elissa flynn
nū
Nū is project creating a multi-channel brand including a print publication, website and immersive events held in Brighton. The focal point for Nū is on our belief that there is a higher value in social connection and real life experiences than many of us take advantage of in our over-digitally dependent dayto-day lives. Derived from the Old English word for ‘now’, Nū encourages its consumers to welcome the present, indulge their inner inquisitiveness and step away from the screen of the digital world. Nū is a creative platform exploring fashion, music and art; brought to life through immersive events held in Brighton. With an aim to seize and expose local artists and musicians in their prime state of energetic ambitious raucousness, such as Dorset’s Leeches, Southampton’s Bel Esprit and Worthing’s Jay Sawyer. “In light of current world situations it is more important than ever to band together and stand up for what is good and what is right. Our focus at Nū is not solely on a product, or a brand, we aspire to organically form a community through inclusion and connection - a community that thrives on creativity.”
Industry Situation Macro Environment Nū is an SME company positioned in the Fashion industry within the Lifestyle market. Working closely with independent artists and venues such as Dorset’s Leeches, Southampton’s Bel Esprit and Worthing’s Jay Sawyer, the initiative works to promote unconventional and unruly artists at the start of their career. Specialising in organising progressive shows, making print publications and curating exhibitions, the loyal community of consumers will allow Nū to set in place a unique system, whilst promoting a more sustainable outlook on life. This enables them to introduce a large and diverse young audience to the fashion, music, art, film and photography that they trust.
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Political
• Increase of income tax of consumers may affect sales, as publications and events are not essential to everyday living. • Brexit: laws and regulations are likely to change; over the past years it has grown into a single market, allowing goods and people to move around unrestricted, it may be harder to book/work with international musicians and artists. • Post Brexit inflation will affect how people spend their money. • The current threat level for international terrorism in the UK is severe. This could result in closure of borders lowering the international market and ease of travel, lack of sales of fashion and lifestyle magazines and people becoming more reluctant to leave their homes for outings unessential to everyday living, such as music events. • The risks associated with legislation change can have a positive or negative effect on the brand, and/or restrict trade of products or places that can restrict ability to trade. • American election may have an affect on how bands and artists are able to work in collaboration in the UK. • UK general election.
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Economical
The cost of the publication and events. Falling exchange rates may impact how people spend their money. UK unemployment rate, will affect spending of people in target market if they are or have recently become unemployed. The British Chambers of Commerce has decreased its GDP growth forecast from 2.6 to 2.3% in 2017 post Brexit, resulting in lower than expected growth in household consumption and services. The UK business investment is expected to grow 7.4% in 2017. Cost of rent and utility bills for target market will affect their spending habits. Mortgage costs.
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Social
• Rising concern for sustainability. • In 2013 74% of households claimed to recycle all the time. • Religion or culture of target audience may affect their interest in the platform. • Lifestyle of demographic will affect their disposable income. • Change in trends meaning topics of the platform and publication may become less popular. • Change in consumer attitude affecting their emotional connection to the brand. • Consumers seeking platforms where like-minded people are represented and communities are formed.
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Legal
• Shipping and traffic laws, will affect how the company distribute their products. • Changes in environmental laws may affect shipping, paper and ink supply/usage. • Protecting artist work through copy rights and disclaimers. • Potential for legal claims against content. • Talent release/consent forms should be completed for images, film and interviews.
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Technological
Social media platforms expanding companie’s online presence. Online marketing through social media free of charge, with options to sponsor and expand later. Interactive consumer relationship through online promotional strategies and social media. Online magazines may be more convenient for consumer. Using technology and social media to bring community together. Technological developments and trends will affect where consumers seek new information and content.
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Environmental
Carbon footprint. Promotion of used clothing and recycling. Sustainable paper and ink - FSC endorsed. Recycling at events. Bad weather, consumer unlikely to want to leave the house to purchase publication or attend events.
Market Situation
Micro Environment
Operating within the publishing sector, one of the brand’s most unique characteristics is the tie of their quarterly publication with their events, allowing consumers access to printed media, shows and events, as well as other perks. The platform runs online, in print and physically through its immersive events such as gigs, exhibitions, parties and film screenings, the first of which was a takeover of ‘Uncle Monty’s Party House’ at Marwoods Bar & Coffee House, Brighton. Targeting young and creative inquisitives alike, the brand aims to pull its consumer away from behind the screen of the digital world and catapult them back into reality through its tactile publications and varying events.
Competitive Situation Variety of Events
Clash
Looking at other fashion and music magazines and platforms, there is a wide range to choose from. One of Nū’s unique selling points is their persistence to find and support emerging artists; therefore their competitor will be doing something similar. This eliminates some wellknown magazines that only promote fully established and popular music/arts. Crack, Huck, and Clash are the main competitors for Nū. Although Subbacultcha is placed close to Nū on the positioning graph, as it does not run in the UK it is considered an influencer opposed to a competitor.
Subbacultcha Huck
Kaltblut
Nū
Crack
Betty
High Fashion
Vintage, Street Style
i-D
Beat
Dazed and Confused Oh Comely Wonderland Fused Rough Trade Idol
Oyster Notion
Pylot
Low Variety/No Events
Flux
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Competitors
Competitor Review Although Huck and Nū have similar aspirations, the two function slightly differently; Huck is mass market, covering global arts and culture, whereas Nū hone in on local communities. Both have a keen eye for creative ability and finding idiosyncratic talent amid a crowd of monotonous normality. As Nū are a smaller organisation, the service of the website and publication all feel more personal, despite being accessible to thousands of people. Huck contains long form slow journalism, which is something that Nū could expand on. Clash contains more adverts but has a lower price point than Nū, with a strong focus on music and fashion but with less art and a busy website. Crack is very focused on music of all kinds globally, and their magazine is full of upcoming events and promotions, which can distract from the content. Similar to Nū they are localised and their publication is large format, which allows for a very visual and considered layout. Both Clash and Crack have inspired layouts with appealing use of colour, Clash in particular has a strong style of imagery, some of which would work in Nū.
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Huck
Strength
Weakness
Opportunity
Threat
Huck Magazine have a similar ethos to Nū and are also targeted at millennials, supporting independent culture, people and movements that go against the normal flow. Huck seeks out freethinkers, roaming the globe to document grassroots counterculture as it unfolds with those who are bursting with new thoughts and ideas. Their focus is on bike and board sports, travel, perspectives and art and culture, which include: art, music, photography, print and style. Their site is very accessible with a vast array or information, opinions and creativity; this runs alongside their print magazine produced every two months and available to buy for £6.
• Strong principles • Concern for the environment • Clean and appealing branding • Easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing website • Print magazine is engaging • Social media accounts on website • Frequently updated social media • Informative
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• People on the road (part of target market) will be unable to obtain copies of the magazine • Other more specific magazines competition
Clash
Strength
Weakness
Opportunity
Threat
Having begun in 2004, Clash have formed their brand identity and refined it over the years, resulting in an identifiable niche style evident in their publications and online. Clash Music is the umbrella for Clash Magazine, ClashMusic. com and Clash Live Events. Exploring themes of music, fashion and film, the tie of their website, events and publication allows consumers to fully engage with the brand in-between issues. Clash has a wide spectrum of audiences through their ability to acknowledge both established and emerging artists and the crossover of genres. The tone of voice reflects through the brand visuals, which are laid back and organised with a classic but contemporary feel.
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Crack Crack is an independent platform for contemporary culture, music and art, realised through their free monthly printed publication, as well as regularly updated website. Beginning 7 years ago, the platform now have 75 issues to their name, each growing and changing and has recently announced their expansion into Amsterdam. Primarily music based, Crack magazine is a fountain of knowledge of old, new and aspiring musicians, laid out beautifully in a large newsprint style publication. Each issue features an artist print in the centerfold, often full colour poster style illustrations.
Knowledgeable of their field Stylish Creative Clean likeable website and branding Print publication – mulitaward winning Reasonable price point: £6.99 Regularly updated social media Shows and Events Support of established and emerging artists and musicians Links to social media on website Creative aesthetic of publication Aligned and non intrusive advertising in publication Work with music festivals
Unable to view magazine online
Website isn’t as aesthetically pleasing as publication Advertising in publication
Curating exhibitions and gigs Music playlists curated by Huck
Expanding further across Europe More events around the UK More local focus
Diversifying too much may lead to loss of original focus/aims Small text in publication No related art content – missing audiences within target market Other printed publications could be more accessible
Strength
Weakness
Opportunity
Threat
• Knowledgeable • Creative • Collaborations with artists • Clean branding • Free Publication (£5 online) • Regularly updated social media • Shows and Events • Support of emerging and established musicians • Links to social media on website • Publication themes: music, culture, arts • Publications on Issuu.com • Relevant ads
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• Expanding further across the UK and Europe • Explore and feature the style and fashion of the target marke
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Not easy to find printed publication All events Bristol based If picked up for free, consumer less likely to keep hold of
Other printed or digital publications could be more accessible Too many ads
Consumer Profile Target group:
The defined target market is:
They are youthful but mature with an appreciation for fashion and the arts with an eclectic taste in music. As well as sharing a love for print publications, they share the commitment and support for young, up-and-coming artists. The audience is comprised of mostly artists, musicians, readers, writers, students, and professionals working in creative industries and media.
18-35 Location: London, Brighton Creative, Cultural, Individual, Passionate, Inquisitive, Eager to learn, Stylish, Intelligent, Mindful, Sociable Enjoys: discovering new music, art, discovering and supporting independent artists, travel, fashion, reading, immersion in nature, gigs, keeping up to date with current affairs, festivals, a good party
Music: Brands: Vintage Charity Shops Independent stores Urban Outfitters Zara
Varied taste New muscians Tame Impala Mac Demarco David Bowie The Maccabees Foals Mystery Jets Beach Baby The Cure The Black Keys Khruangbin Connan Mockasin
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W
Strength
Weakness
• Creative • Collaborations with artists and musicians • Clean website and branding • Publication: Quarterly • Social media updates about the brand, content and events • Immersive events • Support of local and emerging artists and musicians • Links to social media on website • Publication themes: fashion, music, arts • Online playlists • FSC endorsed paper used in print publication • Encourages consumers into physical 3D world into social, creative environments
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O Brand Community: These people represent the ideal audience of the brand. They are a dynamic and complex community of people passionate about music and art, supporting the platform through the purchase of the publication and regular attendance of events. They challenge and inspire, as the future of the brand is gradually moulded.
Doesn’t have a following or established client base as it is a start up Lack of backing money Has not formed a good reputation for itself yet as it is new Lack of stockists Only one event launched so far No income stream First time launching a brand and product
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Opportunity
Threat
• Membership/subscription for publication and events • Expanding further across the UK and Europe • Blog • Digital publication to purchase online • Engagement with readership for ideas to enhance platform • Mini free zine to give out at events • Income from events and publication sale • Potential adverts and/or sponsorship revenue • Partnering with established venues with regular clientel • Regular event slot • Artists and musicians promoting the brand
• Limited knowledge outside of South Coast – could be difficult to expand brand later • Cost of publication • Being unable to keep up with fast paced trends and demands of consumer • Price point being relevant to consumer • Competition of already established events and publications • Future production costs • Other printed publications could be more accessible • Limited use of Social Media may hinder online engagement
Marketing Mix Brand Analysis Product Process
Low usage of Social Media - only to boost events and info related to publication/brand
Youthful but mature
The process of Nū focuses on slow content, with a production of 4 print issues a year. The brand will begin by drawing up a list of desired content for the particular issue, this will be followed by sourcing, contacting and liaising with artists, musicians and creatives. During the content development and layout stage, Nū will also we working on the brands social media, website and events. Each area of the brand will be aligned and working with similar themes. Each Issue will have it’s own launch party in Brighton where consumers and contributors are welcomed to celebrate their efforts towards the brand and enjoy themselves.
Collaborations with artists and musicians
Conscious of environmental and ethical issues
Immersive events
Appreciation for new and old Sociable Sharing and acknowledging fashion and music innovations Aware of the good and bad in the world around us Gender neutral Mindful Responsible Engaging
Seeking to learn and constantly improve as a brand and community
Website Immersive
Inquisitive
Publication
Intelligent
Informative
Brand Essence
Stylish
Brand Values Brand Personality Brand In Action
“Nū provides 18-35 year olds with a platform exploring fashion, music and art. We do this through our printed publication, website and immersive events which will entice our consumers from behind the screen of the digital world.” Brand Positioning Statement
Physical Environment
Promotion Nū’s main promotional strategies are through word of mouth and through their use of Social Media: Facebook, Instagram and Spotify. As the brand progresses and the community forms and evolves, their promotion will be self generating, with the community expanding through their events. Social media is used to connect and engage online with their consumer, whilst informing their product and events, creating a buzz and anticipation around each event. Their social media accounts are very clean, often with promotional images or professional looking photographs, but in a relatively laid back style.
The brands physical home is in Brighton as this is where their events are held, however the publication also explores artists locally and from around the UK. Nū will be sold in Magazine Brighton and their partnered stores in London and around the UK. The publication will also be available to purchase online through Magazine Brighton which will be linked on Nū’s website. Nū’s website opens with their collaborative film ‘Traces, Imprints, Memories of Movement’ by up-andcoming documentary filmmaker Matthew Lewis. The piece explores the concept of choreographer Demelza Corbett and her documentation of movement in a still. The website features a variety of sections and subsections but kept in a clear and easy to navigate layout, such as ‘Home’, ‘Film’, ‘Events’, ‘Publication’, ‘About’. Subsections for ‘Publication’ and ‘Film’ include ‘Fashion’ ‘Music’ and ‘Art’ with the bottom of the homepage featuring social media badges for Facebook, Instagram and Spotify, where the brand connects with the consumers. The brands events are held in a variety of independent venues across the city of Brighton and Hove, this is where the platform is brought to life, their first installment was a takeover of ‘Uncle Monty’s Party House’ at Marwoods Bar and Coffee House. The brands online presence allows access globally to consumers who wish to follow the brand but are unable to get to Brighton for the events. The publication is also Brighton based representing local talent featuring artists and musicians, however they may not always hail from the area.
People The people of Nū are aged around 1835, a mature yet young and optimistic audience, they enjoy informative editorial but with a touch of playfulness. The brands tone of voice relates directly to the target audience, who follow the platform for their knowledge and creative offerings. The people in the brands imagery are within the target market; portraying the openness of the platform, as they are not all professional models, this eliminates exclusivity. The people of the brand are also those featured within the publication, bands such as Southampton indie quartet Bel Esprit, and artists such as Brighton/ Bristol graphic designer Alex Kelly. The Re:use fashion editorial shoot was shot by up-and-coming fashion photographer Harry Cooke working with aspiring model and acting student Toby Constad, and Sophia Amelia who is working her way into the performance industry from performance school The Brighton Academy.
The products of Nū come as a package of the quarterly Publication and immersive events, which will allow the consumer to connect with the brand. The products and visual elements of the brand are of consistent styles and mood; photography is usually playful, relaxed or thought provoking. Nū tone of voice is intelligent, but relaxed, their passion for the subject flows through their words, reaching out to their audience. They are not overly formal, but write assertively with a range of vocabulary allowing the reader to take their topics seriously, sometimes with a subtle sense of humour. Typefaces are steady, with the same fonts used online and in print. Overall the brand uses minimal layouts and concise colour schemes making features clear to read and differentiate between. The format of the publication will be on 300gsm cover and 100gsm inner, the size is 260mm x 327, this is larger than A4 but smaller than A3.
Placement The publication product is placed in the Publishing sector, within the fashion and lifestyle market, with its physical placement in a selection of independent retailers with high reputation to ensure consumers can rely on the quality of the product. The publication will first be sold in store and online at Magazine Brighton and a selection of their partnering stores.
Price The price of the publication will be £12, this may be subject to change after the first issue in accordance to alteration of print type and paper stock.
Integrated Promotional Strategy The brand will build awareness through their active social media accounts, with regular posts engaging with consumers and acting as promotional platforms. Their Facebook account will build brand persona communicating upcoming events, exciting features and new content online whilst bringing the brand to life online. Nū’s Instagram account will be carefully curated to convey the visual elements and aesthetics of the brand, this will be relatable to the consumer and be relevant to upcoming events and content. Promotions through the website will focus on upcoming events using banners and image links; using filmic and image based responses to events and content of the publication. The website will also be used for consumers to find relevant information on the brand and events, whilst relaying and informing their brand identity through images and videos that relate to their ethos and their target consumer. The launch of the brands first event ‘Nu Takeover: UMPH! Uncle Monty’s Party House’ was successfully promoted online and through word of mouth, to create a buzz and anticipation. The impact of the initial launch engaged consumers, and widened the brands audience whilst building a relationship with the venue ‘Marwoods Bar & Coffee House’. The launch party gave consumers more information on the brand and an idea of how it functions and its persona; attendees now have opportunities to gain exclusive benefits to future events, starting a relationship with its consumer. Each Issue launch party will act as a catalyst for future events welcoming collaborators, venue owners, musicians, artists and consumers to the brand. Sponsors would be kept to a minimum and carefully selected so as to only support the brands ethos and independence. The publication will be available to purchase at the launch events, afterwards the publication will be available to buy physically through Magazine Brighton, beginning in Spring 2017. The Social media accounts will become gradually more active in the months preceding the launch, with posts starting February 2017. Housing Issue 1 at Magazine Brighton will begin to build a physical relationship with the company but also customers of the shop who may not have heard of the magazine already. Here the brand will build awareness and familiarity to a wider audience as well as desire and potential sales. The store will begin with 10 copies which they will buy at 65% of the cover price, their partnered stores will also take 5-10 copies each.
5 year plan 1.1 Year 1 Objectives The initial objectives of Nū are as follows: 1. To stock and sell a minimum of 10 copies of Nū Magazine at Magazine Brighton, Trafalgar Street, Brighton. 2. To promote launch of Nū Magazine Issue 1 at Brighton event, featuring bands in current issue. 3. To sell a total of 50 copies of the 1st Nū issue through stockists in London and Brighton, and direct sales to event participants and contributors. 1.2
Future Projection & Funding
Year 2 Objectives
1. Produce Issue 2 with a focus on Brighton arts, music and culture. Increase number of magazine sales to 100 through local and London stockists. Increase number of events to a minimum of 4 per year to raise revenue. 1.3
Year 3-4 Objectives
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Launch Bristol and London focus for Nū editorial. Hold monthly Nū events to increase brand recognition, raise revenue and achieve direct sales of magazine. Increase sales to 500 per year.
1.3
Year 5 Objectives
1. Year 5 Take Nū branded events to public arenas such as festivals. Increase stockists nationwide in music shops and venues, fashion shops and magazine outlets, coffee shops and bars. Consider online subscriptions to increase brand loyalty. Increase sales to 1000 per year.
Future Projections YEAR 1 – 50 sales of magazines + 1 event. Revenue 60% of list price. No profit. YEAR 2 – 100 magazine sales + 4 events in 1 city. Revenue 60% of list price. Break even. YEAR 3 – 300 magazine sales and monthly events in 2 cities. Revenue 60% of list price. Break even/profit YEAR 4 – 500 magazine sales and monthly events in multiple cities Revenue 60% of list price. Profit. YEAR 5 – 1000 magazine sales and weekly events in multiple locations. Revenue 60% of list price.
Keys to Success
• Having quality editorial content and appealing aesthetic • Carefully monitoring trends in art/music/fashion and culture • Controlling costs • Attaining increased sales targets • High profile and consistent marketing of both well curated events and magazine
Funding Options • • • • •
Total funding raised from events to cover print/ distribution costs Seek investors – Enabling bigger print runs thereby reducing item cost. Seek advertising for magazine and online platforms Start up loan – repay end year 5 Crowd funding such as: Kickstarter and Indiegogo
Venues When looking at locations and venues for the brand to be housed and for the events to be held, Brighton became the natural choice. Brighton is a very vibrant, creative and musical city; it is also very familiar to me, which made it a perfect base point to house the brand publication and events. On a research trip to Brighton, I visited a number of independent venues across the centre of the city speaking to managers about how they work with outside promoters to host events. The insightful research opened many doors which lead to the first brand event: Nū takes over: UMPH! ‘Uncle Monty’s Party House!’
Visual Content Development Using a variety of analogue and digital cameras, I began using photographs from trips to Brighton to experiment with visuals for the publication, to begin defining the brand aesthetic. The first to be developed was a disposable camera, which began in June 2016 and ended in October 2016, and was taken to a variety of events. This was developmental and experimental as the outcomes were unpredictable, I continued the experimental photography techniques including in the ‘Self Image’ shoot where I used coloured gels over the lights and transparent plastic to create reflections and distortions in the images. Colour separation and digital illustration techniques have also been used on Photoshop using a Wacom tablet to create images. Photos taken for one of the first features with Dorset band Leeches, have been edited and colour corrected using Adobe Lightroom, visual qualities for the publication include retro and candid style imagery, the editing has been done to enhance this, embracing the graininess and film effect. Photos were also taken on two different analogue cameras, some of which have been used in Issue 1.
Colour Development Using key images I created a colour palette for the brand to work with, these have been used for branding, the publication and website. Aiming for a mellow colour palette to fit the minimal style of the publication, I have included warm, cool and off-white colours.
Website Made using Adobe Muse, the website is an integral part to the platform and can be found online at nu-magazine.co.uk. Although the ethos of the brand is away from the digital world, film is a large creative output that Nū wants to be a part of, this is why our website only hosts specific content. This includes our collaborative films such as ‘Traces, Imprints, Memories of Movement’ an explorative piece by up-and-coming filmmaker Matthew Lewis, documenting the creative process of choreographer and artist Demelza Corbett. The website also features a section on the publication where each month we upload 3 previews of art, music and fashion content.
Re:use Photography: Harry Cooke
Styling/Creative direction: Elissa Flynn
Models: Toby Constad Sophia Amelia
Makeup: Pable Dickinson
Aesthetic: Minimal Sleek Slightly alternative Natural light
Location: Multi-storey car park Skatepark Outside
Themes: Re-use Vintage Sustainability & Ethics Charity shops Contemporary responsible style
UMPH!
Nū takeover: Uncle Monty’s Party House “On the 23rd of March, we launched the first of our live events working with the quirky, idiosyncratic Marwood Bar & Coffee House, taking over with the first instalment of ‘UMPH! Uncle Monty’s Party House’. In true Brightonian style, we brought our lucky attendees a rail full of brightly coloured vintage regalia and emerging DJ, Reuben J Green, to boogie the night away. Our house party guests left with bellies full of local beer, homemade punch and good vibes (and pockets stashed with our very own Nū boogie people stickers).”
“The buzz around the launch of Nū was exciting - cool tunes at a cool venue, and I came away with some cool clothes!” Iain L
“A friend and I went to an event on Thursday 23 March put on by Nū, was an awesome night met lots of really interesting people including the DJ’s on the night who were legends. The vintage clothes swap was a great idea. Overall thought the night was run really well and will definitely go to the next one.” Nick V
Summary
On the 23rd I packed up the clothes from the vintage kilo sale and drove to Brighton DJs in tow, we picked up a massive clothes rail which barely fit in the taxi and headed into central Brighton. When we arrived at Marwoods we were greeted by Harry the manager and Emily, who I had been emailing for the past few months organising the event. I’d set up an after party through Ollie Terrey at one of Brightons coolest bars/clubs Patterns for their weekly event Midnight Funk Association, with the agreement that all UMPH! attendees are granted discount on door entry. I made a stamp and photographed it, so the door staff at MFA knew who had been to our event. There were a few tech issues so the music kicked off around 7.45 and people began wandering in at around 8pm. The home made punch was delicious and the Brighton Bier was hitting the spot for those not on spirits. The clothes rail drew a lot of attention as more people arrived I made sure to approach them and explain what was happening and made them feel welcome. There were some cool individuals who I introduced to the rest of the crowd and the house party vibes began to flow as everyone was ‘mingling’. There were a few requests to buy clothes off the rail instead of swapping, which I allowed, definitely undersold myself though, which is something to be aware of next time. Although there wasn’t a huge crowd, or as many as I had hoped the atmosphere was really nice, friendly and chilled. I was concerned that the venue would be disappointed at the turnout, but after chatting to Harry and Emily I felt much better. They explained that events are difficult and often hit and miss, the fact that there were people upstairs, some who have never been here before, enjoying themselves and buying drinks was an accomplishment. The feedback from the night was all positive, the music also went down well, however a few people said the lighting by the DJs should be dimmer to encourage people to dance more. Overall I think as a first event it went pretty well, there’s definitely room for improvement, but I feel if it were to become a regular event there would be a good turnout with friends from the last event bringing new friends. The community aspect would really start to build, as it had started to as the night went on, with everybody knowing each other, just like a house party. I would also perhaps advertise selling the clothes for a fair price, opposed to just swapping. Also having the stickers and cards to giveaway was really useful, it meant that people took a little bit of the brand away with them and I was able to pass them over when explaining the event. There was really positive feedback on the branding from both attendees and Harry and Emily from Marwoods.
NĹŤ Publication
The final product of NĹŤ consists of a publication, website featuring films, and live immersive events in Brighton. The publication features illustration, design, musicians, fashion, a think piece article and creative individuals. The brand aims to provide a platform to showcase new and emerging artists and musicians at the start of their careers in their prime state of energetic ambitious raucousness. With a local focus, primarily in Brighton and the South Coast, the publication mostly features local artwork and bands. The large format of the publication allows for a very visual aesthetic and layout style, with consistent fonts and colours.
Reader Profile
A series of 3 publications exploring the distorted issues of ethics and sustainability within the fashion industry, focussing on deforestation, water pollution/usage and landfill. Each issue hones in on one particular problem “Issue of the Issue” in a written article including relevant facts and figures. The publications also include recommended events “Life’s too short for boredom”, themed collages, considered adverts of brands actively being more sustainable, and highlight upand-coming bands. Physically printed as an 8-page fold out zine, with a featured A2 poster on the reverse.
• Age: 18-35 • Interests: Fashion, Innovation (music, fashion, technology), the world/ environment, the creative world, socialising, festivals, travelling • Qualities: Creative, Fashion Conscious, Intelligent, Varied Style • Shops at: Topshop/man, Vintage stores, Urban Outfitters, Levis, Apple, Charity shops • Looks for: Quality, Sustainability, On-Trend, Unique, Vintage • Listens to: Alt J, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot chili Peppers, Bombay Bicycle Club, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Tame Impala, Bonobo • Style: Casual, Fun, Sophisticated
distortion dɪˈstɔːʃ(ə)n/ noun 1.the action of distorting or the state of being distorted.“the virus causes distortion of the leaves” synonyms: warp, twist, contortion, bend, buckle, deformation, deformity, curve,curvature, malformation, disfigurement, crookedness 2.the action of giving a misleading account or impression.”we’re fed up with the media’s continuing distortion of our issues” synonyms: misrepresentation, perversion, twisting, falsification, misreporting,misstatement, manipulation
Deforestation for Fashion play.spotify.com/user/distortionfashion
Glass Animals are a four-piece band from Oxford, friends since a young age they formed shortly after leaving school, releasing their first EP whilst studying at university in 2012. With comparisons being made to the likes of Animal Collective, Wild Beasts and Alt J, these days the band works with a blend of dreamy electronic and indie guitar music, with the occasional R&B sonic. Having fluctuated between band names, beginning as Afro Pony, to Alligator Puffin Chicken Go Yeh Woo they have remained consistent with their chill out place “The Shed”. The Shed is a hut in the woods filled with pillows and blankets where they hang out and record music. Fans, of Unicorns and Slugs, in three words they would sum themselves up as “occult bunny lagoon”. Debut album Zaba out now.
Issue
Forest The
Featured Music
for their viscose and rayon fabrics. Companies have given themselves three years to find alternative solutions, including straw and recycled fabrics. Henrik Lampa, H&M’s sustainability manager questions consumers desire for their clothes to withhold so much environmental baggage, “I don’t know anyone buying a garment would like knowing that the fabric was sourced from an endangered or ancient forest,” he says. “The sustainability issue is a big learning curve for fashion companies. Consumers are expecting us to make good choices for them — and yet we can only make good decisions with good awareness of what is going into our products.” Nicole Rycroft, Canopy founder and executive director, has said that the dissolvable pulp used to make 30% of rayon and viscose is sourced from endangered and ancient forests. “Ancient and endangered rainforests are being logged, pulped and turned into T-shirts, dresses and suit linings,” she says. “So these man-made cellulosic fabrics like rayon, viscose and lyocell, are created from trees cut down exclusively to feed dissolving pulp mills.” But what is it worth? According to data from the Council for Textile Recycling and the environmental agency, textiles constitute to 5% of all landfill. The average American is said to throw away 70 pounds of clothing and textiles a year.
£3/Issue 1/distortionfashion.com
Many endangered and ancient forests in Indonesia and other countries around the world are being destroyed due to the manufacture of textiles such as Rayon and Viscose. These fabrics in particular are produced using dissolving pulp, which is found in trees. The wood is first turned into wood chips, cooked, to separate the cellulose fibres from the other components and finally put through a process of washing and bleaching before being dried and finished, usually into bales or rolls. In Indonesia reports have claimed the expansion of mega plantations and illegal land grabbing have been on the increase, resulting in loss of land, livelihoods and resources for the local communities. “Every year, tens of millions of trees are turned into clothing through the use of forest fabrics like rayon and viscose,” said Brihannala Morgan, senior forest campaigner at RAN. “These forests have played a critical part of local community livelihoods for generations, and are now being seized and clear cut for forest fabrics. “Without strong policies from fashion companies, rainforest destruction and human rights abuses can become part of our clothing.” H&M, Zara, Marks and Spencer, Levi Strauss, ASOS and other major brands are teaming up with Canopy, a non-profit organisation for their Fashion Loved by Forest campaign. The brands are working together to change their supply chain to remove endangered and ancient forests from their source list
Welcome to Distortion. We are going to open your eyes to a new dawn of the sustainable fashion industry. We believe the natural world with its chaotic perfection and infinitely intricate detail has so much to offer; but we must remind ourselves that it is not a commodity. It’s down to us now; we must nurture the earth as it has nurtured us for generations. We invite you to take this journey with us, as we seek to discover those creative innovations that will shape our future.
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Through our first issue we will explore the forests, what’s not to love about immersing yourself in the fresh abundance of a forest? Our featured band Glass Animals seem to agree, as we look at what we as consumers are doing to the forests, and what some brands are doing to protect them. Cover photography by Rees Thompson
Life’s too short for boredom “Let us tell you a tale… there once was an enchanted world in the middle of a smokey city where the stories of Grimms’ were brought to life.” If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in London with no plans, the Queen of Hoxton is calling to you. Ready for the winter, the transformation has been complete, the rooftop bar now a wonderland inspired by Grimm fairy tales. Once Upon A Wigwam is the perfect enchanted retreat to cosy up with a cocktail or one of their mouthwatering dishes. A variety of events are held during the day and night, with club nights at the weekend.
“look out for interpretations of well-known stories like Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel as you get lost in its fantastical forest and magical menu, bringing you a drinking and dining experience London’s yet to offer.”
Issue of the issue
DEFORESTATION FOR FASHION Many endangered and ancient forests in Indonesia and other countries around the world are being destroyed due to the manufacture of textiles such as Rayon and Viscose. These fabrics in particular are produced using dissolving pulp, which is found in trees. The wood is first turned into wood chips, cooked, to separate the cellulose fibres from the other components and finally put through a process of washing and bleaching before being dried and finished, usually into bales or rolls. In Indonesia reports have claimed the expansion of mega plantations and illegal land grabbing have been on the increase, resulting in loss of land, livelihoods and resources for the local communities. “Every year, tens of millions of trees are turned into clothing through the use of forest fabrics like rayon and viscose,” said Brihannala Morgan, senior forest campaigner at RAN. “These forests have played a critical part of local community livelihoods for generations, and are now being seized and clear cut for forest fabrics.
“Without strong policies from fashion companies, rainforest destruction and human rights abuses can become part of our clothing.”
H&M, Zara, Marks and Spencer, Levi Strauss, ASOS and other major brands are teaming up with Canopy, a non-profit organisation for their Fashion Loved by Forest campaign. The brands are working together to change their supply chain to remove endangered and ancient forests from their source list for their viscose and rayon fabrics. Companies have given themselves three years to find alternative solutions, including straw and recycled fabrics. Henrik Lampa, H&M’s sustainability manager questions consumers desire for their clothes to withhold so much environmental baggage, “I don’t know anyone buying a garment would like knowing that the fabric was sourced from an endangered or ancient forest,” he says. “The sustainability issue is a big learning curve for fashion companies. Consumers are expecting us to make good choices for them — and yet we can only make good decisions with good awareness of what is going into our products.” Nicole Rycroft, Canopy founder and executive director, has said that the dissolvable pulp used to make 30% of rayon and viscose is sourced from endangered and ancient forests. Rycroft states,
“Ancient and endangered rainforests are being logged, pulped and turned into T-shirts, dresses and suit linings,”
“So these man-made cellulosic fabrics like rayon, viscose and lyocell, are created from trees cut down exclusively to feed dissolving pulp mills.” But what is it worth? According to data from the Council for Textile Recycling and the environmental agency, textiles constitute to 5% of all landfill. The average American is said to throw away 70 pounds of clothing and textiles a year.
Water for Fashion The fashion industry relies on abundant amounts of water to produce the clothes and shoes we wear, but have you recently considered where that water comes from, or where the contaminated by products and toxins in the water go after the products have been made?
a large scale, a majority starts in our own homes, 40% of domestic water footprints come from laundry. The health implementations of contaminated or lack of water don’t only affect humans, but the Aquarius plants, fish, and animals that also drink from the water.
It takes over 100 gallons, that’s 455 litres of water to produce one pound of raw cotton or shorn wool, that doesn’t include rinsing and preparing the product or washing and dying. Today the real challenge comes from ensuring there are sufficient water supplies in the regions where the products are made. Researchers for Growing Blue claim that 20% of the worlds commercial products are produced in water scarce areas around the world. China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are prime examples of developing countries with this issue, producing the clothes and shoes we wear. Only 2.5% of Earth’s water is freshwater and only 0.3% of it is readily accessible to humans.
But it’s not all down hill, brands have been working on concepts and strategies to help save water, Nike, Gap, Levi Strauss, and H&M to name a few. Recently Nike announced it’s new ColourDry Process, a dying technique using supercharged liquid CO2 to force the dye into the fabric. Supposedly the only residue is the used CO2 that is separated from the left over dye, which is then isolated; therefore, no residue inks or chemicals get dumped into the environment. Reportedly the process uses 63% less energy and almost all the dye, reducing chances of environmental pollution from waste products. It also requires less manpower than traditional dyeing, which adds to its economical qualities.
Where water is concerned there isn’t only one issue, the main factors come down to usage, and pollution. Cotton accounts for 90% of natural fibres used in the textile industry and 40% of all apparel produced globally. Farming cotton constitutes as the single largest water consumer in the apparel supply chain, because it is farmed in dry regions. Roughly 17-20% of industrial water pollution is due to textile dyeing and treatment, around 8,000 synthetic chemicals are used throughout processes around the world and are eventually released into fresh water. Mills release Formaldehyde, chlorine and heavy metals such as lead and mercury, whilst cotton is highly dependant on pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. However not all pollution is being created on such
Apparel Made 4 You, company in California has come up with its own waterless technology called the ATI system. Their technique consists of using photons and thermal energy to transfer an image from a template onto the fabric. They claim the process takes about 30 seconds for a piece of fabric large enough to make a shirt. Also an economical approach, the machine fits in a room the size of an average bedroom and requires a fraction of the manpower compared to traditional dyeing. Air pollution is also reduced due to the lack of overhead spray methods. Both techniques are said to have better colour penetration and resilience than most water dye methods, improving production, usage and potentially brand recognition.
Land for Fashion Landfill has become a rising issue, it’s estimated that over 1 million tonnes of textiles are thrown away in the UK alone. Recycling is a well recognised practice, with most houses around the UK equipped with recycling bins alongside general waste, however not so many people are aware of textile recycling. At least 50% of the textiles we throw away are recyclable, however the proportion of reused or recycled textile waste is only 25%. The two issues with textiles in landfill come from the two types of fabric, synthetic, or natural. Synthetic manmade fabrics don’t decompose, so end up taking up a lot of space in landfill, whereas woollens decompose releasing methane gas into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming. Recycling also results in less pollution, as the fibres do not have to be manufactured or transported abroad, which reduces the carbon footprint and saves energy. Research claims that if every person in the UK bought a reclaimed woollen garment each year, on average 371 million gallons of water would be saved, and 480 tonnes of chemicals. Landfill also poses a threat to local water supplies; each time it rains the water flows through the waste, washing all the chemicals and hazardous materials to the bottom where it collects. The hazardous substances include those from textiles, such as fabric dyes, the water collection has been recorded as 200 times more toxic than raw sewage. Charity shops, restyling and vintage shops are also a good alternative to throwing clothes out and falling into the tap of fast fashion. By shopping sustainably or customising your preloved garments, you can update your wardrobe without harming the environment. Many textile and fashion brands are now creating fabrics and garments from recycled
fibres and products, such as plastic drinks bottles. Brands like Levi Strauss, GStar Raw, and Pategonia are all widely using recycled bottles in their garments, with Armani jeans incorporating eco fabrics since the mid 90’s. Wrap.org have been looking into the subject, their report shows: • the average UK household owns around £4,000 worth of clothes – and around 30% of clothing in wardrobes has not been worn for at least a year; • the cost of this unused clothing is around £30 billion; • extending the average life of clothes by just three months of active use would lead to a 5-10% reduction in each of the carbon, water and waste footprints Brands such as Lost Property of London up-cycle Leather and other materials for their bags, which are designed and made in London. With a zero waste policy, they use traditional craftsmanship, and also source vegetable leather, staying true to their design ethos. Mosevic are a fashion and sustainability conscious eyewear brand, creating products with their own invention of Solid Denim. Each pair of sunglasses is hand crafted in Cornwall, ensuring that each product meets their own high standards ready for forward thinking consumers. “We infuse layers of denim with a carefully selected resin to create an extremely strong and tactile material that we call Solid Denim. With all the right properties for building high quality sunglasses that are strikingly different we are proud to introduce Solid Denim to the world.”
As an upcoming textiles designer, Emily specialises in print and stitch. We have collaborated for her most recent project ‘City Block’ to produce her a lookbook to showcase her prints and designs. Emily uses screen-printing coupled with hand stitch for many of her fabric designs, pairing hand techniques with digital designs. She also specialises in creating UV printed tiles with matte and spot gloss areas in sections of intricate designs.
For Emily’s lookbook we wanted to display her work in a way that would communicate her ideas and aesthetic effectively within a small publication, that could be handed out and given to potential employers. Emily gave me complete creative freedom of the design and layout of the publication, I decided to work with a size just smaller than A5 and slightly wider in proportion. I incorporated her colour palette and logo font, and sectioned her designs into technique categories such as “UV Printed Tiles”. She had a lot of photos that were of all the prints created with different techniques, I decided to print these on tracing paper and incorporate them throughout the pages. I left some pages fully colour blocked to allow for the tracing paper images to lie on top. Emily’s name and logo is on the front cover and the project title on the lower back cover, with her contact details in the inside cover. I worked with a minimal but assertive layout, as many of her designs are very colourful, I did not want to over power the viewer and confuse the eye with too much going on, but have incorporated a few full bleed images. We agreed the book would lend itself to saddle stitch binding using embroidery thread from her colour palette to contrast the blue of the cover.
Dick Moby Fashion Film Exploring the genre of fashion film I created a short fashion film for Dutch sustainable sunglasses brand Dick Moby. The brand have quite a playful aesthetic, which I wanted to bring into the film with a fast paced glitching effect. After collaborating with photographers Rees Thompson and Ed Adams I used TextEdit to manually glitch JPEG images and layered them in Premiere Pro. I wanted to create the effect the sunglasses were flying onto the models faces, so I edited still images on Photoshop and to green screen and key them in Premiere Pro.
2018-present In 2018 I began work as a graduate designer at The Times, a year later my contract was renewed as a designer and since then I have been working with the company as it evolves. When I began, the brand was ‘print first’ and our digital output was basic and minimal. Today we are rebranding ourselves and pushing our output to be ‘digital first’. This has not only impacted my role as a print designer, but more recently I have taken a step forward within the digital media team. I work across all
platforms and print sections, from designing the front page of the newspaper, to designing the friday arts section (Times2), to animating illustrations and graphics for the web and social media. My role has evolved ten-fold, as has my skill set during my time with the company. In the following pages I have highlighted a few examples of what I create for The Times on adaily basis.
Print SATURDAY
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The fastest lockdown lunches Plus Donna Hay’s vegetarian recipes
How a young mindset makes you live longer
6 Kent strain of Covid could be third more lethal 6 Virus here for ‘long while to come’, warns PM However, Mr Johnson told a Downing able people had been vaccinated. Mr Johnson told the country it would have Street press conference: “We really can’t to live with Covid-19 “for a long while” as begin to consider unlocking [restriche said the new strain not only spread tions] until we’re confident that the vaccination programme is working, until more quickly but may be more lethal. we’re| confident that we| No don’t have new Mr Johnson saidMonday it was “largely the28 2019 October thetimes.co.uk 72989 impact of this new variant that means variants or changes in our medical the NHS is under such intense pressure”, understanding of the virus that might despite early signs that hospital cases affect our calculations. I think the most important thing is that we’ve got to be in may be starting to peak. A record 409,855 first vaccine doses a position where the rate of infection is were given in the UK on Thursday, not still so high.” In other developments: bringing the total to 5,383,103. Some 466,796 second doses have been given. 6 A further 40,261 coronavirus cases
Valentine Low
It is, after all, the Queen’s English. And who better to teach someone how to speak it than the Queen herself? Angela Kelly, Her Majesty’s dresser, has revealed that she once received an elocution lesson from the monarch. The Henry Higgins moment is revealed in a book by Ms Kelly, 61, a Liver-
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Perfect pandemic etiquette Don’t be smug!
were recorded, with the seven-day average down 25.3 per cent week-on-week. A further 1,401 deaths were reported, with the weekly average up 16.4 per Britain is braced for an extended lockcent. down after Boris Johnson revealed that 6 Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s £1.80 Only £1.10 to subscribers the new UK coronavirus variant may be chief scientific adviser, criticised Matt about a third more deadly. Hancock, the health secretary, for sugThe prime minister said he would not gesting that vaccines would be 50 per consider easing restrictions until “forcent less effective against the South biddingly high” infection levels reduced African variant of the coronavirus. and more was known about mutations. 6 It has emerged that up to half of The development dashed hopes of people in some areas with a high ethnic rapid unlocking once the most vulnerminority population are refusing to have the vaccine. TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE EXCLUSIVE Emphasising the need to reduce inBOOK EXTRACT further, Mr Johnson warned HOW ENGLAND CAN WIN THE WORLD CUP SPORT fections By Anthony Seldon PAGES 18-21 that unlocking too early “would just lead to another big rebound”. He said: “The British public and British business would much rather we opened safely and cautiously when it was right to do so, rather than opening up again, and then be forced to close back down, simply because the virus WEEKEND takes off again.” Mr Johnson is resisting pressure to tighten restrictions, saying that “this is the right package of measures to deal with the new variant”. With scientific advisers arguing that a more fatal strain requires tougher rules Don’t forget … clocks to protect the NHS, Mr Johnson said: Lucy Fisher Defence Correspondent go back at 2.00am “We don’t want to change them, what we George Greenwood October 26 2019 | thetimes.co.uk | No 72988 Daily newspaper of the year want is to see people enforcing them.” Only £1.50 to subscribers He strongly hinted that border meas- Britain’s ten biggest military charities AL-FURQAN MEDIA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES ures would be tightened amid warnings have combined assets of £1.4 billion and Ben Hoyle Los Angeles that existing vaccines may be signifi- reserves of £275 million, prompting cantly less effective against South Afri- concerns that some may be “hoarding” The fugitive leader of Islamic State blew can and Brazilian strains of the virus. himself up with three of his children cash. Ministers are expected to agree a new after being cornered by US commandos An analysis by The Times has requirement on international travellers revealed that Britain’s 1,500 armed in a raid in northwest Syria, President to quarantine in hotels on arrival. But forces charities have a total worth in exTrump announced yesterday. they are split over whether it should be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, 48, fled down cess of £3.1 billion. imposed only on those coming from a tunnel “whimpering and crying and Questions have been raised about countries deemed to be high risk. screaming all the way” as he was chased the amount of unrestricted reserves No 10 moved to kill off a plan to give that some of the biggest charities have by military dogs before detonating a £500 a week to support those isolating, suicide vest, Mr Trump said in a telebuilt up, as several admit they wish to with one senior source describing the vised address from the White House. option set out by the Department of reduce the amounts they hold. “He was a sick and depraved man and Such reserves consist of cash that is Health and Social Care as “off the wall”. now he’s gone,” he told the nation. “He The government’s New and Emerging not designated for a specific purpose or died like a dog. He died like a coward. restricted in the way it can be used under Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory The world is a much safer place.” Group (Nervtag) considered ten differ- the terms in which it was donated. For Mr Trump, who has weathered The Royal British Legion, the ent models that matched people infectthree weeks of condemnation by politimilitary charity, began ed with the new UK variant with wealthiest y(7HB7E2*OTSNQN( |||+z!@ cians in both parties over his to its annual poppy appeal last Thursday. Continued on page 2, col 3 Doctors Susie Padgham anddecision Adam Bennion gave 2,340 jabs in a weekend at their Sussex surgery after a double delivery. Page 11 withdraw US troops from northern Last year it recorded a total income Syria, Baghdadi’s death is a powerful of £163.2 million and expenditure from retort to criticism of his foreign policy. unrestricted funds of £136.7 million. He can be expected to lean heavily on Its reserves totalled £70 million, EXCLUSIVE the achievement during his 2020 reabout 40 per cent of its annual income NEWS, PAGES 16-17 BOOK EXTRACT election campaign, much as his predeand sufficient to fund its operations SPORTPresident SUPPLEMENT PAGES 32-34 cessor Obama did after for six months. The charity said in its Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan annual report that this was £30 million in 2011. The following year Mr Obama above its target of £40 million reserves won a second term. and that it was looking to reduce it. Mr Trump spoke for 48 minutes Others with significant reserves about Saturday’s raid, providing a include the Royal Air Force Benevolent sometimes gruesome level of detail Fund, the fifth largest British military that surprised intelligence experts. He charity, which had an income of thanked Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iraq £22.5 million last year and expenditure for their support and emphasised that of £25.6 million. At the end of the the US suffered no losses, although a year it had £37.4 million in unrestricted military dog was injured. reserves — 165 per cent of its income. From the Situation Room in the ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, the eighth White House he had watched as “brillargest military charity, recorded liant fighters” from American special income of £17.7 million and expenditure forces ran out of eight helicopters and of £22.9 million last year. It had Chris Smyth Whitehall Editor blasted through the walls of the build- An undated video still of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose death will be cast as a victory for Mr Trump as he seeks re-election £19.5 million in unrestricted reserves —
NOW BRING ON SOUTH AFRICA
May wept after Brexit result
Isis leader ‘died like a dog’ in American raid SATURDAY
President Trump says al-Baghdadi blew himself up after being cornered in tunnel
PRAYING FOR VICTORY ENGLAND TAKE ON THE ALL BLACKS
Armed forces charities sit on reserves A guideof to smart ageing £275 million How to keep fit for longer£2
Inside story of May’s disastrous election By Anthony Seldon
May ‘I’m dying because I can’t Grumpy was terrible campaigner, breathe. I’m sorry Mum’ say ex-aides
Last words of lorry migrant, 26, revealed as police make new arrests in people-smuggling case
Exclusive extract INSIDE TIMES2
May’s showdown at Chequers
A right royal lesson in Queen’s English – from the monarch herself
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Tuesday October 29 2019 | thetimes.co.uk | No 72990
pudlian who has been working for the Queen for 25 years. Ms Kelly says that she had wanted elocution lessons since she was eight. “After a few months of working with her I plucked up the courage to ask if she knew anyone who might give me the elocution lessons I’d wanted for so long,” she wrote. “The look on the Queen’s face was a picture. She simply
Daily dose of aspirin helps tackle depression
asked, ‘Why?’ After I had explained, she said that it was not necessary. I asked again and again, but still she refused. I then told Her Majesty my new idea: ‘You can give me elocution lessons! You can tell me what I say that’s correct and what I say that isn’t.’ “The Queen could probably sense that I wasn’t going to give up, so she instructed me to say one word: furious.
‘Fyer-ri-ous,’ I responded. ‘No, fee-orree-ous,’ said Her Majesty, in perfect received pronunciation. “After several more attempts, I finally cracked it and Her Majesty exclaimed, ‘Yes!’” Despite doing her best to change the way she spoke, Ms Kelly eventually gave up. “It was just too much effort.” In the book, The Other Side of The Coin, which is being serialised in Hello!
magazine, Ms Kelly also reveals that the Queen had always wanted to be photographed more informally but was told it would be “inappropriate”. In 2012 Ms Kelly asked her to do a photoshoot with her hands in her pockets. The Queen agreed, and on the day interrupted the photographer to tell him: “Barry, this is how we’re going to do it . . . Just keep the camera rolling.”
TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS
Johnson will ditch Brexit bill in last bid for early poll Francis Elliott Political Editor Henry Zeffman, Kate Devlin
Common drugs shown to reduce symptoms Kaya Burgess
Taking two painkillers a day can reduce the symptoms of depression, a study has suggested. The findings have prompted calls for trials on whether over-the-counter pills could be prescribed for mental health disorders. Scientists reviewed 26 previous studies to look at the effect of anti-inflammatory drugs, including ibuprofen and aspirin, on the symptoms of “major depressive disorder”. These include low moods and the inability to feel pleasure. Researchers from the University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, found that the drugs were 79 per cent more effective at eliminating symptoms, and 52 per cent more effective at reducing their overall severity, than a placebo. The scientists also looked into trials that involved other drugs, including statins and treatments for sleep disorders. Although they did not determine the dosage of anti-inflammatory drugs required to reduce depression, the trials they studied looked at patients who took daily doses of between 20mg and 30mg of statins and others who took 400mg of painkillers. Ibuprofen is commonly sold in 200mg pills. There were also studies involving patients taking 200mg of minocycline, used to treat bacterial infections such as acne and chlamydia, and up to 400g of modafinil, used to treat sleep disor-
ders. The most effective treatments were found to be non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs, such as the overthe-counter painkillers, statins, omega-3 fatty acids and minocyclines. The effect was more pronounced if the drugs were used with anti-depressants. Depression is not deemed to be an inflammatory disorder, but some patients with the illness show signs of inflammation in the brain. Scientists have suggested that some cases of depression may be linked to infections or other conditions that cause inflammation in the body. The authors of the new report said: “The results of this systematic review suggest that anti-inflammatory agents play an antidepressant role in patients with major depressive disorder and are reasonably safe.” The study, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, cautioned that in five trials examined as part of the analysis, in which women took the painkiller celecoxib and omega 3 fatty acids, “no difference in change of depression scores was found”. Ed Bullmore, head of the department of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, welcomed the study and said: “This should encourage further consideration of ways in which we could use a range of anti-inflammatory interventions to help people with depression, perhaps especially people who are Continued on page 4, col 1
Boris Johnson keeps his eye on the prize of an election before Christmas. His preferred date of December 12 would mean fewer students voting, rivals say
Boris Johnson will make one last effort today to send Britain to the polls before Christmas but could be thwarted by a squabble over the exact election date. The prime minister last night took up an offer by the Liberal Democrats and SNP of an early election in return for a promise to abandon efforts to get his Brexit deal through parliament. The two parties offered yesterday to vote for legislation amending the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA), meaning that Mr Johnson would need only a simple Commons majority to secure an election. He had failed for the third time to secure an election using the act as it requires a two-thirds majority. Speaking after the defeat, Mr Johnson said that he was tabling a “short” bill setting aside the act’s provisions for an election on December 12. That, and a commitment to abandon efforts to pass his Brexit bill before an election, the key condition set by the Lib Dems and SNP, appeared to clear the path for a December election. The two parties revealed at the weekend that they had drafted a bill similar to the one Mr Johnson is proposing. In all, 299 MPs voted for an election last night. While it left the prime minister 135 short of the threshold required by the act he was only 21 short of a simple majority. The bill will be introduced and submitted for approval at second reading today in a fast-track timetable. The law requires 25 working days between the dissolution of parliament and the election date. Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem leader, threw an election into doubt, however, after she rejected the date of December 12, insisting that it should be held on the ninth. “Boris Johnson claims he wants a general election, but he also claimed he wouldn’t prorogue parliament or put a border down the Irish Sea,” she said. “If Boris Johnson wants a general election, then he could have supported our bill for a general election on Continued on page 2, col 3
ILLUSTRATION BY ELISSA FLYNN
David Byers
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suggests a stocks and shares Isa because of its combination of tax efficiency and potential for gains. “With a threshold income of £110,000, Martin will be able to contribute a maximum of £40,000 each tax year, which is both his allowance and his wife’s,” she says. While a cash Isa is simply a tax-free savings account, a stocks and shares Isa is a tax-efficient investment account that lets you put money into a range of different investments. These include funds, unit trusts, investment companies and investment trusts, as well as government bonds and corporate bonds. Contributors can also buy individual company shares and put them into their Isa. The dividend allowance
Our experts recommend What would you do if you had £1 million? It’s a dilemma many dream of having. Unsurprisingly, none of our experts is recommending blowing the money on a Porsche, an 18-carat gold watch . . . or a rental property. Gaby Strug, a financial planner at Quilter, a wealth manager,
this year is £2,000, which means you can earn £2,000 before paying tax. Strug also suggests that Martin consider topping up his pension. As well as unused allowances for this tax year, he can use leftover allowances from the previous three years and claim tax relief at the appropriate rates. The annual tax-free pension contribution limit is £40,000 for those earning up to £110,000. His bonus, however, means that he will get a lower allowance. Rebecca O’Connor, a personal finance expert at Royal London, an insurer, says: “In that financial year, because of his high income, his annual allowance for pensions will be ‘tapered’ from the normal £40,000 to £10,000 and his income tax allowance will be tapered to zero.” O’Connor agrees with Martin’s brother that it would be better to steer clear of investing in a buy-to-let and to concentrate on his main home instead. Tax restrictions introduced in 2016 have reduced the Buying a Porsche may not be the shrewdest way to spend £1 million
tax reliefs that can be claimed on wear and tear and mortgage interest, and have added a 3 per cent stamp duty liability when buying an investment property. “Putting money into pensions, possibly for other family members, is generally much more tax efficient than buy-to-let, where the returns are all taxable,” O’Connor says. “Increasing the value of his own home will get a more favourable tax treatment than investing in buy-to-let. Any growth in the value of your own home is generally free of capital gains tax, and a couple will be able to pass on up to £1 million of family home free of inheritance tax.” Strug suggests that Martin should consider investing a good proportion of the money into an investment bond, which he could later hand over to his children or pass on after his death. Investment bonds, sometimes known as single-premium life insurance policies, are lump-sum investments. They can be a tax-efficient option for growing your money and providing a payout when you die. They can be useful if you’ve used up your Isa allowance.
Can film you please advise my nephew’s young widow 8 saturday review
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Sarah Holt from Leeds would Financial Services like some financial advice after Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the sad death of her nephew, which guarantees up to who left an investment sum for £85,000 in any one institution. his nine-month-old daughter. “With bank and building “My nephew, also my next of society interest rates below the The archaeologist Rebecca Wragg Sykes looks kin, diedreally very unexpectedly rate dig of inflation, it is hard to at what happened during the 1939 in Suffolk theSarah movie portrays it what to do,” Sarah says. just over a and yearhow ago,” decide writes. “He diedHoointestate, he Sutton excava- Were the tools portrayed on screen tion in Suffolk, which accurate? leaving a forms wife baby girl. experts recommend Today’s archaeologists Our are generally very the and central a focus the new Netflix film picky about their tools, and in Britain 4½in His estateofTheis now almost legally “Leaving trowels are favoured, but over the this money in cash Dig, produced one pointing of this country’s most Pond many swear by larger, more flexible sorted and, of course, his would see its purchasing important archaeologi- gear. Excavation tools seen in The Dig include mattocks, coal shovels, woodencal finds. Dubbed “Britain’s Tutankhadaughter is entitled to a share. power reduced over 16 years,” mun”, the uncovering of a 1,300-year-old handled spades and brushes, as well as trowels. The earliest recorded archaeologship entombed a huge mound This willbeneath amount to was between says Jeannie Boyle, a director breathtaking. As the sensational golden ical use of a trowel was in 1808. They were certainly used on contreasures emerged, £20,000 and £25,000, which at EQ Investors, a financial temporary excavaspectral visions of tionsconsultancy. in the 1930s, vanished royal lives has to be invested until she She suggests the while the other tools — probably the are evidenced conAnglo-Saxon 16 king years of age. reaches stockbymarket. “Investing in temporary photoRaedwald — were graphs of Sutton Hoo. “HerThe mother has no assets such as shares and irresistible. film These reveal that is based on a novel experience bonds does involve some risk dental picks were by John Preston of financial affairs preferred for extrain which more and wants loss, but offers the only real fineof work, while fireattention is paid toto do the best for side bellows were excavating the charher daughter. She does not way toaway beat inflation for used to blow acters of those doing loose sediment. the digging than to want a financial adviser. My Sarah’s long-term savings,” she the archaeology. But Were there women how much does The financial knowledge is limited says. “The risk of loss is offset archaeologists, as Dig, directed by depicted in the Simon Stone, reflect since my husband very by the long investment period film? the reality of Sutton Piggott (Lily Hoo? capably managed our finances Peggy — there is enough time for a James) is the only woman shown diggingportfolio at Sutton Hoo,to recoup any losses. Couldthe you see the ship53 as clearly as it for past years.” although Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) appeared on screen? an interest inItarchaeology. TheSarah first hint that a buried might mentions says hershipniece would wouldFe-also be reduced by lie within Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo was male archaeologists go back to before the 20th century and, asspreading the Trowelblazers the risk across an ironpermit rivet found three days high-risk into not any project (trowelblazers.com) shows, the dig. Then the outline of a women pioneers often collab-assets, such as bonds massive clinker-builtnot hull covered byearly investment the different
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artin Cantor, 49, from Cambridgeshire, admits that not knowing what to do with his £1 million bonus is “a nice problem to have”. Martin, who works in software sales, will get the payment after sealing a lucrative deal for his company and would like some ideas for what he should do with it. “This is the first time such a sum has been paid to me,” he says. His initial reaction was to buy a rental property, but his brother thinks that it would be “financial suicide from a tax perspective and that I’d be much better off putting the money into Isas and stocks and shares funds”. He would, however, like some professional opinions on the benefits and drawbacks of such an investment. He is also considering using the money to extend his house. Martin, his wife and two children, aged 9 and 12, live in what he describes as a “modest four-bedroom house” with no mortgage, which is worth about £400,000. Another option is to plough some of the cash into his workplace pension. Because of his £110,000 basic salary, however, he is wary about overshooting the tax-free contribution thresholds and incurring tax penalties. “I already have about £350,000 in various pensions,” he says. He also stands to inherit £700,000 in property one day.
Saturday August 8 2020
digital creativity. The arts pages are another of my favourites to work on, purely due to the team and content.
Help me invest a £1m bonus
(based on 7 Day Print Pack)
Kamala’s niece on America’s new Veep
Another print highlight is our weekly money illustration, built in photoshop I find this a welcome splurge of the times | Saturday January 18 2020
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paper or supplements. On saturday’s the puff is significantly larger, allowing extra room to play with images and type.
da ily n ews pa p er of t he y ea r
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January 23 2021 | thetimes.co.uk | No 73376
New variant ‘more deadly’ Chris Smyth Whitehall Editor Francis Elliott Political Editor OIiver Wright Policy Editor
When working a news shift, the front page puff is one of my responsibilites were we advertise specific features within the
Saturday January 30 2021 | the times
and cash as well as shares. Picking a ready-made, multiasset portfolio would mean that Sarah doesn’t have to do this part herself.” Laura Suter, a personal finance analyst at AJ Bell, a wealth manager, says that they could pick a lower risk level for an “all in one” ready-made portfolio. The Vanguard Life Strategy range of funds is one option, but many investment platforms, such as Charles Stanley, Hargreaves Lansdown or Bestinvest, have their own. Michael Owen from Brooks Macdonald, a wealth manager, suggests storing the money in a bare trust on behalf of her great-niece. With this type of trust the beneficiary has the right to the capital and assets within the trust, as well as the income generated, once they are 18. The assets are held in the name of a trustee, who has the responsibility of generating maximum benefit for the
the times | Saturday January 30 2021
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beneficiary. “A bare trust automatically gives the beneficiary legal ownership at 18, but the trustee, or trustees, can advance the money at 16 if appropriate,” Owen says. If the family do opt for cash, the good news is that children’s accounts offer better returns. “If she’s a Nationwide customer already, the mother can open a Future Saver account for her daughter and earn 3 per cent on up to £5,000 a year,” Suter says. HSBC’s My Savings account pays 3 per cent on up to £3,000. “The remaining money can be put in Virgin Money’s
Young Saver account, which pays 2.25 per cent on up to £25,000, or they could put all the money in there. The £20,000 pot would grow to more than £28,500 after 16 years.” Another option is a cash Junior Isa, where you can get a higher rate of interest, but where the money will be locked up until the child turns 18. Coventry Building Society pays 3.6 per cent. You can pay only £4,368 a year into a Junior Isa, so Sarah’s niece would need to deposit the money over a few years. Our experts urge Sarah and her family not to take any immediate decisions. “This has clearly been a very stressful and upsetting time in your lives, so don’t make any rash decisions with the money. It’s perfectly fine to put it in a cash account for now and set a date when you feel more able to deal with it,” Suter says.
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The singer who went from Herne Hill to Nashville
“The Times report that the fund boss James Clunie had spent millions betting against Netflix, Amazon and Tesla provoked debate and division online: The problem with these fund managers is that they are looking at technicals and numbers. They don’t understand the technology. They are not technologists. Betting against Amazon and AWS [Amazon] is hilarious to anyone in the tech industry. Tesla is a battery, energy and tech company that happens to make cars, but they just see an electric BMW.” SteveW “Short sellers perform a public service by highlighting flaws in overoptimistic and sometimes fraudulent financial forecasts. I am sure there are some dodgy ones who circulate bogus negative info, but for the most part they are simply doing the homework others are too lazy or greedy to do themselves. They must also have nerves of steel to endure huge losses waiting for their predictions to come true, often because their opponents artificially prop up the share price with misleading information and news releases. It’s a dirty business all round but in my view short sellers are on the side of the angels.” James Pierce
Judi Dench
“Tesla is up 46 per cent over the last 12 months. Admittedly it’s not all been plain sailing but only a fool would bet against electric vehicles, of which his are the current best, in the long term.” IgnoreAlienOrders
Me &Will
“Clunie’s fund has ranked 55 out of 56 in his sector. This should be the headline here.” Scottish Gent Our report on the City watchdog’s plan to ensure that all companies offering savings accounts have a default rate to stop people getting 0.1 per cent interest on their savings garnered a sceptical response. “What a waste of time. Individuals should be responsible enoughsaturday to review check their own savings rates. We cannot have everything handed to us on a plate.” Mr Brian Davidson
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My lifelong love of Shakespeare
What’s true and false in The Dig — the new film about Sutton Hoo
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with overlapping planks attached with hundreds of rivets slowly emerged. For the film, the production designer Maria Djurkovic (once married to the novel’s author) built entire mounds in a field in Surrey, even sprinkling them with wildflowers. Yet it’s impossible to recreate the unique conditions of 1,300 years of burial, and the soil acidity at Sutton Hoo destroyed virtually all of the organic remains. The ship’s form was visible only through compressed sediment and staining. The movie’s use of plaster and wood to fabricate the ship gives a more substantial, neater effect than the crumbly, ghost-like impression facing the excavators.
orated with each other and mentored the next generation. Nina Layard was born in the 1850s and dug many sites including an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Ipswich from 1906-07. Peggy began her archaeological journey under the tutelage of Tessa and Mortimer Wheeler, the founders of the Institute of Archaeology in London, where they trained many other young women. The Dig is set in 1939 and this decade was something of a golden age for professional women archaeologists. Most striking is the prehistorian Dorothy Garrod, who discovered two Neanderthals; one, from Mount Carmel, Palestine, was found by a local woman, Yusra (her surname is unknown), and Garrod’s student Jacquetta Hawkes (the first season of that site had an allwoman crew). As a teaching fellow and director of studies at Newnham College, Cambridge,
Garrod probably tutored Peggy there and in May 1939, when Garrod was appointed the first female professor at Oxbridge, everyone digging at Sutton Hoo must have been aware.
Peggy Piggott appears as bumbling but was actually an extremely experienced excavator Was the representation of Peggy Piggott accurate? Peggy Piggott, née Cecily Margaret Preston, was the aunt of The Dig’s author, John Preston. Her character
digging in Basil Brown, above, and Ralph Fiennes, right, who plays him in The Dig. Left: Lily James as Peggy Piggott, painted by Frank Griffith, top left. Right: The Times of August 15, 1939
appears as something of a sidekick to her older husband, Stuart; early on, Charles Phillips of Cambridge University is heard to declare “We need Piggott!” When the Piggotts arrive on site, apparently newly married, only a nod is given to Peggy’s expertise. On the whole she is presented as deferential, even bumbling, putting her foot through a hollow feature. In actuality, Peggy was only a couple of years younger than Stuart and was an extremely experienced excavator by 1939. She was awarded a diploma at Cambridge (women being excluded from degrees) and further studied in London where she met Stuart. Over 60 years her career included digging for the Ministry of Works during the war, excavating six
Write to Troubleshooter, Times Money, 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF or troubleshooter@ thetimes.co.uk including your phone number
hillforts and numerous other sites and becoming an ancient bead expert and curator at Devizes Museum. She was still doing fieldwork in her seventies, collaborating with Isobel Smith and Eve Machin. Had she wished to pursue academia — and been male — she would surely have achieved a professorship. It’s made clear in the film that the Piggotts’ marriage is already in trouble, with both Peggy and Stuart looking elsewhere for affection. In reality they had been married for a couple of years before the
LARRY HORRICKS/NETFLIX; OGS CRAWFORD/TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM/PA; WILTSHIRE MUSEUM
Sutton Hoo dig and they did eventually divorce in the mid1950s, with Peggy citing non-consummation. She went on to enjoy a happy but sadly brief second marriage, then a companionship with Arnold Lawrence (TE Lawrence’s brother). After his death, she found a deepened friendship once more with Stuart Piggott. Did the gold really look so shiny when it was found? In the movie Peggy is the first to find a gold artefact, one of the gold and red enamel sword “pyramid” decorations. It’s noticeably shiny as it
“This misguided initiative will have the same effect as the energy price cap, which resulted in the best fixed-rate deals being withdrawn.” Helios “They’ll drop the rates with or without this.” NIMBY
A report into how Debenhams insurance failed to cover one couple’s wedding venue problems drew several comments. “The article states that damage buried treasure Carey Mulligan as Edith Pretty, the landowner of the Sutton which Hoo site, where this decorated Anglo-Saxon helmet, below, was found can be covered includes floods, muders andWasoutbreaks of by history? Basil Brown ignored comes out of the ground, and other beautiful pieces are shown, including the stun- While Brown (Ralph Fiennes) was respdisease. I’ll betected you aaslot of excavator for locally a freelance ning gold and enamel lidBut of an otherwise rotted-away coin pouch. While many Ipswich Museum, scenes in the film show that you claim for sidelined when the other archaeoloof the money other metal finds fromwhen Sutton him Hoo were corroded, including the iron gists descend and treated disparagingly one ofsword, these, you’llbywill asked Phillips be (Ken Stott). In reality, Brown ship rivets and the gold generally does not react in the same way to being remained on the dig, but wasn’t permitted sort of flood, murder or chamber area. inside the burial buried ‘What in the ground and often looks to work astonishingly fresh. Basil Brown wrote in Social class played a strong role in the abildisease?’ And without doubt, ity of individuals to become archaeologists. Archive photographs show while Theyour photographer answer will not be covered Brown had comfortable trousers to excaRory vate in, he also sported a fitted waistcoat, byLomax, insurance.” tie and pocket watch. In one image he is described standing next to Phillips who wears braces HJM as Edith’s over a shirt and bow tie. In contrast to the cousin, is an invention his journal that “all the objects shone in the sunshine as on the day they were buried”. The finds raised security issues, and Stuart Piggott reminisced how they had been forced to take it to the pub in their pockets, fielding innocent questions from locals as to whether they’d “found any gold yet?”
workmanlike men, the attire of on-screen Peggy, who has supposedly just come from honeymoon, is somewhat out of place until she borrows some things from Edith Pretty. In reality, photographs often show her excavating in a T-shirt and dungarees or a boiler suit and natty white plimsolls, rather than wearing floral dresses and shorts.
Is the photographic archive of the dig real? The recording of the excavation is a key theme of The Dig, connecting to threads around mortality and remembrance. The photographer Rory Lomax, described as Edith Pretty’s cousin, is an invention, but an incredible visual archive from Sutton Hoo does exist. One series of photographs was taken by the archaeologist OGS Crawford, and another by Mercie Lack and Barbara Wagstaff, two friends who were visiting the area on holiday; the latter collection includes very early colour images. In the film Lomax shoots many striking portraits of Peggy, but in reality there are hardly any photos of her face; one rare exception shows her “cooking on a picnic fire” and perhaps inspired a campfire scene where she bonds with Lomax.
Is the story Peggy tells about the nightingale and the cellist true? Wonderfully, this is true. The BBC’s first live radio broadcast in 1924 was a singing nightingale accompanied by a cellist to which more than a million people listened. Further duets were sent out over the wireless. In 1942 there was an unexpected accompaniment when a secret aerial raid on Germany was accidentally captured. Nearly 200 bombers began flying over the garden in question, and while a canny engineer who realised the broadcast might give the Nazis advance warning pulled the plug on the broadcast, the eerie sound of massed approaching engines was still recorded. Rebecca Wragg Sykes is a fellow in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool. The Dig is on Netflix
art books theatre film music television what’s on puzzles
Celebrity Watch
Celebrity Watch is one of our most read pieces on the website, written weekly by one of our top writers, Caitlin Moran. Traditionally Celeb watch has had a very plain layout online with simple inline images, taken from the paper layout. The task was given to me to redesign celebwatch for the webiste, to bring in yet more readers. I came up with a few ideas and presented them to my seniors at a number of meetings. After a few minor tweaks, a favourite was chosen and the new design is now published weekly online.
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Tuesday November 27 2018 | the times
Business
Asthma drug test failure forces Vectura to take a deep breath Harry Wilson
A British drugs company has been forced to write off tens of millions of pounds of investment in an asthma treatment after admitting that a clinical study found that it had no significant impact on patients’ health. Vectura said that it would take a £40 million hit and would stop developing its treatment for severe uncontrolled asthma after concluding that its drug did not work, sending shares in the London-listed company tumbling. The loss-making pharmaceuticals company said that poor results from the study of its VR475 medication in adult and adolescent patients were “disappointing”, but that it still hoped its research would bear fruit in future. Vectura was founded 20 years ago and is based in Chippenham, Wiltshire. It has 450 employees, including about 200 scientists across its clinical, regulatory and formulation devices teams. Last year, more than seven million patients received treatments that were based in some way on Vectura-devel-
oped technologies. A specialist in respiratory drugs, Vectura has partnerships with some of the industry’s biggest players, including Glaxosmithkline and Hikma Pharmaceuticals. Its products include treatments for conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Shares in Vectura have lost more than a third of their value since the beginning of the year and yesterday’s announcement led to the stock closing down almost 8p at 69¾p. The shares have been widely shorted, but according to the latest Financial Conduct Authority disclosures, only one fund has a public position betting against the stock. The fall in the value of Vectura’s shares led to it being demoted from the FTSE 250 this year. The company had expanded via acquisitions in recent years, most obviously its $620 million takeover of Skyepharma in 2016. That deal failed to live up to expectations and led to lower royalties and higher costs than had been expected. James Ward-Lilley, chief executive of
Vectura, said yesterday: “This result is clearly disappointing for the group, but it’s not one which is completely surprising. I’ve described this study as one with a challenging endpoint.” However, analysts at Peel Hunt, the stockbroker, said: “We expect today’s news will inevitably lead to further questions regarding Vectura’s ability to deliver value and positive returns from its R&D investments, as well as the outlook for longer-term growth.” In its last financial update to investors in September, Vectura warned that Brexit threatened to hit its business with increased costs, as well as causing disruption to its supply chains. This was just the latest bad news for the company. At its full-year results in March, Vectura said that it had suffered a “challenging 2017” as the business was confronted with a multitude of problems, including delays to the release of a late-stage generic version of Glaxosmithkline’s blockbuster Advair inhaler, which it wants to release in the United States with Hikma.
Paypal deal ‘won’t pay off for users’ Tom Knowles
A $2.2 billion deal involving two leading mobile payment services could mean higher costs for customers, the competition watchdog has warned. Paypal, America’s largest digital payments company, said in May that it was acquiring iZettle, a Swedish startup that provides mini credit card readers that turn smartphones and tablets into mobile payment registers. The devices have been a hit with small and medium-sized businesses as they allow companies to take credit and debit card payments without setting up a card reader. The Competition and Markets Authority said that the deal, which was completed in September, could lead to Paypal facing “insufficient competition in the UK”. It said that had iZettle not been taken over, it could have “provided strong competition for Paypal and potentially benefited customers by driving innovation and lower prices”. Andrea Gomes da Silva, executive
iZettle allowed people to tip street performers at the Edinburgh Fringe this year
director of the authority, said that the Swedish company had “established a market-leading position. [The] takeover could lead to higher prices or reduce the quality of services.” If Paypal and iZettle cannot allay the
CMA’s concerns, the deal will be subject to a wider investigation. The pair have hit the pause button on further integration efforts. A Paypal spokesman said that the company “continues to work co-operatively with the CMA”.
CITY PEOPLE The feuds, the faces and the farcical Dominic Walsh @walshdominic
Business big shot name neil carson age 61 position chairman, oxford instruments
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or somebody who admits to scraping into college after A levels that were “a bit of a disaster”, the new chairman of Oxford Instruments hasn’t done too badly. Neil Carson is also chairman of TT Electronics, a maker of sensors for cars and aircraft, and deputy chairman of TI Fluid Systems, the auto parts maker. He built his reputation during 34 years at Johnson Matthey. He joined the producer of catalytic converters in 1980 on its graduate
steering readers in the right direction The collapse of Carillion and the accounting chicanery at Patisserie Valerie have called into question yet again the role of the auditing profession. While the mooted combination of BDO and Moore Stephens would stir up competition, whether it will improve the eyesight of those overseeing company books is another matter. All could do worse than read The Signs Were There, written by Tim Steer and published this week by Profile Books. Mr Steer, a former star fund manager who gained a reputation for spotting potential accounting blow-ups (and making a profit by short-selling the shares), romps through corporate downfalls from Northern Rock and Connaught to Isoft, most of which he spotted in advance.
recruitment scheme after completing an engineering degree at Lanchester Polytechnic — now Coventry University. He went on to hold a dozen different roles in Britain and America before making it to the top job in 2004. During his decade as chief executive at the FTSE 100 company, he tripled Johnson Matthey’s market value. At Oxford Instruments, a maker of high-tech research tools, the father of three steps into the shoes of Alan Thomson, who died in July. Steve Blair, who has filled in as interim chairman since then, will revert to nonexecutive director. Mr Carson is honorary president of the Society of Chemical Industry and was a founder member of the Prince of Wales’ corporate leaders group on climate change. jokers, please take note Since the start of this month, when the Bank of England asked the public to nominate a scientist to grace the new plastic £50 note, it has received 174,112 suggestions, 114,000 of them in the first week alone. Having whittled the first week’s submissions down to a shortlist of 936, including Mary Anning, left, the 19th century Dorset fossil hunter, the Bank felt it necessary to say nominations needed to “have contributed to the field of science”, “inspire people, not divide them” and “be real — so no fictional characters”. white elephant Today is the first anniversary of the publication of the government’s industrial strategy white paper. Some may celebrate this. Others may struggle to remember what the white paper actually recommended.
What’s up? Who’s down? J a m e s D e a n c h a rt s Wa l l S t r e e t a n d b e y o n d
that kind of man thinghas now, in downtown Manhattan, complained when everyone has a after search engine on their smartphone? finding a council They would notice never believe on his it. “They stillgrandparents’ believe it,” said Joseph Reginella, a sculptor grave claiming that from it wasStaten a Island. it hazardApparently (Jack Malvern requires writes). just a little Paul FordMr found that the more work. headstone was among Reginella builds props dozens at for Efford and pieces film cemetery in Plymouth, sets but in recent Devon, be labelled years hastobeen making with amonuments yellow hazard public to sign. Inspectors said commemorate events thatnever 190 ofhappened. the 3,800 that graves tested He caststhey them in were atand riskplaces of falling bronze over on andwalkways left signs them wheredawn they were before and unable to contact the families. watches as people stop the times | Monday November 26 2018 Ford, 39, said on he was andMr read the plaque dismayed tothat findtells the notice the pedestal, his grandparents’ ofcovering an elephant names: “It’s disrespectful to stampede across the Brooklyn Bridge on
and musician David Johansen, a former member of the New York Dolls rock group, is the narrator. Do people believe it? Mr Reginella says there is a golden period between the moment when the monument is set up and the first report in the press, detailing the hoax. For his latest piece, in memory of a tugboat crew who vanished on July 13, 1977, during the New York blackout, there is a mocked-up trailer for a documentary that suggests they were abducted by aliens. Mr Reginella erected the sculpture near the boat terminal for the Statue of Liberty. “One of the order and that there were warningjumped sign onoff thethe grave,” captains boat 15,000 gravestones at the he ran added. and up behind it,” he said. cemetery. However, he said Mr Liverpool council Reginella city was sure thehas joke that it was often unable to in up. theThe pastcaptain come under was wouldfire call track down the families after toppling aboutmonument 100 the police and his 300lb responsible for maintaining in its West Derby would stones be carted away. “He looked at the headstones. “When this cemetery because it was it, he read the plaque.” Then, “he is not possible we place a shrugged unable to contactand relatives. his shoulders, said: ‘Hey! Who knew?’”
House ads Power struggle As well as monuments to the “disasters”, Joseph Reginella also doctors newspapers cover up thetonames prove his fictions of the dead. If it was
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on the back it would be OK.” A council spokesman said that it conducted a survey every five years to keep its cemeteries in good
Church warden superpower, inSunni Tehran as US and magician are re-arrested in village murder case Nato ally sanctions bite W h e r e e a s t m e e t s wUniversity. e s t, It is understood that Mr Mr Field helped to look after H a n n a h L u c i n d a S mSmith i t h and backed off health from the nuclear deal . . . our A magician church as his deteriorated. Iran r eand p o art s f rwarden o m have him officials should decisively been re-arrested for questioning After his deathbehave in October 2015, like Mr Hannah Lucinda Smith Istanbul over T u r k e y revolutionaries.” the deaths of a retired English master Field moved in with Miss MooreKatie Gibbons
Iranian hardliners have called for the Martin, All ofthe Iran’s religious are and a former head teacher. former head ofleaders St Mary’s country’s reformist69,foreign minister to Catholic appointedPrimary by Ayatollah AliinKhamenei, Peter Farquhar, and Ann MooreSchool Bicester, be removed for making claims the supremeShe leader, and the political Martin, 83, were found dead in of theramvil- Oxfordshire. was found dead at her pantofgovernment corruption as US home sectioninofMay theirlast Friday lage Maids Moreton, near Buckingyear.sermons reflects sanctions thethree economy. opinions. Amid infighting, Ayaham. Theyhit lived houses apart and hisMr Farquhar hadthe published a numJavad Zarif, who is considered part of tollah Khamenei accused of died within 18 months of each other. ber of novels and had manyAmerica more unPresident Rouhani’s reformist caucus, reimposingMr sanctions was Ben Field, 27, a church warden who published. Smith because and Mr itField said the beneficiaries of money launfearful of an “Islamic awakening”. He lodged with Mr Farquhar, was arrested established a company called Farquhar dering were spending made the at at theMrInteryesterday alongside Martynmillions Smith, 31,of a Studies that comments was registered Fardollars in an attempt block proposed quhar's nationalformer Islamic Unity from Conference in magician, who is fromtoCornwall. address July 2015 financial transparency laws being Tehran yesterday. Both were initially held in January on and dissolved in November 2016. Both pushed through parliament. “The threats and directors. evil move by the US suspicion of murder, fraud and burglary were listed as joint This enraged cabinetyesterday. hardliners,They who and Zionist regime will be futile like and were re-arrested Mrthe Field, from Olney, Buckinghamhave accused Zarif of implying the past definitely end in remain on bailMr until November 15. that shire wasand onewill of three executors offailMr the ayatollah and the Revolutionary ure,” the ayatollah said. “The Mr Farquhar taught at Manchester Farquhar's will and took controlreason over Guards Corps Sadeq his thatunpublished the world’s arrogant powers, Grammar Schoolwere and corrupt. Stowe School, manuscripts. Hemost was Larijani, of theat judiciary, de- also notably the criminal sensitive and was ahead professor Buckingham entitled to live inUS, Mrare Farquhar’s scribed Mr Zarif’s comments as a knife to the west Asia region is the morale of to the heart. “Why did he not file a com- welcoming Islam and Islamic awakenplaint to the judiciary if the corruption ing among the region’s nations.” he claims is true?” Mr Larijani added. The US sanctions, reimposed on The privately owned Tasnim news November 4 after three years in which agency reported last week that a mo- they were eased under the nuclear deal tion for Mr Zarif’s dismissal was being struck between President Obama and prepared in parliament. President Rouhani, will deepen the criOn Friday Ayatollah Alam al-Hoda, sis in which the value of the rial has rea leading cleric, referred to the row in peatedly plunged against the dollar. his sermon. “No one says what Zarif President Trump hopes that the says was wrong. In a population of sanctions will provoke a popular upris80 million there are those that do ing against the regime in Iran. Inflation Kington, Rome Correspondent, moneyTom laundering, but when someone has spiralled in recent months, raising in charge of our foreign diplomacy says the cost of basic goods. In December reports from The Eternal City that it will be regarded as evidence and last year a rapid rise in the price of eggs will be used against our nation. . .” he led to a series of protests but they were said. “Know your enemy. The US has quashed by the security services.
Peter Farquhar, 69, and Ann MooreMartin, 83, died 18 months apart
home for as long as he wished. The original inquest into the retired schoolmaster’s death ruled that he died from drinking too much and there were no suggestions of foul play. Mr Farquhar’s £300,000 home was sold by his nephews last May. A police spokesman said: “A 27-yearold man formerly of Towcester, Northamptonshire, now of Olney, Bucking-
hamshire, has been re-arrested on suspicion of one count of murder of Peter Farquhar, conspiracy to murder Peter Farquhar, one count of suspicion of fraud by false representation and one count of burglary. “A 31-year-old man from Redruth, Cornwall, has been re-arrested on suspicion of one count of murder of Peter Farquhar, one count of conspiracy to murder Peter Farquhar, one count of suspicion of fraud by false representation and one count of burglary. "They each remain on bail until November 15 for further offences: one count of murder, one count of conspiracy to murder, one count of suspicion of fraud by false representation and one count of conspiracy to defraud.” A third man, 22-year-old Thomas Field, brother of Ben Field, is under investigation by the crime team.
Populism, Pompeii and the Pope
Dogs of peace Two Pungsan hunting dogs sent by Kim Jong-un to South Korea proved to be a gift that keeps on giving: the female, Gomi, recently produced six puppies. President Moon tweeted images of Gomi with her offspring, with the message: “This is a great fortune. I hope inter-Korean affairs will be like this.”
row judge
don’t want a domestic Brexit ... we must ... understand what it’s like to live on €950 a month when bills in Parisian restaurants around Frances Gibbare Legal Editor€200 when you invite someone and you don’t have Awine.” brother and sister have been jailed for “What world is Darmanin living in?” flouting court orders over an acrimonious £9 million divorce. asked Le Figaro newspaper. Alain John Hart,a 83, who made his money Houpert, centre-right opposition inRepublicans property, wassenator, jailed for accused contempt the of court in minister March for to co-operbudget ofrefusing a “dreadful, intoleraate his ex-wife, with Karen, 62. Yesterblewith disconnection” voters. dayPolice his sister, Byrne, 65, wastoday imfearSusan further violence prisoned too in what the judge called a with ultra-right and far-left groups like“ridiculous situation”. ly to be present as the gilets jaunes — as Judge Stephen said atofthe the protesters areWildblood known because the High Court in jackets Londonthat that high-visibility arealthough their emshe had out of “misplaced loyalblem —acted demonstrate in the capital.The ty”, her “steadfast refusal” to obey court week-long movement has already left orders had to dead be punished. two people and 620 people inMr Hart by a divorce jured, 18 of was themordered seriously. 37 judge three years give Mrs Hart Officials want ago the to demonstrators to £3.5 million of their million gather at the foot£9.4 of the Eiffelfortune Tower, and a property business worth £1.6 milwhere police say they can be contained. lion. The couple, inon 1987, There have beenwho callsmarried to march the lived in aPalace. £1.1 million home in Wishaw, Élysée West Midlands, and had two children. His efforts to stop her running Drakestown Properties led to his 14month prison term. Mrs Hart had to get a possession order to force him out of the offices, by which time they had been stripped of almost all records and documents needed by the business. Mr Hart was ordered to hand over the documents and was jailed for failing to do so. Yesterday the judge said that Ms Taiwan Byrne also refused hand over Richardhad Lloyd Parry Asia to Editor documents. “This is a ridiculous situaConservative supporters of China won tion which is brought about by a steada series of political in Taiwan fast refusal to obeyvictories court orders,” he at the as included, voters rejected said. “Noweekend judge, myself would moves totolegalise marriage ever wish be in thesame-sex position of having and elected candidates opposed to the to sentence an otherwise highly island’s independence. respectable and respected 65-year-old In localHer elections woman.” defianceand wastwo “tooreferengrave”, dums, candidates forwas the“no ruling Demohowever, and there avoiding” cratic Progressive Party jailing her for three months.(DPP) lost ground to friend the conservative KuomintA family told the court that Ms ang, which washad a blow Tsaishe Ing-wen, Byrne’s father left to when was a Taiwan’s female baby, Mr first Hart “tookpresident. over the She roleanof nounced her resignation head of the father figure” and she wasas “reluctant to DPP but remains president. do anything that might appear to signal The results indicate unease among disloyalty to him”. islanders about effortsthat to make The judge accepted beingexplicit jailed its independence. Taiwanthehas funcwould “disgrace her within commutioned as a soverign state since the nity” but said: “There has to be a very Second World that, War where but China insists clear message people are that it is a rebel province. given every opportunity to comply with Theorders resultsbut willstill addchoose to suspicions in court to ignore the DPP China is interfering them, firmthat punishment will follow.”with Taiwan’s politics by giving money to candidates well disposed towards it. Voters also rejected a proposal to change to Taiwan the name under which athletes compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020. The name currently used – “Chinese Taipei” – is a compromise intended to mollify the mainland’s anger at any hint of the island’s independence. Voters rejected a proposal to legalise same-sex marriage, despite a court ruling last year that it was unconstitutional to deny couples the right to marry. The ruling gave parliament two years to pass the appropriate legislation. Saturday’s vote is not binding but will make it difficult for a new law to be passed.
World
Taiwan voters fear backlash from Beijing
Ten years on, the crash drives up price of Christmas trees United States Boer Deng Washington
They are the essential luxury item of winter 2018 — decorative, limited in supply and a must-have that will last half a season before falling to pieces. American shoppers had better hurry to snap up the best Christmas trees before they run out. Farmers have
warned that the country is facing a shortage and prices at the largest wholesale auction so far this year were 20 per cent higher than 12 months ago. Greg Schneider, a tree farmer in North Carolina, said: “People are scrambling. They’re asking a lot more money for trees now.” He added that the shortage was linked to trouble in the market ten years
The money The monarchs The madmen . . . and the people Richard Spencer understands the Middle East
ago, when farmers were hit by the effects of the 2008 recession and several bumper years that drove down prices. Many tree farms went out of business then, Mr Schneider said, and others were unable to plant new crops. Because it takes between seven and 15 years for a tree to grow, the shortage is expected to last several years. The gloom may make it harder for
Christmas tree farmers to win a marketing war with sellers of artificial trees, which cost less because they can be reused. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, Americans bought 21 million plastic trees in 2017, compared with 18 million the previous year. The number of real trees bought was the same for both years: 27 million. The tree farm industry is spending
$1 million on an advertising campaign urging families to “Keep it Real” with a live fir this winter. “That smell, that wonderful fresh Christmas tree smell,” one advert says. “That can’t be manufactured.” Getting Knowthat yourholiday times cheer this Christmas is not necessarily a matter of being naughty or nice, but of how much you want to spend.
collection by buying statues The near-complete main part, which amassed by the noble from cash-strapped noble has remained in Turkey, depicts a girl Italian Torlonia family are families in the 19th century, with windswept hair and an intense tucked away in palaces in and unearthing others from stare. It is on display in Gaziantep’s Rome including the land on their extensive Zeugma mosaics museum, and has besumptuous Villa Albani, estates around Rome, come an unofficial symbol of the city. which is surrounded by including near the ancient The mosaic dates from AD200-300. gardens behind walls in port. policies is a putative return to compulGermany The fragments in the US were sold by the heart of the city. “They found a lot buried sory national service, which was in efOliver Moody Berlin the New York antiquities dealer Peter The collection includes there, and today the fect abolished seven years ago. Coming Marks to the Bowling Green State the Giustiniani Hestia, collection, including the Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has just from the Saarland, a small state on the University in Ohio for $35,000 in 1965, a noted Roman source of income and French border, she also sets huge store murals and vases, is lost her primary and have been on display since 2012. marble sculpture. unending — the most has to live 350 miles away from her on Franco-German relations. Much of the paperwork from the sale A judge important family collection family. She is surrounded by enemies Outwardly she projects a warmer, has been lost. The pieces were initially ordered the everywhere by television more extroverted persona than Mrs in the world,” Francesco and pursued thought to be from another site but in objects to be Buranelli, head of the cameras. On the plus side, though, she Merkel. In 2012, after beating her Social 2013 the university hired two independcollection to become a father to cut him out of his Vatican’s commission for isimpounded on the brink of becoming the most Democrat prince (SPD) opponent Heiko ent archaeologists to investigate. They until they who museum “for all the citizens will. “I found documents monuments, said. powerful politician in Germany. Maas in a hard-fought state election, concluded that the pieces came from could of thedoorstep world”, and accused about his illness, bank In the 1920s the family let SincebeMrs Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, she turnedaccuses up on his mother’s the same villa as the gypsy girl. inventoried his siblings his two sisters and brother accounts closed just before Villa Torlonia on Via squeaked past her conservative rival to apologise for her harsh words on the The university signed the deal with after a Merz, 63, to become the first campaign of trying ofnumber having the his death and closed boxes Nomentana to Benito Friedrich trail.to Her home can works valued 18 1G M the Tuesday 2019 | the Turkish January culture 1ministry in times May challenge bythe Christian Democratic still bebreak thetelephone and directory. meeting with museums ready to be sent elsewhere,” Mussolini, who dug an air new leader of foundup in the and the fragments are due to arrive in one of(CDU) the in 18 years, she is in pole She listens collection. in an attempt he told the court, according raid shelter among the Union to AC/DC’s Highway to Hell to sell them. Gaziantep on Monday. In return the heirs, Carlo Heherself said that He alleged to Il Messaggero. ancient Jewish burial position to replace Angela Merkel, 64, to psych up before speeches andthat his university will be sent high-quality Torlonia, a hewears wanted the jacket siblings their In recent years, attempts catacombs beneath it. as chancellor. often a leather on herpersuaded days replicas. DANNY LAWSON/PA It is easy to see why the German press off. Unlike the Protestant Mrs Merkel, has labelled her “Mini Merkel”. She she is driven by an ardent Catholic faith. speaks in the chancellor’s unflappable, Mrs Kramp-Karrenbauer has never matter-of-fact tone, with much the held a position in the federal governsame faint air of irony dancing around ment but has spent nearly a quarter of her eyes. Like Mrs Merkel, she tends to a century constructing a formidable offset her short stature and nondescript powerbase in the Saarland, turning a appearance with brightly coloured swing state into a CDU fortress. FASHION suits. Both generally eschew fiery rheThe auspices look pretty good for her toric and BRIGHTEN talk eloquently UPwith their to become the next chancellor. Mrs On top of the world The Q’ero people of Peru are among the world’s last indigenous tribes and farm alpacas in the Andes hands. Kramp-Karrenbauer is a canny tactiWhich colours Mrs Kramp-Karrenbauer is a cian who has what Manfred Otzelberto wear in 2019 staunch Merkel loyalist from the same ger, another of her biographers, calls a TIMES2 “social” wing of the party, which stands “navigation system for power”. for a strong and an iopen D i dstate i Ta ng n Bsociety. e i j i n g cGermans h a rtseem s to like what they have They are ardent pro-Europeans with a seen: polls suggest that she is substant hconsensus-building e BUSINESS r e t u r n o fand a ins u p tially e r pmore o w epopular r stringent migration policy since its con- ago and sought asylum as an unaccomknack for than any of her ob- Austria servative chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, of panied minor. His application was cremental change. vious party rivals. The CDU’s rating has YEAR AHEAD Oliver Moody Berlin the Austrian People’s Party, formed a turned down but in February he was “Politically speaking Merkel and climbed to 32 per cent since her apWhat do CEOs Kramp-Karrenbauer have a trusting pointment as leader, comfortably A senior figure in Austria’s far-right coalition with the right-wing Freedom granted an extended residence permit in 2019?they get on above the record low of 24 per cent it hit governing party has called for refugees Party (FPO) a year ago. relationshipexpect and personally by the local authorities in Steyr. He had Johann Gudenus, the FPO’s parlia- also taken up an apprenticeship. very well,” saidMAIN Eva PAPER Quadbeck, a polit- last month, and 13 points ahead of the to be subjected to an 8pm curfew after an Afghan migrant was arrested on mentary leader, said the killing proved ical journalist at the Rheinische Post and resurgent Greens. Friends of Michelle said that the pair the co-author of a Kramp-Karrenbauer The Greens and the Alternative for suspicion of murdering his 16-year-old the need for the state to prevent asylum had been in an “on-off” relationship girlfriend. seekers from leaving their accommodabiography, I Can, I Want To and I Will. since March last year. On Sunday evenGermany (AfD) are likely to pose seriSPORT The Austrian girl, named only as tion in the evening. “Unfortunately this ing he is said to have visited her at her “They share the same sense of humour, ous threats in the European elections in MURRAY RETURNS the ANDY same analytical approach. Merkel May. If the CDU suffers, Mrs Merkel Michelle F, was found dead in her room incident is only the latest in a whole mother’s flat. Michelle’s mother and sisvalues Kramp-Karrenbauer Stuart Fraser on so highly will be out of the chancellery and Mrs at her mother’s home in Steyr on Sun- series, which we can no longer call iso- ter tried to enter her room at 11pm but she would like entrust her with run- Kramp-Karrenbauer will face the fight day night. She had apparently been lated cases,” he told the newspaper found the door blocked by a chest of the to tennis star’s Österreich. “I want us to consider a ban drawers. When they managed to push it ning the country as her successor.” of her life to succeed her. Technically, stabbed to death with a kitchen knife. long-awaited comeback The suspect, Saber A, 17, went on the on going out, and the measures aside they discovered Michelle’s body Yet there are important differences Mrs Merkel could hang on until a 2021 MAIN PAPER run but handed himself in to armed through which we could implement it.” near an open window, through which of style and content. In political terms general election. The idea was floated by Heinz-Chris- Saber appeared to have escaped. Mrs Kramp-Karrenbauer — widely Mrs Kramp-Karrenbauer’s rivals police at a railway station in Vienna on known by her initials AKK — places have often fatally underestimated her Tuesday. Local media reported that he tian Strache, the FPO vice-chancellor, He switched off his mobile phone and in January. much more emphasis on law and order talent and determination. She will need said her death was an accident. fled to Vienna, but later gave himself up Run toounce the hills Hundreds of athletes fancy dress yesterday to take Auld Lang Syneinfell race across the Pennines Haworth, West Yorkshire has already adopted a part morein the Saber arrived Austria two years than her mentor. One of her signature every on thenear advice of a friend. of both in the battle ahead.put onAustria
fight of her life
Near the start of my career with The Times I was given the task of the ‘house ads’. Passed through a few hands before mine, this daunting challenge was to create adverts in the pres-desrcibed News style for each journalist under our title at the time. These were published periodically.
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Thursday December 20 2018 | the times
World THOMAS COEX/AFP/GETTY
IN THE TIMES TO MO RROW
Chinese exceptionalism
Call for refugee curfew after ‘murder’
Judges guilty of bullying in legal world that ‘stinks of testosterone’
Putting the interest into economics Frances Gibb, Jonathan Ames
COMMENT
Judges are one of the main sources of bullying in the legal profession, Daniel Finkelstein according to a survey for The Times Don’t put your post-Brexit which also suggests that lawyers are being harassed and propositioned by faith Ph i l i pinAthe l dWTO r i c k , e c o n osenior m i ccolleagues. s editor, action o n t hMAIN e fPAPER o rc e s s h a p i n g Despite our w o r ltaken d over bullying and sexual harassment over the past year, more than half of the 1,500 barristers questioned believe the problem has not gone away. Bullying is rife among the judiciary, they say, while older male barristers are the main cause of sexual harassment. The concerns have prompted Bar leaders to take up the issue in talks with senior judges and formal guidance is being produced on how barristers should make complaints. One barrister
Command and attention lu c y f i s h e r , de f e n c e cor r e s p on de n t, r e p o rt s f r o m t h e f r o n t l i n e
said: “Judicial bullying remains alive and well, particularly if you are counsel appearing from outside of the judge’s and the other barrister’s patch. I’ve been referred to as ‘legs’ by a male barrister, I’ve had it suggested that compliments given by a QC about my advocacy while I was a junior barrister were only given “because he wanted to get into my knickers”. Another said: “Look at how appalling some judges are to advocates and it doesn’t surprise me at all that advocates replicate this behaviour to each other. While so few judicial bullying complaints are upheld, the problem will never be addressed.” Other responses included: “The stench of testosterone is overwhelming at the criminal Bar and that odour is getting stronger given the lack of
diversity. Only better funding will attract a bigger pool of talent and help retain the few women.” The lawyers claimed that a “whole culture change” was needed. “I have never personally experienced sexism at the Bar; however I have witnessed some of my female friends subjected to inappropriate comments and propositions from more senior members and on one occasion a judge,” said one. “Like a number of baby barristers I have experienced the sharp end of judicial tempers and criticism which was unwarranted and unduly personal and I believe crossed the line.” While judges might be expected to be tough, some respondents said they acted “beyond what is necessary to achieve the outcome of a hearing”. The survey by the Bar Council during
October and November echoes its research earlier this year, which showed a marked increase in reports of harassment, bullying and discrimination over the past four years. About 55 per cent of respondents said harassment was still a problem at the Bar. A new guide being drawn up is expected to advise barristers on how to complain about bullying, either informally through the Bar Council or formally to the Judicial Conduct and Investigations office. Last month a legal academic, Professor Jo Delahunty, QC, said in a public lecture that there was widespread complacency about inappropriate behaviour in chambers and courts. She said there was very little reporting of it because young barristers were fearful of blighting their career prospects.
Church of Nativity’s mosaics restored to their ancient glory
F
or the first time in hundreds of years, parts of the Church of the Nativity’s floor mosaic, columns and wall paintings, have been restored to their former glory, removing hundreds of years of grime (Anshel Pfeffer writes). A church was first built in Bethlehem in the fourth century but the oldest surviving section, Justinian’s basilica, is believed to have been commissioned by the Roman emperor in AD 565. The mosaics and wall decorations are mostly from the Crusader period in the 12th century. Over the years, some damage was caused by Muslim
conquerors but the building has essentially remained intact. The main reason for the disrepair has been a lack of funds for maintenance and feuds among the sects that share in its repair work. Visits by the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims wore down the mosaics, while smoke from candles obscured the wall paintings. The foundations and some of the wood beams in the
ceiling have been damaged by subsidence and earthquakes. As a result, the World Monuments Fund put the church on its list of 100 most endangered sites in 2008. The
Palestinian Authority announced in 2010 a $17 million renovation project. Three quarters of the funds have been raised and work began in 2013. One of the key challenges was restoring the 21,500 sq ft floor mosaic, depicting scenes from the lives of Jesus and his disciples. So far
The mosaics and wall paintings in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity are being restored, wiping away years of grime from pilgrims and candle smoke
1,292 sq ft have been restored and repaired. Work is expected to continue for at least two more years. While the Palestinian
Authority is taking credit for the work, some Christians in Bethlehem say it has taken too long to embark on the project. Numbers are disputed, but one Palestinian census puts the number of Christians living in the West Bank at 47,000, one per cent of the Palestinian
population. About half of them live in Bethlehem, where they make up about ten per cent of the once predominantly Christian town. Those involved in the project hope to boost the flagging numbers of pilgrims, while restoring the pride of local Christian families.
Jail threat for celebrity who sneered at Thai princess’s gown Thailand Richard Lloyd Parry Asia Editor
A remark about a dress worn by Thailand’s Miss Universe contestant has left a minor internet celebrity facing jail. When Wanchaleom Jamneanphol wrote that the blue evening gown was ugly she did not realise that it had been designed by Princess Sirivannavari
Nariratana, one of the king’s daughters. Ms Wanchaleom was criticising the gown worn by Sophida Kanchanarin in the pageant, which took place in Thailand on Monday. Her Facebook post was shared widely in Thailand, attracting the attention of Kitjanut Chaiyosburana, an aspiring politician, who accused her of libel and violating Thailand’s computer crime
Can Kim make peace? R i c h a r d L l o y d P a r r y, asia editor, has the answers
laws. “I cannot accept that a wellknown individual in the online world expressed negative opinions that affect the country’s reputation,” he wrote. Ms Wanchaleom apologised to the princess. “Your Royal Highnesss . . . I did not have any intention to insult or disrespect the high institution,” she wrote.
“I did not know the full consequences of my actions. I deeply regret and feel guilty for my actions.” It is not yet clear whether she will be investigated for lèse-majesté, which punishes criticism of Sophida Kanchanarin wears the princess’s blue gown
the royal family with up to 15 years in jail. The law has never been invoked by the royal family. However, Thai citizens can bring complaints against each other. Police and prosecutors must investigate allegations or risk being charged with lèse-majesté. Critics of the law say that it is a means of asserting loyalty to the monarchy for self-publicity.