan to help fund the
Spain forward’s €55m (£46m) move.
Laporta said: “We knew about
Ferran’s situation and we were very
pleased that he wanted to come to
Barça so much. He is a great player.”
The club’s director of football,
Mateu Alemany, brushed off con-
cerns about completing the formali-
ties of the transfer. “The truth of the
situation is thatwhen we signed Tor-
res, we knew we did not have room
in terms of salaries,” Alemany said.
“However, we have been making
moves in different areas and we are
convinced we can register him.”
Torres was presented as a Barce-
lona player after signing a five-and-
a-half-year deal with a €1bn buy-
out clause. The 21-year-old said he
was attracted by the “challenge” of
returning the club to the top of Euro-
pean football.
“I am facing this challenge with
ambition, humility and a lot of
desire,” Torres said. “This is a dream.
I had the idea of coming back to La
Liga and Barça showed an interest.
I want to take Barça back to where
it belongs.
“Having played for two coaches
with Barcelona roots, like Luis
Enrique and Pep Guardiola, has
helped me to adapt to the Barca DNA.”
Torres spent 16 months at the Eti-
had Stadium after joining City from
Valencia for an initial fee of £20.8m in
the summer of 2020, scoring 16 goals
in 43 appearances in all competitions.
The forward broke his metatarsal on
international duty in October, but
is expected to be fit for the Spanish
Super Cup semi-final against Real
Madrid on 12 January. PA Media
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian •
37

showed the way: a Nemanja Matic Carabao Cup semi-final lowed it up with an FA Cup triumph sea,” Conte said. “We did a really
chest-and-pass to the youngster
was as slick as the latter’s skip infield
Conte has in his second season, his team beating
Manchester United in the final. t was
good job and  think in my position
 mustn’t prove anything to anyone.

romance
and arrow into Sancho. This had him not enough, however, to earn him a ’m a manager that has experience
bursting in on goal, and though his longer stay. Conte’s focus is on the and continues to do important jobs
shot disappointed – and ignored the cup game and managing a return of at other teams. t’ll be a pleasure for

and glory in
overlapping Ronaldo – United hoped Covid cases to his squad. After the me to come back to Stamford Bridge.”
this might settle them. large outbreak in December that led Conte is acutely aware that Spurs
But no: the rest of the contest to Spurs being forced to postpone have won nothing since 2008 but he

his sights at
was dire from them, as De Gea their Europa Conference League tie also knows that Chelsea are at a dif-
again emerged as their finest per- against Rennes and the league fix- ferent stage of development.
former. Jones – until the error that ture at Brighton, Conte said the club “At this moment, Chelsea is more
allowed the winner – also impressed,
following one commanding header
with an intercept of a Nélson Semedo
crossfield ball. The former England
the Bridge were “checking a couple of situations
about Covid” with regard to players,
although he was “not sure 100% that
they’re going to miss the game.”
ready than us to win,” he said. “They
won the Champions League last
season. We have a lot of space for
improvement, to be a team with aspi-
man, though, was unable to stop et Conte did acknowledge the rations to win. To use the verb ‘to win’
Daniel Podence’s run-then-shot romantic side of the story that pits is more simple than winning because
▲ Phil Jones made his first United which forced De Gea into a sharp David Hytner him against the club that gave him his to win you have to build something
appearance since January 2020 save. From the subsequent corner first opportunity to work in England. important, be solid, have an impor-
United’sgoalkeeper next had to leap “ spent two seasons where  cre- tant squad. Then you’re ready to win.
Greenwood nor Jadon Sancho should towards his top right-hand corner to Antonio Conte says he has nothing ated a good relationship with play- Otherwise you have to hope.”
make wayfor a footballer who has, in repel Rúben Neves when he blazed to prove to anyone at Chelsea as he ers, staff, people who work at Chel- On the disruption of Covid cases,
essence, been the de facto captain. from 20 yards out. prepares for a first return to Stamford Conte said: “We are living with this
From the opening kick United were Wolves were a blur of gold. Podence Bridge since his sacking in 2018. The situation – not only Tottenham but all
forced to ball-watch. And when they nipped in and Aaron Wan-Bissaka manager goes back with Tottenham the clubs. We have to be ready to find
did wrest hold of it Cristiano Ronaldo, toed the ball out for another corner. tomorrow night for the Carabao Cup always the right solutions.”
captain for the night, and Luke Shaw When United threatened a breakaway semi-final first leg and it is sure to be Meanwhile, the Premier League
were both careless. But Greenwood from this, Jones passed straight into emotional, given the relationships confirmed that between 27 Decem-
touch. “Control”has been Rangnick’s he made during his two seasons in ber-2 January, there were 94 new
mantra yet United enjoyed zero.After west London. positive cases of Covid-19. This figure
Moutinho Semedo became the latest Wolves Conte won the Premier League includes players and stafffrom the 20
delivers man to burn De Gea’s fingers from in his first campaign, seeing off the clubs. t was the first week-by-week
killer blow close range, a sequence involving
Ronaldo, Scott McTominay and
challenge of Spurs – then managed ▲ Antonio Conte is returning to
by Mauricio Pochettino – and he fol- Stamford Bridge with Tottenham
decrease in positive results for eight
weeks.
for Wolves Wan-Bissaka ended in Sancho’s effort
being blocked.
João
Moutinho Podence next slipped by Jones,
swivelled, and tested De  Gea’s Chelsea boost any prospect of Silva leaving the club
on a free.
centre-back is also of interest to
Bayern Munich, Juventus and PSG.
sends a volley
through a reflexes with nothing close to the
Rangnick high press in evidence. Silva agrees Tuchel values Silva’s leader-
ship and will be happy to have the
Chelsea have mounting injury
problems before the first leg of their
sea of legs to
score his first
goal since
When Semedo did exactly this on
Sancho suddenly Raúl Jiménez was new one-year 37-year-old for another season.
The Brazil centre-back, who has
Carabao Cup semi-final against Tot-
tenham tomorrow. The defender
February
2020
IV KI/
keeping De Gea honest – once more
– from distance.
A Cavani 30-yard attempt that
extension impressed since joining on a free from
Paris Saint-Germain in the summer
of 2020, helped Chelsea to win the
Trevoh Chalobah went off with a
hamstring injury in the 2-2 draw with
Liverpool on Sunday.
Y I sailed over José Sá’s goal summed up Champions League last season and Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaku was
United before the interval: toothless. hopes to go to the World Cup this year. pictured yesterday training with
Francisco Trincão being stymied at Jacob Steinberg “To play here with Chelsea is a members of Chelsea’s irst-team
the death by Jones at close range was real pleasure,” Silva told the club’s squad after he was left out against
Wolves in microcosm: impressive. website. “ will continue to give Liverpool as a consequence of
So the visitors continued in the sec- Thiago Silva has eased Chelsea’s everything for this club and for the an interview he gave in taly that
ond half. Podence and Jiménez were defensive concerns after signing a supporters, who have always been angered Tuchel. The striker could
thorns up-front and a Saïss 50-yard one-year contract extension. by my side since  arrived.” return against Spurs after talks with
surge from centre-back posed United Thomas Tuchel is facing the Chelsea are aware that Azpilicueta, Tuchel.
another problem. Only Greenwood’s prospect of having to reshape his Christensen and Rüdiger can nego- The Tottenham manager, Antonio
rapier thrusts appeared to offer the defence in the summer, with César tiate pre-contract agreements with Conte, said he hoped Lukaku, with
insipid home outfita chance of what Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen foreign clubs now. Real Madrid are whom he won Serie A at nternazi-
would be a shock strikeyet when Fer- and Antonio Rüdiger out of contract. leading the race to sign Rüdiger, who onale last season, would play.
nandes came on it was the England Chelsea are yet to agree extensions is not satisfied with Chelsea’s offer
youngster who was hooked. with the trio but there has never been of £140,000 a week. The Germany Jonathan Wilson Page 35 
This caused boos and Rangnick’s
thought-process baffled – Sancho
had been far less effective. Still, SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP SKY BET LEAGUE ONE
Fernandes soon crashed the ball off
Sá’s bar, and Ronaldo headed in – he
Results P W
AFC Bournemouth 25 14
D L F A GD Pts
7 4 41 20 +21 49
Cambridge Utd
VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE
(0) 0 Portsmouth (0) 0
Blackburn 25 13 7 5 43 28 +15 46 Altrincham P Stockport County P; Grimsby 1 Halifax 1
was offside – then hit a chance wide Fulham 23 13 6 4 51 19 +32 45
VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH
when racing clear. West Brom
QPR
25 11
24 12
9 5 31 19 +12 42
5 7 37 30 +7 41 Hungerford 3 Hampton & Richmond 0
These misses were costly – Fer- Huddersield 26 11 7 8 32 29 +3 40 LA LIGA
nandes had an added-time free- Football Middlesbrough 25 11 6 8 29 24 +5 39 Villarreal 5 Levante 0; Osasuna L Athletic Bilbao L;
Cadiz L Sevilla L
kick beaten away by Sá, too. By the PREMIER LEAGUE Stoke 24 10 5 9 28 25 +3 35
final whistle, huge credit had to go Man City
P W
21 17
D L F
2 2 53
A
13
GD
+40
Pts
53
Nottm Forest
Coventry
25 9
23 9
7 9 32 28 +4 34
7 7 29 27 +2 34
Cricket
to Bruno Lage and his team. But Chelsea 21 12 7 2 45 16 +29 43 Millwall 24 8 9 7 27 27 0 33 SECOND TEST (irst day of ive)
Rangnick now has to show what he Liverpool 20 12 6 2 52 18 +34 42 Blackpool 26 9 6 11 27 32 -5 33 Johannesburg India 202 (KL Rahul 50, R Ashwin 46;
M Jansen 431). South Africa 351.
possesses as this was the poorest Arsenal
West Ham
20 11
20 10
2 7 33
4 6 37
25
27
+8
+10
35
34
Sheff Utd 22 9
Preston North End 23 8
5 8 29 28 +1 32
7 8 26 29 -3 31 FIRST TEST (third day of ive)
outing yet under him. He may wish Tottenham 18 10 3 5 23 20 +3 33 Bristol City 25 8 6 11 30 39 -9 30 Mount Maunganui New Zealand 328 (WA Young 52,
to point to the five unbeaten matches Man Utd 19 9 4 6 30 27 +3 31 Luton 22 7 8 7 31 27 +4 29 DP Conway 122, HM Nicholls 75). Bangladesh 4016
(Mahmudul Hasan Joy 78, Najmul Hossain Shanto 64,
before this reverse, but all of these Wolves 19 8 4 7 14 14 0 28 Swansea 22 7 6 9 26 31 -5 27 Mominul Haque 86, Litton Das 86).
were against moderate opposition. Brighton
Leicester
19 6
18 7
9 4 20
4 7 31
20
33
0
-2
27
25
Birmingham
Hull
24 7
24 6
6 11 23 32 -9 27
5 13 20 29 -9 23 Ice hockey
Crystal Palace 20 5 8 7 29 30 -1 23 Cardiff 24 6 5 13 26 43 -17 23 ELITE LEAGUE
Manchester United Wolves Brentford 19 6 5 8 23 26 -3 23 Reading 23 8 4 11 29 36 -7 22 Dundee 3 Fife 6; Nottingham 2 Belfast 7
4-2-2-2 3-4-3 Aston Villa 19 7 1 11 25 30 -5 22 Peterborough 23 5 4 14 20 44 -24 19
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka
(Elanga 84), Jones,
Sá•; Kilman, Coady,
Saïss; Semedo, Neves, Southampton 19 4 9 6 20 29 -9 21 Barnsley 24 2 8 14 16 36 -20 14 Fixtures
Varane, Shaw•; Matic•, Moutinho, Marçal; Everton 18 5 4 9 23 32 -9 19 Derby 25 7 11 7 23 24 -1 11 Football (7pm unless stated)
McTominay•;Greenwood Trincão (Traoré 66), Leeds 19 4 7 8 21 37 -16 19 Bournemouth (-) P
Peterborough (-) P Sky Bet League Two
(Fernandes 60), Sancho Jiménez (Silva 81), Watford 18 4 1 13 22 36 -14 13 Forest Green v Exeter (7.45pm)
(Rashford 75); Cavani, Podence (Dendoncker 88) Burnley 17 1 8 8 16 27 -11 11 Reading (1) 2
Derby (0) 2 Papa John’s EFL Trophy
Ronaldo Subs not used Hoilett 37 56 Kazim-Richards 86 Third round: Northern section Crewe v Rotherham;
Subs not used Ruddy, Hoever, Aït-Nouri, Newcastle 19 1 8 10 19 42 -23 11 Davies 90 Harrogate v Carlisle; Hartlepool v Bolton; Oldham v Wigan
Henderson, Lingard, Jordao, Cundle,Bueno Norwich 19 2 4 13 8 42 -34 10 Nottingham Forest (-) P Barnsley (-) P Southern section Arsenal U21 v Chelsea U21 (7.45pm);
Fred, Dalot, Telles, Manchester Utd (0) 0 Wolves (0) 1 Charlton v MK Dons; Sutton Utd v Colchester (7.45pm)
Van de Beek Moutinho 82 Stoke (0) 1 Preston (0) 2 Cricket
COUPE DE FRANCE Wilmot 46 Potts 59, Hughes 81 Fourth Test (irst day of ive)
Referee Mike Dean Vannes L Paris St-Germain L Swansea (-) P Fulham (-) P Australia v England, Sydney (11.30pm)
 •
Back to Bridge Mark Ramprakash The Guardian
Tuesday 4 January2022
Conte says he Root has faced fierce
has nothing criticism t
to prove on he has led
Chelsea return by example
Page 37 Page 33

Broad set for

Sydney return
after surprise
omissions
Ali Martin
Sydney
Stuart Broad looks poised to return
for the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney
tonight after recently spelling out
his frustration during a failed tour
by England in which he has featured
just once.
The 35-year-old is being lined up
to replace Ollie Robinson as England
attempt to salvage pride in a series
they trail 3-0. Joe Root, who will lead
the Test team for a record 60th time,
said yesterday the manner of the
defeats by Australia “hurt deeply”.
Broad missed out on selection for
the first Test at the Gabba and then
the third match at the MCG, before
writing in his recent Mail on Sunday
column that he “won’t get a better
chance to take wickets” than on the
two seamer-friendly pitches that
were prepared.
Eyebrows have certainly been
raised in Australia over the strate-
gic deployment of Broad during the
series, not least in Brisbane for an
Match report instant bowl at David Warner, the
Jamie Jackson opener he dominated during the
2019 Ashes. Steve Smith, fortunate
Page 36 

Gold Trafford
to survive his first two balls from
Broad during the second innings at
▲ João Adelaide, is among them.
Moutinho “We have been surprised, there

Wolves sink teeth

celebrates has probably been two wickets that
Manchester Wolves his winner as would have suited him well,” Smith
United Wolves taste said. “He bowled well in Adelaide

0 1 victory at Old and he’s always been a good contest

into disjointed United

Trafford for for me. He’s got me out a few times,
the first time I’ve scored runs off him. I think
Moutinho 82 since 1980 it’s been a decent battle. Him and
 /
/Y 
Jimmy [Anderson] together have
been world-class performers for a
long time. Maybe we’ll see them
together this week.”
Broad’s advancing years natu-
rally bring his Test future into sharp
focus – similarly Anderson, older
Newcastle Newcastle United are increasingly
confident of signing Kieran Trippier
nowadays, when a player wants to
leave, you can’t force them to stay.
Newcastle havehad a bid rejected
by Lille for Botman, a Netherlands
than his long-standing new-ball
partner albeit still a first-choice pick
confident of from Atlético Madrid by the end of the
week and hope to open formal nego-
ou can’t retain them.”
Although Trippier started Atlé-
Under-21 centre-half who has
recently broken into his country’s
on this Ashes tour. The latter bowler
missed out at the Gabba 33 
sealing £25m tiations with the 31-year-old England
right-back within the next 48 hours.
tico’s 2-0 home win against Rayo
Vallecano on Sunday,he appeared to
senior squad.The French club appear
determined to keep the 21-year-old,
himself amid caution

Trippier deal
Although Atlético rejected New-
castle’s initial offer for Trippier, a deal
in the region of £25m is expected to
be finalised after Diego Simeone
appeared to abandon realistic hope
of keeping him in the Spanish capital.
“Kieran Trippier is an extraordi-
nary footballer who has given us a
Louise Taylor lot and we will try to keep him,” said
Atlético’s manager. “We want him
to stay, he’san important player,but
wave farewell to the crowd atthe end.
With Chelsea potentially inter-
ested in Trippier, Eddie Howe is
keen to seal the reunion with a
player he signed for Burnley as soon
as possible but Newcastle’s manager
seems unlikely to have Sven Bot-
man alongside Trippier in defence
when Watford visit St James’ Park
for a vital relegation “six-pointer”
on Saturday week.
with an offer in the region of £30m
currently insufficient to persuade
them to part with a defender also
admired by, among others, Milan.
Howe also covets the Burnley
centre-half James Tarkowski but,
even though Tarkowski could leave
Turf Moor for nothing in the sum-
mer, Sean Dyche appears adamant
he will not sell the 29-year-old to a ▲ Stuart Broad is likely to replace
relegation rival. Ollie Robinson for the fourth Test
 “I was in the
bear’s mouth!

Terrifying animal attacks – by the people who survived them

Tuesday 04/01/22
Zoe Williams
Why would
teenagers balk at
wearing masks?
page 3

‘We screamed
for the medic!’
Charlie Sheen on the
making ofPlatoon
page 9
 Pass notes
•
3

Zoe
The Guardian
Tuesday 4 January 2022

Williams
Teenagers complain A beer keg
constantly, but not almost
exploded my
about masks Christmas

T he first professional trip  took was to Jersey, to

interview a teenage skateboarder. He was slated to
win some big competition, but ’m afraid  can’t tell
you whether he did or what his name was. What 
do remember is standing by the skate park, next to
his mum, in this peculiar low island light, while he
smashed himself to the ground, repeatedly, and got back up again.
efore long, his elbow was bleeding – but this, his mother assured
me, was an old wound, so it opened up most days. He brushed it
off – didn’t even appear to notice – along with every other brutal
encounter with physics and gravity. “Well, he’s 14,” his mum said.
“hey bounce at that age.”
he start of January is not a boom
time for lifestyle statistics. t’s all
resolutions and intentions, all
inputs, no outputs. ut it’s a great
time, thanks to H igital and the
oyal ociety for the Prevention of
ccidents, to find out who landed in
& in the first year of the pandemic.
 pore over these lists, thrilling
with schadenfreude. ore than
7,000 people in ngland got bitten
or struck by a dog in 2020-21; my
№ 4.354
Comedy
Age: he term comedy (from the reek
kōmōidía) originated in ancient reece,
where poets would perform political satire in
theatres in order to influence voters.
Armando Iannucci, that kind of thing? ore
He skated into my thoughts this week, while the news was ablaze dog is mad, but at least he’d never like ristophanes, but yeah, he was the
with ngland’s back-to-school mask mandate. ducationists were bite me and can’t, to my knowledge, annucci of his day. o be fair, people have
(and are) justifiably upset, since they received this communication – use a weapon. ore than 2,000 been trying to make each other laugh since
that all pupils in year 7 or above should wear masks in the classroom people spilled something hot on people have been people. iblical scholars
– long after the media had been briefed. themselves, which  haven’t done have even found comedy in enesis. Would
ut disgust at the absolute dishevelment of governmental for years. early 1,000 people you dam and ve it?
standards was nothing compared with the rage of the anti-mask ended up in hospital having tried So why is pass notes, a topical column in a
libertarians. t sounds like a niche group, but it includes many to climb a tree (“ccidents are newspaper, fussed about it now? ecause
onservative backbenchers, plus their supportive commentariat. preventable”, oP says, and comedy is always changing and finding new
eenagers, these anti-maskers maintain, have already suffered of course it would say that, but ways to express itself – and to be delivered
enough. Face-coverings interfere with their learning, leave them nothing has ever seemed to me to or prescribed.
unable to communicate with peers, render them insensate to life’s be so entirely preventable as falling I think you mean proscribed. This is about
daily pleasures and reduce them to a state of slavery (granted,  out of a tree). Power tools, hammers cancel culture and freedom of speech, right?
saw the last claim on witter, where the collective 2022 resolution and saws, keeping rats, scorpions o and no.  mean prescribed.
appears to be “be more crazy”). and venomous spiders –  think of Prescribed by whom? Who normally
he thing is, my house is lousy with teenagers and  have agreed, all these ways ’ve stayed out of prescribes things? octors, of course.
stupidly, to stop writing about them. ut  am still allowed to make hospital, by not doing things  didn’tOK, explanation required, please. ngie
We hardly talk the most general observations ( think).  have
seen them forget their masks, try to eat through a
want to do anyway, and feel both
blessed and unusually civic-minded.
elcher, a comedian in residence at the
niversity of ristol, has been working with
about the many mask, pick up a mask from the street and put it on,
and flick each other with masks. ut  have never
We had one domestic accident,
at the signature hristmas meal,
health advisers to develop comedy sessions
to help patients recover from trauma.
ways teens are heard any of them complain about wearing one.
Please don’t walk away with the impression that
when the table was set for 15, which
meant 15 crackers, and – you won’t
Laughter is the best medicine. hat is the
idea. “omedy is a force for good [that] can
superior toadults this generation has stopped complaining. hey
bellyache constantly about stupid things, such
as having to spend all day in the same classroom,
believe it, but it’s true – 30 glasses.
r Z decided that he wanted beer
instead of a regular hristmas
change people’s lives,” said elcher. he
course will be delivered through the ristol-
based charity Wellspring ettlement by the
rather than moving from one subject area to drink, but none of the bottles of professional comedians harmian Hughes
another. “What is so fun about walking down a corridor?”  have beer would do. nstead, he tried this and Jack ampbell. Participants – who might,
wondered aloud more than once. t’s the journey, not the destination, mini-keg that we’ve had since July, say, be experiencing gender dysmorphia,
they say, sagely. orridors are where all the stuff happens. taying put and it exploded. ost of the beer, depression, anxiety, P or bereavement –
and waiting for the teacher to come to you makes it feel like primary he claims, ended up in his trousers, will be able to take part in sessions that not
school. Will they put up with it, for the sake of public safety? es, but but that doesn’t explain how we only explore their ailments, but also look for
they wish the management to know that it isn’t ideal. came to be mopping the ceiling, the humour in them.
hey don’t complain, yet it is visible in their demeanours that it or why every glass contained a Sounds brilliant. How much? Free! ristol
saps their life force when they have to attend school from home. tablespoon of beer, or how the Ps will be able to prescribe the pilot course
hey absolutely hate it when non-essential shops are forced to crackers lost their bang, or why the on the H from this month.
close. hey weren’t wild about the bubble phase, when they had to room still smells like a pub – which, It’s not a new idea, is it, that comedy might
self-isolate after the positive test result of someone they didn’t even actually,  don’t mind. ll  could be helpful at difficult times? rue. any
like. here was a brief period in 2020 when they were allowed only think was, oh my, that could have comedians – including ussell rand,
on certain buses; that was a veritable assault on their human rights. been so much worse. o many ways arah illican, imon mstell and
ut they adapted to masks absolutely seamlessly, uncomplainingly, we could have ended up as an & Jimmy arr – have written about mental
faster than a baby adapts to a sock. statistic. t would have been such an health in their books. uby Wax went a
SEGAMI YTTEG/AIDEMX TNECSA/EBBARK NEBUER :REVOC

here are a load of plausible explanations for why teenagers
might moan about masks less than adults. hey have better hearing,
so they aren’t relying on lip-reading without knowing it. hey tend
to have better cardiovascular health, so they are not constantly
wondering why stairs have got harder.
Fundamentally, though, they are just more adaptable. We talk
constantly about all the ways in which the teenage brain is like an
adult brain, only less good – more volatile and impulse-driven,
less able to predict consequences – and hardly talk at all about the
ways in which teenagers are superior. heir entire day is structured
around life’s unreasonable demands and they just acclimatise. his
unruffled resilience and psychic elasticity – or bouncing, in 90s
skateboarder’s-mum parlance – looks suddenly a lot more mature
than what passes for maturity.
outlier event, we’d have definitely step further: she studied psychotherapy,
made it on to the bulletins – got a master’s in mindfulness-based
something for someone else to feel cognitive behaviour from xford, delivered
smug about. a ed alk and received an  for services
to mental health.
Jack Dee, too, no? Hmm, kind of. His latest
book, What s our Problem?, is spoof self-
help. He sets himself up as an agony uncle
after studying online for four hours at the
uislip ollege of dvansed (sic) Learning.
Mind how Ha! eah, it’s funny; it’ll help.
you go … Do say: “o, anyway, have  told you about
the time my dog died?”
Don’t say: othing. t’s good to talk.
 •
4 The Guardian
Tuesday 4 January 2022

‘I saw a big set of white teeth

How does it feel to survive a
predator’s attack in the wild?

A
And how does it changeyour life?
Victims tell Ammar Kalia how they
escaped sharks, bears, hippos …
it was a deer, since they would
sometimes bound across the trail.
In the next second, the animal leapt
and grabbed me.
There’s only one animal that
would attempt that; I knew it was
a mountain lion. It latched on to
my shoulders and tried to bite
lthough, down on the back of my neck. It
mercifully, still rare, there are felt like getting hit by a truck. I
signs that wild animal attacks on was slammed to the ground and it
humans are increasing. Research knocked the wind out of me.
from the scientific journal Nature The cat started to drag me down
found that, as our urban areas into the ravine. It had me by the
further expand into the territories back of the neck and I tried to
of carnivorous animals, attacks punch its face but it didn’t have
on pets, livestock and sometimes any effect. It dragged me several
humans in North America have feet and then readjusted its grip to
been on the rise. In Kashmir, local over my left ear and then the left
wildlife departments have been side of my face. I realised that it
reporting a marked increase in was working its way around to the
attacks, with almost 200 people front of my neck. At this point, I
killed and more than 2,000 others was trying to scream for Debi and
wounded in man-animal conflict in I saw her – she was screaming, too,
the region since 2011. and in a tug of war with the cat over
From a British citizen attacked me. It had me by the head and she
by otters in Singapore to monkey grabbed me by my calf to try to A mountain lion
attacks in Thailand, squirrel attacks keep it from pulling me down into
in New York and a man who fought the ravine. attacked Anne
off a crocodile with a pocket knife Meanwhile, it closed its grip on Hjelle on a bike
in Queensland, these encounters the left side of my face and pulled trail in California
capture our imaginations. But my cheek away. I started to say
how does it feel to survive such goodbye to Debi as it tried to grab
an ordeal – and how does it affect the front of my throat. Within a
your life? matter of seconds, things began to
go black. I was convinced this was
‘I tried to punch the mountain the end of my life. I just felt peace.
lion in the face’ Anne Hjelle, 48, But Debi’s screams had brought
Orange County, California
I was slammed
other riders over to us. One went
One day in January 2004, I texted back to call the emergency services
my biking friend Debi to see if she
wanted to meet for a ride. I live
and two others started throwing
rocks at the cat. They hit it three to the ground as
in California and wanted to do a times – and when one landed on its
45-minute loop at Whiting Ranch, head, it let go of me. the lion tried to
which was only a 10-minute drive Shortly after that, I came to.
from my house. I left my groceries I remember being very shocked bite my neck. It
on the counter at home.
It was about 3.45pm when we
that I had woken up – and that the
cat was gone. The left side of my felt likegetting
started. I was coming around a
blind corner and saw a man in the
middle of the trail with another
face felt like someone had stapled
a steak to it. My next concern was
whether I could see out of my left
hit by a truck
bike propped up against the eye. When I realised I could, that
bushes. I slowed down and asked if was the first moment I thought I
everything was OK. He said he had was going to be OK. Without Debi stepping in, I
found an abandoned bike and was It took 19 minutes from the would not be here. Mark was a
looking for the owner. 911 call until the paramedics high-level athlete and he did not
Debi and I continued, trying to arrived. When the helicopter was survive because he was by himself.
pick up speed. A minute later, I flying overhead, the pilot saw People have no clue how powerful
came to a twisty section, bordered the cat crouched down, waiting these animals are – it was like being
by thick brush and a slope down to for another chance. The sheriff’s mobbed by 10 people.
a ravine. In my peripheral vision I deputies later found a body that That night, I went into surgery
suddenly saw this flash of reddish- was identified as Mark Reynolds. for six-and-a-half hours. My trauma
brown fur. I knew it was an animal, He was killed earlier by the cat – the surgeon later said that my injuries
but my first assumption was that abandoned bike was his. were the worst he had ever seen.

The Guardian
Tuesday 4 January 2022
coming towards me’
ut I was lucky – out of the 20 deep
puncture wounds I sustained, none
hit my trachea, oesophagus, voice
box or carotid artery. My doctors
said it was a miracle.
I got back on a bike only four
months later. I got friends together
YL/NOR E ;EG YEG/KCOLB LERK ;ELLEH ENN :HPRGOOHP
and went to ride that same trail.
ither I let the fear control me or I
take control; I wanted to check it
off the list and move on. I’ve had
zero issues with nightmares or
TSD since the attack. I am just so
thankful to be alive.
I don’t let this attack define me. I
now have a daughter, who is eight,
and I try to be strong and set an
example for her.
‘I grabbed the shark in a bear hug
to stop it biting me’ Rodney Fox,
81, Adelaide
At 22, I was the winner of the
South Australian spearfishing
championships. I was trying to
regain my title in 1963, off Aldinga
beach. After three or four hours,
I needed to catch some special
species, so I swam a long way
•
offshore, where none of the other
competitors had been, and dived
to the bottom. I was just about to
pull the trigger on a really prized
fish when a huge crash hit me in the
side. It knocked the gun out of my
hands and the mask off my face and
I was dragged through the water
faster than I’d ever swam before.
I initially thought I’d been hit
by a submarine, but then I realised
it had to be a giant shark, a great
white. Fortunately, I had been
talking to a guy who had been
bitten on the leg a year earlier, and
we had worked out that the most
vulnerable spot on the shark was its
eyes. So I gouged around its head
trying to get the shark to let go of
me. And it did.
I fell out of its mouth and I
instinctively thrusted away with
my hand, but that went into its
mouth and tore on its teeth. I then
grabbed the shark in a bear hug
around the belly because I knew it
wouldn’t be able to bite me there.
I was 30 or 40ft underwater and
I realised I was going to drown if I
didn’t move. So I let go and kicked
up to the surface, then I looked
down through the blood red water
and saw this big set of white teeth
coming back towards me. I kicked
as hard as I could at the shark but
I only just touched it. Instead, it
turned and swallowed the float
that I had tied my fish to. That
float was connected to my lead
belt by a rope and that caught on
the shark’s teeth. It dragged me
underwater again.
I knew I had to find the quick
release for the belt, but my hands
were all cut up. I was within split
seconds of drowning when the
shark pulled, the line snapped and
I managed to thrash to the surface.
Miraculously, a boat was on its
way over to have a look at all this
red water and the people on board
pulled me in. The fear of dying
overrides pain. It was only when I
was lying down on the boat that the
waves of pain arrived.
In those days, there was no
microsurgery, so they put 29
stitches in my lung to close up the
pleural sac, and every rib on my left
side was broken. I had 462 stitches
in my chest in total, since all of my
organs were exposed and my torso
was ripped open. Doctors said it
was the worst shark attack they
had seen.
Just seven months after the
attack, I was at Adelaide zoo
looking at a lion’s cage. I had
this idea that I could build a cage
underwater and reverse the roles.
I would look at these sharks and
try to understand them, and then
see if I wanted to go back to diving.
In 1964, I managed to organise an
expedition with two other shark-
attack survivors. The sharks were
more interested in the bait than us,
5
I was within
split seconds of
drowning when
the linebroke
and I thrashed to
the surface
and I started to realise that maybe
the sharks weren’t going to attack
us every time we went in the water.
A lot of people would say the best
sharks are dead sharks, but I knew
there was already lots of blood in
the water from the speared fish, so
I don’t blame the shark for coming
and biting something. ver the
years, it’s been a huge battle trying
to get people to understand sharks
better.We have to learn not to kill
them from fear.
A year and a half after the
attack, I entered the Australian
spearfishing championships and
came first in several events. I’m
81 now and it hasn’t given me any
real problems, except that I have a
tight feeling in the left side of my
chest to remind me how lucky I
was. I’ve been running expeditions
for people to watch sharks in their
habitats ever since.
‘The otter kept torpedoing
Rodney Fox underwater to bite my legs ’
needed 462 Leah Hiller,42, Minnesota
stitches in his My dad owns a cabin in a remote
chest after his area on Island ake, Minnesota,
close encounter where we would often spend
with a shark holidays. In July 2012, when I
in Australia was 31, I was staying there while
training for the USA triathlon
nationals. My husband and two
children, who were four and two
at the time, were with me. ne
morning, I went for my usual mile-
long swim. I’d done it 100 times
before and my dad was going to
take my kids out to follow me on his
pontoon boat.
verything was going great until
my kids said they wanted to be
taken back to eat some snacks. I told
my dad it was fine for him to go,.
In Island ake, the water is the
colour of dark rum, so when your
hand passes into it, you can’t see
past your elbow. ou don’t know
what is beneath. I circled the island
in the lake and was on my way back
to shore when I was bitten on the
heel. It was a really sharp pain. At
first, I thought it was a muskie,
which are these huge fish in the
Continued on page 6 

6 The Guardian
 Continued from page 5
Leah Hiller
was bitten by an
otter during a lake
swim in Minnesota
lake, but they’re not known to be
violent. Then I was attacked on the
calf. Something grabbed my leg and
just started biting.
I was in real pain and my mind
was in shock. About 20ft away, a
head popped out to look at me and I
realised it was an otter.
I’m an animal lover and had
never thought otters would attack
anyone. Over the next 10 minutes, I
was yelling and calling for help. The
otter kept torpedoing underwater
to bite my legs and then it would
come up, track where I was, and
attack again. I knew I couldn’t
outswim it, so I just had to brace for
the bites and try to protect my neck
because, if it hit me there, I would
have drowned.
These sharp, searing bites were
coming from every angle and it bit
me 25 times. Some of them were
two inches deep and one pierced
my ankle bone, while another went
through my calf muscle.
But I am no stranger to adversity.
When I was 18 I survived a car crash
where I was sent flying through
the windscreen. I spent six months
in the hospital and had to have
multiple surgeries. When I was
23, I was diagnosed with thyroid
cancer and had to have my lymph
nodes removed. I believe these
experiences helped me – I knew I
had to fight.
I kept on screaming and
eventually my dad heard me. He
was so panicked he flooded the
•
I still swim now.
It showed me
how mentally
strong I can be.
That otterstill
livestoo
motor of the pontoon boat trying
to start it. He had to get to his duck staring at me.
boat and he made it to me and
pulled me out of the water.
He couldn’t leave my kids
alone, so they were in the boat,
too, and my daughter was bawling only a couple of feet away. It had
at seeing her mum covered in
blood. Even though I was in pain, I until it made a 180-degree turn
switched into mum mode and was towards me.
comforting her. I knew, now I was
out of the water, I would be fine.
It must have been 10 to 15
minutes before my dad got out to
me, and without him it could have little and that seemed like a decent
gone on for a lot longer because
there were no other boats nearby.
My wetsuit was a saviour – that
quarter inch of neoprene took
a lot of the scratches and it was
shredded. The blood was streaming a sniff but then started prodding me
Tuesday 4 January 2022
under it. We went straight to the
hospital where the doctors were
worried that the otter might have
rabies. Since I had 25 open wounds,
I had to get a rabies shot in each of
them – it was so much medication
that I threw up everywhere.
The first thing I asked when I
stopped vomiting was, “When can
I get back in the lake?”. The doctors
thought it was crazy, but I knew
that if I could not get back in the
water and face my fear, I would
never want to again. I was given a
two-week course of antibiotics and
after that I was told I would be good
to go.
There was a triathlon happening
about two weeks later and I knew
that would be my way to get back
in. I did it in a wetsuit that said
“otter girl” on the back.
I still swim now. I’m proud of
that otter attack story because it
showed me how mentally strong
I can be. That otter still lives too.
No one knows why it attacked
me, but the doctors guessed that
it must have been a mother otter
protecting its babies. My dad
would see it swimming around
for years afterwards – I just don’t
think anyone else swam in that
spot again.
‘The grizzly bear carried me 30ft
in its mouth’ Colin Dowler, 47,
Vancouver Island
In summer 2019, I was exploring
potential hiking routes to climb
Mount Doogie Dowler in British
Columbia. I was cycling down a
narrow logging path when I came
around a corner and spotted a
grizzly bear. I had seen two or three
black bears before and, usually, if
you make some noise, they move
away. But this was the first time
I had seen a grizzly – and it was
I got off my bike, since it wasn’t
moving. I was peering out of the
corner of my eye and noticed it
slinking towards me, until it was
almost cleared past my bike –
I spun around to put the bike
between us and got my hiking pole
out as it moved closer, placing it
between its eyes. It pushed back a
stalemate until it rolled its head, bit
on to the pole and tossed it away. I
took off my bag and threw it to the
side – I thought it would go for the
food in there instead of me. It took
 •
The Guardian
Tuesday 4 January 2022 7

with its paw. Each poke got a little
more aggressive until it lifted its
paw high. I thought it would inflict tourniquet for my left leg. I looked from where we had launched when
some serious damage so I threw my over again and the bear had gone.
YL ;LY  ;LL ;LLH HL ; Y/X C/ U ;L LC :HH
I started saying
goodbyeto my
wifeand kids
and felt guilty
that I’d ever
taken this trip
used tactics to help me, like playing
music in headphones to drown out
the noise of critters moving around.
I have since bumped into a few
black bears on the trails, too, but I
yell and they get out of the way.
‘The hippo was thrashingme
around like a toy’
Kristen Yaldor,41, Odessa,
Florida
My husband, Ryan, and I decided
to go to Victoria Falls for my 37th
birthday in 2018, and take a canoe
trip down the Zambezi River on the
Colin Dowler day itself. The weather was great
ran a half and the temperature was perfect.
marathon little As far as safety was concerned, the
guides just said that if you fall out,
more than a
year after being swim to shore as fast as you can. We
brushed it off – we’re from Florida
mauled by a and are used to being on the water,
grizzly in Canada so we didn’t think we’d fall out.
There were three canoes in Kristen Yaldor
total – the first one had a guide and and husband
another tourist, the second canoe Ryan moments
was myself with Ryan in the back, before the hippo
the bear was still watching, I cut and the third was another guide. attack on the the local hospital. They prepped
the sleeve off my shirt and made a We were only around the corner Zambezi river me there and then we waited for an
emergency flight to take us back to
a guide told us that he had seen the trauma centre in Johannesburg.

bike at it. It was 12.01pm and I knew there a group of hippos ahead, so we My femur was broken and I also
It lunged forward and sank its wouldn’t be any loggers here until should head to the bank. We were needed a skin graft. I spent two
teeth between my ribs and hips later in the afternoon. So, I dragged paddling left and I glanced over to weeks in the Johannesburg hospital
on my left side and soon I was in myself to my bicycle, gathered my look for them. I saw one submerged before taking a medical flight home
the bear’s mouth as it carried me wits and started pedalling with – and as we paddled a few more to finish the remaining procedures.
30 or 40ft towards a bush. I was one leg for about 45 minutes until I strokes, it came under our canoe. It I have had 21 surgeries to date and
in crushing pain. It put me down finally saw a loggers’ cabin. leapt up and forced us out, bending I don’t know if it’s because nerves
and I tried to gouge at its eyes but The door was open and I crashed the canoe with a big thud. were severed, but I have had hardly
I couldn’t reach. I was thrashing into their stairwell, yelling for help. I fell forward towards where the any pain throughout.
while it pinned me and started Thank God there were five guys hippo was and Ryan fell backwards I’m very determined. I didn’t
biting and tearing at my thigh. It there who seemed panicked but towards the bank. We had ever think I wouldn’t be able to
was so painful it felt like my hip was got their first aid kits out and called lifejackets on so I quickly popped walk again. My husband signed
going to dislocate. It excavated into 911 while patching my 60 puncture back to the surface. I started me up for a charity 5k run when I
my thigh so far I could hear its teeth wounds. One wound was so big swimming, but after a few strokes wasn’t even able to walk, knowing
grinding against my femur like a that my kidney was visible. An air it grabbed my leg and pulled me that I’m goal-oriented. I told him
dog chewing a bone. ambulance came about an hour straight down. I was only about lifejacket, I popped back up to that if I was able to achieve it, he
I started saying goodbye to my later; they gave me two pints of six strokes from the shore. My first the surface, but I couldn’t swim. I would need to dress up as a hippo
wife and kids in my head and felt blood on the cabin floor and then instinct was to reach for the sky to couldn’t kick my leg and I thought and come with me. Even though
guilty that I’d even taken this trip flew me to hospital for six-and-a- see if my hands would break the I had broken my knee. I yelled to I couldn’t run, we took part in
in the first place. Then I realised I half-hour surgery. surface and when I just felt more everyone on the shore and started 2019. After that, we signed up
had a pocket knife. I had to use The next day, I began 40 days water, that’s when I went into back stroking with my arms before for a 10k, which we completed in
both hands while I was still pinned of recovery at Vancouver general survival mode. Just before I went reaching for the guide’s paddle, and November, and in January we’re
down but I eventually managed to hospital. They had me back up down I had instinctively taken a was pulled out. doing a half marathon.
get it out. and walking 24 days after the deep breath and told myself to hold I think the whole episode only The attack was so instantaneous
The blade was under three attack and, by January 2020, the it and stay calm. lasted about 45 seconds but, from that I didn’t properly see the hippo,
inches long but I gave the bear a specialists were seeing some As soon as the hippo dragged me Ryan’s account, when he came up so I haven’t been haunted by PTSD.
stab in its neck with all the energy nerve regeneration in my left leg. to the bottom, it started thrashing to shore and looked back, he saw My struggle has been to get over
I had. When I pulled the knife out, By February, I began jogging on a me around like a toy. I bunched up nothing. Even though I was being the muscle loss and to walk again.
it lifted its head up and a big gush treadmill. In September, I ran a around its snout and tried to pry thrashed around underwater, there I’m almost there now, and I’ve just
of blood splashed on to my waist. It half marathon. its mouth open. I knew I wasn’t was no surface movement, I was finished physical therapy. I know
got off me and walked to my bike, Mentally, it was a lot harder than strong enough to, but it must have just gone. I’m going to be working on it for
sniffed at it for a while and then I thought it would be getting back got freaked by me grabbing it, or My entire trouser leg and the the rest of my life but that’s OK.
stood back at the bush where it had into the woods. I made a conscious my staying still made it think I was skin on my thigh and knee were At least I’m still here and doing
stepped out from. effort to walk in the bush behind dead, since it then, surprisingly, ripped apart. I could see my the things that I want to do. I just
I knew I had to move fast my house as soon as I could so I let go. muscle.We waited 45 minutes for won’t go back canoeing on the
otherwise I’d bleed to death. While wouldn’t be overwhelmed by fear. I Because I was wearing a a helicopter to come and take us to Zambezi again.
 Arts
•
8 The Guardian
Tuesday 4 January 2022

‘We were the AYBs – angry young Blacks’

‘My mum
would adopt a
similar position
after she’s been on
her feet all day’ …
Reclining Figure by
Claudette Johnson

R R ;R .     ©  ,R K ,  R/K R ;R K ; /J  :R
They tackled shootings, racism
and uprisings – as well as over-worked
mothers. Alex Mistlin on the
enduring impact of Britain’s Blk Art

S
Group, whose once-shunned work ‘It was a very
is now coveted by the best galleries politicised time’ …
Keith Piper’s Go
Made from
his own skin …
Donald Rodney’s
West Young Man tiny house

Thatchers’ Britain, while promoting was a great organiser,” says Piper, alongside pages from the Financial Pan-Afrikan Connection at the
a distinctly Black British political “but we all had our own specific Times and a widely publicised Herbert in Coventry, complaints
identity. Although shortlived – it creative concerns.” image of parents carrying their dead from a security guard about the
only lasted for five years – the group The group’s work features child after the 1976 Soweto uprising, exhibition’s subject matter forced
casts a long shadow over British art, prominently in a celebrated to illustrate British complicity in the the gallery to erect a warning notice
through its influence on subsequent exhibition at Tate Britain, Life inhumanity of apartheid. outside the entrance: “Not suitable
generations of Black artists and its Between Islands, which focuses The group’s work was always for people under 18.” Even on the
impact on contemporaries such as on the work of British artists of rooted in the politics of the era. left, the group’s work was largely
hortly after Lubaina Himid and Sonia Boyce. Caribbean heritage. Life Between “Wolverhampton was one of a dismissed. A note left in the visitors’
Margaret Thatcher became prime More than 40 years on from the Islands was co-curated by the number of places to be decimated book read: “Angry. Too angry …
minister in May 1979, Eddie group’s foundation, eith Piper, 60, director of Tate Britain, Alex by the experiment Thatcher was more Marxist approach needed.”
Chambers made an artwork still looks every inch the artist in his Farquharson, and David A Bailey, undertaking,” says Piper. “It was In the Guardian, Irene McManus
called Destruction of the National red flannel shirt and goatee. Malta- an artist and contemporary of the usual tensions of the 1980s wrote: “Their work is really just a
Front. Then a 19-year-old student born and raised in Birmingham, the Blk group. You can see how – the far right on the rise, anti- collection of political posters.”
in Wolverhampton, Chambers he now lives in London, though their work influenced subsequent apartheid, Greenham Common, But some Blk members are now
reconfigured the union jack as a his accent is still unmistakably generations, not least the Black policing, the New Cross Fire. It was considered innovative. Donald
swastika, before tearing it into Brummie. Piper met Chambers in YBAs Chris Ofili, Yinka Shonibare a very politicised time – and that odney was a leading figure, who
fragments across four panels. The 1979 while studying at what is now and Steve McQueen. was core to my perspective as a died in 1998 at just 36. Completed
image stands as a defiant rebuke to a Wolverhampton School of Art. Chambers, now professor of art young Black man.” shortly before his death, In the
resurgent far right, evoking the anger “I overheard him talking about a history and African diaspora art at This febrile atmosphere was House of My Father is a closeup
many Black Britons felt at the time. show,” he says, referring to Black the University of Texas at Austin, evident in the reception the group photograph of odney’s hand. In
The work was emblematic of the Art An’ Done. “I thought, ‘He’s epitomised Blk’s political approach. received. They were immediately his palm is a tiny sculpture of a
Blk Art Group, a radical association very serious.’ But we had a lot in How Much Longer You Bastards, polarising: a breath of fresh air house made of pieces of his own
of young Black artists founded common because we were the only from 1983, directly challenged the in some quarters, an unwelcome skin. odney suffered from sickle
by Chambers in 1979. The group, two Black students on the course.” activities of Barclay’s bank in South source of aggravation in others. cell anaemia, an extremely painful
stylised as Blk and pronounced Chambers quickly set about Africa at a time when Margaret “We were surrounded by a lot blood condition that is particularly
“Black”, aimed to combat racism recruiting Black students from Thatcher was refusing to impose of reactionary forces, people common in people of African or
with work that focused on the West Midlands’ art schools and sanctions on the apartheid regime. who were openly hostile,” says Caribbean heritage.
experience of being Black in soon their ranks grew. “Eddie The collage features the bank’s logo Piper. At a 1983 showing of The The artist and curator Marlene

The Guardian
Tuesday 4 January 2022
Itwasn’t just
about making
sense of the
world – it was
about making
sense of me
Smith was 18 when she joined the
group and believes they shared a
vision. “We were very coherent, both
in terms of our pan-Africanism but
also in wanting to make Black lives
visible. There was a lot of protest
in the work but what’s overlooked
sometimes is the humanity.”
Pan-Africanism – the idea that
African peoples and diaspora share a
common history and identity, often
symbolised through the colours
red, gold and green – was a guiding
principle for the group. “We wanted
to illustrate the connection between
Victorian colonialism and the
struggle that we had as teenagers
to find our place,” says Smith. “We
were all children of Windrush but,
for me, pan-Africanism wasn’t just
about making sense of the world but
also about making sense of me.”
The movement could only
provide limited answers, however.
“Pan-Africanism really fed me but
it couldn’t help me understand
the role gender played in my
identity. We were devouring books
in an attempt to make sense of
that time.” She mentions Ain’t
I a Woman: Black Women and
Feminism, by bell hooks, who died
last month, as well as the work of
Toni Morrison and Alice Walker.
Smith’s 1985 sculptural
installation Good Housekeeping
depicts a Black woman beneath
the words: “My mother opens the
door at 7am she is not bulletproof.”
The work was a direct response
to the police shooting of Cherry
Groce, who was left permanently
paralysed by the incident that
incited the 1985 Brixton Uprising.
Smith remembers the first
meeting of Blk at Chambers’ parents
‘We were full
of hope’ …
Johnson
•
house: “Claudette Johnson did
an absolutely jaw-dropping job of
showing her work in relation to the
canon – Picasso, Rubens, Manet’s
Olympia. She showed us how Black
women were seen as decorative in art
history, either as exotica, or evidence
of how wealthy someone was.”
In a statement for The Pan-Afrikan
Connection, Johnson wrote: “While
the black woman experiences
oppression on the grounds of her
sex, sexuality and race, there is
not yet a word that describes the
specific and deliberate nature of this
oppression.” As she says now: “The
word ‘intersectionality’ didn’t exist
at the time.” Johnson’s career stalled
in the 1990s but has restarted in
earnest. Last month she presented
a solo exhibition, Still Here, at
Hollybush Gardens in London.
Johnson’s 2017 work Reclining
Figure was emblematic, she says, of
“the subtle and dramatic difference
that occurs when the person doing
the gazing was a black female
herself.” This almost lifesize image
depicts an exhausted Black woman
lying horizontal. “My mum used to
adopt a similar position on the sofa
after she’d been on her feet all day. I
had in mind that poignant moment
when she finally wasn’t doing
something for someone else.” Of
Blk, she says: “In the 1980s, we were
seen as people passing through – so
much of our work was about making
the point that we were here to stay.”
Sonia Boyce was a contemporary,
as was the future Turner-prize
winner Lubaina Himid. Smith and
Johnson both mention The Thin
Black Line, a show curated by Himid
at the Institute for Contemporary
Arts in 1985, as the high-water mark
of Black British art in the period.
The show featured key works from
11 Black female artists, including
Johnson, Smith and Boyce along
with Himid herself. “That show
was like storming the citadel,” says
Johnson. “Lubaina had gone to
the Royal College and was trying
to find Black artists – she curated,
she wrote, she was like a magnet
gathering different artists together.”
“The YBAs took the DIY strategies
we used in alternative spaces and
applied them in some of the biggest
institutions,” says Marlene Smith.
“We were the AYBs – angry young
Blacks,” she jokes.
Says Piper: “We were serious about
seizing space and time in the venues
that had previously only been open
to white artists. But we were also just
young kids, egging each other on and
having a good time. ”
Looking back, Piper thinks it was
remarkable how fully formed the
group’s vision was at the outset:
by the time Chambers applied for
degree courses, Destruction of the ‘It was insane’
National Front was already under his … Dafoe, Sheen
belt: “I remember him working away and Berenger
in his room, marking up these flags
and tearing them to pieces. It’s mad
to think he was turned down with
that in his portfolio. Now it’s part of
the national collection at the Tate.”
Keith Piper’s solo show is at the New
Art Gallery Walsall from 14 January.
Marlene Smith features in Cut & Mix
at New Art Exchange, Nottingham,
until 8 January. Life Between Islands
is at Tate Britain, London, until 3 April
How we made
Platoon
Forest Whitaker macheted his thumb, Tom Berenger
dropped a knife in his foot, Willem Dafoe had to get
medivacked to safety – and Oliver Stone loved it all
‘On the flight
home, I started
weeping’ …
Charlie Sheen
goes into battle
CharlieSheen
playedChris Taylor
My brother Emilio Estevez and I were huge
fans of Scarface and Midnight Express,
which were both written by Oliver Stone.
Emilio kept talking to me about Oliver’s new
Vietnam film, which he was auditioning
for. He got the lead part, Chris Taylor, but
then couldn’t do it because of scheduling
conflicts. When I auditioned, Oliver said I
was “too mannered” and needed to do more
work. So I did The Boys Next Door and Lucas
– and I got the part, but only if Willem Dafoe
approved. I didn’t meet Willem until we got
to the Philippines. He ran past me in our
hotel and gave me a hug. Later, Oliver came
up to me and said: “Willem digs ya.”
Oliver dumped us in the jungle and put
us through a gruelling training course. It
was insane. You had to be treated according
to your rank. Willem and Tom Berenger, as
sergeants, were in command and I was an
FNG – a “fucking new guy”. It really felt as if I
was expected to scrub latrines, which I ended
up doing in the movie.
I thought we’d go out in the day then
return to the hotel at night, but at sundown
on the first day, there was no bus pulling up.
I looked at Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker
and said: “I guess we’re just staying here.”
It was a shock – but I don’t know if we could
have captured the authenticity without
that intense boot camp. Relationships that
. that the one thing you don’t ever let go of is
survived together.
Everybody was tired and angry. At
one point, we found a coconut groveand
Forest got a coconut. I can still see him
now,tryingto line it up with his machete.
Before I could say, “Your
thumb is tooclose!”
he swings and hits his
thumb. He popped it
intohis mouth and two
thick streams of blood
poured out both sides.
It was a “scream for
the medic” moment
– and that was still i
training camp.
When I wrapped,
there was a c
9
brewing in Manila and Oliver took a camera
into the streets to film it, which was madness.
I got on the flight home and, as we banked
over the country, I could see everything
we had all experienced. I started weeping
because I was just happy to be alive.
Veterans thank me for telling their story
with tears in their eyes. It’s their life.
John C McGinley
playedSergeant O’Neill
I didn’t find the training that big a deal, but
what was hard was learning how to read
maps, load weapons and be in this triple
canopy jungle out in the middle of frickin’
nowhere. We were eating MREs – Meals
Ready to Eat – and nobody could poop.
Willem drank water from a river when
there was a decomposing oxen downstream
and he got medivacked, Tom dropped a knife
in his fucking foot – it was just all getting
terribly real. And there were snakes. Two
weeks earlier, we were running around New
York having coffee. Now we’re in the jungle
with bamboo vipers. Oliver loved it, of course.
After that boot camp, it was a tiny leap
to believe what we were saying. When my
character said, “I gotta get the fuck out of
here”, I meantit. My mother was having a brain
operation back home. There was no acting.
I only felt in danger once, when I almost
fell out of a helicopter. It was up about
1,000ft. For three weeks, we’d been drilled
your weapon – so as the helicopter turned,
I start to fall out because I was holding it.
Francesco Quinn, who played Rhah, grabbed
my backpack and pulled me in. If he hadn’t
done that, I would’ve fallen out. I got pretty
righteous with Oliver after that.
During the film’s final battle, my
character hides by covering himself with
a dead body. Afterwards, on a press tour,
I was seeing veterans and giving self-
help advice – which I had no right doing.
Dozens of vets would tell me they covered
themselves with bodies, too. They would be
weeping. I was just this 26-year-old donkey,
out of my depth, but none of that was lost
on me. What Oliver touched on, all of that
stuff, was overwhelming.
Interviews by Simon Bland
 TV and radio
•
10 The Guardian
Tuesday 4 January 2022

Toast of Tinseltown
10pm, BBC Two

Jakub Svec as
Gabriel Kovari
in Four Lives

Steven Toast is back, and he’s angrier

than ever. In fact, he has reached
Peak Anger: cue a trip to the retreat
of Des Wigwam (Kayvan Novak) for
some kill-or-cure therapy.But the
anger management programme has
Review Four Lives, probably contributed to three of the four deaths.
The drama does a good job of making the victims – unexpected side-effects – one of which
BBC One Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth
and Jack Taylor (portrayed with depth, vigour and eventually explains this show’s new title.
sweetness by Tim Preston, Jakub Svec, Leo Flanagan With RayPurchase (HarryPeacock),
How the families Jane Plough (Doon Mackichan) and
and Paddy Rowan, respectively) – live again. It shows
them with the families and friends who will come
to be the ones who follow leads and pull together Clem Fandango (Shazad Latif) still in
of Stephen Port’s most of the evidence necessary for Port’s eventual
conviction, giving space to their relationships, and
shape to everyone’s loss when it comes. Anthony, a
tow,it’swonderful to have Matt Berry’s
grotesque thespian back.
victims fought fashion student who occasionally worked as an escort
for extra cash, is the first to cross paths with Port. He is
Phil Harrison

for justice
found dead outside the man’s flat after Port himself –
posing as an anonymous citizen concerned about the Digging for Britain intelligence in the
apparently drunk young man – calls an ambulance. 8pm, BBC Two workplace. Spoiler:
Beyond that,and despite the usual great work of Dr Alice Roberts once Covid brought about
Sheridan Smith (as Anthony’s mother,Sarah) and more uncovers what some of the highest
★★★☆☆ others, the drama never catches fire. It is doomed lies beneath Britain. unemployment rates in a

Lucy Man
perhaps by the extremity of the police failures. News Tonight, she’s in the century, while those still
reports of the inquest jury findings are compelling east of England to see in work are one software
reads – the list of things the police did not do, chose to a spectacular Roman update away from being

W
ignore or failed to follow up is mind-boggling. Some of mosaic, while a Saxon replaced by robots.
the most egregious examples (in a competitive field) burial in Kent reveals a Hollie Richardson
make it into Four Lives. The Met’s insistence that there gnarly seventh-century
can be no link between the deaths of four young gay death. The team also Pen15
men by the same means and in the same locality – two learn about Anglo-Saxon 9pm, Sky Comedy
e’re getting to the point, surely, of them found in the same graveyard, one with a suicide beer-making in Norfolk. Cringes are guaranteed
where television drama could be note the family says it (contrary to police claims) never Continues on Wednesday. as Anna Konkle and
named the sixth estate. In the past identified as being in their son’s handwriting. No testing Henry Wong Maya Erskine return
year alone, we have had Deceit, of the bed sheet he was found on. And, above all, no full to negotiate dial-up,
probing the police ethics around interrogation of Stephen Port after a mobile phone trace Sarah Beeny’s New Life braces and a whole lot of
the Rachel Nickell investigation, revealed he was the anonymous caller, who also owned in the Country bullying in their superior
Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s Stephen, about the continuing the flat Anthony’s body lay outside and gave a variety of 8pm, Channel 4 comedy. But life is
mishandling of the Stephen Lawrence case, Jimmy inconsistent statements about how he came across him. And Update: Sarah Beeny changing fast for the girls.
McGovern’s look at the prison system’s failures in Dramatically, it leaves the main characters little another still has not finished As Maya’s attention is
Time, and Jack Thorne’s Help, telling the story of more to do than shout down the phone at uninterested thing her massive house in turning to romance with
care homes abandoned by government policy and officers and boggle at their unwillingness to chase the country. She and high-school boys, Anna’s
the inhabitants left for dead as a result. All brought what seems to them and us obvious leads and the family have moved adjusting to her parents’
terrible injustices to greater public prominence, and suspects. There seems to have been no cover-up – just I’m going to upstairs, though, and divorce – and splitting
hopefully add to the pressure for holding to account a long line of people who didn’t care enough how or start the year this week, her four sons, her time between two
those whose dereliction of duty at best, and corruption why these young men, these sons, these friends, these off right, by who have been closely houses. Hannah Verdier
at worst, does society so much harm. Anne, a drama lovers died. And, presumably, there was an element of rewatching involved throughout the
about the mother who fought through police denials deep-seated homophobia, which is of course awful – if Succession build, give their opinions The Language of Love
and obstructions for the eventual unlawful killings not exactly shocking. from the on what form their 10pm, Channel 4
verdict for the Hillsborough victims, is airing now. And Very few of the tangible failings are even mentioned beginning and bedrooms should take. Davina McCall and Ricky
there are surely more in the works – perhaps on the in the first episode and we never see any behind- committing Meanwhile, that zipwire Merino host this new
murders of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman and the the-scenes work (or lack thereof) by the police. We every Roman over the pond isn’t going series where a group
two officers sent to guard the scene, who took photos are limited to the investigating officers’ inability to line to memory. to erect itself. Jack Seale of daters can’t speak
and shared the images on WhatsApp, or the murder by remember how to pronounce Anthony’s name (with each other’s language.
another officer of Sarah Everard (possibly including the the “th” audible) and assumptions about his lifestyle, Future of Work Can they break past
breaking up of a peaceful vigil for her thereafter). based on his occasional escort gigs and poppers found 8.40pm, PBS America the obvious barrier?
And so to Four Lives, about the murders of four in his flat, to infer their lack of professionalism and This three-part Nauseating as it might
young men by serial killer and rapist Stephen Port humanity. But this kind of drama thrives on detail, documentary examines sound, most of the
(a fine and chilling performance by Stephen Merchant) not mere gesturings towards motive and should not how the pandemic has daters are genuinely
and a police investigation so fundamentally depend on assumptions that right-minded viewers will helped to accelerate sweet, making it quite a
flawed that an inquest jury recently found that it draw the right conclusions. the use of artificial charming, fun watch. HR
 •
The Guardian
Tuesday 4 January 2022 11

BBC One BBC Two ITV Channel 4 Channel 5 BBC Four

6.0 Breakfast (T) 9.15 Morning
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 Puzzles
•
12 The Guardian

NOEGRT LOCIN EW E E ’Y

Tuesday 4 January 2022

Yesterday’s Quick crossword no 16,118

solutions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Wordsearch Across Down 8

1 Religious belief — felt a fire (anag) 2 Flow — discharge (4)
(9) 3 Do these justify the means? (4) 9
8 Kind of brandy made from pressed 4 Hang about, wasting time (6)
grape skins (4) 5 Complete successfully (6) 10
9 Traditional square dance for four 6 Bawdy (9)
or more couples (9) 7 Metal dump? (9) 11 12 13 14
10 Collection of facts (4) 11 Great surprise (9)
13 Surround restrictively (3,2) 12 Cocktail made with tequila and
15 One given to complaining (6) citrus fruit juice (9) 15 16
16 Neglectfulness (6) 13 Cursed (5)
17 Croatian capital (6) 14 Relating to warships (5)
19 Large spotted feline (6) 18 Copper and tin alloy (6)
20 Slaver (5) 19 Merry (6) 17 18 19
21 Additional amount (4) 22 Food shop (abbr) (4)
Solution no 16,117 24 Precarious (but sharply defined) 23 Giant who likes to eat humans (4)
boundary line! (5-4) 20
FASH I ONV I CT IM 25 Remaining after deductions (4)
E T N O R R A 26 Happening at opportune moment 21 22 23
V I A D I T T OMA R K (4-5)
E T I A N F E 24
REENACT S A F EW
S M E F I A
S IMI AN PLUCKY 25
C A N G O I
HONK PART I SAN
E L M T I L O 26
RA I SEHELL APT
Z K S A L N C
ONETHOUSANDTH Stuck? For help call 0906 200 83 83. Calls cost £1.10 per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge.
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Sudoku no 5495
Sudoku no 5496 Suguru Wordsearch
Medium. Fill the grid so that each row, column and Fill the grid so that each square Can you find 15 words associated
3x3 box contains the numbers 1-9. Printable version at in an outlined block contains a with the head in the grid? Words can
theguardian.com/sudoku digit. A block of 2 squares contains run forwards, backwards, vertically
the digits 1 and 2, a block of three or diagonally, but always in a
squares contains the digits 1, 2 straight, unbroken line.
and 3, and so on. No same digit
appears in neighbouring squares,
not even diagonally.
Word wheel
INFLATION

Suguru

Word wheel Pet corner

Find as many words as Which UK head of
possible using the letters government overcame a
in the wheel. Each must lifetime fear of dogs?
use the central letter a. Boris Johnson
and at least two others. b. Mark Drakeford
Letters may be used only c. Paul Givan
once. You may not use d. Nicola Sturgeon
plurals, foreign words or Answer top right
proper nouns. There is at
least one nine-letter word
to be found. TARGET:
Excellent-28. Good-23.
Average-17.
 •
As the Tories implode, is the red wall in Labour’s grasp? Polly Toynbee, page 3
The whales are back, andsome faith is restored PhilipHoare, page 4
Richard Leakey,Kenyan conservationist Obituaries,page 10
The Guardian Tuesday 4 January2022
Opinion
and ideas
Can we learn to live with Covid?
This is the week we’ll find out
The roulette wheel is spinning,
the ball already rattling towards
its final destination. Boris
Johnson has bet the house
on his Omicron gamble and
now there’s no going back.
The bullishness of ministers
insisting over the weekend that
Gaby they see no case for further restrictions glosses over the
fact that it may now be too late for that anyway, given
Hinsliff an estimated one in 25 people in England already had
the virus before New Year’s Eve.
Double or quits it is, then, as a country drags itself
back out to work and school after the Christmas
hibernation period. We’re about to find out exactly
what it means to experience unprecedented levels of
Covid infections, but from a strain that may be less
dangerous, at least in the fully vaccinated. Once again,
a virus we thought we’d got to know has abruptly
shapeshifted and once again, history isn’t necessarily
a reliable guide to the present. We’re all back on
the seesaw, lurching between hope and fear, never
knowing quite what to expect.
The novel threat this time is not death on the biblical
scale forecast during the first wave – although sadly
there will be too many deaths, hospitalisations and
cases of long Covid disabling people for months to
come – but knock-on chaos and disruption caused by
the potential mass infection of key workers, leaving
them unable to do their jobs.
We’ve entered an unpredictable world of people
who have heart attacks waiting well over an hour for
an ambulance, critical incidents being declared by
G2
Daily
pullout
life &
arts
section
Inside
hospitals that can’t maintain safe staffing levels and
large organisations being warned to plan for up to a
quarter of their people being off sick or self-isolating.
Now imagine what that worst-case scenario might do
to the everyday grind of supermarket deliveries, bin
collections and bus timetables, let alone to policing
or critical infrastructure such as the power and
water industries.
Education ministers have meanwhile vowed to
keep schools and nurseries open wherever possible
– rightly given the profound impact we now know
closures had on poorer children’s education, and on a
vulnerable few who are sadly safer with their teachers
than with their parents – but are simultaneously letting
headteachers know they can send year groups home
if they have to. For secondary schools in England and
Wales hit by serious staff shortages, in practice that
would probably mean prioritising GCSE and A-level
classes for pupils who need to sit their mocks this
term but switching to home schooling for other years
if necessary, something that was already happening

in some parts of the country before Christmas
as Omicron hit.
Nurseries and primary schools catering
for pupils too young to be vaccinated will
2
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
Can welearn tolive with Covid?
This is the week we’llfind out
Gaby Hinsliff
 Continued from front
 meanwhile be flinging windows open to
the January air and crossing their fingers,
knowing that (at least according to the
Office for National Statistics) about one in 15 children
aged between two and 11 had Covid before Christmas.
Since many key workers are also parents who can’t
easily do their jobs if their child gets sent home sick,
we’re probably about to be reminded that childcare
is the fourth emergency service, without which the
other three would struggle very quickly. In other
words, it’s time to prepare ourselves at least for the
possibility of things getting messy; of everyday life
becoming harder and more volatile as Covid jams its
spokes into wheels that in good times you barely even
notice turning.
With luck, that upheaval could be mercifully brief.
But any country that nearly ground to a halt overnight
thanks to a temporary post-Brexit shortage of fuel
tanker drivers and a panicky stampede for petrol
should probably have learned by now not to get cocky.
A
Over and over again this virus has reminded us of just
how much happens unseen beneath the surface of a
functioning society; of how complex our just-in-time
modern lives with all their endlessly interconnected
moving parts have become, but also how fragile,
dependent on things and people we mostly take for
granted until brutally reminded not to do so.
nd that’s why learning to live with
this or any other virus, the mantra
of those who never want their
liberties restricted by government
diktat again, doesn’t mean quite
what some hope it does. It’s not
about ripping off your mask and
gleefully forgetting that any of it
ever happened, but about building in resilience and
learning from the weaknesses exposed by Covid.
Rubbing along successfully through what might
hopefully be the tail end of a pandemic should mean
investing not just in vaccines and antivirals but in
more hospital beds and people to staff them, creating
enough slack in the system to absorb seasonal Covid
surges without having to throw up tent wards in
NHS car parks.
It’s going to mean well-honed contingency plans
for critical industries, better ventilation in schools,
and more imaginative answers to the question of
protecting people who are shielding or clinically
vulnerable than are so far forthcoming from lockdown
sceptics bellowing that it’s time everyone was left to
get on with their lives. But it may also take something
of a shift in national attitudes.
Living successfully with Covid-19 will require not
just a virus obliging enough not to mutate in more
lethal ways but the maturity to self-police sometimes –
as plenty did last month by voluntarily side-swerving
parties or the pub so they could have Christmas with
their families, and as Swedes have always quietly done
in what was the unsung element of their country’s
no-lockdown policy – and the resilience to live with a
degree of unpredictability in life, which is infinitely
easier said than done for some. Low-income families
especially are likely to need help absorbing the sudden
shocks and disruptions this virus is still capable of
delivering, even as it hopefully burns itself out.
The silver lining to the Omicron cloud is, of course,
that it could pass relatively quickly. It’s risky reading
too much into data collected over the Christmas
holidays when reporting was potentially patchy, but
all hopes are now pinned on Britain following the
same path as South Africa, where infections seemed
to peak relatively quickly before falling back. A rocky
few weeks, so the cabinet’s argument goes, beats
months of economic and personal misery; better to
rip the plaster off and get it over with. Whether that
gamble was uncharacteristically shrewd or lethally
reckless will become clear enough in the next few days
as Omicron spreads from London to the rest of the
UK, with hospitalisation rates doubling already across
much of the north of England. But right now, the
wretched roulette wheel is still spinning, and all most
of us can do about it is hold our breath.
Founded 1821 Independently owned by the Scott Trust № 54,545
‘Comment is free… butfacts are sacred’CP Scott
Brexit
Anglo-Frenchrelationswill fail if
neighboursare the worst of rivals
Over the holidays, the Guardian leader
column will examine what the upheaval of
the last 12 months might tell us about the
future. Today we look at Boris Johnson’s
doomed policy of quarrelling with Paris
At the core of Boris Johnson’s Brexit is a conflict
between ideology and geography. The purpose of the
project is divergence – a competitive leap away from
Europe into other markets. But that impulse to move is
thwarted by the permanence of Britain’s location. No
matter how much sovereignty the Eurosceptics claim
over national regulation, governing a medium-sized
power 30 miles from the coast of France will always
require some accommodation with the interests of
neighbouring states.
EU membership was not the only possible way
to manage those relationships, but it worked better
than anything that had been tried in the preceding
centuries, and nothing has been arranged to replace
it. The Brexit withdrawal deal offers only a technical
framework for economic partnership, and even that is
unstable, as is clear from the ongoing negotiations over
customs checks for Northern Ireland and operating
licences for French fishers in UK waters.
The two issues are not equivalent in scale. Much
more is at stake on the island of Ireland, given the
history of sectarian violence. But they flow from a
common Brexit delusion, which is the belief that
“taking back control” is a unilateral assertion.
In reality, borders have two sides. The folly of
ignoring that strategic geometry has been routinely
demonstrated, most recently in a silly exchange of
recriminations over migrant boat crossings in the
Channel. The Home Office, being unable to stop the
vessels, has tried blaming French authorities for failing
to stop embarkations. France replies that the draw
factor is lax British labour regulations that act as a
magnet for refugees seeking a new life.
French agenda
Tensions on that front predate Brexit. The UK was
not part of the Schengen common travel area, and
policing of the Anglo-French border is governed by
the bilateral Le Touquet accord. But the capacity
for escalation is higher now that Britain has no seat
around the EU table where other continental leaders
meet. As it happens, France sets the agenda at that
table for the first six months of 2022, as holder of
the rotating council presidency. That means also
that President Emmanuel Macron’s hawkish view of
Britain’s obligations to uphold the Brexit agreement
it signed will set the tone in Brussels.
Since Mr Macron is seeking re-election in April,
his attention will be more than usually focused on
domestic matters. To the extent that those issues
overlap with Brexit – as in the fisheries dispute
– there will be pressure to take a hard line with
London. There is a tendency in Downing Street to see
Mr Macron’s stance as punitive to the point of spite.
The Tory Eurosceptic view is that France, affronted
by the temerity of Britannia in choosing freedom, is
determined to prevent her from enjoying its benefits.
That analysis contains a truth, filtered through a
jaundiced lens. Mr Macron, in common with other
EU leaders, understands that Brexit is a deliberate
strategic challenge to the European project, based
on the false premise that Britain could retain benefits
of proximity to continental markets while using
deregulation to outcompete EU businesses.
Plainly, it is in the economic interests of member
states for that not to happen. It is also in the interest
of politicians who are committed to the logic of
supranational solidarity that Euroscepticism be
seen as a strategic cul-de-sac. Mr Macron is less
patient than some of his continental counterparts
for that point to be proven. As German chancellor,
Angela Merkel took the view that British noses
should not be rubbed too hard in the folly of Brexit,
lest they be put out of joint. She feared Britain
sliding even deeper into populism. Her successor,
Olaf Scholz, is closer to Mr Macron’s position.
Anglo-French relations are not helped by the
low opinion that the French president has of Boris
Johnson. He has been quoted describing the prime
minister as “un clown”. He believes Mr Johnson
is a deceitful and unreliable partner. A run of poor
judgments and conspicuous dishonesties have
made that assessment of Mr Johnson’s character
indisputable. It is a settled view among many voters
and formerly loyal Tory MPs that he is a liar.
Provoking Brussels
The resignation of David Frost, Johnson’s
Brexit negotiator, compounded the domestic
crisis engulfing No 10, but will not change the
underlying dynamics in relations with the rest
of Europe. Lord Frost was a zealot in pursuit of
pure sovereignty and, in quitting, he signalled
displeasure at compromises imposed from Downing
Street. But the prime minister’s room to compromise
is limited when so many of his MPs have lost faith
in his judgment, already feel betrayed and are
winding themselves towards a regicidal frenzy.
That is also a consideration for Liz Truss, the foreign
secretary, who inherits Lord Frost’s portfolio. She
was a remainer in 2016, but her ambition to succeed
Mr Johnson is a more salient factor for 2022. She,
too, will be wary of alienating the hardliners.
The incumbent prime minister’s insecurity might
give him cause to prefer provocation in Brussels,
on the ancient but shabby premise that foreign
quarrels can galvanise domestic audiences. The
threat of using Article 16 – the emergency brake in
the Brexit deal – has receded while the government
deals with another pandemic wave, but a prime
minister with few other options keeps his finger on
the trigger. Alternatively, he might calculate that
a trade war with Brussels would be too expensive
and compound the impression of a slide into
chaos when what people crave most is a period
of sustained, stable and grown-up government.
In neither scenario is it likely that the prime
minister will be thinking beyond short-term
survival or acting with a strategic concept for
Britain’s evolving relations with its neighbours.
If there was ever such a capacity in Mr Johnson’s
regime, it has been swept away in a cascade of
crises. When the only purpose left for the prime
minister is getting from one day to the next, there
is no room for coherent foreign policy. And, since
incoherence with regard to Europe is intrinsic to
Brexit, there is no imminent prospect of restored
stability in relations with Britain’s nearest
neighbours. For that to happen, there has to be a
resolution in the conflict between geography and
ideology. Only one side can win, of course. The facts
of Britain’s place in the world beat the fantasies
of escaping it. Mr Johnson and his party might
continue to postpone their own comprehension
of that defeat. They cannot ultimately avoid it.
 Opinion
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian •
N
As the Tories
oel Gallagher, the former Oasis
guitarist, recently opined: “I
fucking hate the Labour party,
implode, is
they’re a fucking disgrace …
They’ve betrayed the working
classes, they’ve betrayed ordinary
people.” And out it poured on to
the redwall in
Twitter. Well, he would, wouldn’t
he? He long ago regretted that embarrassing Cool
Britannia moment of euphoria when Tony Blair
summoned stars to a Downing Street party in 1997.
Labour’s grasp?
Gallagher’s purist state of mind is shared by a rump
of the left, who feel forever betrayed. In my last column
I looked ahead with a glimmer of optimism that, after
12 wilderness years, Labour might be on the road back
to power. The usual below-the-line warfare had broken
Polly out, with responses such as: “I left the Labour party.
I will not vote for Starmer, his policies or anyone who
Toynbee supports him.” “He has introduced a Stalin-like purge
of the membership, the grassroots, the activists.”
“They are worse than the Conservatives.” “A clone of
the Tory party.” “Tory-lite.” Here’s a Twitter trope I get
all the time: Polly Toynbee and the Guardian helped put
the Tories in power (often accompanied by the hashtag
#rightwingmedia). Odd this, as the Guardian (and I)
backed Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour in 2017 and 2019. If
only we had such influence, the Tories wouldn’t have
governed twice as long as Labour all my life.
Sometimes I answer back, other times I retell what
Labour achieved when last in power: SureStart, tax
credits, civil partnerships, more doctors, nurses and
beds, increased school and further education funds, an
Equality and Human Rights Commission, a doubling of
foreign aid, free nurseries, lifting more than a million
pensioners and more than a million children out of
poverty – despite the tragedy of Iraq.
But of course this legacy wasn’t enough. It was too
easily uprooted, never satisfying the limitless hopes of
those of us on the left. Maybe it’s admirable to hold out
for better, but I will always back whoever I think can
best deny the Conservatives power. Yes, sometimes,
that means compromising to win votes.
As our archaic electoral system kills new parties,
capturingan existing one is the only viable route for
a political cause. Labour has had periods of leftist
3
Suddenly,
the online
raucousnesssounds
like voices from the
past, fringe noises
outside aparty that
has transformed itself
entryism after losing elections.But suddenly that online
raucousness sounds like voices from the past, fringe
noises from outside a party that has since transformed
itself.Labour MPs find local partiesno longer locked
in warfare. They are soon all up for reselection: expect
no upsets. The tail end of the antisemitism trauma
is dragging on with expensivecourt cases: Corbyn
stays out while he rejects the Equality and Human
Rights Commission’s overall findings on antisemitism.
Meanwhile the shadow cabinet is proposing policies
such as wealth taxes,a £28bn green new deal and fair
pay deals, all of which refutes the “Tory clone” jibe.The
party is inching towards electability.
Meanwhile the Tory party is devouring itself, eaten
up by the Ukip-inflected extremists who have been
selecting its MPs for years. A poll of 57 red wall seats
in the Mail on Sunday put Labour 16% ahead of the
Conservatives and up 5% nationally, with Keir Starmer
outscoring Boris Johnson. The paper revealed a litany
of lost voter trust, reporting “panic among MPs who
fear they are doomed” and a “frenzy of bitching”.
The chancellor’s rift with the prime minister runs
T
through the party, which summoned a Pied Piper
Angela Rayner populist to bribe voters but balks at paying for his
and Keir tune. With Rishi Sunak’s wallet shut, the only thing
Starmer in Michael Gove can magic up for his delayed “levelling
London last up” policy is ectoplasm. With no shine left on Brexit or
month Johnson, there’s no glue holding that strange north-
:  south voter coalition together.
NN/ 
he months ahead will bring even
more problems. April’s cost-of-living
collision of rising inflation, energy
bills, national insurance and council
taxes will punish the government
in May’s local elections. Rarely
has Labour ever been quite as out
of touch with voters as the brand
of libertarianism that is consuming the Tory party.
early 100 Conservative MPs voted against Covid
precautions despite public backing for compulsory
passports. The cabinet took a reckless position on
new year clubbing, yet the Sunday Telegraph still
complained that “nannyism has won”. Its recent
editorial commanded the Tories to “fulfil Brexit,
deregulate, lower taxes” in a country “swollen
by regulations and spending”. This crescendo of
libertarian demands is the only tune you now hear
from the Tories and their press as the party vacates the
playing field, as Labour steps up to re-engage voters.
The right’s “freedoms” of post-Brexit deregulation
would have publicly unacceptable consequences. Do
they mean dirty food, Dickensian labour and unsafe
buildings?They never say. Abandoning a tax rise would
lead to HS and social care collapse. This strain of
rightwing anarchyis no longer anchored to conservative
interests in business, agriculture or even the City.It’s
new to hear industrialists, farmers and financiers angry
at damage done bytheir erstwhile party.
The Tories seem unhinged by Brexit’s balloon
bursting, with the UK losing £12bn of trade in October
alone and the Office for Budget Responsibility
estimating Brexit will cause a 4% drop in GDP. It
seems unlikely that this out-of-control party will
choose anyone who can bring them back to earth
before an election. If not, impulsive spending cuts and
deregulations will lose them votes, and Labour will be
right there, feet firmly planted on the ground.
4 Opinion
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
The whales are the markers of what we have lost. In the 19th century
the waterways of the Solent were so full of salmon that
local apprentices, according to one author writing in
back, and some
1850, “stipulated in their indentures that it should not
be served up to them oftener than three times a-week”.
The same author reported shoals of porpoises in
Southampton Water, “rolling and springing on the
faith is restored
surface in their renewed gambols”.
While in the 18th century, Oliver Goldsmith reported
on an English Channel filled with whales, dolphins,
cod fish, tuna and even great white sharks chasing
columns of herrings. “The whole water seems alive,”
Philip Goldsmith wrote in one of the first popular science
I
books, Animated Nature, in 1776, “and is seen so black
Hoare with them that the number seems inexhaustible.”
Humans, too, were once more watery. In Scotland,
fisherwomen were known as herring quines, so
covered were they in silvery scales they seemed to be
becoming fish themselves. Charles Richard Weld of the
Royal Society declared in 1859, riffing on Darwin: “If a
man may become a monkey, or has been a whale, why
t’s an encouraging start to 2022. In an informal should not a Caithness damsel become a herring?”
census, the Wildlife Trusts’ marine review To these writers, the idea that one day there might
of 2021 has pointed to humpback whales off not be plenty more fish in the sea would have been
the north-east coast of Scotland and England, unthinkable. The depredations of the natural world
increasing numbers of seal pups being born, that began to accelerate in the 19th century would
and seahorses in protected beds of eel grass remove much of that marine biomass from around our
off the Dorset coast. It seems the work of the shores, with disastrous effects.
trusts and other marine conservation bodies The physical absence of the great whales such as
is having a good effect. Blue whales appearing in the blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales may have
Irish Sea may be physical beneficiaries of the general actually accelerated the climate crisis – because it
agreement of the International Whaling Commission deprived the oceanic food chain of their fertilising
in 1982, effected three years later, to halt the cull faeces, and their rotting carcasses which, on the sea
of the species. It is as if the whales themselves bed, helped to sequester carbon from the ecosphere
remember, encouraged to return without fear of and sustain other species. The life cycles of smaller
being harpooned. organisms depended entirely on carcasses.
But in many ways these optimistic signs are also We look to science to point out what needs to be
done, but often art inspires as much as academic
reports. In 2012, Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey
performed a kind of reincarnation on the skeleton
of a minke whale stranded at Skegness by growing
diamond-like chemical crystals on its bones.
With its shapeshifting sense of gender (slipper
snails form stacks upon each other, changing sex
from male at the bottom to female at the top) and
of time (“shadow” parts of the ocean may be 1,000
years old), the sea defies all our assumptions. It is a
decidedly queer place; just ask any dolphin. Nor does
it recognise national boundaries, of course.
The sea is where our laws and jurisdictions run
out. That inevitably raises contrary questions of
responsibility and freedom. Indeed, it is hard to
divorce the threats to our native marine life from
“alien species” without considering the human
refugees arriving on those same shores. Or to note that
the climate crisis is a driver for both.
It is easy to ignore the sea, or to think of it as a kind
of highway with a fish shop attached. Some may
consider it bizarre that commentators such as George
Monbiot call for a rewilding of our seas as well as of the
land. Others may worry there’s no chance of that while
English and French politicians squabble over who has
the “right” to take fish from the sea. But humpbacks
off Whitby? Dancing sea slugs off Cumbria? White-
beaked dolphins off Essex? These may be anomalies
or signs of disruption, but merely bearing witness to
such wonders has the power to restore our faith.
As I swim in the chilly winter sea, the sleek black
 head of a grey seal pops up beside me, and in the
Philip Hoare louring grey sky a skein of brent geese, charcoal-
is an author. coloured visitors from Siberia, steer into view. It’s not
His most recent quite Goldsmith’s vision of Eden, but I’m still hoping
book is Albert for miracles in 2022. Happy new year to the sea, all its
and the Whale species, and to all of you.
Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian •

How
to
heal

The long read

As a GP,I’ve discovered that a
doctor who sets out to ‘heal’ is like
a gardener who setsout to ‘grow’
– nature does almost all thework.
By Gavin Francis

6 The long read
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
ver the past two years
I’ve spent much of my time as a GP assessing and
managing the fear, fever and breathlessness caused
by coronavirus, but I’ve also spent more of my time
than ever before talking to people about recovery
and convalescence – not only from the virus, but
from the damaging effects of repeated lockdowns.
I’m a GP in central Edinburgh and, with three other
doctors and two nurses, provide medical care to
about 4,000 patients.
The words “recovery” and “convalescence” were
rarely mentioned during my six years of medical
school and seven years of specialty training. Many
of my tutors seemed to assume that once a crisis
of illness has passed, the body and mind find ways
to heal themselves. But nearly 20 years as a GP has
shown me time and again that the reverse is true:
guidance and encouragement through the process of
recovery can be indispensable.
My medical training took for granted a western
medical approach to the body. But illness is not
simply a matter of biology, but also one of belief,
psychology and sociology. The ways we get ill are as
much about culture as they are about disease, and
our ideas and expectations of the body profoundly
influence the ways in which we fall ill, and the
ways we recover. I have learned much from those
other clinicians – the nurses, physiotherapists and
occupational therapists – who have most helped my
patients, and I am constantly being reminded of how
much more there is still to learn.
What follows, then, is a discussion of recovery
and convalescence as seen from within a particular
medical tradition – my own as a 21st-century
European general practitioner. While I acknowledge
the value and the virtues of alternative approaches
to the body and to illness, I will leave discussion of
them to others trained in their use.
It was on 31 December 2019 that the Chinese
government alerted the World Health Organization
to a new and dangerous strain of coronavirus
that was infecting people in and around Wuhan.
Humanity has learned an enormous amount over the
subsequent two years – new ways of managing the
pneumonia caused by the virus, as well as how to
build a suite of vaccines proven to be effective against
it. We move into this new year still struggling to
contain a pandemic many thought would be over by
now. New, more transmissible and more dangerous
strains of coronavirus are still emerging. As they put
our powers of recovery to the test, it’s worth thinking
more deeply about what convalescence really means.
When I was eight years old, I woke one autumn
morning with a hammer-blow headache and a
churning in my stomach. My GP was called for – a
kindly man of the old school who took one look
and, suspecting meningitis, sent me urgently to an
infectious diseases hospital an hour’s drive away
where the diagnosis was confirmed. I spent eight
days and nights in that hospital, in a room with
large windows that gave on to trees and bright
afternoon sunshine.
In the niches of my memory I carry no images of
the doctors, only one of a nurse in a sky-blue tunic,
her black hair in a bun, her kind face lined with
smiles. I remember an iron-framed bedstead, glaring
white sheets and the smell of floor disinfectant. A
window in an internal wall of the sickroom looked
on to a nurses’ station – I was kept under continual
surveillance. Though my mum and dad took shifts
to be with me for most of the day, they also had my
brother to attend to, and I spent many hours alone in
silence waiting for them to come; waiting for home.
A couple of years later, I broke my leg and was
obliged to pass the whole of the summer holidays
and part of the autumn school term in plaster.
Beneath that plaster my leg withered and, when the
plaster came off, I remember being shocked by how
pallid, stunted and weakened it had become. Again,
I don’t remember any of the doctors involved in my
treatment. My recovery was led by a pair of brisk and
cheerful physiotherapists.
With a limb, it seemed possible to objectify the
part that needed recovery, to look down on the leg
and say “that’s the problem, right there”. My progress
was effortful, but at least I could see it, inscribed in
the bulk of my thigh and the colour of my skin. My
recovery from meningitis was far more difficult to
grasp – the edges of what recovery meant were far
less clear. A languorous, fuzzy-headed exhaustion
dominated my days, burnishing the world with the
bright haze of a dream or hallucination. My body
was in convalescence, but the process itself felt
disembodied, ethereal, as much mental as physical.
As I look back on it now, it’s clear that it was my first
experience of the complexities of convalescence, and
how it can and must take very different forms with
different illnesses and between different people.
The word “rehabilitation” comes from the Latin
habilis, meaning, among other things, “apt” or “fit”,
and carries the sense of restoration: “To stand, make
or be firm again.” The aim of rehabilitation, then,
should be to make someone as fit as they can be – to
stand on their own feet if they’re able, and to recover
as much mobility and independence as possible if
they are not. I worked once as a junior doctor in a unit
dedicated to rehabilitation from brain injury, and
learned there that convalescence is anything but a
passive process. Though its rhythms and its tempo are
often slow and gentle, it’s an act, and actions need us
to be present, to engage, to give of ourselves. Whether of independence in their stride. Though it can be
it’s our knees or skulls that need to heal from an tempting to resent someone whose illness appears
injury, or lungs from a viral infection such as Covid- to be less serious than our own, or to judge ourselves
19, or brains from a concussion, or minds from a crisis harshly when others seem to be coping with more
of depression or anxiety, I often have to remind my challenging circumstances than we are, comparisons
patients that it’s worth giving adequate time, energy are rarely helpful. Neither is it advisable to set out
and respect to the process of healing. a strict timetable of recovery: it’s more important
There is no hierarchy to suffering, and it’s not to set achievable goals. Sometimes, all I can do is
possible to say of one group of conditions that they Patients reassure my patients that I believe improvement of
deserve sympathy while another group deserves recovering from some kind is possible. The recovery I’m reassuring
to be dismissed. I’ve known patients whose lives Covid with the them of might not be biological in nature – in terms
have been dominated for years by the grief of a help of health of a resolution of their condition – but rather an
failed love affair, and others who have taken the workers improvement in their circumstances.
most disabling injuries, pain, indignity and loss ; RUR
In the course of my medical work I sometimes see
viral infections sending their sufferers to bed for
weeks or months, and, in a few cases, for years.
Why this happens is poorly understood. It’s as if the
struggle with illness draws so deeply on one’s inner
reserves of strength that the body does all it can to
retain its energies, even going so far as to manipulate
our sense of effort so that to take a short walk, or to
climb a flight of stairs, is to risk exhaustion. Through
the successive waves of Covid-19 during 2020 and
2021, I spoke to many patients in whom coronavirus
has triggered this kind of enduring fatigue. A letter
in the journal Nature Medicine published last March
reported that, for their sample group, one in eight
victims of Covid-19 suffered symptoms lasting longer
than four weeks, one in every 22 had symptoms
lasting longer than eight weeks, and one in 44 patients
had symptoms lasting longer than 12 weeks. The most
persistent symptoms were breathlessness, loss of
smell, headache and fatigue.
Physiotherapists encourage people experiencing
relentless post-viral fatigue to gently push at the limits
of what they can do in terms of physical effort. They’ve
found that if those limits are not tested, then the realm
of the possible begins to shrink – horizons contract,

Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian •
muscles weaken and sufferers can become trapped in a
cycle of effort followed by collapse. The effort required
to provoke each collapse begins to dwindle.
Everyone has a different tempo of convalescence,
and will require different strategies. It’s normal
that the process can be slow, and normal, too,
for long-term illness to vary in its manifestations
from person to person. Protracted symptoms from
viral infections may differ enormously between
different individuals, but can include varying
amounts of breathlessness, difficulty concentrating,
forgetfulness, mood changes, insomnia, weight loss,
weight gain, exhaustion, muscle weakness, joint
stiffness and flashbacks. When I see patients troubled
by these kinds of problems, I try to emphasise that
to experience them isn’t evidence that recovery has
stalled, or is going into reverse. On the contrary, those
symptoms are evidence that the body and mind are
reacting and changing in response to the illness – and
where there’s change, there’s hope. There is a booklet
I hand out to people with ongoing symptoms of Covid-
19, written by local physiotherapists, that emphasises
the importance of this “pacing” approach to recovery.
It’s an attitude I’ve benefited from myself.
During my first year in training as a GP, I got sick.
I’d worked for many years in hospitals, had already
qualified as a trainee in emergency medicine, but the
intensity and breadth of problems I was learning to
face in my new role as a doctor in the community felt
to me almost overwhelming. An old problem with my
sinuses flared up, leaving me with a ceaseless, drilling
headache above the eyes that sapped all of my energy.
I was exhausted, couldn’t concentrate and was in
chronic pain. An MRI scan showed that I needed
surgery, which might take months to arrange. In the
meantime, I had my GP training to complete.
I couldn’t do anything to speed the arrival of my
operation date, but I could do something about my
exhaustion and my levels of stress. Rather than stop
What is open toquestion is
whether scientific knowledge
is where medical practice ends,
or whereit begins
work altogether, I reduced my hours to a three-day
week – each day in clinic would be followed by a day
off to recover. The headache was as bad as ever, but
with more time to rest and recuperate between clinic we know that people recover more quickly from
days, the pain bothered me less. Knowing I’d have
the breathing space of a day at home meant that I was to be sympathetic to their concerns. Psychological
able to give my best to my patients on those days I was research into “compassion fatigue” has shown that
in the clinic. My training would be delayed – it would most students begin clinical studies with a great deal
now take longer than a year for me to be signed off as a of compassion, but the longer they work in caring
competent GP – but I persuaded myself that there was professions, the more they seem to lose it.
no point risking burnout for the sake of a schedule of
someone else’s making.
And I qualified all the same, albeit a couple of
months late. The operation, when it came, was
successful, my headaches were cured, and I had
learned a valuable lesson. We need strength and
energy to live with illness. Cutting my workload gave the 30 or 40 medical encounters I have in the course
me the reserves I needed not just to live with chronic of a normal working day, there must be several that
pain until the operation, but to begin slowly on the
path towards recovery from it.
All worthwhile acts of recovery have to work in
concert with natural processes, not against them.
Many antibiotics don’t “kill” bacteria as such, but
7
merely inhibit the growth of bacterial colonies and
leave the body to do the rest. A doctor who sets out
to “heal” is in truth more like a gardener who sets
out to “grow” – actually, nature does almost all the
work. Even when I stitch a patient’s wound, the
suture material itself does not knit the tissues – that
thread is simply a trellis to guide the body in its own
work of healing.
This idea of the body as belonging to the green,
organic world is something often forgotten in the
clinics and hospital wards where I’ve trained and
worked – so much so that it came as a surprise to read
of a physician who has taken it to the heart of her
clinical management. Victoria Sweet is an associate
professor of medicine at the University of California
in San Francisco. For many years she worked in one
of the last almshouses in the United States – a hospital
for the poor who have nowhere else to go.
Sweet’s book God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital and
a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine explains how,
after reading about the medieval healer Hildegard
of Bingen, she came to the conclusion that, to better
describe the aims of recovery, we should resurrect
Hildegard’s medieval concept of viriditas, or
“greening” – to be healed is to be reinvigorated by the
same force that gives life to trees as much as it does
human beings. She, too, observed that the work of
the physician is much more like that of a gardener
than it is like a mechanic.
This makes intuitive sense: until very recently,
physicians had to study botany, not only because
so many medicines are derived from plants, but
because the study of plants is a way to understand
life itself. The GP I had as a child – the one who sent
me urgently to hospital with meningitis – told me
later that he had to take botany classes as part of
his medical school curriculum in the 1950s. It is as
if, with the pharmaceutical revolutions of the later
20th century, we have forgotten something of the
importance of a broader approach to recovery. It has
been shown that patients recovering in a hospital
bed need less pain-relieving medication if they
have a view out over something green, growing
and alive. This was recognised long ago by Florence
Nightingale, but seemingly forgotten by the modern
architects of our hospitals.
The word “physician” can be rooted back to the
Greek physis, meaning “nature”, and phuo, which
means “to grow”. Just like a plant, what we need
in order to grow back into wholeness is a “regime”
of the right nutrients, the right environment and
the right attitude – and to be left in peace. This
attitude to recovery has been crowded out in modern
medicine because it takes time. Sweet wouldn’t want
to return to medieval medicine, and wouldn’t give
up our blood tests and scans, our robotic surgery or
antibiotics. But she would like to see the value of
time restored to the practice of medicine – and so
would I.
Doctors and nurses bring their own personalities
and experience to every medical encounter, and
physical conditions if they perceive their clinician
The word “doctor” comes from docere, meaning
“to teach” or “to guide”, and just as every teacher
you’ve ever had works with a different style, so
does every doctor. The idea that there’s a universal
approach every practitioner should adopt is false,
and would be a terrible way to offer medical care. In
I misjudge, guessing wrongly which kind of doctor
that particular patient needs me to be.
I’m not sure this kind of intuition is something that

can necessarily be taught. But what can be taught
is the confidence to act on the small
voices of conscience and experience
8 The long read
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
 it was referral to a food bank. Having enough food in
that suggest when a therapeutic relationship
will benefit from going off-piste – away from the
well-trimmed paths of textbook solutions into
something wilder, more unscripted and perhaps
more effective. Within modern medicine, this creates
a conflict, between an idea of a clinical encounter
that should be measurable, reproducible and thus
open to professional regulation of standards, and
the idea of the clinical encounter as an alchemy that
combines the experience of two human beings in an
unrepeatable moment that changes both of them.
Doctors have to be well grounded in the science
of medicine – that isn’t up for debate. But what is
open to question is whether scientific knowledge
is where medical practice ends, or where it begins.
The answer might of course be different in different
situations. I have some patients who see me solely
as the conduit through which to gain access to
specialists, and others who want from me, as a
representative of the medical establishment, the
scientific facts of their particular condition. And at
the other end of the spectrum I’ve known patients
for whom the aim of our consultations is to feel
cared for, and to be given a sense of confidence in
their recovery even when their condition is one
that can’t be cured. Just as some people need to
understand the science of their disease in order to
better appreciate how to defeat it, others need to
understand illness as a story that is tending towards
a happy ending. I’m happy to take whichever
approach the patient prefers: the biology of an
illness, or its biography. Both are equally valid ways
of approaching medical encounters. Similarly we
would do well, as a profession, to expand the notion
of what counts as a therapy.
Drugs can be the least of healing, and the idea
that therapies must be something that you swallow
or inject – that they should be pills or syrups or
infusions – is manifestly untrue. I’ve seen choirs,
walking groups, gardening clubs and voluntary work
revolutionise the health of patients of mine, and there
are many opportunities, frequently unexploited, for
patients to become their own best physicians, often
with the help of non-medical agencies.
Similarly, there can be non-medical solutions that
help greatly with medical problems. For a gambling
addict I knew, the most effective therapy was referral
to a debt counsellor. For a woman struggling against
drug dependency, starving herself to feed her habit,
the cupboard gave her the peace of mind to be able
to address her addiction. For a fit, newly retired and
newly widowed man I knew, it was volunteering in a
charity shop that helped him the most. For someone
escaping the stress of an abusive marriage with her
three children, it was a phone call to the local branch
of Women’s Aid. For an immigrant family living in a
damp, cramped slum that was worsening one child’s
asthma, it was a letter to the housing department.
Clinicians such as doctors, nurses and
physiotherapists drop in and out of patients’ lives
so fleetingly that for most people in recovery, the
majority of caring work is done by family and friends.
Some of my patients over the years have found it
difficult to remember the needs and the frustrations
of loved ones who are doing the bulk of that work.
But the contributions of those around us to healing
are irreplaceable, and their resilience is something to
be cherished and protected. It, too, may hold the key
to recovery.
It is a tyranny to assume that positivity can overcome
all obstacles. Much of what constitutes illness consists
of things we cannot change. In his book Between
Sickness and Health: The Landscape of Illness and
Wellness, the rehabilitation specialist Christopher
Ward has written of how his first step with a new
patient is always to acknowledge their suffering, and
to then redefine the goals of treatment not necessarily
as “rehabilitation”, but as “possibilitation”: the
opportunity of each person to work towards the best
possible version of their life.
Even with the advances of 21st-century medical
technology, surgery, DNA profiling and gene therapy,
the list of illnesses that can be definitively cured is
surprisingly short. In terms of drugs or quick fixes,
Everyone has a differenttempo medicine has depressingly little to offer people
suffering from long Covid symptoms. But for all
of convalescence,and will need that the western medical attitude to the body and
illness frequently disappoints, it remains a powerful
different strategies. It’snormal approach, and for that reason has been adopted in
some form or another across much of the globe.
that the process can beslow Even its ability to define and name our illnesses can
offer consolation – I’ve seen many reassured by that
act of naming, comforted by the knowledge that
what afflicts them has an existence separate from
themselves. The naming of an illness offers access
to a community of others who have found ways
GY; P/GY of living with the same difficulties, and that itself
can be a source of hope. But there’s a paradox at
work: categorising an illness can offer a false sense
of definition, locking us into an expectation that
becomes self-fulfilling. I’ve known patients who
accept the label of an illness with relief, and others
who detest all labels as stigmatising. Where possible, I
try to take those preferences into account.
The reality of mind and body is one of dynamism
and change – any vision of human life that is static
at heart is an illusion. Sometimes the most helpful
attitude to adopt is not to think of illness categories
as concrete, immutable destinies, but as stories of the
mind and the body. Within certain impassable limits,
stories can be rewritten.
No one is getting any younger, and all of us would
do well to remember that health can never be a
final destination, but a balance between extremes,
different for everyone, and whether we achieve it or
not depends on our goals and priorities as much as it
depends on anatomy and physiology. Every illness is
unique, which means that all recoveries must also be
in some sense unique. There is no one-size-fits-all to
getting better. And though I have tried to set out some
principles that have proven helpful over the years
in guiding me, and my patients, through the many
landscapes of illness, I’m conscious that it’s possible
 to touch on only a few waypoints – it’s rarely possible
Gavin Francis to indicate an easy way out. It’s a landscape we all
is a GP in have to visit sooner or later. From time to time we all
Edinburgh need to learn the art of convalescence. •
and a regular
contributor to Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalescence by Gavin
the long read Francis is published by Wellcome/Profile

Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
Established 1906
Country diary
The Roaches,
Staffordshire
A moist airstream surging
through the cold massif of the
Peak District deposited ground
fog over mid-Derbyshire. Just to
the west, however, at the county
boundary with Staffordshire,
and before the world fell away to
mist-enshrouded flatlands about
Leek, there was a band of high
country held in piercing sunlight.
What little warmth fired down
at this place then rebounded
off the bare gritstone ridges, so
that the air around the Roaches
actually felt hot.
Perhaps it was these conditions,
in a context of otherwise absolute
winter stillness, that gave rise to
the day’s wildlife drama. For in
the fields, and in an eddy of slow-
rising warmth drifting toward
the hill known as Hen Cloud,
there unfolded a remarkable
abundance of spiders.
Initially I noticed it as strands
of white wafting thread, wound
around the roof edge, walls, gates
and fence posts near the cafe at this
spot. Then I began to feel strands of
cottony stuff in my eyes. Looking
down, I could see a million silvery
pixels glistening in wavy lines
among the fields.
There were spiders everywhere:
on fence tops, on stone figures in
the cafe garden, on dead plants,
bushes, running through my hair
and across my cheek. On one post I
counted 15. But the deepest insight
into overall numbers came when
I ran binoculars from the ground
into the middle sky. The air had
become a visible fluid made almost
liquid by snaking, lifting lengths of
silk. I’ve never seen anything like
it. There must have been millions
of money spiders, probably in the
family Linyphiidae, dispersing in
response to their high densities in a
technique known as “ballooning”.
The drag of air through the silk
is greater than the weight of its
maker, and the spider is carried
aloft to pastures new. Who knows
where it might settle? Silk strands
have been recorded at elevations of
6,000m. When Krakatoa erupted
in 1883 and punished the whole
world with a summer of ashy
skies and plunging temperatures,
the first to plant a flag for life on
that dead volcano was a spider
on its magical silk carpet.
Mark Cocker
We do not publish letters where
only an email address is supplied;
please include a full postal
address, a reference to the article
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We may edit letters. Submission
and publication of letters is subject
to our terms and conditions: see
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Letters 9
•
 guardian.letters@theguardian.com
 @guardianletters
Ofsted inspectors could says it must show a ‘sustained’ CO2
reading of 1,500 particles per million
Corrections and
clarifications
ease school staffing crisis
or higher for a week when occupied,”
your report says. So, while teaching
a merged class, a non-teacher needs • The headline of an opinion
to count air particles.Help!
Michael Bassey
piece should have referred to
“Ubuntu”, an African ethical
Emeritus professor of education, philosophy, rather than “Bantu”
In its response to the staffing act as a useful means of updating Nottingham Trent University (Can white South Africa live up to
crisis in schools (Merge classes inspectors about the challenges of Tutu’s Bantu ideals?, 1 January,
to cope with Covid staffing crisis, working in them. • If Robert Halfon is really Journal, p4). In the context of
headteachers told, 3 January), Politicians are forever claiming concerned about children’s South Africa, the term “Bantu”
there’s one resource that the that they don’t have a magic wand “wellbeing, mental health and is considered offensive because
government has yet to tap into to solve complex problems, but anxiety”, he will get behind of its strong association with the
– the inspectorate. If Ofsted is this measure is the closest they are evidenced-based measures, such apartheid era, when it was used
not going to inspect “secondary likely to get to a partial solution that as mask-wearing, to help keep as a designation for the country’s
schools or colleges in the first could be enacted immediately. them in schools. black population; it is now used
week of term”, why not deploy What’s not to like? Disruption caused by illness, only when referring to a specific
the inspectors to teach in them, Frank Coffield school closures and a succession group of African languages.
and why not for as long as the Emeritus professor of education, of unfamiliar teachers is bound to
health crisis affects staffing levels? UCL Institute of Education be extremely damaging to young Editorial complaints and corrections can be sent to
Instead of telling teachers that people. To date there has been guardian.readers@theguardian.com or The readers’
editor, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU.
their provision is “inadequate” • Nadhim Zahawi has told schools no serious government effort in You can also leave a voicemail on 020 3353 4736.
or “requiring improvement”, the to “utilise all your available teaching the UK to improve ventilation in
inspectors could lead by example and non-teaching workforce to schools. However, the evidence
and show staff how “outstanding”
teaching can be done.
maximise on-site education for as is incontrovertible: masks help
many pupils as possible”. to cut transmission. Children are bedless
There are clearly not enough
inspectors to fill all the vacancies
It would seem that schools are
being seen by the Department for
Many students will be relieved
to be in classrooms where others but the rich sleep on
that will be caused by the Education as simply holding places are wearing masks, especially
pandemic, but Ofsted has around to keep children off the streets those in clinically vulnerable I was horrified to read your article
1,800 employees across eight and away from homes so that their families who carry the burden of (3 January) about children whose
regions, most of whom could be parents can go to work. knowing they could bring home a education is suffering because
redeployed to where the need Few state schools have virus that could kill. they do not have access to a bed
is greatest, in those schools and classrooms large enough to None of this is ideal; pandemics of their own. What sort of society
colleges serving the most deprived “merge classes”, but since five of aren’t. As adults we have to stop do we live in when a young and no
communities. This policy would the current six ministers in the undermining measures that will doubt overworked teacher needs
cost nothing, it would be hugely DfE went to independent schools, help protect students and staff to take this on herself by delivering
beneficial to those institutions and they may not realise this. and keep schools open. beds to her deprived pupils? I hope
pupils in improving the quality of “For a classroom to qualify for Caroline O’Dwyer the country’s multimillionaires
their education, and it would also a government air purifier, the DfE London and billionaires, some of whom
enjoy the benefit of tax avoidance
schemes, can sleep in their many
Landowners need helpto let walkers roam the planning policy guidelines in this beds in their many properties.
regard I would be delighted. Margaret Woolacott
Pelham Olive Lancing, West Sussex
I am a landowner with 9,000 acres. planning permission, which I did. London
I am probably in the minority of Several months later I got a reply • Re Tim Dowling’s article (Can
landowners because I encourage from the Loch Lomond and the •One wintry day in the 1970s, I consider myself a foodie if I won’t
walkers on my land. There are, Trossachs national park indicating I took my two small children out, eat Marmite?, 30 December), the
however, additional barriers to that permission was highly unlikely intending to walk in the grounds of best snack ever is a thin slice of
access aside from the “prejudice, to be granted. I was staggered by a nearby stately home. But the tall toast or bread, topped by a thin
traffic, locked gates, signs with this. The right hand clearly does not gates were locked, with a “private spread of Marmite, topped by thin
the dread words ‘private – keep know what the left hand is doing. – keep out” sign. We climbed over slices of peeled cucumber. Cut
out’” mentioned by John Harris The desire to improveaccess to them and started our walk. As we the crusts off if you really want to
(Walking isn’t just good for the soul, my land is entirely altruistic. I do not came in sight ofthe house, a window enter foodie heaven. Delicious.
it’s a radical act, 27 December). charge for entry on to the land, my opened and a voice said: “I say, do Dr Mary Poulter
There is the planning department business is not dependent on access you know thisis private property?” London
of our national parks to consider. to the hill, and I have notea shop or “Oh, yes,” I replied, “we saw your
I was recently encouraged to other commercial outlet dependent notice when we climbed over the • My father, a serving non-
apply for a grant to create additional on passing traffic. I genuinely believe gates.” “Well, don’t come too near commissioned officer in the army,
footpaths on my land. Indications that more people should get out and the house,” the voice said, closing was posted to Hong Kong in the
were that some grant would be walk for the benefitof their health the window. Wehad a lovely walk. early 1950s. He caught sprue, a
forthcoming, and I was told that and life. If your newspaper would Morag Stuart wasting disease, and lost about
the next step would be to apply for like to support a campaign to change London five stone in weight. The diet
prescribed to build him up was
brown bread and Marmite. He
Complex family roots of cruelty and abuse “Maxwell-style father”, but
delve into the backstory of any
lived another 50 years after that.
Ben Cardwell
cruelly troubled individual and Halesworth, Suffolk
Jonathan Freedland is right to say of childhood emotional brutality you discover an intergenerational
we fight shy of the “why” question at the hands of parents or carers. history. No one is born inherently • I have a memory of my younger
when faced with extreme acts of What they take into themselves is evil, or good. It’s about innate brother pleading, during the Lord’s
cruelty or abuse (Maxwell’s case this relationship. Some re-enact dispositions and their nurturing Prayer, for God to “deliver us from
raises a question some may say this in later life, expelling their over time. Between the initial eagles” (Letters, 3 January).
is naive: why?, 1 January). But he experiences on to others. Others conditions and the later destructive Trevor Hedges
pulls up short. We do know a lot keep it internalised, then inflict behaviours there will be twists Hyssington, Powys
about the explanations. There is a injury and cruelty on themselves. and turns of complex causality. It’s
small group of clinicians who work Fortunately, many will have these we need to understand better • Is it premature to blame Brexit
with such people in prisons and ameliorative experiences that to avoid resort to theology or just for the absence of Easter eggs
special hospitals, and their findings protect others and themselves throwing up our hands in despair. from supermarket shelves?
can be simply summarised. Every from the worst consequences. Prof Andrew Cooper Dr Mark Wilcox
one of them has their own history True, not everyone has a Tavistock Centre, London New Mill, West Yorkshire
10
Richard Leakey
Kenyan conservationist,
fossil hunter and politician
who promoted Africa as
R
the birthplace of mankind
ichard Leakey,
who has died aged
77, called his 1983
autobiography
One Life, perhaps
because the rest
of us might have
thought more
than one person must have been
involved in such varied activity.
He was a great fossil discoverer,
notably of early hominids; a
museum director; a wildlife
conservationist and enemy of
poachers; a politician, founding
his own Safina party; and an
excellent fundraiser, never short
of projects on which to spend the
money. To many outsiders, he
Obituaries
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022
was the most famous Kenyan of
them all. To Kenyans, he was both
skilful thorn and prickly hero.
There were many contradictions.
Leakey’s scientiic discoveries,
notably in the area of human
evolution, were astonishing,
and yet he lacked qualiications.
Both his parents were renowned
as human palaeontologists and,
although he resented living in
the shadow of their success, he
was never reluctant to use the
family name. Most determinedly he
promoted Africa as the birthplace
of mankind, but could be jealous
when others not only followed his
lead but helped - via further fossil
finds - to advance this theory.
Richard, the middle of three
sons, was born and grew up in
Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, where
his parents, Mary (nee Nicol) and
Louis Leakey, were based while
they made their most important
discoveries in the Olduvai Gorge in
Tanzania. As children, Richard and
his brothers were taken on fossil-
hunting expeditions.
Jonathan, the eldest, did find
fossils (notably in 1960 remains
that were categorised as a new
species, Homo habilis), but then
became a trader in animals and
animal products. Philip, the
youngest, had little wish to follow
in parental footsteps and would
Leakey with a become the first white member of
Homo erectus independent Kenya’s parliament.
skull in Kenya, Richard, although he first appeared
1985. He was to disdain the life of a fossil-finder,
a discoverer of in the end found far more hominid
early hominids, material than his parents had
a protector of done and put the study of human
wildlife, the evolution on a much firmer footing.
founder of a He went on his first major
political party collecting expedition at the age of
and a museum three, and was only six when he
director found his first important fossil,
 / the complete jaw of an extinct
- giant pig. His parents were full of
praise, but promptly took over
his excavation, causing him to be
“furious and deeply upset”, he
wrote.For outsiders it may have
seemed romantic having parents
scratching away in the Olduvai
Gorge, but there was a price to be
paid. Ancestral Passions (1995),
a book on the Leakey family by
Virginia Morell, chronicles the
jealousies, rivalries and feuds.
Leakey’s formal education ended
when he reached 16 and left Duke
of York school (now Lenana school)
in Nairobi. He then trapped animals
for cash, and started a tourist safari
firm, hoping to gain independence
from his parents. At 18 he learned
to fly, and the following year led a
N
fossil-hunting expedition to Lake
Natron. Unfortunately, as soon
as he had located his first major
“find”, scientists moved in to
examine it, and he was brushed
aside, becoming no more – in his
opinion – than “the tent boy”.
ot only was
he furious
but he was
also anxious
about the
future, feeling
ill-equipped
academically. A
few years later,on a second Natron
expedition, he met the archaeologist
Margaret Cropper, who then left
Africa to continue her studies at
Edinburgh University. Leakey
became doubly attracted by the idea
of being qualified – he could acquire
a degree and be close to Margaret.
In Scotland he passed university
entrance exams but, this done, he
and Margaret returned to Kenya.
They married in 1965, acquired
funding via his father, and were
soon busy on an excavation by Lake
Baringo. Quarrels began almost
immediately. They reminded
Leakey, all too powerfully, of his
parents’ own warfare, and did not
diminish when Margaret gave birth
Tomany to their daughter, Anna. “I had
this horror,” said Leakey, “of Anna
outsiders,
growing up in a house where there
he was were going to be fights.”
the most Making the separation easier
famous to contemplate was the presence
of Meave Epps, who had been
Kenyan of
recruited to work in Kenya by his
them all. To
father. She, a young zoologist,
Kenyans, worked at a primate research
centre, and did not meet Leakey
he was on her first Kenyan visit, partly
both skilful because she had heard that he was
“so dreadful, so awful”. When
thorn and they did meet she revised her
pricklyhero opinion and was soon travelling
with him on another fossil-hunting
expedition. He and Margaret
divorced in 1969 and Leakey
married Meave in 1970.
In the same year Leakey set up a
camp at Koobi Fora on the eastern
shore of Lake Turkana, Kenya.
He had observed the area when
flying back from Ethiopia and it
had looked far more interesting as
a possible fossiliferous region than
maps indicated. It was exceptional.
Within a short time Koobi Fora was
living up to its promise. Fossils of
innumerable animals were found
and also of hominids, the human
forms that mayhave been on the
direct line of our ancestry.

Tuesday 4 January 2022 The Guardian
Science may consider all fossils
to be of interest, but the human
story is dominant. Koobi Fora was
to reveal much of this ancient
story and the “hominid gang” – as
Leakey’s African fossil team was
named – did splendid work. In
particular, Kamoya Kimeu proved
outstandingly adept at seeing a
glint, a shape, a fragment of some
ancient ancestor.
Leakey did not spend all his
time at Koobi Fora, being busy in
building up the National Museums
of Kenya, of which he became
administrative director in 1968
and director in 1974. Up at Koobi
Fora the fossil gang was as active as
ever, finding 35 hominid specimens
in the 1972 season. Leakey had
instructed Kimeu and the others
that he had to be informed of
significant finds because he alone
would excavate them.
Thus it happened that he started
work on 1470, the skull portion
initially thought to be rather
unrewarding. It proved to be – after
Meave had shown her excellence
at fitting jigsaw pieces together – a
nearly complete Homo skull, and
far and away the most important
find that year. At once Leakey
boxed it up, determining to show it
to his father as quickly as possible.
The older man was absolutely
delighted, mainly because of its
age. In his hands he had proof that
a big-brained Homo, whose cranial
capacity was about half that of
modern humans, had lived in Africa
more than 2 million years ago. The
excitement of the skull made peace
between the two palaeontologists,
and all the old tension disappeared.
But within a week Louis had
collapsed with a heart attack in
London while on his way to New
York. His death was the cause
for further family feuding. Mary
decided Louis should be cremated.
Such an act is forbidden by Kikuyu,
the African grouping into which
Louis had been initiated. Leakey
countermanded his mother’s and
brothers’ wishes, arranging for the
body to be returned and buried in
Kikuyuland. “I was very nasty, very
mean about this, and said things
that should never have been said,”
he reported afterwards.
The 1470 skull had been dated
for him by a team in Britain as about
2.6 million years old. Others then
questioned this age, believing
2 million (or less) a better estimate.
Leakey took this contradiction
more as a personal affront than a
subject for scientific debate and
stuck to his guns far longer than
he should have done. Similarly,
when a new star arrived on the
East African hominid scene, the
American Donald Johanson,
Leakey’s initial friendliness later
turned to bitter resentment.
Johanson later wrote of his
utter determination to surpass
“palaeoanthropology’s certified
supernova” and Leakey did not
welcome such competition,
particularly when Johanson started
finding older, more intriguing and
•
 obituaries@theguardian.com
 @guardianobits
more numerous hominid remains, Top, Leakey,
such as the famous “Lucy” in 1974. seated left,
A further blow came when
National Geographic magazine,
so long a supporter of the family’s party during an civil service from 1999 until 2001.
work, refused Leakey’s request
in 1981 for further funding. He
“seriously began to consider
leaving palaeoanthropology for
V
good,” as he later wrote.
He might have considered
leaving it much earlier, as in 1968
he had been diagnosed with kidney confiscated ivory Institute. In 2004 he founded the
disease and given 10 years to live. In and rhino horn. conservation NGO WildlifeDirect
1979 – aged 35 – he was told he had The president set and served on its board for a decade.
reached end-stage renal disease.
arious friends
offered a kidney,
but no match
was as good
as that of his
younger brother.
After much
deliberation,
Leakey wrote to Philip. At that
point, the two men had not
spoken to each other for 10 years,
but Philip agreed to help. “Now
I won’t be able to hate his guts,”
he said afterwards. Around three
months after the operation Leakey
was able to fly back to Kenya.
Although busy with all seven
of Kenya’s national museums,
biannual lecture tours to raise
funding, and sitting on the board
of numerous institutions, he
longed for some further challenge.
This arrived in April 1989 when
Kenya’s president, Daniel arap
Moi, appointed Leakey head of the
Kenya Wildlife Service. Poaching,
notably of elephant ivory, was a
horrendous problem, and Leakey
tackled it with vigour.
He drew worldwide attention
to the problem by burning Kenya’s
stockpiles of confiscated ivory in
public, in a pyre lit by the president,
a process repeated in 2016 by the
current president Uhuru Kenyatta.
Leakey removed corrupt officials,
and encouraged his army of rangers
to give short shrift to anyone
suspected of unlawful animal
destruction. Many people were
killed and, coupled with a ban
on ivory trading, this caused the
slaughter of elephants to drop.
Leakey knew he was making
enemies, some in high places, but
that did not reduce his zest for
animal conservation.
Four years after this work began,
he was forced to make a crash
landing when his aircraft’s engine
faltered. The four passengers
were relatively undamaged by the
plane’s encounter with a tree, but
Leakey’s legs were terribly injured.
In time both were amputated
below the knee. He asserted that
sabotage had been the cause of
the crash. He resigned in 1994
from the Wildlife Service when the
government started to investigate
allegations of corruption within
the organisation.
Leakey had frequently
proclaimed that, as his greatest
ambition of them all, he wished to
be president of Kenya. He formed
his own political party, Safina (after
the Swahili for ark or boat), in 1995,
with supporters became an MP in 1998 and served
of his Safina as cabinet secretary and head of the
election rally With Morell,he collaborated
in 1997. Above, on a second volume of memoir,
with Uhuru Wildlife Wars (2001). In 2002 he was
Kenyatta, the appointed professor of anthropology
president of at Stony Brook University, in Long
Kenya, in 2016, Island, New York, and in 2005 chair
with piles of of the affiliated Turkana Basin
the pyre alight He returned to the fight against
R / poaching as chair of the Kenya
RR Wildlife Service from 2015 until 2018.
Leakey was appointed to
the Dutch Order of the Golden
Ark (awarded for an important
contribution to conservation) in
1989, honoured in Kenya as an
elder of the Burning Spear in 1993,
and elected to fellowship of the
oyal Society in 2007.
He is survived by Meave and
their daughters, Louise and Samira,
by Anna and by his brothers.
Anthony Smith
Richard Erskine Frere Leakey,
palaeoanthropologist, politician and
conservationist, born 19 December
1944; died 2 January 2022
Anthony Smith died in 2014
11
Birthdays
Lord (Charles) Allen of Kensington,
former chief executive, ITV, 65;
Lisa Appignanesi, writer and
campaigner, 76; Jackie Ballard,
former chief executive, Alcohol
Concern, 69; Graham Bell,
Olympic skier and broadcaster,
56; Prof Dame Vicki Bruce,
psychologist, 69; Grace Bumbry,
opera singer, 85; Dyan Cannon,
actor and director, 85; Dame
Marcela Contreras, blood
expert and immunologist, 80;
Chris Cutler, percussionist,
composer and lyricist, 75; Guy
Forget, tennis player and sports
administrator, 57; Beth Gibbons,
Poaching, singer and songwriter, 57; Robin
Guthrie, musician, 60; Lady
notably of (Angela) Harris of Richmond,
elephant Lib Dem politician, 78; Thelma
ivory, was a Holt, theatrical producer, 90;
Prof Brian Josephson, physicist,
horrendous 82; Lord (Ken) Macdonald of
problem River Glaven, former warden,
and Leakey Wadham College and former
director of public prosecutions,
tackled it 69; John McLaughlin, guitarist
with vigour and composer, 80; David
Millar, cyclist, 45; Mick Mills,
footballer and coach, 73; James
Milner, footballer, 36; Roger
Mosey, broadcasting executive
and master, Selwyn College,
Cambridge, 64; Julia Ormond,
actor, 57; Lord (Bhikhu) Parekh,
political theorist, 87; Nicholas
Payne, director, Opera Europa,
77; Lady (Jill) Pitkeathley,
Labour politician, 82; Craig Revel
Horwood, dancer, author and
choreographer, 57; Barbara Rush,
actor, 95; Rick Stein, chef and
broadcaster, 75; Michael Stipe,
musician, 62; Bernard Sumner,
guitarist and singer, 66; Katharine
Viner, editor-in-chief, Guardian
News & Media, 51; Paul Watkins,
cellist and conductor, 52.
Announcements
PENNINGTON, John. Socialist, trade unionist and
Guardian reader, died on Tuesday 21 December
after a short illness at the age of 94. Remembered
for his love, humanity, and political commitment,
especially by his five children, 14 grandchildren,
four great-grandchildren, and wider family and
friends. Funeral on Tuesday 11 January at 11.30am
at Landican Cemetery, Wirral (numbers limited due
to COVID; please contact Quinn’s Funeral Directors
on 0151-909 5668). No flowers but donations to the
British Heart Foundation.
For Announcements, Acknowledgments, Adoptions,
Anniversaries, Birthdays, Births, Deaths,
Engagements, Memorial Services and In Memoriam,
email us at announcements@theguardian.com
including your name, address and telephone
number or phone 0203 353 2114.
Reread our obituaries
of the actor Betty White,
the cricketer Raymond
Illingworth and the
broadcaster Janice Long
theguardian.com/
obituaries
12 Puzzles
• The Guardian Tuesday 4 January 2022

Yesterday’s Killer sudoku Codeword

solutions
Easy Each letter of the alphabet makes at least one appearance in the grid,
and is represented by the same number wherever it appears. The letters
Killer sudoku The normal rules of decoded should help you to identify other letters and words in the grid.
Easy sudoku apply: fill each
row, column and 3x3
box with all the numbers
from 1 to 9. In addition,
the digits in each inner
shape (marked by dots)
must add up to the
number in the top corner
of that box. No digit can
be repeated within an
inner shape.
Medium

Medium

Codeword

Cryptic crossword Guardian cryptic crossword No 8,645set by Nutmeg

Solution No. 28,644
D O G G E D MO B Y D I C K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Across Down
P R E A A O L
R E L E A S E S NOUGAH
N E I T D G M
1 Part-time ambassador, having to 1 Snack bar’s offering primarily
NURS E R Y RHYME do housework, failed (3,3,4) beans and pork sausages (4)
M B E R I I 6 Exchange of prisoners rejected 2 Change of heart in right-wing city
CASE C ENTR I NG 9 10 (4) of old (4)
R L N A G A E
DAR TMOOR PUSH 9 Dissolute master joining ship 3 Achilles’ aunt in play sees visions
S N P A I S 11 that’s changed sides (10) (12)
A C K NOWL E D G E D
H A H N H F I 10 Works poorly after end of term (4) 4 Any number have a liking for sex
B I K I NI TSAR I STS 12 12 Proposing eco-friendly links, to (5)
N L T E S R C
MO N S I E U R T E E T H E some extent? (7,5) 5 Assault force becoming excited
13 14 15 Brewing empire’s leading wine (3,2,4)
opened first (9) 7 Clear standard breached by
15 16 17 17 Recalled part of Wagnerian opera training policy proposals by
being broadcast (2,3) government (5,5)
18 Secondary proposition from man 8 Daughter invested in Italian
docked on lunar module (5) china, apparently, for mum
18 19 19 Manchester ground not or dad? (10)
cameraman’s last picture (3,6) 11 How old prisoner is transported,
20 Merlot best in mixed drinks (6,6) when one can agree to act (3,2,7)
24 Doing less than (2,2) 13 Hitchcock film sure to follow
20 21 25 Horse died — Sue admits interval (10)
22 23
boundless regret (6,4) 14 Doctor met diarist to make
26 The necessary spot of sweetener superficial complaint (10)
24 25
in tonic (4) 16 Rising when expected, I
27 Plant grew further behind ditch subsequently hit back (9)
(6,4) 21 Dad chopping tree up for timber
(5)
26 27
22 Serving men very roughly (2,2)
Stuck? For help call 0906 200 83 83.
23 Defence ultimately presented by
Calls cost £1.10 per minute, plus your bank employee (4)
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