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My real life Bake Off Sam Leith on learning to cook with his aunt Prue, the show’s new recruit Pages 20 & 21 Tuesday 29 August 2017

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may’s brexit sos to europe heads ❚ pm goes straight to national leaders as brussels digs in over trade talks

Joe Murphy Political Editor THERESA MAY is set to appeal to Europe’s national leaders after Brussels threatened today to block talks on future trade.

The Prime Minister plans to go over the heads of European Union officials and overturn their demand that a “divorce settlement” , including a cash payment worth tens of billions of pounds, is agreed first.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker insisted earlier that trade discussions could not start until the Prime Minister gave ground. He said none of the Brexit papers published by the UK Government this month were “satisfactory”.

“We need to be crystal clear that we will commence no negotiations on the new relationship — particularly a new economic and trade relationship — between the UK and the EU before all these [separation] questions are resolved,” Mr Juncker said.

No 10 responded by repeating a call from Brexit Secretary David Davis for “more imagination and flexibility” from Brussels in the talks. Mrs May’s spokeswoman said the UK was in “a good position” and there was no reason not to discuss both separation issues and trade at the same time.

Sources went further by revealing Mrs May’s bid to bypass Mr Juncker and his chief negotiator, Michel Barnier.

At the same time, UK officials are to launch a detailed challenge to Brussels’ demands for the cash settlement. They will begin a “line-by-line interrogation” of the legal basis for any

Continued on Page 2

sharapova back from ban with dramatic victory “I’m prime time”: Maria Sharapova celebrates after beating No 2 seed Simona Halep in the first round of the US Open. It was her first Grand Slam match since returning from a 15-month drug ban

FULL sTORY Page 52

Inside

RAF cadet shot dead on way to barbecue Page 5

Mo to play football for Grenfell Page 3

Family of six ‘drown’ in US floods Pages 12 & 13

News |

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Inside today 29.08.17

Boy, four, found dead in pool at activity centre

Fashion

Fall guys

Menswear autumn trends you need to know PLUS The corduroy comeback starts on page 27 >>

Business

N. Korea missile sends fear through markets

Wages crunch risks push into recession

page 35 >>

page 36 >>

Comment >> Londoner’s Diary >> letters >>

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Distribution assistance: circulation@standard.co.uk Newsdesk: 020 7938 6000 Email: news@standard.co.uk Pictures: pictures@standard.co.uk OUR STANDARDS We take seriously our responsibility to maintain high editorial standards. Under deadline pressure errors can occasionally occur. If you spot a mistake or wish to complain about the Standard’s editorial please use the complaints form at www.standard.co.uk/codeofconduct, or write to: Managing Editor, Evening Standard, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5EE

A four-year-old boy has died after being discovered in a swimming pool at an activity centre.

He was reported missing at Knapp House Activity Centre in Northam, Devon, at 2.55pm yesterday, while on a trip with his family organised by the charity Devon Narcotics Anonymous.

A spokesman for the charity said: “Very tragically something has gone horrifically wrong and a young child of one of our members drowned in the pool. We are not aware of the exact details of how this happened and the police are investigating.”

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “Following an extensive search assisted by the police helicopter, the child was located in a swimming pool at the site and taken to hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

“Next of kin have been informed and inquiries continue. The death is currently being treated as unexplained.”

■ Anyone with information is asked to contact the force on 101.

France’s first petit panda The first panda cub born in France is held by its mother at the Beauval Zoo. Huan Huan, on loan in a breeding programme to the zoo from China, gave birth to twins but one died. Keepers said the surviving cub is in good health.

Rain sweeps in to dampen heatwave AFTER the hottest August Bank Holiday Monday on record, temperatures in London are set to cool for the rest of the week.

Yesterday’s highs of 28C in parts of London beat the previous record of 27.2C in Suffolk in 1984.

Temperatures were remaining high today, with “plenty of sunshine” and

Juncker rejects Britain’s Brexit proposals as ‘not satisfactory’ Continued from Page 1 payment. An official said: “It is for them to set out what they think is the legal basis for a settlement. We will be setting out our legal analysis of the presentation they have put forward so far.”

However, pro-EU Tories are increasingly concerned that Mrs May’s hardball tactics risk turning talks into a “farce” and endangering a trade deal.

The EU-27 countries want a cash settlement, plus guarantees on the rights of their citizens in the UK and a plan to deal with the Northern Ireland border, before wider talks take place. Mr Juncker’s words made clear that a summit of leaders in October is likely to rule that too little progress has been made. He said: “First of all we settle the past before we look forward to the future.”

He said the UK “hesitates showing all its cards”, adding: “I did read, with the requisite attention, all the papers produced by [the Government] and none of those is actually satisfactory. There is still an enormous amount of issues which remain to be settled. Not just on the border problems regarding Ireland and Northern Ireland — which is a very serious problem in respect of which we have had no definitive response — but we also have the status of European citizens living in the UK and UK citizens living on the Continent.”

Yesterday, Mr Barnier said he was worried about the lack of clarity and insisted “we must start negotiating seriously”.

British officials were not ruling out a round of shuttle diplomacy by Mrs May before the October summit. She has already held talks with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Ireland.

Warning: former business minister Anna Soubry said the whole Brexit process was “in danger of turning into a farce”

Allies say she has found leaders willing to engage on issues such as trade in contrast with the Commission.

Chancellor Philip Hammond has said firms need to know where they stand by the end of the year or they may invoke contingency plans to move key staff abroad. Anna Soubry, the former business minister, said: “We need to face up to the reality that we do not hold all the cards. The whole thing is in danger of turning into a farce.”

Most senior Cabinet ministers accept that Britain will probably end up paying up to £40 billion to cover a share of planned spending — decided before last year’s Brexit vote — and future liabilities such as Commission staff pensions.

Hardline Brexiteers say there is nothing in any European treaty that requires Britain to pay a penny after leaving.

Pro-Remain MPs may attempt to force the Government to speed up its negotiations when the Commons returns from summer recess next week. A new all-party group on European Union Relations will be formally launched in the autumn, with the aim of building up broad support for a soft Brexit.

Meanwhile, No 10 said Mrs May would continue with her visit to Japan, which starts tomorrow, despite North Korea’s test-firing of a missile over the country.

highs of 25C, the Met Office said. But the warm weather is set to gradually deteriorate, with a front from the north west bringing colder air and some light rain from tomorrow.

Temperatures will drop to the mid to high-teens for the rest of the week, with the prospect of some frost in pockets of northern England.

Reveal pay gap between bosses and your staff, firms are told Kate Proctor Political Reporter

BRITAIN’S biggest firms have been given 12 months to reveal their pay ratio between top bosses and workers, the Government announced today.

The changes set out by Business Secretary Greg Clark will force all listed companies to state publicly how much their chief executives are paid compared to their average worker by law.

Companies will also be named and shamed if there has been significant shareholder opposition to executive pay packages.

Mr Clark said the reforms, which he hoped would be in force next summer, will “ensure our largest companies are more transparent and accountable to their employees and shareholders”.

Stefan Stern, director of pressure group the High Pay Centre, said: “This is a big deal. We’ve been told for years that pay ratios would never happen, should never happen and could never happen. Well — they’re happening.”

But union chiefs said the proposals fall far short of Theresa May’s promise to get tough on corporate excess.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) criticised Mrs May for ditching her 2016 promise to ensure workers sit on company boards.

Under the reforms, firms can either assign a non-executive director to represent employees, create an employee advisory council, nominate a director from the workforce, or explain why they cannot do this.

The TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “It’s a feeble proposal, spelling business as usual for boardrooms across Britain.”

Paul George, of the Financial Reporting Council, acknowledged the worker representation is “different to what has been promised”, but told the BBC: “I think you need to wait before you conclude whether they are feeble.”

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THE DISPOSSESSED FUND

We won’t forget you: Sir Mo pulls on his football boots for Grenfell exclusive David Churchill SIR Mo Farah will swap his running spikes for football boots to play in a charity match in aid of victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Britain’s greatest athlete joins a stellar line-up of celebrities and stars of the game, with funds raised going through London Community Foundation to the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund before being distributed to survivors and towards community projects.

Farah will join actor Damian Lewis, singers Olly Murs, Tinie Tempah and Marcus Mumford and former footballers Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand and David Seaman in Saturday’s match.

Four-time Olympic champion Farah said he was left “heartbroken” by the tragedy and issued a rallying cry to Londoners to get behind the #Game4Grenfell match at QPR’s home ground, Loftus Road, and show “we haven’t forgotten about them”.

Farah, who grew up in Hounslow, said: “The whole world was shocked by what happened at Grenfell Tower but, as a born-and-bred Londoner, it was properly heartbreaking to see. I just hope that this match shows the community that we haven’t forgotten about them and that we will do everything we can to support the surviving victims.”

He quipped that normally he “wouldn’t be nice about a London club that isn’t Arsenal”, the team he supports, but paid tribute to QPR for aiding survivors and helping rebuild the community. After the fire in June, the club turned its ground, which is minutes

from the tower, into a relief centre distributing aid. It hosted counselling sessions and provided free summer school training sessions for child survivors and others at the Westway Sports and Fitness Centre.

Farah, who won his last track race in Zurich on Thursday, said: “It’s great to see everything that QPR is doing to help. I grew up in a part of London that wasn’t posh and was quite tough at times. But sport has that power to bring people together, from all backgrounds.

That’s what football is doing here. It’s great to see.”

Farah said he was at a training camp in France preparing for the World Athletics Championships when the fire broke out. “I remember seeing the footage on the news and not believing what I was seeing. It was like it was a disaster movie, just shocking. I think every father would see something like that and just think, ‘What if that was my family?’ Everyone is thinking the same thing — this can never be allowed to happen again.”

With refugees among the victims and survivors, he said the fire made him think of when he came to Britain aged eight after fleeing war-torn Somalia to join his father. He said: “It is not what should happen when people come to the UK for a safe haven. As a Londoner, and someone with a family, it did make it so hard to see what happened.

“People have come together to help the

Top team: Sir Mo Farah in his charity shirt. He will play alongside Olly Murs, above, Tinie Tempah, far left, and Damian Lewis

A Carnival for Grenfell Page 19 Sport Pages 51-56 community to recover and that’s what this match is all about.”

He said the fact that 180 households left homeless were still in hotels 10 weeks on was “concerning”. “The situation may be complicated, but we need to support the victims and help them get their lives back on track as soon as possible. New

and fair housing is the first step.” More than 2,000 complimentary tickets will be given to those directly affected by the fire, including families, the emergency services, volunteers, residents and others who helped with recovery efforts.

Tickets for #Game4Grenfell, which kicks off at 3pm on Saturday, are £15 for adults, £5 for concessions. To buy, call the QPR box office on 08444 777 007 or visit game4grenfell.com, where you can also donate. The match will be aired exclusively on Sky 1 and Pick.

Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

News | DAY 1

Like us on Facebook facebook.com/eveningstandard Follow us on Twitter @standardnews and Instagram @evening.standard Platform alterations: how Waterloo looked on the first and last day of the £400 million rebuilding project

DAY 23

watch the video online standard.co.uk/ waterloo

Waterloo reopens almost on time ... but commuters are hit by delays Dick Murray THE reopening of Waterloo station following three weeks of engineering work was marred by delays and cancellations today, despite pledges the project would be completed on time.

Hours after Network Rail boasted that everything was on schedule, major problems were discovered when engineers tested signalling this morning.

Instead of trains running from 4.30am, they did not start until 6.52am, causing issues throughout the morning peak with major disruption due to last into the afternoon. Up to 100,000 passengers a day travel into Waterloo between 7am and 10am.

The delay is a major embarrassment for Mark Carne, Network Rail’s £675,000-a-year chief executive.

Last night, he was filmed looking across the platforms and said: “It doesn’t look like it now, but [in the] morning these platforms will be thriving as passengers start to use them.”

Admitting there was work to do, he added: “Fingers crossed that everything is going to go well.”

When the £400 million rebuilding programme began, Mr Carne said everything had been planned with “military precision”. He said: “I am confident this job is going to go well.”

Back at Waterloo this morning, he said: “I would like to start this short video broadcast with an apology. We opened Waterloo station later than we originally planned. That has caused some disruption to passengers.”

Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, urged passengers to claim compensation for the delays.

He said: “Passengers will be disappointed that, after all the promises, communications and planning, the Waterloo upgrade slipped.”

New operator South Western said services would be “severely affected” until midday. There were no trains on three lines; the Chessington South branch, Waterloo to Dorking and Waterloo to Woking.

In a statement issued at 4.15am, NR said a “small number” of early morning trains might be delayed. In Kent, thou-

‘a slap in the face’

“The worst it’s been”: Bealinda Lucas and Andrew Shanahan

FED-UP commuters described “chaotic” scenes at Waterloo, with one claiming that trying to board a train into London was “like trying to find the last lifeboat on the Titanic”.

Accountant Bealinda Lucas, 25, from Whitchurch, Hampshire, said: “I gave them the benefit of the doubt for three weeks, but today I did expect them to be on time.”

Andrew Shanahan, 26, a currency broker from south-west London, said: “Getting on the train was like trying to find the last lifeboat on the Titanic. Everyone was agitated, hot and sweaty. We expected it to get better today, but if anything this was the worst it’s been.” Verity Davidge, 29, a communications worker from Basingstoke, said: “For the price I pay for my ticket, and the lack of compensation on offer, it’s a slap in the face.” sands of Southeastern commuters were told at stations that trains would be going to Blackfriars rather than Waterloo.

Privately, First South Western and Southeastern were fuming with NR over the short notice. A senior manager told the Standard: “They [NR] are in denial. They kept saying yesterday and last night that everything was okay, when it clearly wasn’t.”

An NR spokesperson said: “During the process of testing the complex signalling, we identified an issue in this safety critical system which we are working to resolve. This will take some time to fix and a small number of early passenger trains may be delayed.”

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RAF cadet shot dead on his way to BBQ just days before starting training in LA Barney Davis and Justin Davenport

Victim: Abdul Mayanja was shot near Maryland station in east London

a young RAF cadet was shot dead in front of friends near the Olympic Park.

Today Abdul Mayanja’s family said they had lost their “beacon of light” and called for an end to bloodshed in London.

The 19-year-old had left home to go to a friend’s barbecue when he was shot in the street yards from Maryland Station in Stratford on Friday evening. He died in hospital.

Mr Mayanja, a cadet flight sergeant, was scheduled to move to Los Angeles this week to finish training, his devastated family said today.

His father Kidza told the Standard his son had been “destined to fly in the RAF” after starting his training at 14 at 338 West Ham Squadron air cadets. The business consultant, 58, said: “He was a responsible young man and couldn’t stop making new friends. He kept contact with everyone he met from around the world in the cadets. He was a beacon of light to our family and community.

“Our boy went to a barbecue and never came home. The killer is still out there. We want justice but no more bloodshed. We don’t want any other family to feel the pain we have to feel.”

At their family home in Plaistow, his mother added: “We told him to be careful and we wanted him home early because we know that trouble can happen, especially on this bank holiday weekend. The first thought we had was he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“We took so much pride in Abdul.

He showed so much potential in ­everything he tried to do.

“I had this sense of pride in him as he left the front door that day. A couple of hours later I was looking at his lifeless body. All I want is whoever killed my son to be found. I’m scared for my other children. We are going to have to rob them of their freedoms and keep them safe inside after what happened to Abdul.”

Witnesses described hearing a single shot and screams from Mr Mayanja’s friends in Well Street at 10.40pm on Friday. One said:

Woman driving Transit van arrested after cyclist is killed in 6am crash at junction Justin Davenport and Ben Morgan A CYCLIST was killed today in a crash with a van in north London.

The man, who was in his thirties, suffered critical injuries in the collision with a Ford Transit just after 6am in Holloway. Police and paramedics treated him at the scene but he died a short time later.

He is thought to be the sixth cyclist to be killed on London’s roads this year.

The woman who was driving the Transit van stopped and was arrested on suspicion of causing death by

dangerous driving. She was taken to a north London police station for questioning. The Transit, which had a logo from a van hire company on the side, was being examined by crash investigators this morning.

Police said they were called to the incident at the Camden Road junction with Brecknock Road at 6.01am.

The man’s bike could be seen on the ground with a mangled back wheel.

Rhian Frost, 23, a student who lives nearby, said: “I heard a massive bang.

We have metal bins in our block and thought it was someone throwing them around.

“There were men and women

shouting and I heard sirens coming towards the area.”

Another witness said she was woken by the smash and ran outside to see the cyclist lying in the road while a man tried to give him first aid.

She said: “He was still on the bike, he wasn’t knocked off. It looked like a head-on collision. Someone from the van was on the floor in front of the man crying.”

Camden Road was closed between Camden Park Road and Middleton Grove this morning. Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

“­ Everyone ran out of their homes to see what had happened. The boy was lying on the pavement not moving and his friends were screaming and crying — it was awful.”

Mr Mayanja, one of four siblings, had recently returned from studying for three years in Uganda. He is the 11th teenager to be killed on the streets of the capital since January.

His aunt Margaret Kirunda added: “He was a young man who wouldn’t hurt a fly. That’s what makes his violent death so unbearable.

“Flying planes was his childhood dream. Whoever killed my nephew must be the cruellest person on earth to take these dreams away from him.”

Detective Chief Inspector Will Reynolds, leading the inquiry, appealed for witnesses to come forward.

■ Call 020 8721 4005 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Trainee pilot: an image from Abdul Mayanja’s Facebook page. Flying was his childhood dream

News | Kate Proctor Political Reporter

A SURGE in rough sleeping on London’s night Tubes and buses has prompted City Hall to send in a task force to tackle the problem.

Staff ride the Underground and buses all night to locate rough sleepers and offer them accommodation instead.

The move comes after statistics revealed a 121 per cent increase in the number of people sleeping on night buses between 2012/13 and 2015/16.

Figures for the Night Tube, which launched two years ago, are not available but drivers have reported a significant number of rough sleepers on board.

Support staff who carried out eight

Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

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Mayor sends in task force to curb rough sleepers on night Tubes and buses pilot shifts on the Tubes and buses recorded 164 homeless people using public transport as a place to sleep.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Over the last year, we’ve seen the rise in rough sleeping halted for the first time in nearly a decade — but even one person ending up in this position

is too many, and I am determined to make sure homeless people get the support they need.

“My new night-time transport team will work across our buses and Tubes to help people before they end up sleeping rough on the streets. I’ll continue to work closely with councils,

homeless organisations and government to make sure there is a way off the street for every rough sleeper in London.”

The new night-time transport workers will work as part of the Mayor’s London Street Rescue outreach team and focus on transport routes which homeless people are known to use regularly or to which bus and Tube drivers have referred them.

The team will help people find accommodation, provide access to support services and try to put people in touch with their family and friends to prevent them from ending up sleeping on the streets longer-term.

Members of the public can also help by using the online Streetlink website

‘I’ll continue to work to make sure there is a way off the street for every rough sleeper in London’ Sadiq Khan to say where they have seen someone who might need help.

A new web database to cross-check missing people and rough sleepers, two projects to help homeless women and a new support initiative to help people into work were also launched today by the Mayor as part of his £1 million Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund.

Jeremy Swain, chief executive of Thames Reach and a member of the Mayor’s Rough Sleeping Taskforce, said homeless people forced to travel the buses and Tube system at night deserve the same help and support as those living rough in shop doorways.

There are about 8,000 homeless people sleeping rough on London’s streets. Outreach workers will be funded initially by a £300,000 investment from City Hall.

news in brief

Council faces probe on Muslim foster carers TOWER Hamlets council is set to be grilled over its decision to place a five-year-old Christian girl with Muslim foster carers who covered their faces in public and made her remove a cross from her necklace.

Children’s commissioner Anne Longfield is due to speak to the east London council as part of a probe into the case. The girl has spent six months with foster carers who allegedly spoke Arabic to her, which she did not understand.

The council has opposed placing the child in the temporary care of her grandmother.

BFI award for Bourne director Greengrass THE Bourne Supremacy director Paul Greengrass will be honoured at the BFI London Film Festival, which opens on October 4. The filmmaker, 62, whose films include Captain Phillips, said he was honoured to receive the BFI Fellowship which has previously been given to stars including Cate Blanchett and Steve McQueen, the director of 12 Years A Slave.

BBC talent show to have 100 judges The BBC will add a new talent programme to its Saturday night schedule next year, but with a twist: there will be no panel of judges, just a discerning audience.

All Together Now, hosted by comedian Rob Beckett, will see groups and solo singers perform to an audience called The 100, a collection of singers from a range of musical backgrounds.

If the performer manages to impress, members of The 100 will get up to sing along, and the more who do, the higher the score.

Moving sexual health clinic will put lives at risk, say Labour MPs Ross Lydall Health Editor HEALTH Secretary Jeremy Hunt was today urged to intervene in the “unsafe” transfer of a sexual health clinic in south London.

Labour MPs fear the move of the clinic from St George’s hospital, in Tooting, will lead to an increase in teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections and blight efforts to tackle sexual exploitation.

The service is due to transfer to new provider Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust from October 1.

But clinicians fear the move from a single hub to six locations will deter people from seeking help. In a letter to Mr Hunt, Dr Lobbied: Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was urged to halt “unsafe” plan

Rosena Allin-Khan, the former A&E doctor who is Labour MP for Tooting, called the proposals — for Wandsworth, Richmond and Merton — “woefully inadequate” and said a planned reduction in staff “puts patients at risk”.

The letter was also signed by Chuka Umunna, MP for Streatham, Marsha De Cordova, MP for Battersea, and Siobhain McDonagh, MP for Mitcham & Morden. Dr Allin-Khan said Mr Hunt must “review this decision immediately, otherwise lives will be put in danger”.

CLCH said it would run clinics in Balham, Twickenham and East Sheen and at Queen Mary’s hospital in Roehampton. All staff would transfer to the trust but job losses could follow.

A spokesman for the three boroughs said the “positive” move would result in better access to services.

evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

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Jackie O dear!

Kim Kardashian poses as former First Lady … as she says she wants to give her daughter a normal life Robert Dex Arts Correspondent KIM KARDASHIAN said she wanted to give her daughter “a normal life” — as the pair posed for a photoshoot inspired by the style of former First Lady Jackie Kennedy.

The reality TV star, 36, said she was “very conscious” of her child’s mixed-race heritage after appearing with North, her daughter with rapper Kanye West, in the pictures for Interview Magazine.

The images were taken by photographer Steven Klein. It is the first time four-year-old North has appeared on the cover of a major magazine.

Kardashian, whose family have roots in Armenia, said: “Kanye always has his family around and people wh o lo ok l ike my d au g h te r — t h a t ’s important to me. She’s obsessed with her curly hair, and if she finds some-

one who has the same hair, she runs to them and is like, ‘You have curly hair like me?’ And we get to talk about it. We also talk about it with my niece Penelope, because she and North look really different, but they’re best friends.”

She shared the images on her Instagram page, saying they were an “homage to the iconic Jackie Kennedy”. The widow of President John F Kennedy took shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis’ surname after their marriage. She died in 1994.

Critics on social media said the pictures were an insult to her memory.

One tweeted: “This is a disgrace, you are no Jackie O.” Another said: “Jackie O turning over in her damn grave right now.” Others questioned why Kardashian’s skin appeared to have been darkened. One asked: “Why did they darken her skin to try and make her look black?”

Cover stars: Kim Kardashian swaps her usual look to appear with daughter North in the homage to Jackie Kennedy, inset far left, for Interview Magazine

Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

News |

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Moped muggers snatch 30 mobiles a day Justin Davenport Crime Editor

THE number of phones snatched by moped thieves more than doubled last year, as police say gangs target unwary pedestrians using their devices.

Criminals are using mopeds or pedal cycles to steal more than 30 phones a day from Londoners, figures reveal.

More than half of the devices were iPhones, with 4,705 taken in 2016/17.

In total, thieves on mopeds and scooters stole 7,041 mobiles in the past financial year, compared with 3,210 in

Using phones on the go puts public at risk, say police fighting epidemic 2015/16. In addition, pedal cycle muggers snatched 4,526 last year, compared with 3,044 the previous year.

Police in London are battling an epidemic of moped crime. Officers say it is driven, in part, by demand for mobiles, which can be sold for their parts.

Detectives point to an increase in the value of phone parts, saying some iPhone pieces can now fetch £150 or

more. As well as selling phones, gangs are also using them for other criminal activity, such as drug dealing.

Dr Simon Harding, a criminologist at Middlesex University and an expert on gangs, said: “One of the things that is driving this now, apart from the fact many of these phones cost between £500 to £600, is that gang members need four to five separate phones. They

have one to call mum, another for girlfriends and maybe two or three for drugs deals, which are called ‘trap phones’.

“There is a constant demand for these phones. I have interviewed gang members and they all have three or four phones on them.

“They have all seen The Wire and other TV programmes and know how they can be tracked by their phone. If the cops chase them the phones get smashed up.”

A stolen iPhone can fetch about £100.

Some gangs are stealing 20 in an hour.

The figures, obtained via a Freedom of Information request, show that Islington has the highest number of moped mobile thefts in London. Last year 1,592 were recorded, compared with 1,114 in the previous 12 months.

Five boroughs — Islington, Hackney, Camden, Westminster and Tower Hamlets — account for almost three quarters of moped phone snatches in London.

Commander Julian Bennett, the head of the Met police’s Operation Venice, which targets moped gangs, said: “These offenders rely on the unwariness of the public to snatch their phones whilst they make calls.

“It is so important that the public is aware of their surroundings at all times and protect their personal property, particularly when emerging from a train or Underground station or anywhere where they might suddenly decide to take out and use their phone.

Smartphones are very valuable to these criminals and they can snatch them in an instant.”

He said police were employing overt and covert methods to target criminals

Threat: moped thieves strike in seconds using mopeds and bicycles to snatch valuables.

In recent weeks the Met has revealed it is trialling “DNA” sprays to mark fleeing suspects so they can be identified later, and stinger devices to puncture tyres.

People are urged to be aware of their surroundings, not to text while walking, use the phone’s security features and keep a record of its IMEI number.

‘Shift in allegiances’ could solve 1987 cartoonist murder Justin Davenport COLD-CASE detectives believe changes in allegiances may hold the key to solving the 30-year-old murder of a political cartoonist.

Naji Salim Hussain Al-Ali was shot as he walked to his office in Knightsbridge on July 22, 1987.

The 51-year-old, whose provocative cartoons were deemed critical of the Palestinian regime when they appeared in Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas, died in hospital on August 29 that year.

Witnesses said Mr Al-Ali was pursued for 40 seconds by the suspected gunman before he was shot in the back of the neck.

Detectives said the decision to reinvestigate the case was partly because of a possible shift in allegiances of those who may have known the identity of Mr Al-Ali’s killer and a second suspect seen driving away from the scene.

Dean Haydon, head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command, said: “The brutal murder of Mr Al-Ali devastated his family and, 30 years on, they continue to feel the loss. We have previously reviewed this case and followed a number of lines of inquiry which have not resulted in us identifying these two men.

“However, a lot can change in 30 years — allegiances shift and people who were not willing to speak at the time of the murder may now be prepared to come forward with crucial information. We remain open-minded about the motive

Shot: Naji Salim Hussain Al-Ali and sketch of what the suspect may look like today and we believe there are people somewhere who have information that could help us bring those responsible for his murder to justice.”

Moments before Mr Al-Ali was shot, he parked his car on Ixworth Place, walked into Draycott Avenue and on to Ives Street. Witnesses said he was followed by the suspected gunman, who was of Middle Eastern appearance, aged about 25, with collar-length thick black hair which was wavy at the back.

He was wearing a stonewashed denim jacket and dark trousers.

Witnesses saw him near Mr Al-Ali, holding a black automatic handgun. One witness saw another man, also of Middle Eastern appearance, crossing Fulham Road into Lucan Place and getting into the driver’s seat of a silver-grey left-hand drive Mercedes shortly after the shooting. The murder weapon, a 7.62 Tokarev pistol, was found on the Hallfield estate in Paddington almost two years after the murder.

evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

| News

new Private members’ club for city chiefs sets up shop in SKYFALL’S MI6 HEadQUARTERS

Silver service: Ten Trinity Square stood in for MI6 HQ in Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig and Bérénice Marlohe. The private members’ club will sell a £44,500 double magnum of Chateau Latour

Jonathan Prynn Consumer Business Editor

A PRIVATE members’ club for the City’s “masters of the universe” where a bottle of wine can cost up to £44,500 is opening in one of the Square Mile’s most imposing buildings next month.

Ten Trinity Square, a Grade II* listed edifice overlooking the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, stood in as the headquarters of MI6 in 2012’s Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig as James Bond.

The £3,000-a-year Ten Trinity Square Private Club will have its rooms in the building. Its owners hope to reinvent the traditional gentlemen’s clubs that once drew “City gents” west across town to St James’s and Mayfair after a day at the bank or on the floor of the Stock Exchange.

It is the second private members’ club to open in London’s ancient financial district this year following the launch of The Ned by Soho House founder Nick Jones in April.

General manager Nigel Stowe, who previously worked at The Ivy Club, the Arts Club and Bulgari, said the planned membership of between 500

We’ve been expecting you, Mr Bond Trader and 1,000 would include many of the City’s most senior executives. He said: “The Ned and us both bring something to the City. The difference is that you probably send your board to this club and your staff to The Ned. The bread and butter membership will be the chief executive in the City.”

Ten Trinity Square, designed by Sir Edwin Cooper, was formerly the HQ of the Port of London Authority. The club’s rooms, with interiors designed by French architect Bruno Moinard, occupy the walnut- and oak-panelled former offices of the chairman and directors.

Applicants who are accepted by the membership comChef: Anne-Sophie Pic will oversee the club’s dining room

Mayfair wine without the price tag Lizzie Edmonds A TAPAS restaurant in Mayfair is selling bottles of wine for £20 to challenge the idea that the area is an expensive place to drink.

El Pirata, in Down Street, is stocking four bottles from Spain which cost £19.95. Prices start at £34 a bottle at some restaurants in nearby Maddox Street, £37 in Grosvenor Square and £44 in Berkeley Street.

General manager Jose Rodrigues

picked the wines — two white and two rosé — for their summery flavours.

They include Colegiata Malvasia Blanco, a white wine with “a distinct flavour of green apples and a touch of peach”, and La Tremenda Tinto, a rosé with “expressive notes of fresh black cherries and red berries”.

Mr Rodrigues said: “Good wine doesn’t need to cost the earth and we hope our customers will enjoy these bottles at great prices.” The wines will be on the menu until September 16.

mittee and pay the £5,000 joining fee will be able to access a Chateau Latour “discovery room” stocked with bottles of the famous Premier Cru Classé claret from vintages as far back as 1939. It is the first time that the celebrated Bordeaux wine maker has lent its name to a commercial venture outside the vineyard.

The most expensive wine is a double magnum of Grand Vin de Chateau

Latour 1961 with a price tag of £44,500.

A large glass of the 1982 will cost £680.

Other facilities include a dining room overseen by fourth- generation French chef Anne-Sophie Pic of three Michelinstarred Maison Pic. Mr Stowe said he hoped the club — jointly run by the building’s owner, Chinese-Thai conglomerate Reignwood, the Four Seasons Hotel, which occupies much of Ten Trinity Square,

and Chateau Latour, would attract a range of high-achievers as well as City bosses. He said: “Being in the City lends it a sort of feel of power, but we also want a fun element, I also want to bring a bit of the entertainment world to the City. People want a laugh at the end of the day. What we don’t want is just a load of 55-year-old men.”

Mr Stowe said the club would also try to promote responsible capitalism.

Honorary founding members include Lord Mandelson, the Chinese ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, and the tenor Placido Domingo. He said that despite the “relaxed” dress code — only sportswear and shorts are likely to be banned outright — he does not expect a rush of members from the tieless digital high-flyers of Shoreditch. “I don’t think they will come here,” he added.

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evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

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LONDON actor Ed Skrein has left the Hellboy reboot after claims of “whitewashing” over his casting.

The Deadpool star, 34, had been cast as Major Ben Daimio, a Japanese American, in the fantasy film, based on the Dark Horse Comics series and due out next year.

Skrein, right, said he had been unaware of the character’s heritage when he accepted the

THE Victoria’s Secret Angels were out in force as they attended a fitting for the lingerie brand’s annual show.

Bella Hadid, right, and her elder sister Gigi, bottom, both emerged from the fitting in New York wearing nude-coloured tops. They were joined by fellow models Adriana Lima, below left, and Stella Maxwell, who went for black outfits.

Naomi Ackerman

E ONLIN with

ch Stay in touainment the entert andard gossip: st tend .co.uk/wes

part. He said there had been “intense conversation and understandable upset and I must do what I feel is right”, adding that he was stepping down “so the role can be cast appropriately”. In a joint statement, producers Larry Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Millennium and Lionsgate said: “We fully support his unselfish decision.”

showbiz news and gossip

Sister act: Bella and Gigi lead the angels

Alistair Foster’s

White actor quits fantasy film after being cast in Asian role

@alistair_foster

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News |

Like us on Facebook facebook.com/eveningstandard Follow us on Twitter @standardnews and Instagram @evening.standard

Six members of same family are ■ Residents of La Vita Bella care home in Dickinson are pictured safe, warm and dry today, right, after a picture of them in waist-deep water went viral, prompting their rescue

Trump in Texas as three more days of torrential rain are forecast David Gardner US Correspondent and Benedict Moore-Bridger SIX members of one family were today feared drowned in Texas after trying to escape floods caused by Tropical Storm Harvey.

It is the deadliest incident so far in what is expected to be the worst rainstorm in American history, with three more days of downpours forecast.

President Trump and wife Melania were visiting Texas today as authorities said they were still receiving more than 1,000 calls an hour for help.

According to witnesses, four children and their great-grandparents died when the van they were driving submerged in floodwater on Sunday.

Relatives said Manuel Saldivar, 84, his wife Belia, 81, and great-grandchildren Daisy Saldivar, six, Xavier Saldivar, eight, Dominic Saldivar, 14, Devy Saldivar, 16, were all feared dead.

The family, from Houston, was trying to get to higher ground when the van hit high floodwaters after crossing a bridge in Greens Bayou.

The driver of the vehicle, Samuel Saldivar — the children’s great-uncle —escaped before the van went under water. Relatives said he told the children inside to try to escape through the back door, but they were unable to.

Relative Virginia Saldivar said: “I’m just hoping we find the bodies.”

A spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Jason Spencer, said Mr Saldivar told them he was driving eastbound on Green River Road when rising water swamped the van.

The storm has been blamed for three confirmed deaths and paralysed most of Houston, the fourth-largest city in the United States, with rescuers now facing a race against time to help thousands of others.

It is the fiercest hurricane to hit the US in 13 years, generating an amount of rain that would normally be seen only once in more than 1,000 years.

Emergency officials say the flooding is not expected to peak until tomorrow or Thursday in Houston, with another 50 inches of rain due this week.

Thousands of US National Guard troops, police officers, rescue workers and civilians have been helping to rescue the stranded, with thousands left homeless.

Regina Costilla, 48, said she and her 16-year-old son had been rescued from

their home by a Good Samaritan with a boat. She was reunited with her husband and dog, left behind because they did not fit into the craft. “I’m not complaining, we’re alive,” she said.

Mr Trump, facing the biggest natural disaster since he took office in January, has now signed disaster proclamations for Texas and Louisiana, triggering federal relief efforts.

He is said to be keen to avoid the political disaster that engulfed George W Bush following his much-criticised response to Hurricane Katrina.

The president said cash for Texas and elsewhere will arrive quickly, telling flood victims: “You’re going to have what you need and it’s going to go fast.”

Experts are already predicting that Harvey will be the costliest storm in US history at more than £15 billion.

■ Senator Bernie Sanders last night told Americans not to be divided by Donald Trump — branding the President a “pathological liar” and “demagogue” — as he called for unity in the wake of the devastation in Texas. The former presidential hopeful, who lost to Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democrat nomination, urged the whole of America to “stand in solidarity with the people in Texas”.

Evacuation: people leave Galveston, Texas, after spending Sunday night in a shelter

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| News

feared dead in US storm horror

watch the video online

standard.co.uk/ harvey

Tragedy: Daisy, Xavier and Dominic Saldivar, above, were feared drowned with their great-grandparents Manuel and Belia, inset, when their car was submerged. Far left, a man cradles a girl in Houston while, left, another carries his dog in Beaumont Place

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Comment |

It’s time to have the argument about London’s historic statues Established 1827

Brexit pragmatism is needed, not ideology ALL political parties face a trade-off between the practical and the ideological. Make no accommodation to the real world and you are a narrow sect, pure in your beliefs but with little prospect of putting them into practice. Make too many compromises and you risk losing the reason for seeking power in the first place.

Theresa May was elected Conservative leader because she offered a pragmatic compromise after the party was split down the middle on the EU referendum. She voted Remain, but said she understood the concerns of Leavers.

Her slogan, “Brexit means Brexit”, did the trick internally because it allowed the maximum number of Conservative MPs to shelter under her ambiguous umbrella during the political storms last summer. The sensible, solid centre of the party, taking their cue from David Cameron, swung behind her and she saw off the challenge from the hard Brexit ideologues. The contrast with the Labour leadership battle a year earlier was striking. In that contest, Jeremy Corbyn had been anything but ambiguous in his hard-Left message. He won by bypassing the sensible centre in the parliamentary Labour Party, not by co-opting it.

The cool political calculations made over this hot bank holiday weekend show how far we have come since then.

Now it is the Conservative leader who has become hung on ideology, and the Labour leader who sees advantage in compromise. That is because the general election produced a complete reversal in fortune. Mrs May is focused on shortterm survival. She is pursuing two tactics: avoid any controversy and keep kicking the ball down the road. So she sets a date for her departure two years hence, while avoiding any confrontation with the hard Brexiteers. It is striking that her most vocal supporter for staying in office is Iain Duncan Smith, who did not vote for her. To sustain this backing, she and her government have simultaneously acknowledged that Britain needs a transition period after leaving the EU, while insisting that we “will be outside the single market and outside the customs union” during that transition. The prospect of negotiating a bespoke arrangement is — as this paper pointed out some months ago — unlikely.

Ill-judged approach Last night the British Government described the principal EU negotiator, Michel Barnier, as “inconsistent, ill-judged, ill-considered and unhelpful” — an approach that is itself inconsistent with the stated plan to be generous towards the Europeans, ill-judged when Britain should be winning allies, ill-considered when one thinks how such remarks will be read in other capitals, and unhelpful coming from a Britain that needs these negotiations to work. This morning we saw the result of such an approach in JeanClaude Juncker’s blistering response. The moment when brittle Brexit delusions will be shattered on the anvil of these negotiations is both being delayed and amplified by this whole testy, ideological approach. The Government boasts its approach is based on “constructive ambiguity” — yet it is being neither constructive nor ambiguous.

In the Labour Party, the direction of travel is the opposite. Two months ago Mr Corbyn sacked members of his front bench who wanted Britain to remain in the single market and customs union beyond 2019. Today that is Labour’s official policy — at least during a transition period that needs to be, in Keir Starmer’s wonderfully meaningless phrase, “as short as possible but as long as necessary”. The shadow Brexit secretary insists Labour is saying “no” to “constructive ambiguity”. Yet that is precisely what Mr Starmer has come up with. Ambiguous enough to attract a broad coalition of support from business, trade unions and the liberal centre.

Constructive in advancing the Labour Party’s goal of power. Conservatives should take note. If they want to defeat Mr Corbyn’s dangerous ideology, they need to avoid the dangers of their own.

Calls to have Nelson’s Column removed should open up the wider conversation about our values

Divisive figure: Admiral Nelson, rogue philanderer, supposed defender of slavery and hero

Simon Jenkins

I

am all for updating London’s statues. They litter the city as sad and neglected relics of former glories. They stand in parks and kerbsides, like Pompeiian citizens embalmed in their moment in history. No one really takes any notice of them until someone has nothing better to do than dig around for a skeleton in a hero’s cupboard.

Then the statue shudders and starts to crumble before our eyes. Admiral Nelson was apparently a slaverydefender. So were William Gladstone and William Cobbett. Cromwell butchered Irish women. Palmerston starved peasants. Octavia Hill opposed votes for women. Bomber Harris was a mass murderer. Mrs Thatcher was not liked by lots of people. Keep this up, and we can make the Vatican Index and Stalin’s censors look like a bunch of liberals.

The back-projection of morality is the darkest form of historical distortion.

History’s virtue is that it encourages us to evolve our moral compass, but we can’t change history because of that. It is a stern tyrant.

There is hardly a figure in British history about whom “questions” cannot be raised. Blaming Nelson for slavery is plain silly. He probably saved Britain from invasion by a pro-slavery Napoleon. He certainly cleared the high seas for Britain to suppress the slave trade when the time came to do so. For sure, his actions hastened slavery’s end.

Nelson was also a philanderer and a rogue. As for his last words, “Kiss me Hardy,” there are those who choose to see him as a gay icon. So do we topple him for mistreating his wife or upsetting Emma Hamilton, or do we put his statue in Soho Square for kissing Hardy? But then I am sure one day someone will want to ban statues of anyone who voted for the Iraq war, denied climate change, put dodgy cladding on towers or ate meat. Such debate brings history, not Nelson, into disrespect.

However, I am with the “uppers and downers” debate in accepting that statues are meant to signify. That is the point of them. They are intended as public memorials of past deeds, possibly controversial then as now. They were erected at a certain time and in a certain context. That context rightly stirs debate.

The Charlottesville statue of General Lee, and others now being removed in the American South, was erected not after the Civil War but in the 20th century. Many of them appeared in the Sixties, not as memorials or celebrations but as political acts of defiance of black civil rights. They were not hon-

Statues were erected at a certain time and in a certain context.

That context rightly stirs debate

ouring great men who happened to support slavery. They were more like statues of Stalin in Ukraine, gestures of potency against a starving peasantry and now understandably removed.

That some people want Lee removed, while others vehemently want him kept, shows the virility of statues. They can cause delight and dismay. That in turn shows the importance of negotiating their setting and status. I see no problem in moving General Lee to a museum, as was suggested by Bonnie Greer in an admirable BBC World Service debate on the statues this week.

Museum is not suppression.

Besides, I can hardly talk. Many years ago I campaigned to clear two inconsequential Indian imperial generals, Napier and Havelock, from Trafalgar Square. While Napier opposed slavery, he believed “the best way to quiet a country is a good thrashing”. Havelock merely suppressed the Indian mutiny.

I had no problem with their politics, only with them being boring. Neither was significant or “relevant” today, and to leave them as architectural furniture was sad. This was the more so as Napier supplanted a statue of the justly celebrated hero Edward Jenner, inventor of the world’s first vaccine, for small pox. Bring back Jenner, I pleaded, from his “toppling” and banishment to Kensington Gardens.

Statues are ways in which the community indicates those it wishes to salute in public. That implies some consensus and, in some cases, sensitivity. I could see why many South Africans found the Rhodes status at Cape

Town university offensive, when it towered over students arriving each day at school. It was considerate to move it around the back. That is wholly different from the hysteria over the same man’s inconspicuous visage hidden in an Oriel College Oxford gable.

There must be greater ills in the world about which students can protest.

What bubble do they inhabit?

Back in London the case for a statue clear-up is strong. Trafalgar Square should be for orators and agitators, as Parliament Square is for legislators, and the Embankment, if anywhere, is for generals. The present figure outside St Martin-in-the-Fields of George IV on a horse in Roman gear and without stirrups looks ridiculous. The square is also the wrong place for both Washington and James II. There is a desperate need for re-landscaping the mess that is Hyde Park Corner and Park Lane. There is a chaos of meaningless statues, some figurative, some abstract, many of them just memorials to the unknown lobbyist.

Such clearing up is worth doing. But we have to accept there will be arguments. All capital cities are adorned with those who have made a serious contribution to their nation’s history.

It would be a feeble place that could not ride with a bit of controversy. It would be like banning demonstrations and free speech. London is a diverse and sometimes offensive city. I would rather it was both than neither.

To read more log on to: standard.co.uk/comment

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| Comment I’m positive that being negative can be really good for you Nick Curtis

■ To order prints or signed copies call 0191 603 0178 or visit adams.newsprints.co.uk ■ Contact Adams at: cartoonist@standard.co.uk ■ Instagram: @adamstoon

Guessing politicians’ real leanings makes an ideal silly-season sport Ayesha Hazarika

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ANY of us political hacks genuinely thought the silly season had come to an end. And we have had some classic bonkers summer stories, from Tory Glastonbury (complete with hedge-fund fields instead of healing ones) to women-only carriages and not being able to invite people from other political parties to your birthday bash any more.

So we thought we were getting back to serious business. Parliament returns soon and we’ll be into party conference season. Labour went and came up with a highly sensible position on Brexit.

Most political commentators thought we were definitely back to school — until this beauty dropped. Someone calling themselves The People’s Champ (how brilliantly Alan Partridge) pulled together a list, declaring: “Before silly season ends and we have the political commentators bestow us with their political bias, I’ve compiled a list of their political bias.”

There are three categories for Labour and five for the Tories. Despite devoting my child-bearing years to the Labour Party, and the last Labour government as an adviser, I am, of course, down as a Conservative. I’m in a column titled “Centre-Right”, which is to the left of “Right (Soft)” but to the right of “Centre-Left” — simples! Thankfully,

I’ve made the same section as Polly Toynbee — so that’s some comfort, even though they have spelled my name wrongly, but I’m also not labelled scum, which is a treat these days.

I was at a dinner party (well, I am a member of the metropolitan elite, and we do have to eat at some point) on Saturday night with someone else on the list. We naturally discussed/rowed about politics and at one point everyone was mumbling that she was a “bit Leftie”. She’s three entire columns TO THE RIGHT of me on the list… under “Right-Wing”. That has brought me so much joy. I’ve explained that, under the new rules, we simply cannot socialise any more and that she’ll have to hang out with her real friends, the

1922 Committee aka the Monday Club.

Twitter was, of course, deluged with people going through the list, querying it and questioning who’s on it and who isn’t. And let’s be honest, people love a list. We love looking at our peers and talking about ourselves — especially commentators and politicians. It’s horribly vain but it’s true. And that’s why a list normally ends in bitterness and recrimination, so it’s not all bad.

It reminded me of last year’s secret list of naughty and nice Labour MPs, which looked like it had come from the allies of Jeremy Corbyn. MPs were graded from “Core” to “Hostile”, with staging posts of loyalty along the way such as “Core Group Plus” (which

Dr Foster is a real woman of our time DRAMA involving GPs used to revolve around getting an appointment, until the brilliant BBC drama series Doctor Foster paid us a house visit in 2015. I just caught up on series one ahead of the new series, which starts on September 5.

Suranne Jones, pictured, won a Bafta for playing the devoted wife, mother and doctor who suspects her husband of cheating and finds that her wellordered life and sanity suddenly starts to dissolve around her.

Gemma Foster is a complex, flawed female character and of her time: a woman who has worked hard, done her best, and when life comes at her hard she fights back, even though she doesn’t always play nice. Dr Foster

would be called a bloody difficult woman — at times a nasty woman.

Remind you of anyone?

It struck me that this strong female character, who has to cope with a cheating husband, may strike a particular chord with none other than Hillary Clinton, whose latest, explosive book is about to be published. She’ll need a juicy box set for the book tour.

made me think of a sanitary product with wings). As you can imagine, the next Parliamentary Labour Party meeting was its usual barrel of laughs.

Former MP Jamie Reed drew up a spoof list with superhero names that was so convincing, people thought it was real, even though it said at the top: “As requested, the in-depth profiling of Team Hostile. Don’t leave it on the bar.

I thought about colour coding it but I didn’t want to look ridiculous.”

M a rk Wa l l a c e , e d i t o r o f ConservativeHome, wasn’t on the People’s Champ list but, not to be defeated, he posted his own list of children’s TV characters’ political bias rankings, and the debate that raged shows h ow d i f f i c u l t i t i s t o pigeonhole people. The Fat Controller is down as Rightwing, but he could actually want to renationalise the trains. He may also be heading up a trade union. Snow White may sound a bit altRight but she actually shares a house with seven other small people, i s really badly affected by the bedroom tax and is a local organiser for Momentum.

And don’t even start me on the Wombles. It just goes to show, you can’t just label people like that.

Isaac Newton was talking about the laws of motion when he said that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”, but he could just as easily have been talking about popular culture. Thus punk took over from disco, kitchen-sink dramas swept aside genteel plays set in drawing rooms, and clean eating spawned the upsurge in “dirty” dude food. And now the growing trend of celebrities and friends posting supposedly wise and life-affirming (but actually trite and nauseating) quotes on social media has been countered by an Instagram account called Unspirational.

“Happiness is temporary, death is forever, have a nice weekend”, runs one of its pithier epigrams. “If you love something set it free. Or on fire”, is another. A recent post is a simple masterpiece of punctuation: “Never.

Give up”. Similar accounts are now appearing on Facebook and Pinterest.

You could say that the concept has gone viral, although Unspirational would doubtless point out that if you admire something viral, you probably deserve to be killed by it.

Like the mawkish “motivational” messages that spawned it, Unspirational posts thoughts scrawled in a friendly font across a beautiful but generic landscape or abstract image.

Otherwise, it’s pure antimatter, designed to cut the reader down to size rather than build him or her up.

Created by Los Angeles TV producer Elan Gale, it’s an assault from within on the Californian cult of selfimprovement. Gale says he thinks “self-loathing, regret and shame” can be as powerful in life as faux-optimism and leveraged self-belief. He has written a book called You’re Not That Great: (But Neither is Anyone Else).

Actually, I reckon human beings just can’t stand too much undiluted positivity. And the acid riposte to a statement that is generous and well meant, however glib, is not new. In my schooldays glum youngsters were told it took 43 muscles to smile and 22 to frown. This was quickly amended to “Yeah, and it only takes four to punch someone in the face”. Charles M Schulz’s Peanuts cartoons — and those posters of Snoopy the dog saying “I’m allergic to work” — were an angsty, nihilistic riposte to post-war American optimism. The jokes and self-promotion of Twitter in the early days also spawned accounts such as @mementomorrow, which reminds its followers daily that they will die.

But what looks caustic can seem cute further down the line. Look at Peanuts, or the panto act that was punk. Given sufficient time, I reckon we’ll find Unspirational as quaint as the sincere exhortations they are sending up.

Meanwhile, another manifestation of inane, self-validating positivism will have arisen, and will have to be countered. The cycle continues.

Except, as Unspirational would say, most of us will be dead by then.

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Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

Politics, party and pillow talk. Edited by

Joy Lo Dico

Kate’s on a roll with £1,000-ametre wallpaper Kate Moss has lent her name and perfect face to clothing lines, perfume brands, fake tan and phone contracts.

But the model is adding a new, more surprising string to her bow: she is embracing her inner Kelly Hoppen by designing wallpaper. This isn’t a Topshop line: it costs more than £1,000 per metre.

Earlier this month Moss was photographed in her London home for Architectural Digest — the shots were taken by her boyfriend, Count Nikolai von Bismarck. There’s one in her bathroom with a rolltop bath and a striking silver floral print in the background.

It turns out that Moss didn’t just pick it, she also designed it for a new line with de Gournay, a company renowned for its hand-painted wall coverings.

Entitled Anemones in Light, the print will now join the brand’s permanent collection. “I’ve always loved what they do,” says Moss. “It’s like vintage jewellery — it’s special.”

Moss has previously designed collections for Topshop and recently worked on her own jewellery line. She was also a customer of de Gournay before teaming up for the design process — her countryside home has a powder room covered in its bird prints — and she created two versions of the anemone print:

Eyes for design: Kate Moss as seen in the Architectural Digest photoshoot there’s a more summery option in her hall. “I like the feeling of when the sun is just coming up at a festival,” she adds, “and you have that glowy light. This one is pastels and neons — quite psychedelic.”

De Gournay offers price on application but Architectural Digest says Moss’s designs will set you back $1,470 (£1,134) per three-foot panels. We’ll wait for the Ikea knock-off.

Quote of the day ‘From the front, men look like a percentage sign, and become see-through when wet. Enough said’ Writing in GQ magazine, Olympic legend Sir Chris Hoy gives one top cycling tip: avoid white lycra shorts at all costs.

rex

How are world leaders finding Nemo?

IT’S been all kisses and warm handshakes between Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron up until now. But how will the German Chancellor react to the pitter-patter of furry feet? Macron has adopted a handsome labrador-griffon cross named Nemo, pictured. Will he introduce him to Merkel?

The pair met to discuss migration in Paris yesterday but Nemo was nowhere to be seen. Merkel would have been relieved: she is afraid of dogs, ever since she was bitten by one in the Nineties. Vladimir Putin brought one of his previous mutts, Konni, to a meeting with her a few

years ago but denied it was an intimidation technique. Nemo has already met Mahamadou Issoufou, President of Niger, and was apparently well behaved. Good dog.

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evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

Out at the weekend ... chris j ratcliffe/tristan fewings/getty

Feel the rhythm: clockwise from main, model Jourdan Dunn poses with feathered friends; singer Nicola Roberts; singer Ella Eyre and The Duppy Share rum founder George Frost; Lily Allen onstage

■ Scurvy swabs of the day: Penzance missed the record for the largest gathering of pirates in one place when a group of three failed to leave the pub on time for the count. Where’s a press gang when you need one?

Londoner’s Diary online standard.co.uk / diary

Follow us on Twitter @standarddiary

Stars and revellers keep cool at Carnival The Londoner couldn’t resist the siren call of Notting Hill Carnival this weekend, as the Red Bull Music Academy Sound System hosted guests including singers Ella Eyre and Nicola Roberts, as well as model Jourdan Dunn, who wore an allgreen ensemble in tribute to the Grenfell fire.

Hopkins remains rude GOB-0N-A-STICK Katie Hopkins has launched quite an attack on Remain campaigner Jo Maugham, QC. A tweet Maugham posted warned: “Staying in the single market and customs union are key steps in avoiding economic breakdown that could deliver fascism.”

Hopkins, right, who left her job at LBC after questionable tweets, responded: “You are called Jolyon, son of Etoneducated Benedictus. You could not be further from the will of 17 million people.”

Maugham’s biological father is a theatre director and writer. He posted: “I did not know of his existence until I was 17.

He, through his lawyers, denied paternity and paid my mother £5pw... I was raised not knowing I was

“Bernie would have beat Mayweather.”

rex

■ FAREWELL to Irish Ambassador to the UK Daniel Mulhall, who is moving to Washington DC. But before he settles into his plush digs on Massachusetts Avenue, maybe he could advise his new host, Donald Trump about diplomacy on Twitter. “I’ve not had any abuse directed at me — why that is I don’t know, but I tweet carefully,” Mulhall told the Irish Post in an interview. I don’t go out of my way to offend people.” And presumably never tweet after a Guinness.

In all the heat, and after twerking on the Shy FX stage, Lily Allen and friends were seen throwing water onto female revellers who had been chatting to her boyfriend MC Meridian Dan. Producer and chum Mark Ronson was apologising on her behalf. That’s one way to cool off.

adopted. My mother and her husband brought me up until I was 16, then kicked me out. I worked as a cleaner, I have known poverty. Hopkins’s illinformed attack on me is what I would expect from her and the far-Right.”

“Your life is of no consquence to me, son,” replied Hopkins, privately educated but rejected by Oxford.

After Floyd Mayweather crushes Conor McGregor, writer Jesse McLaren returns to an old US election trope.

Homes & Property

London’s favourite property guide Available inside your Standard every Wednesday

@patrickwintour

diary@standard.co.uk

Trust Vogue to be on message This morning journalist Patrick Wintour posted this snap of his sister Anna, the formidable editor of US Vogue magazine, wearing this jumper complete with a warning: “Never Trust a Vogue Girl”.

The Devil wears Prada.

Anna wears slogan jumpers.

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evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

See more video and pictures

standard.co.uk/ carnival

A Carnival for Grenfell ... how Notting Hill fell silent in tribute Lauren Pilat and Natasha Salmon Partygoers at Notting Hill Carnival have been praised for their “touching and special” tribute to the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Sound systems were turned off and thousands of revellers fell silent at 3pm yesterday and Sunday to remember the 80 people known to have died.

Many in the crowd had heeded organisers’ plea to “wear green for Grenfell” as they followed the procession in the shadow of the burned-out tower.

Sonny Blacks, who served on the original Carnival committee in 1968, said the “splendour that is Carnival marked a sort of remembrance” for the local community. The former Ladbroke Grove resident said: “It was great to see there was unity over the weekend with people paying respect to those who lost their lives in that horrible tragedy.

“In the face of everything it was great to see that it was all about respect. With Carnival being demonised in the leadup to the weekend, it was beautiful that the splendour that is Carnival marked a sort of remembrance.”

Kensington Residents Alliance member Samia Badani, who has lived in the area for 17 years and attended Carnival as a representative of bereaved Grenfell survivors, said the tributes were “touching and special”.

The mother-of-two said: “It was good to get together over Carnival and pay tribute. A lot of people have underestimated the extent of the trauma so to

Spirit of unity: a reveller links arms with police at the weekend’s street party have something like Carnival was special. We need to all work together to move forward and this weekend was a great example of that.”

The official opening ceremony of the 51st carnival on Sunday saw doves released into the air as firefighters at nearby North Kensington fire station bowed their heads in remembrance.

Speaking alongside London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad encouraged the “Grenfell generation” to set aside sadness and come together in celebration.

She said: “We will have the most wonderful, musical, colourful and lovable Carnival ever. Remember you are the Grenfell generation. You are special.”

By 10pm police had made 313 arrests, significantly down on last year’s total.

Editorial Comment Page 14

Older Londoners to be safeguarded from scams in City-backed project Martin Bentham Home Affairs Editor RETIRED Londoners at risk of falling victim to dating and fine wine investment scams will receive protection as part of a project funded by City chiefs.

The scheme, paid for by the City of London Corporation, will identify the most vulnerable Londoners and the

best methods to safeguard their funds.

It will be supported by the City of London Police’s Action Fraud crime reporting centre and the charity Age UK. The Financial Conduct Authority has warned that retirees with assets of at least £10,000 are three and a half times more likely to be duped than younger people. London residents are among the most at risk. @martinbentham

| News

Remembrance: amid the splendour of Carnival, left, respect was paid to victims of the Grenfell Tower blaze

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Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

News in Focus |

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The Great Family

Bake Off S

o,” people sometimes ask when they hear my second name.

“What was it like? Eh? With that Prue Leith for your mum? I mean … the food! Did she bake, like, non-stop delicious cakes and stuff when you were growing up?”

And I always look at them with a slightly bashful, aw-shucks air.

Because, among other things, Prue Leith is not my mum: she’s my aunt (I once, to my intense embarrassment, told the Two Fat Ladies at a party: “Actually, I’m her niece.”) But we did grow up close — alternating Christmases bet ween us and frequently going to stay with my cousins in her country pile. And, yes, we did eat well. Boy, did we.

We breakfasted on home-made sausages and lunched alfresco on glorious salads blushing with lollo rosso, dressed with oil and balsamic and prettied up with snipped chives; she introduced me to the delights of gooseberry fool, of yoghurt pudding (the world’s easiest and most delicious dinner-arty standby made, if memory serves, of more or less nothing but yoghurt and brown sugar) and of kiwi fruit — which, after Prue told an inquisitive eight-year-old me that the little black seeds were “spider cack”, I refused to eat.

She even taught us to cook from time to time. Her two children are of a similar age to my brother and me — we ago family scandal that produced this were a little gang, more like siblings qualification; they were all friends than cousins — and on the eve of our again by then). Nan had been an departing for university Prue decided actress, and this cake was such as the we needed to learn how to make world had never seen: at least four tiers something for ourselves. A whole of fruitcake, white as a pile of cocaine, afternoon was spent scratch-cooking with sugar-icing sculptures of the pizza. Very good it was too. m a sk s o f c o m e dy a n d And with that under my belt tragedy atop it, and every I did what anyone would: I Prue is the tier surrounded by iced went off to university and sculptures of audience culinary lived for three years on members clapping. It was tomato sandwiches made equivalent a s t o u n d i n g . We w e r e with Tesco Value bread. of an army salivating.

The one thing is, though The reason we remember — and it’s a bit awkward to sergeant. it so well is that Nan — by say this now, I know — that then a bit dotty — declared Soggy I don’t remember all that that it was far too beautiful much in the way of cakes, to eat and that she wanted bottoms bread and biscuits. That’s to take it home and put it on will not be mainly the province of my her mantelpiece to keep sister, a senior pastry chef tolerated forever. Nobody had the at The Ivy. Prue can cook heart to overrule her. But if pretty much anything — the you’ve ever seen something Leith’s Cookery Bibles testify to that get between the Leith family, en masse, — but she’s not one of those people and their grub, you’ll understand the who’s endlessly turning out Victoria way in which thwarted greed seared sponges and Dundee c akes, or itself on our memories. knocking up a batch of madeleines for Prue is the sort of cook, as she has a tea party. always freely said, whose heartland In fact, the one “showstopper” that is not shrieking at a tiny brigade in an has gone down in family legend was infernal Michelin-starred kitchen that served by Prue but not cooked by her. does six covers a night and only opens It was a huge gathering of the clans for for a three-day run when there’s a the 80th birthday of Prue’s then blood moon and hand-foraged husband’s ex-wife Nan (see the pages ransoms are in season, Rather, she’s of all tabloids for the details of the long- made her way feeding large numbers ANDREW HAYES-WATKINS

Recipe for success: the new line-up of judges and presenters

Tonight, Prue Leith judges the cake challenge’s Channel 4 debut — here, her nephew Sam Leith remembers how she taught him how to cook

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| News in Focus Too many cooks: Prue Leith and her nephew Sam earlier this year eating a pasta and pesto dish they made together Genghis Khan, she knows how to delegate.

Every Christmas used to begin with my father being greeted with a kiss and dispatched quickly to the kitchen to bone the turkey. (When I was a teenager, the idea of my father boning a turkey was, you can imagine, full of comic possibilities: we always wanted to catch him at it.) I spent many juvenile hours scrubbing roasting tins, cutting crosses in Brussels sprouts, picking redcurrants and gooseberries in her kitchen garden, opening champagne and the like.

A

ND of course, quite unfairly, the really memorable stories about Prue’s cooking were the ones in which it all went sideways. There was the famous time, for instance, when she decided that rather than roasting chestnuts she’d cook them in the deepfat fryer she had embedded in her work surface (it was the Eighties; autres temps, autres moeurs). She forgot to cut crosses in them, so when they got up to heat they exploded like giant popcorn, crossing the kitchen on random trajectories like mortar rounds trailing burning oil.

Someone, I can’t remember who, had to commando-crawl in, draped in wet tea-towels, to turn off the fryer.

Or there was the off-piste Christmas lunch where it was to be slow-cooked pork shoulder wrapped in pancakes. All of the approximately 50 guests were sipping their drinks when Prue discovered that my younger brother, having made himself a bacon sandwich, had turned the oven off at about 8am.

The whole lot had to be sliced and flashfried; and the pancakes, home-made from buckwheat rather than the stout Chinese rice versions, all disintegrated on contact with the enemy.

But Prue would dispatch all that with a laugh. And if there’s one thing she knows how to do, it’s to keep an eye on how the troops are getting on. She’s the culinary equivalent of a regimental sergeant major. Benign but exacting.

Exacting but benign. Perfect for a tour of inspection of the Bake Off tent.

Turned-off ovens will be greeted with sympathy rather than expletives. Dough will be prodded and sauces tasted with a swipe of the index finger. Soggy bottoms will not be tolerated.

“Prue Leith?” I will continue to answer those people who ask, then. “Yeah. She’s my mum. And her c akes are AMAZING…” @questingvole

BAKED BEANS AND BERRIES: COOKING WITH SAM

of people, teaching people to cook, designing menus that work and organising big catering operations that produce food that is good to eat.

The abolition of the horrible British Rail sandwich? That was her. The

invention of edible sausages for Safeway? Her too.

So there are two main things about eating at home chez Prue. The first thing is that you get fed, and fed well.

And watered well, and on time. And

you do so amid a great crowd of as many guests as she can find, because she loves to feed people. The second is that, being a businesswoman, queen bee and director of an empire in the manner of a benign foodie

I doubt if my darling nephew will be watching Bake Off but it’s probably my last chance to impress him with my gastronomic experience, so, let’s hope.

My chief memory of Sam in the kitchen was of him as a child dutifully doing the washing up after Christmas lunch spending hours — I mean hours — with a Brillo pad trying to remove the black of ages from the back of my ancient roasting tin. It felt odd to be censored, if subtly, for lack of proper cleaning by a 12-year-old.

But maybe he had a point. I remember him as a very wee lad objecting to finding a money-spider in the brambles we’d just picked (yes, yes, I know, never pick them after Michaelmas day!) which I’d tipped into a bowl for supper. “I might have swallowed one,” he wailed. “Don’t worry,” I replied, “he’s lived on blackberries all his life so he’s practically made of blackberries.” He wasn’t convinced, and he wouldn’t eat the brambles, even with ice cream.

I imagine his memories of my kitchen are not very impressive. When he was about 10 he once said to his mother (who makes all her own bread — and has barely opened a tin in her life) “Why do we always get baked beans at Prue’s?” My excuse is that I was always strapped for time and thinking up instant suppers or lunches for a mostly veggie family sometimes — not always, I swear — involved baked beans.

The best time I’ve had with Sam in a kitchen was when we were doing a photoshoot together, with me allegedly teaching him how to make an English version of pasta al pesto. Of course he didn’t need teaching, he’s a good cook, but it was fun grinding walnuts, parsley, garlic and strong cheddar together and mixing it with olive oil. He boiled the linguini and it was delicious.

I don’t know if that was enough to restore my culinary reputation in his eyes, but I’d like to think so.

Prue Leith @prueleith

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| News

Tin Pan Alley cameo strikes right note Drama producer hopes Rowling fans will flock to threatened street Naomi Ackerman THE producer behind new JK Rowling TV series Strike today said it will put London’s threatened Tin Pan Alley back on the map.

An average of 5.5 million viewers tuned in to BBC1 on Sunday for first episode of the murder mystery, while the second pulled in an average of 4.9 million yesterday.

The three-part adaptation of Rowling’s 2013 novel The Cuckoo’s Calling stars Tom Burke as private eye Cormoran Strike and Holliday Grainger as sidekick Robin Ellacott.

The duo, based in a shabby office on Denmark Street, are hired to investigate the death of a model in west London.

Several scenes were shot on the West End street, nicknamed Tin Pan Alley for its historic role at the heart of Britain’s music scene and range of recording studios and music shops.

Producer Jackie Larkin said: “We were thrilled to be able to film on the real Denmark Street as it’s so integral to this story.

“It’s such an amazing street with such wonderful history. I definitely think many fans will go there now.

However, campaigners

fear fans may not be able to see the street for long. Owner Consolidated Developments wants to redevelop the entire road, which is listed, building luxury flats behind and above existing exteriors.

Last summer the street’s last recording studio closed after 62 years. Ms Larkin added: “I think we all knew we were very lucky to be filming there and to capture its uniqueness on camera.”

Campaigner Henry Scott-Irvine is behind a 35,000-strong petition to call on developers to preserve the street’s character. He said: “The fact the series is set here will bring Tin Pan Alley back into the international public consciousness and so hopefully help save music on the street and keep it alive.”

A Camden council spokesperson said: “Camden council is very keen to see the music-related businesses on Denmark Street thrive, which is why we negotiated protections for the music uses in the street that never existed previously.”

A spokesman for Consolidated Developments said: “The campaign against the Denmark Street

Novel publicity: Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger in Strike: The Cuckoo’s Calling.

Inset, JK Rowling, who wrote the Cormoran Strike books under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith

development is frustrating because we have a legal agreement with Camden in place [to protect venues] and many traders in the street are supportive of what we are doing. We are looking to retain the music in the street and we are also creating new venues in the street. The heart of the development is the music.”

The final part of Strike: The Cuckoo’s Calling, which JK Rowling originally published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, will air on Sunday.

Lane Fox: New tech could worsen health gap between rich and poor Mark Blunden Technology Reporter INTERNET pioneer Martha Lane Fox has warned that advances in technology have the power to widen the health gap between rich and poor.

The co-founder of lastminute.com fears that treatment, such as via robot doctors, will be the preserve of the wealthy. Eric Schmidt, the boss of Google’s parent company Alphabet, has revealed that its projects now include training computers to analyse 100 million pieces of skin “more accurately than dermatologists”.

In an interview at her Marylebone home, Baroness Lane-Fox, 44, said she was told 20 years ago that the internet was a passing fad. She added:

Warning: Martha Lane Fox said the “have-nots” could miss out on advances to beat cancer

“I’m fundamentally optimistic, but in the future the haves and have-nots will become more profound — those people who have access to all these resources and information and learning, and people who don’t.

“Can you go to a school where you get the latest bits of education, and are you able to genetically modify

your future generations so they don’t get cancer? When you look at the process of people dying in this country and the NHS budget for end-of-life care, there’s so many opportunities to help engage more face-to-face care by using technology more smartly.”

The crossbench peer is now a director at Twitter and runs Dot Everyone, a think tank “fighting for a fairer internet”. A mother of twin boys aged one, she said: “Technology deployed in the right way can enrich children’s lives very deeply.

“Screens aren’t inherently bad, but they are bad if you’re in your dark room at night aged 12 and you’re not sleeping and you’re doing that frenzied jumping between apps.”

Caterpillar transforms from junk to children’s book Naomi Ackerman An artist who “upcycles junk” from the streets of King’s Cross to create sculptures is to release his debut children’s book.

Richard Graham, who works from a small studio under an archway by King’s Cross station, has written The Cranky Caterpillar, based on a work he created made from the hammers inside a cast-off piano. Raymond Briggs, author of The Snowman, has praised the book as “astounding”.

Mr Graham, who lives in Dulwich

Upcycled: the story by Richard Graham and runs a design studio, creates a life story for his sculptures and sketches them. He said: “I like upcy-

cling, giving new life to things. If I find a pair of scissors I throw them in the studio and years later something might come of them. I made an elephant from a wheely bin. Along the way I began writing tales about the sculptures — one is the caterpillar from the piano hammers.”

He made convincing characters by “testing them out” on godsons, nephews and primary pupils in south London. “They don’t hold back, they are truthful critics,” he said.

■ The book will be released on September 14.

With the most rental options, our story begins on Rightmove…

So, what do you think?

So peaceful!

Arrghhhhh so high!

So central

Puff, pant, NO!

So good to be home

Ouch!

SO FRESH!

WHAT?!

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News | International

Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

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Britons shelter as Kim’s missile flies over Japan Joe Murphy Political Editor

Defence: a Patriot missile interceptor in Japan and, above, a North Korean launch

World leaders rushed to toughen sanctions against North Korea today after the rogue regime caused terror by firing a missile, designed to carry nuclear bombs, over Japan.

Britons, who were among thousands of people in Japan woken by sirens in the middle of the night, compared it to the Blitz as they were ordered to take shelter against a possible air raid.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson condemned North Korea’s actions as “illegal” and a “reckless provocation”.

Jonathan Knight, a Briton in Hokkaido, said he was woken by a text message using the Japanese government’s emergency warning system. “The message came through on our phones which started pinging like crazy,” he said.

“It said please go to a sturdy building or a basement. The next thing we could hear was sirens. The text said a rocket had been fired. I got up and did the British thing and made a cup of tea.”

Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: “We will do our utmost to protect people’s lives. This reckless act of launching a missile that flies over our country is an unprecedented, serious and important threat.”

In a phone call Donald Trump and Mr Abe agreed the UN Security Council would hold an emergency session this afternoon to consider extra sanctions, with diplomats pressing China to get watch the tougher video online standard.co.uk/ with its

missile

neighbour. North Korea fired a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry a nuclear payload.

After flying over Japan it splashed into the northern Pacific. South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said it travelled about 2,700km (1,677 miles) and reached a maximum height of 550km (341 miles) as it passed over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

It is thought to be the longest distance travelled so far by a North Korean missile and the test appeared designed to show that Kim Jong-un’s regime has the ability to carry out its threat to target the Pacific US territory of Guam.

“It’s another provocation by North Korea, they just seem to continue to happen. This is a big concern of course to my government and to a number of other governments,” said US disarmament ambassador Robert Wood.

The North has conducted 13 missile launches this year and some analysts believe it could have viable long-range nuclear missiles by 2021. It fired rockets said to be carrying satellites over Japan in 1998 and 2009, but never a ballistic missile designed for military strikes.

The launch comes on the eve of Theresa May’s visit to Japan to discuss Britain’s post-Brexit trade. The Prime Minister will be received by Emperor Akihito and Mr Abe. Defence and security co-operation is also expected to be a key theme of the trip, from Wednesday to Friday.

Aggression: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

Two die in shooting at US library Rashid Razaq TWO people were killed and four wounded when a gunman opened fire in a public library in New Mexico.

He surrendered to police following the incident at the Clovis-Carver Public Library yesterday.

Lisa Baird was inside the building when she heard a “very large bang”, which she thought was a firework, then she saw a young man with a handgun.

He shouted at her: “Why aren’t you running? I’m shooting at you! Run!” She said he then fired four or five shots into the carpet.

Police arrived and repeatedly shouted

Aftermath: an injured woman is taken to hospital after the attack in New Mexico at the man to “lay on the ground”, she said. Doug Ford, police chief of the city of Clovis, said the suspect did not resist after police arrived.

world in brief

Trump reverses ban on military guns for police

Suicide bomber strikes near US Afghan embassy

DONALD TRUMP today overturned a ban on providing US police with military equipment. Barack Obama had ordered it in 2015 after protests against the killing of an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri, and concerns over “militarisation” of officers. But US attorney general Jeff Sessions said the ban went “too far”. Mr Trump’s executive order allows the transfer of armoured vehicles and high-calibre weapons.

A suicide bomber killed at least five people in a busy commercial area of central Kabul close to the US embassy today. A police spokesman said the attack was probably targeting a branch of privately owned Kabul Bank. The US embassy compound is about 500 yards away. Nine people were injured according to initial reports. No one immediately claimed responsibility.

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| News

The 14-year-old who can drive the ball as far as McIlroy Lizzie Edmonds SHE’S just 14 but she can drive a golf ball as far as Rory McIlroy. This is the London teenager who is one of the country’s most promising young golf stars.

Elle Gibson started playing golf regularly only three years ago, after her father Dean took her to watch him play at his local course, The Shire in Barnet. Now she has hired him as her caddy.

Elle competes in major championships, has a scholarship to The Shire — which gives talented youngsters a chance to play free of charge — and works with top coach Chris Whitelegg, juggling schoolwork with training.

Last year, aged 13, she won the girls’ event at the American Golf

Junior Championships. This month she came second out of thousands of entrants to the Ladies’ American Golf Long Drive contest, with a huge 326yard drive — just 12 yards behind the 37-year-old winner Ilona Stubley.

The average drive of Northern Ireland star McIlroy — winner of The Open, US Open and PGA Championships — this year is 319.9 yards.

Elle’s father has been at her side at each competition, holding her clubs and giving encouragement. She said he “didn’t mind” being her caddy over playing on the course himself. Elle, who is 5ft 9in tall and has a handicap of

Caddy’s girl: Elle Gibson with her father Dean at this year’s American Golf Junior Championship in Lincolnshire.

Below, multiple Major winner McIlroy

nine, added: “He enjoys watching me play. He likes being my caddy.

He helps me improve and watches my game closely. I think he would also like to play but he likes making the most of my potential.

“He never pressured me to go into golf but encouraged me to play and do the best I can.”

Mr Gibson, 49, whose handicap is 11, said: “I am proud of Elle’s achievements, especially the way she conduc ts herself and respects opponents, displaying great sportsmanship. l enjoy both caddying and playing the odd

round — even though her handicap is now lower than mine.”

His daughter said of her second place in the drive competition at Heythrop Park in Oxfordshire: “It was a huge personal best. I beat people three times my age which felt good but weird. I could tell the connection with the ball was good.”

Elle, who attends Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School in Barnet, said she hoped to inspire other girls to take up golf: “None of my friends play and I don’t see many other girls unless at competition. I hope people see me and consider giving it a go.”

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evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

Trend spot Make the spirit of summer last with BOMBOM’s bespoke straw bags, handmade to order in Morocco.

From £80, bombommorocco.com

Get into the

groove Fashion

Forever in blue jeans? The corduroy comeback is striking a chord with denim lovers everywhere, says Emma McCarthy

B

oot-cut or boyfriend.

Straight-cut or skinny. We all have our favourite pair, our brunch ’n’ hangover pair and the little-too-tight pair that we can’t quite throw away because we will definitely, maybe get back into them one day. Denim is the constant yet always evolving hero of our wardrobes — and one we’ve long believed that nothing could replace.

But our loyalty to our trusty blues is about to be tested as there’s a new rival for our off-duty affections.

Corduroy — a fabric long associated with geography teachers and dodgy Seventies settees — is making a comeback. “Yeah, yeah,” I hear you cry. “I remember corduroy’s last revival. And the one before that. And the one before that.” But this time things are different. While cord is proving a prevailing trend for autumn, from the Prada catwalk to the window displays of Urban Outfitters, there’s one brand in particular hoping to cut a new groove.

Founded in Stockholm, The Cords & Co is the world’s first and only premium brand to concentrate solely on corduroy, with the hope of turning the humble fabric into 2017’s answer to jeans. “There are lots of brands that have done their take on corduroy but there has never been a brand that has completely dedicated themselves to it,” says founder Mikael Söderlindh. “I am convinced that people are looking for a lasting alternative to denim. We want people all over the world to rediscover their love for corduroy.”

As the co-founder of Happy Socks — a brand which turned conversationstarting socks into a multi-millionpound empire — and chairman of cult

rainwear brand Stutterheim, Söderlindh has proven his knack for spotting a gap in the market. And, with six flagship stores opening this week in cities including New York, LA and Paris, plus the launch of an online store in 20 countries, he’s not shy to shout about corduroy’s potential.

Its London store in Soho’s Silver Place, just off Beak Street, opens on Thursday and will be home to men’s, women’s and unisex corduroy creations, along with collaborations including Alpha Industries and Eastpak.

But business aside, corduroy f i r s t s t r u c k a c h o rd w i t h Söderlindh when he was a kid.

“Since I was very young I have always had a passion for corduroy and the comfort of it.” And he believes that many people have nostalgic ties to the fabric. “Everyone has a relationship to it or a memory they associate with it, and that is something we do not want to take away, but we also want corduroy to be a part of the contemporary culture.”

Linnéa Bach Gärde, a former designer for Scandi brands Filippa K and J Lindeberg who is now bringing her flair and fingerspitzengefühl to The Cords & Co as design director, also harbours a long-term love. “For my seventh birthday I remember I got this mustard corduroy skirt from my parents. I loved it and would want to wear it every day if I could. I’ll definitely be updating my wardrobe with a cord skirt this autumn.” Another favourite of hers is the Lea pant —a wide, straight-leg trouser currently available in white, charcoal and ochre.

Among the other hero pieces in the

Ridge cut: above, corduroy trucker jacket, £183, and Sofia pants, £156; left, shirt, £146, and Bud pants, £128, from The Cords & Co (2 Silver Place, W1; thecords.com) debut collection are biker jackets and fishtail parkas, along with cord interpretations of iconic jersey pieces such as hoodies, crew-neck sweaters and T-shirts. And not forgetting, of course, corduroy’s most classic incarnation. “Our focus and foundation will always be the five-pocket pant,” says Söderlindh, “but the versatility of corduroy makes it possible to create so

many different styles and, by adding prints, different washes and embroideries, you get a contemporary look that has not been done before.”

In fact, corduroy is far from a onetrick pony. As Gärde explains, the grooves are measured in width per wales, ranging from a jumbo eight-wale

Continued on Page 28

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London Life |

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The fall guy

Continued from Page 27 cord (think McCain’s crinkle-cut fries) through to a 23-wale needlecord, which is ideal for shirts and tops, while the fabric itself can be created from cotton and wool or even silk and cashmere.

And for those who have always shied away from double denim, what about co-ordinating cord? “I love the idea of dressing in a complete corduroy outfit,” she says. “A trucker jacket with a pair of wide-leg cord pants in poppy red is one of my favourite looks, or you can mix and match cords in different wales and colours. This is what I hope people will dare to do.” Groovy. @miss_mccarthy

Menswear

From normcore jeans to artful untucking, Simon Chilvers has an insider’s guide to the autumn trends you need to know now From left, cap, £55, skirt, £110, and Elin pants, £134, The Cords & Co (thecords.com)

1. Labels to wear that show you’re down with the season

J W Anderson fans should prepare to breathe into a paper bag to cope with the forthcoming collaboration with Uniqlo — out on September 19. It’s a delight. Reversible trenches, tweed, jaunty Fair Isle-patterned jumpers, trademark Aran knits and striped shirts. Oh and scarves — big striped, college-style scarves.

In other high-street news: Arket on Regent Street, which is the latest brand from the H&M group, is all about design essentials — think excellent macs, the perfect white shirt and easy knitwear. In non high-street news: two labels to name-drop are London-based Cottweiler, as designed by Ben Cottrell and Matthew Dainty, and Jerry Lorenzo’s Fear of God, which operates out of L A. The former specialises in a concept-driven design with a strong sportswear attitude — it has recently collaborated with Reebok — and the latter is infused with an often-dubbed Nineties grunge aesthetic. FoG counts the likes of Rihanna and Justin Bieber as fans, obviously.

2. The non-ironed, artfully rumpled layered look

Basically, to nail the season you’re going to need to work some experimental layering, which will probably involve something roomy, swingy and/or awkward. Marni always excels here, and this autumn it’s particularly triumphant, with fabrics that all but demand you throw away your iron. A red, rumpled-looking check coat worn over beige baggy trousers is a good starting point.

At Balenciaga, sweats or hoodies were worn over untucked shirts, at Louis Vuitton one shirt-tail was tucked in, one out, and often worn under very pleasing V-necks — V-necks are totally

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back. The autumn/winter Zara ad campaign is also a smorgasbord of laid-back layering ideas, from a belted leather coat with an oversized shirt and plaid trousers, to a roundshouldered check coat, untucked shirt with a pink V-neck. And yes, pink continues to be a talking point. The easiest route in? Knitwear. See Acne Studios and AMI. A pink-hater? Try red. Or checks. Or a V-neck. Or maybe — woah, steady — all of them. At once.

3. Jasper Johns versus Ryan Gosling

American artist Jasper Johns — he’s having a major retrospective at the Royal Academy next month — and Ryan Gosling, who is starring as Officer

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To celebrate the opening of its first UK store on Brewer Street today, Champion has dedicated its new campaign to the Champions of Soho. Featuring a host of the area’s unsung creative heroes, from spoken-word poet James Massiah to WAH nail artist Jess Young and 17-yearold skating wünderkind Daniel Ayeto (pictured), it’s snapbacks off to the brand putting the street back into streetwear.

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THE capital’s new favourite high-end, high-street etailer Kitri is going to be available to shop IRL for the first time thanks to a pop-up in Marylebone. Open now for the next two months, the Liquorice Allsortscoloured townhouse will be home to instore exclusives and events, including timed discounts and late-night shopping with cocktails.

Customers will also get a chance to vote for styles not yet in production. (Dress, £125. Until Oct 29, 35 Thayer Street, W1; kitristudio. com.)

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evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

| London Life 1. Trench, £139.90, scarf, £24.90, cable knit, £39.90, and trousers, £59.90, JW Anderson x Uniqlo (uniqlo. com). 2. Left, coat, £159, jumper, £29.99, and shirt, £39.99; right, coat, £159, shirt, £25.99, trousers, £49.99, trainers, £39.99, Zara (zara.com).

3. Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049. 4. Jeans, £268, Raf Simons from MATCHES FASHION.COM. 5.

A model wears a choker necklace on Raf Simons’ catwalk

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Van Noten, Stella McCartney, Raf Simons and Loewe are all on it.

The cut is straight or wider through the leg (think vintage 501s). Wear with plain black lace-up shoes and an overcoat or tailored jacket. Also: Simons’s debut for Calvin Klein is very Americana, including cowboy boots and a campaign that is all open roads à la My Own Private Idaho. Naturally, it featured excellent normal denim on the catwalk, styled head-to-toe.

Sometimes the fashions really don’t have to be hard to look hot.

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Joachim Mueller Ruchholtz

5. Necklaces are the new key fobs

forebidding high collar has been rattling on since the trailer came out — you can buy a version of it on Amazon (I don’t advise this). Three on-message takeaways from Officer K’s wardrobe, though: long coats are totally a thing, so is shearling, and rugged boots.

4. Get your legs around normal jeans

K in Blade Runner 2049 (out October 6) are two men whose wardrobes have nothing remotely in common but are both ticking this season’s boxes.

Johns’s wardrobe has an appeal that

is all in the simplicity: striped shirts (they’re in), denim shirts (also in) and the perfect wonky collar (very Marni).

Better still, when photographed by Robert Rauschenberg and Richard

Avedon, Johns chose a boxy trench and an oversized coat respectively.

Very now.

Meanwhile discussion about Gosling’s long shearling coat with its

Music to the ears of those of us who have a distressed-denim aversion or still feel bemused about how to deal with the roomier trouser that designers have been showing for the past few seasons. If you’re in the second camp, COS has some pleasant, wide-leg navy trousers coming soon.

As for normal jeans, Balenciaga, Dries

If you haven’t noticed all those youthful types swinging about the night bus with key fobs hanging from their trousers then, well, you’ve probably got better things to do.

Anyway, the look is about to be upstaged by necklaces. Yes, necklaces.

Cue thoughts about Take That’s shell chokers circa the Pray video. Actually, Mrs Prada’s autumn/winter collection — a total banger — did indeed feature a variety of shell necklaces worn with patterned sweaters or branch pendants swinging over snappy jackets.

Meanwhile, neck chains were also seen at Lanvin (worn over sweaters) and at Vuitton (worn with an opened shirt collar). Further intel: Robert Pattinson for an American GQ cover shoot is sporting a fine silver chain.

Plus, Raf Simons, who put chokers with every one of his 40 autumn men’s looks, is throwing an accessory curveball: designer duct tape. That is correct: £150 a roll. And coming to a million fashion shoots this winter.

Perfect, obviously, if the buttons on your coat fall off.

■ Simon Chilvers is men’s style director at MATCHESFASHION.COM

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Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

Special | In association with

Thenew

season rules Bid adieu to summer in style, and get ready to plunge head first into the rich trends that autumn has to offer. By Rebecca Gonsalves by the absence of sun-filled alfresco experiences, a new he ar tine ss besets us all and “pubs with snugs” replaces “rooftop cocktails” in our internet searches.

In style terms, cooler weather, shorter days and darker nights call for a rich colour palette, cosy textures and practical detailing.

Read on for our favourite new season pieces to buy now.

IN THE ARMY NOW

Certain references are never far away from a designer’s autumn/winter mood board, with military being perhaps chief among them. From greatcoats to trenches, army surplus has proved fertile ground for outerwear in particular, but don’t be afraid to experiment with touches of khaki and camouflage elsewhere too. Just limit yourself to one or two items, rather than going totally gung-ho lest you look like a wannabe Action Man.

ami

1 1. Lanvin 2. Jacket, £35, Asos 3. Trainers, £30, River Island 4. £89, Specsavers

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GETTY IMAGES

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his summer might have been a complete washout weather-wise, but with September on the horizon, it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief. After all, autumn is usually far more reliable, both meteorologically and sartorially.

And as the seasons change, so too inevitably does the collective mood, and instead of feeling short-changed

dolce & gabbana

evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

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| Special

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Wear a suit to work? Then you’ll know it’s the workhorse of your wardrobe. But that doesn’t mean it has to be basic or boring. The catwalks showed a move away from the super slim styles of yore, with baggier trousers coming to the fore.

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Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

Put London on canvas and win £10k

Arts coverage in the Evening Standard is presented in partnership with Hiscox Home Insurance.

To find out more about their expert cover visit hiscox.co.uk/home

To enter our Contemporary Art Prize go to standard.co.uk/artprize

Grime’s status is sealed at hometown spectacular POP

Boy Better Know O2 Arena, SE10

★★★★✩ ANDRE PAINE GRIME has cropped up at the Brit Awards, Mercury Prize and Glastonbury in the past 12 months but the O2 felt like a landmark for the homegrown urban music genre.

As well as football, video games and a roller disco in the complex, the Boy Better Know collective curated a line-up beyond their signature sound, including the assured R&B of Mabel (Neneh Cherry’s 21-year-old daughter) and Parisian rapper MHD’s energetic “Afro trap”.

DJ Tim Westwood whipped up the audience with old school hip-hop.

But the party really got started with the shirtless J Hus. There were multiple mosh pits for muscular tune Clartin, though the

rising star also had a sweeter side to match his smile as he rapped about Kit Kats on Lean & Bop. While J Hus is Mercurynominated, Skepta’s already won the award and is the most prominent member of BBK. Teaming up with younger brother JME, he opened with the relentless That’s Not Me as flames shot from the stage.

Skepta was just as imperious on No Security, Crime Riddim and Shutdown, juddering anthems that felt triumphant at BBK’s hometown spectacular.

Yet this was a team effort with strength in depth, including rapid-fire rhymes from grime godfather Wiley, crazy dancing from MC Jammer and arena-sized beats from DJ Maximum. Alongside Lethal Bizzle and Giggs, there was even a surprise appearance from Drake.

With the superstar giving his seal of approval to grime, it feels unstoppable.

Artist at work: Orlando Weeks, main picture, and working on his illustrations, right; far right, Weeks’s illustrations for his children’s book The Gritterman

Life after the Maccabees

Writing and illustrating a new children’s book helped indie frontman Orlando Weeks through the trauma of his band’s split, he tells Johanna Thomas-Corr

O

‘I liked the neatness of a character who could grit ice in the winter and sell ice in the summer’

rlando Weeks likes it when things fall into the right place. On his 33rd birthday last year, his band, The Maccabees, announced that they were calling it a day, barely a year after their fourth album, Marks to Prove It, had reached No 1. Precisely one year on from that announcement, on his 34th birthday, Weeks revealed what might seem a surprising move for a recovering indie rock singer. He has written and illustrated a children’s book.

“It’s usually a good sign if neat things happen,” he says as he flicks through a finished copy of The Gritterman, a tender fireside story about an ageing labourer who just really loves spreading grit. In the summer, the old man sells ice creams and lollies from his rusty van but his real passion is de-icing the roads in the winter.

Alongside the words and pictures, Weeks has also recorded a suite of new piano music. The companion album features the voice of comedian Paul Whitehouse narrating a quintessentially English tale of grit and stoicism between Weeks’s tear-jerking tunes.

“It started with writing a song about a seasonal hero and thinking that I could spend more time with him,” Weeks explains. “I had little snatches of piano that felt relevant to the story. And I liked the neatness of a character who could grit ice in the winter and sell ice in the summer. Those things kept happening and the story fitted together. Then, after we announced we were going to split, I just really stuck at it. It was definitely a help being able to focus on something.”

I meet the London-born singer at the

Shoreditch House members’ club, where he’s sitting in a corner quietly sipping water, wearing black jeans, a white T-shirt and a silver hoop in his left ear. He comes across rather more like a reticent children’s illustrator than a rock ’n’ roller — but then again, The Maccabees were among the more wellspoken indie bands of the past decade, the kind that played with an anxious intensity yet expressed themselves in bashful double negatives. In their final, emotionally charged gig at Alexandra Palace in July, Weeks told sobbing fans: “We’re not averse to booing, so if you want to boo, get it all out now.”

Two months on from their send-off, the singer is glancing philosophically into the middle distance of the club’s bar, as if its metropolitan decadence is now foreign to him. He nods slowly when I ask if ending a 14-year relationship with the much-admired band was “traumatic”.

“Yeah, and I needed to feel like there was something I could be doing,” he says. “Because I love writing songs, drawing and sitting on my own — it was therapeutic.”

The result of his lonely efforts is a witty, affectionate book that sets the dignity of toiling away at night against an elegiac tale of climate change. The Gritterman takes place on our hero’s final night of work — he’s been told that his “services are no longer required” because “the planet’s heating up”.

While the world sleeps, the widowed labourer heads out into the wind and snow to say a final, surreptitious goodbye to the work he loves.

Weeks’s style clearly owes a lot to Raymond Briggs (he studied illustration at Brighton University before his success

with The Maccabees). He’s also drawn inspiration from illustrator Edward Ardizzone and mid-century artist Eric Ravilious, both of whom captured provincial life. And a childhood listening to recordings of P G Wodehouse, Biggles, Roald Dahl and Blackadder on his Fisher Price cassette player has helped inform the language of the book. You feel the story, complete with its soundtrack, would make an enchanting Christmas special on TV, to be repeated every year, in the vein of The Snowman. “The dream is that someone says ‘let’s make an animation’,” the musician says.

Weeks doesn’t have any children of his own but road-tested the book on his seven-year-old godson. “I was just pleased he didn’t throw it across the room.” He was initially told by literary agents that he would need a child protagonist if he wanted to engage children’s interest . Though he appreciated the advice, the music he had already started writing — intimate, nostalgic “wonkily played piano” — perfectly suited his gruffer character.

And he found the world of leaking wellies appealing.

“There’s something particularly

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evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

In association with

stars tUEsDaY aUgUst 29

kate friend

@thestandardarts

ungrand about road-gritting,” he says excitedly. “It just seemed really unromantic. It doesn’t seem heroic in the way that a doctor working all hours and saving lives is, or paramedics or firefighters.”

The multi-media story not only allowed Weeks to draw on his artistic talents, it also gave him the excuse TO move abroad, something he’d never been able to do because of his music commitments. With his girlfriend, the photographer and magazine editor Kate Friend (to whom he has dedicated the book), he went to Berlin for 10 months and then Lisbon.

Having grown up in Clapham, gone to school in Highgate and spent most of his adult life in Elephant and Castle, he craved the isolation of a foreign city.

Here he managed to “work at my own tempo for the first time… which was much better for my brain”.

He feels the band called time on The Maccabees at the right moment — when I ask what gets him worked up, he says he finds it hard to process his own anger, which was often challenging in the studio. “I’d like to think I could be better at that. Maybe it comes with age.”

He talks about how his voice gets wobbly with emotion when he’s angry.

As far as the singing went, this was an

‘I have to psych myself up and be in the mood for London. It’s amazing but it’s big-wave culture’ asset, “but in the discussions about trying to finish a song there was a lot of [he mimics a weak, wobbly voice] ‘I don’t know…’” He laughs. “Occasionally, that would be the moment when we got some good stuff done but more often than not, that was when the walls would come up b e c au s e we ’ re a l l n o t go o d at confrontation.”

Weeks and his girlfriend are now living in Margate, a refuge for many London creatives. “Home will always be London… though actually maybe not,” he reflects. “If you haven’t been in London for a while, you have to really brace yourself for it. There’s a brilliant album by Idles called Brutalism, and every time since that record came out I put it on to psych myself up for London.

You have to be in the mood for the city.

It’s amazing but it’s big-wave culture. You either stay on the wave or crash out.”

He believes it was by touring with The Maccabees for so many years that he got to know the English landscapes of the

Gritterman’s beat. And though the labours of a man shovelling rock salt over the B2116 in the “blue-black hours of night” may seem like a world away from headlining the Latitude festival, Weeks feels a deep kinship with his protagonist.

He says the Gritterman was partly inspired by his own father, who recently retired as a lobbyist. “There’s this weird teetering going on between people starting new families and the elder members of the family beginning to enter a more precarious stage.” But it’s also, in part, a self-portrait.

“We are massively different but I totally understand that thing of feeling very lucky to enjoy what I do. Because I see so many of my friends who are still trying to find that thing that gives them pleasure. And they are so much cleverer and more hard-working than me. Yet I got lucky because that thing happened for me. So I like the Gritterman because he can go through all that he does and remain unjaded. If the disappointment of this is that he is saying goodbye to what he has known, I wanted him to have a positive outlook. I wanted there to be joy. How amazing to have found pleasure and comfort in a purpose.”

■ The Gritterman is published on September 7 (Particular Books, £17.99)

stars shelley von strunCkel aries March 20 – April 18

There is little as exciting as your ruler Mars being positioned in the portion of your chart that accents those you care about most and those activities that lift your spirits. While you are undoubtedly enjoying the resulting wonderful experiences, don’t ignore certain problems. They need attention.

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taurus April 19 – May 19

If you are in an easy-going mood, you have an amazing capacity to find the humour in even very frustrating situations. But the range and often sudden nature of recent surprising developments has meant you’ve taken these very seriously. Lighten up — most of them aren’t nearly as pressing as they seem.

Call 0904 470 1142* (65p per minute)

Gemini May 20 – June 20

Few things are more cheering than the discovery something you thought had gone wrong has not.

Not only is that likely to be the case now, the odds are good you will realise you had either missed important facts or had drawn your own incorrect conclusions. Whatever the case, the tide is about to turn in your direction.

Call 0904 470 1143* (65p per minute)

Cancer June 21 – July 21

Being ruled by the Moon, you have a natural sense of timing. Despite the fact you rarely think about it, the intuition linked to the lunar cycle makes it easier for you to recognise when to bide your time and when, as will soon be the case, it is time to make your move. All will become more clear in the coming days.

Call 0904 470 1144* (65p per minute)

Leo July 22 – August 21

Obviously, undertaking complex changes is easier if those around you agree about what is best. While you might have discussed and, perhaps, organised plans some time ago, recent events were dramatic and raised questions.

Consequently, the odds are good you will be conducting a top to bottom rethink.

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Virgo August 22 – September 21

For you, as a painstaking Virgo, there is little more aggravating than the discovery you got things wrong. Yet, as you will have noticed, this is an unsettling period for everybody. To such a degree, in fact, that others are struggling with errors as well. Bizarrely, many could answer persistent questions.

Call 0904 470 1146* (65p per minute)

If It’s your bIrthDay tOmOrrOW...

Being somewhat of a perfectionist, you will often blame yourself for problems that simply aren’t your responsibility. While, obviously this is of concern to you, it can also mean you worry about similar situations in the future. Bizarrely, having your ruler Mercury retrograde, and in Virgo, triggering questions about both facts and what you and others say, do and promise, will force you to recognise just how much you do well, if not exactly right. And, equally, you will learn to recognise errors as an invitation to broaden your horizons.

Need advice on WOrK? Call and speak to one of Shelley’s Astrologers on 0906 400 1008**

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Libra September 22 – October 22

Capricorn December 21 – January 18

Not only is Mercury retrograde, because this cycle influences others as much as it does you, even relatively simple arrangements should be regarded as tentative. While this is something you, as a Libra, find unsettling, the more flexible what you organise is, the easier it will be to make the necessary changes.

Call 0904 470 1147* (65p per minute)

Tempting as it is to be cautious about making commitments, especially with so much in disarray, certain arrangements need to be organised now. While changes are likely, they will probably only be minor and could constitute an improvement. But you must take that first step. Turn your ideas into a proper plan.

Call 0904 470 1150* (65p per minute)

scorpio October 23 – November 21

aquarius January 19 – February 17

sagittarius November 22 – December 20

Pisces February 18 – March 19

In recent discussions, you feared you said too much. Being a Scorpio, you have a powerful instinctive sense of what to keep to yourself or share with others. But you became so absorbed you revealed far more than you intended.

Bizarrely, this has led to conversations as frank as they are timely.

Call 0904 470 1148* (65p per minute) As a Sagittarius and a fire sign, you learn best by plunging into a situation and tackling both options and challenges as they arise. Yet, with the Sun and the retrograde Mercury accenting these, the odds are good you will encounter more than the usual number of twists and turns.

Persist. You will get there in the end.

Call 0904 470 1149* (65p per minute)

While certain signs just cannot resist correcting others when they get things wrong, that seems pointless. Rather, unless the situation is crucial or, alternatively, involves your relationship with the individual in question, you will say nothing.

Except, hopefully, for now, when certain errors really must be noted then discussed.

Call 0904 470 1151* (65p per minute) Generally, you have a talent for keeping things in proportion. It is rare anybody so irritates you that you simply must have the last word. But now, not only is that the case, you are somewhat obsessed with telling them what you think. Do so, bearing in mind they have no interest in anybody but themselves.

Call 0904 470 1152* (65p per minute)

Do you want a lIve consultation with one of shelley’s team of professional astrologers? Call 0906 400 1008** NOW *Astro line horoscopes are updated every Friday. Calls cost 65p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge and will last approximately five minutes. **0906 number costs £1.50 per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge. Maximum call duration for live services is 20 minutes. Service open daily from 8am-1am. You must be over 18 years old to use this service. Calls recorded and regulated by PhonePayPlus. For entertainment purposes only. Service provided by Spoke. Customer service: 0333 202 3392

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evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

Wages crunch risks recession

Sean O’Grady on the panto that is Brexit Britain Page 36

standard.co.uk / business City Editor Jim Armitage Read by more City people than the Financial Times, Daily Telegraph and The Times combined

FTSE 100

FTSE 250

Dow Jones Av CLOSE

£1 buys $1.2968

£1 buys €1.0753

€1 buys $1.2059

down 104.26 at 7297.20

down 181.02 at 19,490.31

down 5.27 at 21,808.40

up 0.36 cent

down 0.45 cent

up 0.83 cent

news in brief

Bunzl boss puts brake on driverless trucks Bunzl’s chief executive has poured cold water on the idea that driverless trucks could replace operated vehicles. “They have a long way to go,” the distribution group’s Frank van Zanten, said today. “It’s going to be very tough to send a truck around London with the traffic without a driver.” Half-year sales rose 20% to £4.1 billion.

Do it now: Arnie urges haste by PPI claimants Arnold Schwarzenegger (pictured) has been recruited by the Financial Conduct Authority to tell consumers to get on with a claim for Payment Protection Insurance before the deadline two years hence.

Arnie’s animatronic head is designed to “cut through the noise” around PPI and is paid for by the 18 firms who have had the most PPI complaints.

Hunting on the slide as founder heads for exit Shares in Hunting fell almost 4% as the oilfield services group said its founder and chairman Richard Hunting is stepping down after 26 years with the business. He will remain a non-executive. Jay Glick, the Texan former chief executive of Lufkin, will become chairman on Friday. Hunting posted a smaller first-half loss last week as US shale firms drilled more wells.

Quote of the day ‘It may be mounting pressure on household finances is exerting a drag’ Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner on slowing houseprice growth

Report Page 38

Korean missile has City traders diving for cover Jamie Nimmo NORTH Korea’s “unprecedented” missile launch over Japan sent panicked City traders rushing for the shelter of safe-haven assets today as they dumped shares.

The FTSE 100 index dived more than 100 points to its lowest level since May as nervy London dealers followed their Asian counterparts by dumping equities after the latest chapter in the North Korea saga, reigniting fears that a stockmarket collapse could be round the corner.

The rogue state fired a ballistic missile over northern Japan that crashed into the sea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called it an “unprecedented” threat to his country.

Tensions between North Korea and US President Donald Trump have also been rising in recent months. The latest missile launch dispels any notions that the country is backing down, with the US and South Korea currently conducting joint military exercises.

Trump and Abe vowed to ramp up pressure on North Korea and leader Kim Jong-un (pictured), and called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

The FTSE 100 plunged 104.26 points, or 1.4%, to 7297.20 as investors ditched stocks and rushed to safe-haven assets such as precious metals. The gold price rose $15.51, or 1.2%, to $1325.01 an

ounce, its highest in almost a year.

Randgold Resources, the African gold producer listed in London, was among only a handful of shares that avoided the sell-off, surging 320p or 4.2% to 7890p. Mexican silver miner Fresnillo jumped 59.2p or 3.8% to 1639.2p.

The Japanese yen, also seen by investors as a safe-haven asset, was also in demand while the dollar slipped, hurt also by the flooding in Houston triggered by Hurricane Harvey .

Analysts suggested the sell-off of UK stocks — the FTSE 100 has lost almost 250 points in three weeks — could be the start of a wider market correction.

Neil Wilson at ETX Capital said: “There’s a lot building in the market at the moment that could be leading up to something”.

He added: “If you look at Trump, the debt ceiling, the Fed reducing its balance sheet — there is a lot of uncertainty and risk in play for equities globally.”

David Madden at CMC Markets said traders are viewing Trump as “a bit of a hothead”. He added: “Tensions were already ratcheted up to the highest they’ve been in a number of years since this [the missile launch] happened last night.”

Madden said that, at the moment, any positive news is only followed by a recovery after falls the previous day, rather than major rallies, suggesting that investors are lacking optimism. @jamienimmo63

storm blow insurers fear harvey

Lloyd’s of London battened down the hatches today as underwriters sized up possible multi-million-pound losses from Hurricane Harvey.

Lancashire, which owns Lloyd’s insurer Cathedral, and Hiscox saw shares fall 3.6% and 3.8% respectively while Beazley shed 2% due to fears the storm in Texas will lead to big payouts.

Panmure Gordon estimates £200 million of net losses for Lancashire and £100 million each for Hiscox and Beazley from the hurricane, which is

expected to dump 50 inches of rain.

Estimated losses are expected to rise to $12 billion (£9.3 billion) although America’s National Flood Insurance Program is likely to absorb some.

Lloyd’s insurers have benefited from a benign claims environment in recent years although Harvey is unlikely to be a market-turning event, Peel Hunt’s Andreas van Embden said.

“We do not see this as being the size of a Katrina or Sandy,” he added.

Michael Bow

Pay clampdown is so light it would be wiser to do nothing There’s been a clampdown on executive pay coming for the past 20 years.

The Guardian in particular, perhaps mistaking what it wanted to happen for what was actually happening, has been reporting this impending clampdown with vigour for at least that long.

During that time executive pay has of course rocketed. There’s not much reason to think today’s halfhearted, watered-down plans from the Government will reverse that.

The obligation on companies to publish the pay gap between the boss and the average worker relies on those bosses being embarrassed by the gap to have any effect.

In return for £5 million, say, how much public shame would you be willing to endure? Could you live with the ire of the Pensions and

Simon English commentary Lifetime Savings Association, or would such pressure force you to sell the yacht and return the cash?

Like you, I am perfectly willing to have my tolerance tested.

The most telling thing is that the IoD and CBI back these plans, which is pretty much like a clampdown on daylight robbery being rubberstamped by the Association for the Protection of Burglary.

The real brake on executive pay is supposed to come from fund managers — from the City, the most overpaid place on earth outside Wall Street. Since that’s already a

joke it’s hard to see what the point is of a vague shake-up the government plainly doesn’t believe in.

Vince Cable says: “The overblown rhetoric from Theresa May is completely at odds with the weakness of the new rules.”

Indeed. Since she intends to do nothing, it would have been better to say nothing.

Overkill by the FCA HOW much is the FCA paying Arnold Schwarzenegger to front its PPI campaign? “We wouldn’t be able to comment on that,” says the regulator. A) why not? B) what on earth is the justification for his hiring in the first place?

PPI is not some hidden secret in desperate need of sunlight. The new FCA helpline for this urgent

problem is 0800 101 8800. We should ring it and demand to know what The Terminator is on.

Shares in Armageddon IN the event of global thermonuclear war, what’s the fair value of the stock market?

Presumably zero, which makes today’s 100-point FTSE 100 sell-off almost funny. If you are really worried North Korea is going to nuke Hawaii, selling shares in insurance companies to buy gold miners is about as much use as hiding under your desk. Perhaps we should take heart that the supposed Masters of the Universe are as powerless as the rest of us. It’s hard to bet on the end of the world.

What do you win if you’re right? @SimonEngStand

36

Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

Business |

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Sean O’Grady economic analysis

P

ound slumps to new low — there’s a headline we’ll be seeing depressingly frequently in the coming months. I’m only waiting to see who the press will variously blame.

Already some commentators, who should know better, are saying it’s the fault of the bureaux de change for giving British tourists a lousy rate.

“Pantomime villains”, they’re called.

Well, the whole scene is getting a bit panto. It can only be a matter of time before EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier (boo, hiss) is cast as the evil Captain Hook, with Nigel Farage and Ukip as innocent babes in the wood, and Jeremy Corbyn as the ageless Peter Pan of politics, flying around on a cloud of optimism about “access to the single market”.

Philip Hammond, of course, “is” Baron Hardup, as those action movie trailer voiceovers might put it. Sadiq Khan is a natural for Dick Whittington.

Liam Fox, David Davis and Boris Johnson? Fine ugly sisters, or maybe one could be Pinocchio.

It’s a pity the British don’t have a fairy godmother to come and rescue them from Brexit — just Theresa May. Her own witching hour will arrive during the Conservative party conference in Manchester in October.

Maybe Sir Vince Cable or Chuka

Umunna would make for a nice panto dame, the magic wand of a second referendum at the ready.

It would certainly take magical powers to rescue sterling from its multi-year lows. As we head for Brexit there will be more of the same; if the “markets”, an anthropomorphic term of convenience by which we really mean businesses and investors, fear a “cliff-edge” Brexit, as looks increasingly likely, then “Global Britain’s” quid will be worth less than those beans Jack got for selling his mum’s cow. (I know they grew into a mighty beanstalk; we’ll see what Brexit grows into).

If you’ve spent your holidays cursing the weak pound, then it’s followed you

‘It’s a pity the British haven’t a fairy godmother to rescue them from Brexit — just Theresa May’ home. Movements in the exchange rate affect virtually everything. The cost of the newsprint you hold in your very hands, food, fuel, even things that are made in Britain have imported raw materials or components. Businesses will pass on price rises, thus risking market share, or they will have to sacrifice precious profit margins to keep prices stable, or get the workforce to help absorb the inflation with wage restraint.

You’ve no doubt noticed that your wages already can’t keep up with rising prices. I am sorry, but you’ll have to expect more of that. We’ve run our sav-

PAULDALLIMORE.COM

Wages crunch risks recession as Brexit Britain sinks into panto

They’re behind you: Barnier as Captain Hook, Hammond Baron Hardup, Khan Whittington, Farage in the Wood and Corbyn as Pan ings down and borrowed up to the hilt to try to protect our standard of living.

There will be more inflation, and wages will be under pressure. We should be ready for another tough few years.

How tough? And for whom? People who work for exporters may do better than most, obviously. More broadly, it depends on how the labour market reacts. Britain has witnessed an almost miraculous creation of jobs in recent years, and much of that has been down to its flexible labour market. Yes, that often means low-paid jobs, part-time work, so-called freelancing that isn’t, zero-hours contracts and other things we find irksome.

Yet people are better off in any work than not; it gives them an income and keeps them off social security and a drift into inactivity and hopelessness.

The only good news about the falling pound is it will help the economy adjust to whatever Brexit throws at it.

Lower real-term wages means lower

costs and increased competitiveness on world markets.

However, if wages are pushed up, including in the public sector which continues to be under a very tight regime, then we’ll have a bigger problem. Jobs will go and the burden of this inevitable economic pain will fall disproportionately on those unfortunate enough to be sacked; everyone else will be (relative to that) okay.

I

f the Bank of England senses that the collapse in sterling is sparking a wage-price inflationary spiral it will be compelled to raise rates. Mortgage rates and the rest will follow Bank Rate upwards, and, with a rise in unemployment, that could mean a housing crash (long overdue, after all).

Throw in the effects of the Taylor Review (which advocates boosting pay and conditions for casual and other non-staff workers), and the ever-higher

living wage, and you have all the fuel you need to push British wages up towards unsustainable and damaging levels. The flexible labour market is being stretched to breaking point, and now with fewer migrants from Europe to provide additional supply where it is needed.

Some economists are predicting a “technical recession” in 2018, the economy being so weak that it contracts slightly in two consecutive quarters. It might easily do so; investment and consumer spending are feeble.

By around the Christmas panto season we should know if the Brexit talks have indeed failed, and therefore how likely a downturn is next year.

All the Remainers/Remoaners will be shouting “There’s Going to be a Recession”. To which the Leavers will chant back “Oh No There Isn’t”: matinées and twice nightly at the Palace of Westminster. Book your tickets now. @_SeanOGrady

Nelson row leads to naval gazing @City_Spy

Jäger bombs as gin has a spirited revival Are City boys falling out of love with Jägerbombs?

The runaway popularity of Jägermeister made the demon brown syrup the fastest-growing spirit by volume in the UK over the past decade but new Bank of America figures show the party could be fizzling out. Sales for parent MastJägermesiter AG have grown by a tiny 1.5% a year on average since 2015 in the UK, way down from soaring growth of more than 30% since 2007.

The bank said brown spirits

“remain in vogue” but white spirits such as tequila and gin were catching up fast — time to invent the ginbomb?

■ As you collapse on the Tube home from a long first day back after the bank holiday weekend, spare a thought for the toughest gig in London. Waste contractor Suez says it sent out 30 rubbish trucks to clean up detritus equivalent to the weight of 25 London buses after Carnival.

Someone’s gotta do it.

Arm less: the Lloyd’s building has much Nelson memorabilia

Assertions that Nelson was a white supremacist drew ire through the land. Calls for his statue in Trafalgar Square to be torn down were attacked before they’d even been entertained. But, please, won’t someone think of the insurers?

Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London were all at sea, chattering about the impact on the insurance market, which has an extensive collection celebrating the 18th and 19th-century naval hero because of its roots in shipping. The issue is particularly awkward as Lloyd’s chief Inga Beale is a prominent LGBT campaigner, slightly further to the Left than Nelson supposedly was to the Right.

Spy asks the Lime Street market for its view: “Obviously Britain’s maritime past is a big part of Lloyd’s history.

We do not currently have plans to remove Nelson’s memorabilia from the Lloyd’s building.”

■ The French have always claimed culinary supremacy but US burger chain Five Guys tells a different story.

The branch in the Champs Élysées in Paris is now its biggest sales machine in Europe, chalking up €300,000 (£278,000) per week thanks to booming sales of €10 cheeseburgers and €3.50 petite frites, leaving Leicester Square and Westfield in the shade. Should keep its two portly backers, Sir Charles Dunstone and Peter Dubens, well-fed on steak haché au fromage for years to come.

37

evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

£2bn spend quintain’s wembley goal

London property developer Quintain today outlined plans to plough a further £2 billion into redeveloping Wembley with new homes and shops.

The decision by the firm, owned by US private equity group Lone Star, comes despite Brexit triggering jitters in the property industry as Brits delay housebuying and businesses threaten to leave the capital.

It will spend the money over five years to create about 3000 homes and more than a million square feet of offices, shops and leisure space in the shadow of the national football stadium.

That is on top of the £1 billion it has

already ploughed into Wembley Park, constructing 1000 homes, a hotel and the London Designer outlet.

Quintain chief executive Angus Dodd said: “There is a severe shortage of homes in London so we believe demand will hold up, particularly for our rental offer. On the office front, we offer rents which are significantly cheaper than the West End in a location just 12 minutes from Baker Street.”

Quintain owns 85 acres in the area, where it has planning consent for 7600 homes, with thousands targeted at renters not yet on the housing ladder.

Joanna Bourke

Mitie in fresh blow as second City probe launched Angela Jameson Troubled outsourcing group Mitie today admitted it had been hit with a second accounting investigation in less than a month.

The embattled company revealed that the Financial Conduct Authority is investigating its profit warning last September which caused its value to plunge more than £240 million.

The alert was the first indication of a series of problems at the business which said it is suffering from Brexit, lower public spending and rising wages. The 30% collapse in the share price led to the departure of chief executive Baroness Ruby McGregorSmith (pictured) in December.

The FCA told the company, now led by ex-British Gas chief Phil Bentley, that it was looking into the timeliness of last September’s profits warning and the preparation of its accounts for the financial year ending March 2016.

Mitie — which runs Harmondsworth immigration detention centre near Heathrow

and carries out cleaning and security for companies including Lloyds — said it is “fully co-operating” but would not comment on the probe until it was completed.

The company has already taken a £50 million writedown on its accounts this year, saying some of its accounting practices were “less conservative” than rivals. The industry watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council, also began looking into Deloitte’s auditing of the company in July. Deloitte declined to comment.

An earlier review by KPMG in January found that mistakes had been made but that no accounting standards had been broken.

Mitie remains among the most shorted stocks on the London market, and, before September’s warning, some analysts had been sceptical of the company’s prospects and accounting practices.

Shares in other outsourcers, including Serco and G4S, also fell earlier this year as they compete for low-margin work.

Mitie shares today edged down 1.5p to 264.3p. @angejameson

| Business Payouts for UK’s bosses revealed to dwarf average staff Michael Bow

the city’s worst offenders

Advertising giant WPP, WH Smith and gold miners are among the companies with the highest chief executive pay ratios since 2013, figures today show.

Randgold Resources’ pay packet for boss Mark Bristow in 2014 tops the list at 1637 times the average salary, and WPP chief Sir Martin Sorrell’s £70 million payout in 2015 is second. WH Smith’s 2013 chief executive pay deal also creeps into the top 10 at 740 times the average employee’s salary.

Manifest has published the table to coincide with plans unveiled by

Company Chief executive Randgold Mark Bristow WPP Sir Martin Sorrell Carnival Arnold Donald Randgold Mark Bristow Bank of Georgia Irakli Gilauri the Government today to force companies to declare how much more the chief executive is paid than the average worker.

However, some have criticised the ratio figure for laying out inappropriate comparisons.

For example, Randgold’s staff are

Pay Ratio £5.5m 1637:1 £70.4m 1399:1 £25m 1333:1 £5.2m 1243:1 £3.5m 1135:1

Year 2014 2015 2016 2015 2016

mostly based in Mali where the average employee earns just £3381 per year. WPP, in comparison, has most of its workers in the West, and the average employee there picks up more than £52,000 a year, according to Manifest. @signorbow

38

Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

Business |

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Housing pain as buyers start to tighten belts Joanna Bourke The UK housing market is feeling the pain from a growing squeeze on consumers since the Brexit vote, Nationwide warned today.

The lender said August house prices were 2.1 % up on a year ago but down 0.8 percentage points from the previous month’s 2.9%, matching May’s four-year low. UK prices this month slipped on average to £210,495 from £211,671 in July. The lacklustre figures come despite mortgage rates remaining close to all-time lows, and unemployment rates falling in the quarter to June. “It may be that mounting pressure on household finances is exerting a drag,” said Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist.

Gardner singled out affordability pressures in London and the South-East.

EY Item Club chief economist Howard Archer said: “The fundamentals for house buyers are likely to remain weak over the coming months with consumers’ purchasing power continuing to be squeezed by inflation running higher than earnings growth.”

However, Nationwide still predicts UK prices to rise by around 2% over 2017, with constrained supply supporting the growth.

Shock for short-sellers as bid for Imagination takes shape Jamie Nimmo

Apple of the eye: the partial solar eclipse is filmed in California using the graphics of an iPhone

market round-up Hedge funds were probably feeling less optimistic today about their dream of a total collapse from Imagination Technologies.

Shares in the Apple supplier, which put itself up for sale after a bitter dispute with the iPhone maker, for which it designs the graphics chips, surged 5.2p, or 4.3%, to 127.45p. Investors were reacting to reports that Chinese-backed fund Canyon Bridge is lining up a takeover approach.

Short-sellers raised their bets against Imagination’s shares when it officially announced a sale process in June after Apple, its biggest client by some distance, said it was going to start designing its own graphics processors, ending a long-standing deal.

More than 7% of its shares are out on loan to hedge funds hoping to profit from a share price slump. That’s up from 4.7% after the sale process was confirmed, according to the FCA’s short-selling data, suggesting little faith in a successful sale. Those with major short positions include Boston-based Numeric Investors and London’s Marshall Wace.

On the wider market, the FTSE 100 slumped 104.26 points, or 1.4%, to 7297.20 as fears resurfaced over North Korea, which fired a missile over Japan.

Shares in Standard Chartered, the Asia-focused bank, fell 19.82p, or 2.6%, to 758.8p.

ITV, off 6.03p, or 3.7%, to 155.78p, continued to slide after ProSiebenSat, its German peer, warned on the outlook for TV advertising.

Investors lost their appetite for The Restaurant Group as they fretted that first-half results on Thursday from the Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito owner will be worse than expected. It is forecast to post a 30% dive in profits, caus-

ing the shares to slide 15.8p, almost 5%, to 309.15p.

Shares in IT firm Softcat dropped after a downgrade from Berenberg. The broker cut its rating from Buy to Hold after a strong performance from shares in recent weeks. It added it was “unsure of strategic changes” that could be made by the new chief executive once Martin Hellawell takes up the job of chairman.

On AIM, cake decoration firm Real Good Food fell 1.5p, or 6%, to 25p after a second profit warning this month. @jamienimmo63

More information: standard.co.uk/business

@es_jobourke

Fast-growing firms bullish in face of Brexit Angela Jameson Britain’s fastest-growing businesses are keener than ever to export to Europe as Brexit talks resume, research showed today.

Half of 350 firms surveyed during July and August said they expected revenues would climb by at least 20% this year, up strongly on last year’s survey when only 17% of firms expected revenue growth.

Chris Watt of private-equity firm ECI Partners, which carried out the study, said the UK’s fastest-growing companies were “powering through all the political noise and uncertainty to ensure their businesses thrive”. He added: “We need to make sure they continue to get all the support they need as we enter complex and protracted negotiations with the EU.” The cheap pound is turbocharging growth in exports with seven in 10 companies surveyed looking to sell overseas.

However, companies remain concerned about Brexit uncertainties: two-thirds of businesses questioned fear a UK recession while a quarter are concerned that EU trade negotiations will go against them.

Companies are also facing acute shortages of skilled staff with some saying that Brexit has made it harder to attract EU workers. @angejameson

Share Prices |

† Dealings suspended *r Ex-dividend Ex-rights Issue a Ex-all c Ex-capitalisation issue

FTSE 100 DOWN 104.26 AT 7297.20 3i Group................... 940..... -11.....96512....59912 Admiral Group.......1911..... -21.....2184....1680 Ang Americn........ 1321*... -1812. ...1529...... 765 Antofagasta...........1002..... -20.....1042...... 473 Ashtead Group..... 1589*.......+3.....1764....1182 Assoc Brit Fds........3181........-3.....3206....2335 AstraZeneca.......444912*..... -49.....5520....3996 Aviva.......................51312........-8.....57012....41114 Babcock Intl...........80212........-12. ...1112...... 798 BAE SYSTEMS.........58912......-912. ...68212....51612 Barclays................ 19012*......-334. ...26714...... 156 Barratt Dev.............. 611........-2.....62412....43012 BHP Billiton............1409..... -28.. 151812...... 957 BP........................... 438*......-712. ...52114....41112 BrAmTobacco.....475012*... -8412. 564312....4237 British Land.............. 601........-2.....68212....56612 BT Group.............. 28512*......-434. ...40034....27612 Bunzl......................2319..... -13.....2535....1963 Burberry................1758..... -28.....1879....1228 Carnival................ 5260*..... -60.....5415....3298 Centrica.................... 193........-4.......239....11934 Coca-Cola HBC........2604.......+4.....2656....1602 Compass.................1626..... -12.....1766....1351 ConvaTec Group....... 284......-234. .....349...... 213 CRH.........................2630..... -90.....3342 229734 Croda Intl...............3886..... -10.....4025....3066 DCC.........................6905..... -15.....7595....5780 Diageo.................. 2535*..... -33.....2604....1946 Direct Line Ins........ 380*........-6.....41114....32812 Easyjet....................1208........-8.....1444...... 851 Experian.................1508..... -12.....1708....1380 Ferguson................4439... -101.....5285....4099 Fresnillo............... 1635*.....+55.....1864....1052 G4S.........................28712......-212. ...34212...... 217 GKN...................... 31312*......-712. ...37914....29514 GlaxoSmKline....... 1488*... -3112. 174512 144612 Glencore.................34714......-512. ...35634....17112 Hammerson...........55812......-212. ...61412...... 529 Hargrve Lans.........1346..... -25.....1454....1122 HSBC....................... 736*......-634. .....772....51814 Imperial Brands 321612*... -2512. 413512 311212 Informa................ 68212*........-4.......725...... 480 InterCont Htls.........3806..... -46.....4492 308812 Intl Cons Airlines....60912........-7.....63812....28134 Intertek Gp.............4916..... -32.....4980 303712 ITV..........................15512......-514. ...22134....15434 J Matthey................2777..... -32.....3568....2702 Kingfisher................. 292......-312. ...39012....26912 Land Sec.................98112........-7.....1141...... 933 Legal Gen............... 258*......-514. .....280...... 204 Lloyds Bkg Grp........6312*......-114. .....7312......5034

Main movers rises

Price (p) Chg (p)

%Chg

Randgold Res.............7880.00.. +310.00.......... +4.1 Fresnillo......................1635.00.... +55.00.......... +3.5 Centaur Media................55.00.......+1.00.......... +1.9 Helical...........................322.00.......+4.50.......... +1.4 McKay Secs...................232.50.......+2.50.......... +1.1

falls

Price (p) Chg (p)

ftse 100 index

Lond Stk Ex Gp..... 3954*..... -22.....4005....2611 Marks&Sp...............30834......-414. ...39734....30634 Mediclinic Intl.......... 753................1053....66612 Merlin Ent.............. 455*......-512. ...53712....42212 Micro Focus Intl... 2280*..... -34.....2675....1944 Mondi................... 2067*..... -29.....2124....1495 Morrison (Wm).......24412........-7.....25412....18812 Natl Grid.................96212......-712. 122014....92114 Next........................4119..... -24.....5705....3565 Old Mutual.............20614......-334. ...22934....18214 PaddyPwrBetfair 6775*..... -30.....9595....6760 Pearson................ 60912*..... -12.....88312...... 552 Persimmon.............2604..... -12.....2650....1600 Provident Fincl......... 905..... -11.. 340214....42612 Prudential............ 1785*... -3612. 188912....1290 Randgold Res.........7880.. +310.....8085....5410 Reckitt Benck....... 7320*..... -61.. 811012....6496 RELX..................... 1648*..... -19.....1728....1273 Rentokil Intial...... 29212*........-2.......301....20412 Rio Tinto............... 3590*..... -71.. 374212 225312 Rolls-Royce.............89012..... -16.....99412...... 635 Royal Bank.............25112......-414. .....271....16814 Royal D Shell A...210712*..... -35.. 229512....1791 Royal D Shell B...213612*..... -36.. 240334 186914 Royal Mail..............38534......-712. ...52712....38514 RSA Insurance.......... 656..... -10.....66912...... 496 Sage.......................... 685......-812. ...80712...... 595 Sainsbury...............23234......-314. ...28312...... 224 Schroders............. 3323*..... -53.....3522....2621 Scottish Mort IT.....42112......-712. ...43234...... 296 Segro.................... 52612*........-1.....54712....38412 Severn Trent...........2239..... -10.....2575....2047 Shire.......................3717..... -33.....5377 360312 Sky............................ 952........-3.....1050....74712 Smith & Neph.........1370..... -21.....1397....1065 Smiths Gp...............1524..... -41.....1685....1333 Smurfit Kappa Grp 2309..... -40.....2441....1664 SSE....................... 1396*........-8.....1612....1373 StanChart................. 758..... -19.......860...... 599 Standard Life Aber.. 432......-912. ...44712....32234 St James Place.......1168..... -21.....1245...... 896 Taylor Wimpey.......19514......-112. ...20412....13514 Tesco......................18034......-314. ...21912....16034 TUI AG....................1301........-5.....1346....93412 Unilever................ 4478*... -3212. 453812 305012 United Utilities.......91012......-212. ...1078...... 849 Vodafone Grp.........21512......-414. .....234....18612 Whitbread..............3669........-8.....4333....3365 Worldpay Grp.........41814........-34. ...43514....25534 WPP........................1415..... -22.....1928....1382

%Chg

Hunting.........................383.90..... -18.20...........-4.5 CRH.............................2630.00..... -90.00...........-3.3 CRH.............................2630.00..... -90.00...........-3.3 ITV................................155.60....... -5.30...........-3.3 Cairn Energy.................174.00....... -5.90...........-3.3

HOUR BY HOUR Prev Cls 7401.46 08:30 7324.77 09:00 7308.87 10:00 7298.97 11:00 – 12:00 – 13:00 – 14:00 – 14:30 – 15:00 – 16:00 – Close –

t t t t

– – – – – – – –

5.60 76.69 92.59 102.49 – – – – – – – –

tourist rates Australia Dollars Canada Dollars Denmark Kroner Eurozone Euro Hong Kong Dollars Japan Yen New Zealand Dollars South Africa Rand Sweden Kronor Switzerland Francs UAE Dirham United States Dollars

1.5468 1.5402 7.6315 1.0293 9.6169 134.1300 1.6654 15.9200 9.8208 1.1732 4.4628 1.2367

london bullion markeT *net of vat Gold per oz Sterling £1010.48

Close $1306.45 Prev Close $1290.83

economy Bank of England base rate (Aug) 0.25 % Consumer prices index (Jul) +2.6% Brent crude ($) 51.71 Halifax mortgage rate 3.74 %

Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed in the tables

2016/17 High Low

AEROSPACE & DEFENCE Chemring.................... 177..........-1........208.....13514 AUTOMOBILES & PARTS GKN..........................31312*........-712...... 37914.....29514 CONS & BUILD MATERIALS Bellway.....................3171..........-4......3280.....2197 Countryside Props.... 33914........-812...... 37234.......220 CRH...........................2630....... -90......3342...229734 Marshall................... 42614........-114........432.....25714 McCarthy&S.............. 16334.........+1...... 21112.......152 Taylor Wimpey.......... 19514........-112...... 20412.....13514 ELECTRONIC & ELEC EQUIP Laird........................... 138........-234...... 25814......... 95 ENGINEERING & MACHINERY Bodycote.................... 935........-212........949.......553 IMI.......................... 1130*....... -31......1325.....89112 FOOD PRODUCERS Cranswick............... 2953*....... -14......3092...209214 Tate & Lyle.................. 675........-312........850.....65312 GENERAL RETAILERS Supergroup............ 1587*....... -11....179334.....1309 HEALTH ConvaTec Group.......... 284........-234........349.......213 INSURANCE Admiral Group..........1911....... -21......2184.....1680 Beazley....................50912*....... -11...... 52712.....35134 Hiscox..................... 1245*....... -41......1378.......978 JardnLlydThm......... 1139*....... -22......1253.....93812 INVESTMENT COMPANIES British Empire Trust... 702..........-4........712.....55712 Custodian REIT........11434*......... +12...... 12112.......103 UKCPT..........................88*......... +14........ 9212......... 77 IT & INTERNET Aveva........................1874....... -18......2168.....1655 LEISURE & HOTELS Greene K....................657*........-112........847.......642 Marstons.................. 11214......... +14...... 15312.....11112 MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT Centaur Media...............55.........+1........ 5714.......3512 OIL & GAS Cairn Energy............... 174..........-6...... 25012.....16414 Hunting....................... 384..... -1814........650.....38314 Premier Oil..................5434........-114........ 9912.......4234 Soco Intl................... 11712..........-1........162.....11114 Vedanta Resources... 82012........-112....111212.....47614 PHARMS & BIOTECH Hikma Pharms........ 1288*...................2346.....1101 REAL ESTATE Big Yellow Gp............ 76612.......+212........831.....62912 Capital & Cnties........ 26334........-112........326.......261 CLS...........................21512*.....................222.......151 Derwent Lond...........2689....... -29......3021.....2341 Grainger................... 25012..........-1...... 27134.....21414 Helical......................... 322.......+412........360.....24734 McKay Secs............... 23212.......+212........245.....16912 Raven Russia...............4634....................... 55.......3412

2016/17 High Low

TELECOM SERVICES KCOM...........................9712..........-34........121......... 87 TRANSPORT Braemar Ship........... 30014..........-3...... 39934.......218 Clarkson...................2732....... -66......3033.....1910 Go-Ahead Grp...........1724..........-5......2344.....1686 UTILITIES OTHER Drax Group................. 306........-612...... 39314.......273 AIM Ashstead Group...... 1589*.........+3......1764.....1182 Caretech..................... 420..........-14........461.......260 Christie Grp.................9812....................... 97......... 72 Cohort......................37712*.....................468.......305 Dart Group.................. 500....... -16........665.....35412 Elecosoft......................4134..................... 5034......... 24 M&C Saatchi............. 30634................... 38334.....29214 Park Group................7714*....................... 88.......5914 Picton Prop Inc..........8434*......... +12.......... 86.......6714 Sopheon..................... 345.....................514.......230 Telford Homes.......... 38614........-512...... 43934.......280 Tristel....................... 30312................... 30912.....12914 Union Jack Oil................014........................014........... 0 Walker Greenbk........ 23312.....................224.....18934

2016/17 High Low

Raven Russia Pref.....137*................... 14814.......131 Raven Russia Wts........2412..................... 2934......... 14 Raven R Cnv Pref...... 11814.....................114.......114 Savills....................... 86312........-512...... 96012.....64712 Tritax Big Box............. 142..........-12...... 15112.....10434 Urban&Civic................ 243........-134........278.....18934 Workspace Grp........... 853..........-2........959.......615 RESTS PUBS & BREWERIES Fuller S.T.A................1020.......+812......1125.....92612 SPECIALITY & OTHER FIN Brew Dolphin............ 35012........-314........368.....25114

2016/17 High Low

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RECENT ISSUES AberfrthSpltLvlZDP.. 10514..........................................

Altus Strategies...........1014..........................................

Angling Direct................83....................... 70......... 70 Arena Events Grp.........5712....................... 61......... 61 Fandango Hldgs.............114..........................................

GetBusy.......................3512....................... 40.......3512 Greencoat Rnwbls.......9714....................... 99......... 93 GYG........................... 11712.......................................... i3 Energy.......................32....................... 37......... 37 Kosmos Energy......... 53914................... 56612.......525 MyanmarStrtgcHdgs 73434..........-3.............................

Nexus Infra................190*..........................................

Quiz............................ 182.....................204.......177 Residential Sec Inc... 10114................... 10114.......100 Rockpool Acqs.................9..........................................

Strix Group................. 127................... 14014.......127 Tatton Asset Mgmt..... 176................... 19812.......170 Verditek...........................8..........................................

Wilmcote Holdings... 13212..........................................

Xpediator.....................2734..........................................

39

evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

@esviews

Have your say Twitter: @esviews Email: esviews@standard.co.uk Write: The Editor, Evening Standard, PO Box 2309, London W8 5EE Please give a daytime phone number. Letters withholding name and address will not be published.

#esnewsviews

Bring in teachers from everywhere SINCE the EU referendum we have been absolutely clear that EU citizens are incredibly valued members of our communities, making significant contributions to the economy, culture and academic sector.

To suggest, as Peter Frankopan did in his column [Comment, August 24], that the UK is closing its door to EU academics is untrue, and to imply there is a conspiracy and to try to draw the historical comparisons that he did beggars belief.

We have held our hands up to the fact that we sent letters to 100 EU nationals in error. I have personally written to all those affected to apologise for any stress and concern this caused and to make sure each person knows they are welcome.

This should not detract from the message we outlined last month that we want the lives of EU nationals living here now to continue broadly as they are, whether they are working, here with their family, studying or teaching.

The UK’s status as the second-most popular destination globally for higher education students is a credit to all the teachers working within it — whether from the UK, EU or elsewhere. I intend to keep working with the sector to ensure we keep, and continue to attract, the best teaching staff we can.

Brandon Lewis MP Immigration minister

Speed up releasing bad hospital reports PERHAPS more disturbing than the poor rating given by health inspectors to the King Edward VII Hospital is the length of time it has taken to make the findings public.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited over three days at the end of January and beginning of February, yet it is only in late August that we have learned of these failings. Of course, this comes as no surprise to those of us with elderly parents in nursing homes — the CQC often sits on bad news about a care home while any consequent upgrade is rushed through with indecent haste.

It almost makes one wonder if this is part of a legal way to move on the elderly and vulnerable — though some of us don’t actually wonder any more.

Clive Morris

London schools are better because of ethnic diversity YOUR leading article about London schools outperforming the rest of the country at GCSE (“London school reforms have been effective”, August 24] states that “the main reason is that over the past 20 years London has led the land in progressive educational reform”, in particular the drive for “academisation”. If this was the reason for London’s success it would surely have had the same effect elsewhere.

Research into the “London effect” has shown definitively that the difference in pupil progress from the end of primary school to the completion of GCSEs “is entirely accounted for by ethnic composition”.

It will be an uncomfortable fact for some white British pupils that they made the least progress both in London and the rest of England. But whereas they account for about 85 per cent of pupils outside the capital, they account for only 35 per cent in London. Its schools have almost twoand-a-half times fewer of the lowestperforming pupils.

Teachers and headteachers in London have worked very hard over the years to raise standards. It doesn’t help them, or their pupils and parents, to ignore the most blatantly clear evidence that the main reason why London’s schools have been so effective is a factor entirely beyond their control.

Chris Dunne Campaign for State Education YESTERDAY’S leader rightly lauded the high achievement of London students but, while crediting the academies programme, it didn’t mention the drive behind such improvement was the Labour Government’s 2003 London Challenge.

This delivered greater funding, resources and co-operation between central government, schools and local councils as well as moving away from negative rhetoric. By 2010, the capital had a higher proportion of good or outstanding schools than anywhere

else in England. For those of us who benefited from the London Challenge, it was disheartening to learn that these innovative methods and greater resources for London’s children were under threat from Theresa May’s proposed new national funding formula for schools.

Whatever becomes of the Government’s education agenda, it is vital that today’s students are offered the same equality of access to educational opportunity as those who achieved so much in the past 14 years.

Daniel Crawford Labour councillor, Ealing Council IT WAS most heartening to hear that Ines Alves, who survived the Grenfell Tower fire and took an exam just hours after, achieved an A grade [August 24].

The courage she showed to simply brush off the event as “nothing major” showed that her maturity goes way beyond her age.

Gladys Jennings

#essportviews

IT SEEMS the issue of women being required to wear high heels at work just won’t go away. Earlier this year the Government refused to legislate following a huge petition calling for a ban on companies forcing women to wear heels in offices. Now an investigation by the University of Aberdeen has found clear links between wearing high heels and physical damage — which any woman who has worked in shoes could have told them anyway.

What women and men wear on their feet can be important in environments where health and safety is of great importance.

Employees accept the value and logic of unifying a workforce with a dress code. And smart uniform workwear says a lot about a company when its staff meet the public. But why, when it comes to footwear, should gender differences be suddenly marked to the extent that it can cause long-term damage to a woman’s feet?

Old-fashioned stereotypes have no place in a modern organisation. If companies want to prosper they should give sexism the boot.

Baroness Lorely Burt Lib-Dem equalities spokesperson

#escleancityviews

Let’s not have a fight like this again Watching the fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, I never doubted that Mayweather would emerge victorious. But it was a farce and it should never have taken place.

This is the reality of boxing nowadays. Oscar de la Hoya criticised McGregor and Mayweather for undermining the credibility of boxing, but it had already disappeared. I remember when Mayweather faced Manny Pacquiao and it was the most boring event I’d ever seen. It seems that the two men turned up just to get their share of the pot — and there lies the problem. Compare that to Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko, who produced a memorable encounter.

McGregor knew that no matter what, he’d be walking away with a rumoured £80 million. I respect Mayweather for taking on the challenge, mainly because he was going into the match blind. But I’m glad he’s now retired; now the real boxing can take place.

Paul Walker

We weren’t made to wear high heels

The burning issue for west London

Not a knockout fight: Floyd Mayweather, right, on his way to beating Conor McGregor

RICHARD Skehens’s concern for the future of incineration in west London is somewhat misplaced (Letters, August 23].

First, as the impact of aviation on the climate becomes clearer, the likelihood of a third runway ever being built at Heathrow is diminishing. But also, as the Mayor’s draft strategy makes clear, in future we will need to be more selective about what waste is incinerated, in order to meet the CO2 emission targets for incinerators.

At the moment vast quantities of plastic — which we probably didn’t need in the first place — goes up the chimney. This is as bad as burning fossil fuels.

As the Mayor said recently, both landfill and incineration are “undesirable, costly and an inefficient use of resources”.

James Page Climate First

40

Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

Television | Tuesday 6.00 London Live News.

News headlines, travel, weather and debate from across the capital.

7.00 Capital Conversation.

London-based current affair series.

7.30 Desmond’s.

The barber hires an architect to construct his retirement home while he attempts to keep it a secret from Shirley. Barbershop comedy, starring Norman Beaton.

8.00 A Dad Is Born.

Documentary following three men in the last few weeks before the birth of their first child.

9.00 Meet Britain’s Tiger Mums.

Documentary following British Chinese parents, who reveal how they hope to encourage their children’s academic success.

10.00 Danny Dyer’s Deadliest Men. The presenter interviews openly gay former skinhead Sam McCrory who, along with Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair, became one of the most notorious members of the Ulster Defence Association.

11.00 Bronson (2008).

Biopic of convict Charles Bronson, who was sent to prison for seven years after a failed armed robbery, only for his sentence to be increased to more than 30 years due to an escalating series of incidents, ultimately earning him tabloid celebrity as the most violent prisoner in Britain. Starring Tom Hardy, Hugh Ross and Juliet Oldfield.

1.00 Film: Peterman (2014). Crime thriller, starring Joe Cole. 2.55 Film: The Diamond Heist (2012). Comedy crime thriller, starring Michael Madsen. 4.45 Film: Mind The Gap (2014). Short film, starring Eileen Nicholas. 5.00 London Live Review. 5.30 London Live Review.

6.00 Home and Away (R,S,HD).

Justin finds Alf unconscious, Tori tells Ash that they need to give each other space, while Brody learns Zannis is out on bail and is convinced he and Mason are being followed.

6.30 5 News Tonight (S,HD).

A round-up of the evening’s headlines, including coverage of the latest national and international stories.

7.00 Cricket on 5 (S,HD).

England v West Indies. Highlights of the fifth day of the Second Test in the three-match series, which takes place at Headingley. Followed by 5 News.

8.00 The Dog Rescuers with Alan Davies (S,HD).

10/16. A shocking sight awaits Inspector Kris when he finds Missy, one of the most matted dogs he has ever seen, and colleague Keira discovers two dogs living in hazardous conditions. Followed by 5 News.

9.00 Inside Balmoral (S,HD).

1/3. New series. Documentary exploring the history of Balmoral, and the impact that events behind its walls have had on the current owner, Queen Elizabeth II. 10.00 Diana: 7 Days That Shook the Windsors (R,S,HD).

Documentary following the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death in 1997, when the Royal Family nearly lost its place in the hearts of the people. It features testimony from government insider Anji Hunter, director of government relations at the time, plus Diana’s personal security consultant Colin Tebutt.

12.00 MotoGP Highlights (S,HD). 1.00 SuperCasino (S,HD).

3.10 Celeb Trolls: We’re Coming to Get You (R,S,HD). 4.00 My Mum’s Hotter Than Me! (R,S,HD). 4.45 House Doctor (R,S). 5.10 House Busters (R,S). 5.35 Wildlife SOS (R,S).

6.00 BBC News at Six; Weather (S,HD).

6.30 BBC London News; Weather (S).

7.00 The One Show (S,HD).

Live chat and topical reports, presented by Matt Baker and Alex Jones.

7.30 EastEnders (S,HD).

Lauren urges Steven to tell his family the truth, while Mick tells Linda that if she cannot move forward, it might be the end of their relationship.

Followed by BBC News; Regional News.

8.00 Holby City (S,HD).

47/52. When events take a tragic turn during the Holby Half Marathon, Lofty confronts his feelings for Dominic, and Fletch must enlist Jac’s help to treat a patient.

9.00 Trust Me (S,HD).

4/4. Ally’s personal and professional lives start to fall apart, and desperate to prove himself, Karl arrives in Edinburgh. Drama, starring Jodie Whittaker.

10.00 BBC News at Ten (S,HD).

10.30 BBC London News; Weather (S).

Followed by National Lottery Update.

10.45 New Tricks (R,S,HD).

5/10. The unsolved murder of a pornographer is reopened when his daughter provides DNA proof he was not her father, and the woman originally acquitted of the crime faces new questions.

11.45 Ambulance (R,S,HD).

1/8. Documentary revealing the work of the West Midlands Ambulance Service, beginning with crews racing to save the life of a man who collapsed suddenly at home.

(R) repeat (S) subtitles (HD) high definition

6.00 Eggheads (R,S,HD).

91/100. Jeremy Vine hosts the quiz in which the winners of famous game shows work as a team to tackle a new set of challengers hoping to win a cash prize.

6.30 Royal Recipes (S,HD).

12/15. Paul Ainsworth cooks a dish inspired by the state visit of President Obama.

7.00 Celebrity Antiques Road Trip (R,S,HD).

17/20. Wheelchair paralympians Tanni GreyThompson and Jade Jones embark on the treasurehunting challenge in the north east of England, with experts Phillip Serrell and David Harper.

8.00 Saving Lives at Sea (S,HD).

3/12. In Ireland, the Castletownbere crew race to rescue a lone yachtsman, who has lost his mast and is drifting 45 miles out to sea.

9.00 Horizon: What Makes a Psychopath?

(S,HD).

Psychologist Uta Frith presents an exploration of the minds of psychopathic criminals, looking at what precisely one is and what it is that drives them to cause harm and even kill.

10.00 Quacks (S,HD).

3/6. William deals with a patient who believes he will be seized by spies.

10.30 Newsnight (S,HD).

11.10 Weather (S,HD).

11.15 Dangerous Borders: a Journey Across India and Pakistan (R,S,HD).

3/3. Last in the series.

6.00 ITV News London (S); Weather.

6.30 ITV Evening News (S); Weather.

7.00 Emmerdale (S,HD).

Lawrence has become unsteady on his feet, and Rebecca confides in Robert that she is afraid for both his health and his ability to run the business.

7.30 Britain As Seen on ITV (R,S).

5/6. A selection of clips showing how the representation of women on TV has changed over the past 60 years, including a Eighties series that encouraged women to take up DIY. 8.00 Diana: the Day Britain Cried (S,HD).

Recalling how the Princess’ funeral brought the world to a standstill, telling the story through the memories of people who played a part in it.

9.00 Manchester: 100 Days After the Attack (S,HD).

The events that took place on the night of the terror attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in May, and the city’s response to the tragedy over the past 100 days.

10.00 ITV News at Ten (S); Weather.

10.30 ITV News London (S); Weather.

10.40 The Brighton Police (R,S,HD).

1/2. Documentary about policing the seaside resort, beginning with an investigation into an armed robbery at a betting shop and an undercover drugs operation.

11.40 Lethal Weapon (R,S,HD).

1/18. A maverick cop is partnered with a veteran detective trying to maintain a low stress level.

Action drama based on the films, starring Clayne Crawford and Damon Wayans.

12.45 Weather for the Week Ahead (S,HD). 12.50 BBC News (S,HD).

12.15 Sign Zone: Who Do You Think You Are? (R,S). 1.15 Sign Zone: Britain’s Relationship Secrets with Anne Robinson (R,S). 2.15 This Is BBC Two (S,HD).

12.30 Jackpot247. 3.00 Loose Women (R,HD). 3.50 ITV Nightscreen (HD). 5.05 The Jeremy Kyle Show (R,S,HD).

7.00 World News Today (S,HD); Weather.

7.30 World War One at Home: the Equine Army (R,S,HD).

Saul David reveals how thousands of horses and mules were prepared for the front line in the West Country, visiting the sites of the camps where these equine armies were trained.

8.00 India’s Frontier Railways (R,S,HD).

A collection of films showcasing never-before-filmed international trains crossing various Asian borders.

The first episode observes the Maitree Express, the first passenger train to run between India and Bangladesh since the 1971 war of independence with Pakistan. Former freedom fighter Amirul plays announcements and religious tapes while taking the 12-hour, 392km journey.

9.00 Awesome Beauty: the Art of Industrial Britain (S,HD).

Lachlan Goudie explores Britain’s spectacular industrial landscapes, and the artists and artworks inspired by them, in a journey that challenges our national stereotypes.

10.00 Inspector Montalbano (R,HD).

A body is found inside an industrial pipe, and Montalbano discovers that the dead man’s wife is missing.

11.45 The Brain with David Eagleman (R,S,HD).

The neuroscientist continues his exploration of the brain’s inner workings, looking at the complex rival neural networks at play every time someone has to make a decision.

6.00 Without a Trace (R,S,HD).

Jack and the team look into the disappearance of a woman who was a member of a church choir, and discover that she had been unusually emotional at its last practice.

7.00 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (R,HD).

A famous TV comedy actress is killed while filming in Las Vegas — and her unpopularity means Grissom and the team have no shortage of suspects to choose from.

8.00 Blue Bloods (R,S,HD).

Danny begins a manhunt for the distributor of a deadly new form of heroin, while Frank offers an unprecedented reward for help in finding the source of the drug.

9.00 Twin Peaks: the Return (S,HD).

Dale Cooper returns 25 years after his investigation into Laura Palmer’s murder. Written by David Lynch and Mark Frost, and starring Kyle MacLachlan.

10.10 Game of Thrones (R,S,HD).

Fantasy drama based on George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels. Starring Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage and Emilia Clarke. Last in the series.

11.40 Human Made Stories (HD).

Short film about a pioneering person.

11.50 Ray Donovan (R,S,HD).

A-list movie star Natalie James hires Ray to protect her from her abusive husband and manager, drawing him deeper into Samantha Winslow’s web.

5.45 Nothing to Declare (R,S).

6.15 Nothing to Declare (R,S).

A girl returning from New Zealand is questioned by immigration officers, and two Japanese tourists are suspected of smuggling wildlife.

6.45 My Kitchen Rules: Australia (S,HD).

Contestants transform their homes into pop-up restaurants, working to change the decor and come up with a three-course meals for the judges and their rivals to score.

8.00 Elementary (R,S,HD).

Holmes and Watson put their heads together to foil the heist of one of the largest cash vaults in America, set to take place during a storm forecast to hit the north-east coast. Meanwhile, the sleuth helps a transgender woman devastated over her latest break-up.

9.00 Chicago Fire (S,HD).

Casey and Dawson apply for permanent adoption of Louie and Severide receives an interesting proposition. Otis convinces Herrmann to throw a party to celebrate the bar’s anniversary.

10.00 Criminal Minds (R,S,HD).

The BAU agents work to ensure the release of a youngster abducted during Halloween. Crime drama, starring Joe Mantegna.

11.00 Criminal Minds (R,S,HD).

The team struggles to find the link between a number of male victims, while JJ is forced to confront repressed feelings when her mother comes to town.

12.45 A History of Art in Three Colours (R,S,HD). 1.45 India’s Frontier Railways (R,S,HD). 2.45 Awesome Beauty: the Art of Industrial Britain (R,S).

1.00 I’m Dying Up Here (R,S,HD). 2.10 The Following (R,S,HD). 3.05 Looking (R,S,HD). 3.40 Looking (R,S,HD).

4.15 The West Wing (R,S,HD). 5.05 The West Wing (R,S,HD).

12.00 Bones (R,S,HD). 1.00 Road Wars (S,HD). 2.00 Sun, Sea and A&E (R,S,HD). 3.00 Criminal Minds (R,S,HD). 4.00 The Real A&E (R,S,HD). 4.30 The Real A&E (R,S,HD). 5.00 Nothing to Declare (R,S). 5.30 Nothing to Declare (R,S).

6.00 The Simpsons (R,S).

9/21. Bart disobeys Marge’s wishes and attends a rap concert. While returning home, he realises how much trouble he will be in — so he decides to fake his own kidnapping.

6.30 Hollyoaks (S,HD).

Dirk hears a voicemail from Cindy and rushes home.

7.00 News (S,HD).

Including sport and weather.

8.00 The Great British Bake Off (S,HD).

1/10. New series. As the contest moves channels, hosts Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding welcome a new batch of cooks to the tent, where experts Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith act as judges.

9.15 Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls (S,HD).

New series. Survival challenge show in which 10 celebrities, including Ryan Thomas and Sharron Davies, are marooned on a deserted island with only basic resources.

10.20 Married to a Celebrity: the Survival Guide (S,HD).

1/3. New series. Celebrities including Joan Collins and Jon Richardson discuss their respective partners’ bad habits before they meet up on screen to air their grievances.

11.25 Sarah Millican: Outsider (R,S,HD).

Footage recorded at the Brighton Dome.

12.20 Best Before: Music on 4 (S,HD). 12.50 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA (R,S). 1.40 Hidden Restaurants with Michel Roux Jr (R,S,HD). 2.35 Paul O’Grady’s Hollywood (R,S,HD). 3.30 Location, Location, Location (R,S,HD). 4.25 Double Your House for Half the Money (R,S,HD). 5.20 Jamie’s Comfort Food Bites (R,S,HD). 5.30 Too Many Cooks (R,S,HD).

6.00 Duck Quacks Don’t Echo (R,S,HD).

Lee Mack hosts the comedy panel game in which actress Olivia Colman, funnyman Rhod Gilbert and baking king Paul Hollywood come up with all manner of amazing facts.

6.30 The Simpsons (R,S,HD).

Lisa is thrilled to learn she has been moved up a grade at school — until she discovers Bart has been demoted to the same class. With the voice of Tony Bennett.

7.00 The Simpsons (R,S,HD).

Homer is forced to eat bland food after trying — and failing — to copy the skills of a fire-eating street performer.

7.30 The Simpsons (R,S,HD).

Bart faces a tough test at school when he gets a new teacher who seems to want to crush his spirit, while the family attends a community festival.

8.00 A League of Their Own (R,HD).

Nicole Scherzinger, Noel Fielding and James Haskell join host James Corden and regulars Jamie Redknapp, Andrew Flintoff and Jack Whitehall on the sports-based comedy quiz.

9.00 Snakes on a Plane (S) (2006).

An FBI agent escorts a witness to the trial of a gangster, whose henchmen release 450 poisonous snakes during their flight. Thriller, with Samuel L Jackson and Jonathan Phillips.

11.00 The Last Ship (R,S,HD).

Drama, starring Eric Dane.

12.00 A League of Their Own (R,S,HD). 1.00 The Force: Manchester (R,S,HD). 2.00 Colony (R,HD). 3.00 Brit Cops: Rapid Response (R,S). 4.00 Animal 999 (R,S,HD). 4.30 Animal 999 (R,S,HD). 5.00 Monkey Life (R,S). 5.30 Monkey Life (R,S).

evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

41

Tuesday | Television

Watch this

The perfect recipe has new ingredients The Great British Bake Off Tonight, Channel 4, 8pm

There’s an old adage that states “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”, and never has that been more apt than in the case of the new run of The Great British Bake Off. When Love Productions shocked the nation (or at least the 13 million viewers who tuned into each episode of the 2016 run) by moving it to Channel 4 in a deal worth a reputed £75 million over three years, fans began to worry about what that would mean for the show — would it lose its wonderfully cosy and comforting atmosphere?

Would the challenges stay the same? How would (shock, horror!) adverts impact on it? Matters only got worse when hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, as well as judge Mary Berry, announced that they had decided to quit.

Paul Hollywood did, however, agree to move, and will continue to act as a judge, this time alongside Prue Leith. But it’s Mel and Sue’s replacements who really raised

Oven ready: will Paul, Sandi, Noel and Prue prove to be a winning combination? eyebrows — Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding don’t look, at least on (greaseproof ) paper, like the perfect double act, but her approachable nature and his surreal, effervescent and downright hilarious personality might turn out to be the new Bake Off’s secret ingredient.

What’s more, the show occupies

an hour-and-a-quarter slot, which means that once the ads have been taken out, there’s still a full 60 minutes of top baking-related shenanigans to be had.

Tonight’s opening episode introduces the latest plucky amateurs to enter the famous tent, and begins with cake-themed challenges to tickle the tastebuds.

London Live Edited by Toby Earle London Live TV reporter @tobyontv

The talk show’s latest guest is just choc full of opinions…

Capital Conversation Tonight, London Live, 7pm

Mints are a source of money, though for Angus Thirlwell the mint which has produced coins, both gold and chocolate, is the type that housekeeping staff put on pillows in hotels.

Those mints — with help from other chocs — produced £20 million each for Thirlwell and Peter Harris, the co-founders of Hotel Chocolat, when the company floated on the London Stock Exchange last year.

This evening. host Michael Hayman welcomes Thirlwell into

the studio to discuss Hotel Chocolat’s success and whether the company’s next move will include another hotel similar to the one he set up in St Lucia, where a twoweek stay costs up to £10,000.

There was also a £12 million boost which the company reaped from the flotation in 2016, although the brand has maintained its position as a luxury product by remaining off supermarket shelves. A stance Thirlwell maintained last year: “Our strategy, in terms of being very careful with our distribution, will continue.”

Fresh ideas: Michael Hayman talks to Hotel Chocolat’s Angus Thirlwell

London Live is on Freeview 8, Sky 117, Virgin 159 and YouView 8.

You can follow us on Twitter: @londonlive and like us on Facebook: LondonLive

Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

Games & Puzzles |

Play more puzzles online at standard.co.uk/games & Leonard Barden’s chess problems at standard.co.uk/chess

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GOGEN

Friday’s codeword: PENKNIFE

Insert letters to form the listed words, moving between adjacent cells horizontally, vertically or diagonally in any direction. Insert the remaining letters of the alphabet (except Z) in the grid so that all the listed words are spelt out in this way.

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double crossword CRYPTIC

EASY

DOWN 2 Weighed down with all that money? (6) 3 A very funny cry? (6) 4 Female a bit washed out? (3) 5 Let Fred out of durance vile at last! (5) 6 Being stuck up, they’re apt to be given a pasting (7) 7 Draw in fetching style (4) 8 Arrive at the end of a long wait and exaggerate pretentiously (4,2) 12 He’ll look out for a tin opener (in the safe?) (5) 13 People in endless butane production? (5) 14 Weapon unsuited to very close combat! (5) 15 A flower instead of a half of bitter (5) 16 Put off upsetting 5 (5) 18 Childish place to have an ache?

(5) 19 Culinary information about use of spice (7) 21 Sid, upset about someone being given out (6) 22 Game in which a seed can receive a fortune? (6) 23 With nothing but fifty quid, he founded Jodrell Bank (6) 25 It’s presumably been growing longer (5) 26 Maybe the right team (4) 28 If you want a drink, move fast (3)

ACROSS 1 Expel (5) 6 Linger (5) 9 Spray can (7) 10 Small doughy cake (5) 11 Ketchup (5) 12 Viral disease (5) 13 Least possible (7) 15 Cunning (3) 17 Among (4) 18 Threefold (6) 19 Southern states of the US (5) 20 Erse (6) 22 Bereavement (4) 24 Bird (3)

25 Furniture item (7) 26 Defame (5) 27 Restrict (5) 28 Book of maps (5) 29 Lack of success (7) 30 Wallow (5) 31 Young eel (5) DOWN 2 Casualty (6) 3 Plain-spoken (6) 4 Golf peg (3) 5 Court (5) 6 Left over (2,5) 7 Unfortunately (4) 8 Recollect (6)

12 Dance to this (5) 13 Fruit (5) 14 Boy’s name (5) 15 Cutlery item (5) 16 Leaven (5) 18 Of tides (5) 19 Using digits (7) 21 For a short time (6) 22 Beam above a door (6) 23 Demure (6) 25 Musical instrument (5) 26 Existence (4) 28 Land measure (3)

FRIDAY’S SOLUTIONS CRYPTIC ACROSS: 9, In charge 10, Cap(size) 11, M-oot-ed 12, Gen-eva 13, Seve-ral 14, Date 15, Attachment 17, Prospect 18, Kippers 19, Bar-I 21, A-pp-les 24, Going round the bend 27, B-a-s-set 29, To-Y-s 30, Pa-rents 33, Loll-I-pop 35, Know better 36, Miss 37, N-ailing 38, The-or-y 40, Seeing 41, H-I-e 42, Took back.

DOWN: 1, Un-settling 2, T-H-ee 3, Bre-ather 4, Lea-she-d 5, Appropriate 6, Ameli-or-ate 7, Hold-up 8, Ten-tacle 10, Cove-t 16, Applies 20, An-no-y 22, P-rev-ent 23, Bolt upright 25, Get up and go 26, Do the trick 28, Ago-nised 31, A-MB-it-I-on 32, For-gets 34, Lass-Ie 35, Knife 39, Elba (rev).

More games and puzzles online at standard.co.uk/games

EASY ACROSS: 9, Disciple 10, Air 11, Hurdle 12, Clinic 13, Dolphin 14, Exit 15, Amusements 17, Bachelor 18, Attains 19, Trot 21, Repast 24, Combine harvesters 27, Sherpa 29, Puma 30, Plainly 33, Grandeur 35, Goalkeeper 36, Lift 37, Uniform 38, Widest 40, Violet 41, Toy 42, Serenade.

DOWN: 1, Diplomatic 2, Scan 3, Specimen 4, Verdant 5, Prohibitive 6, Rhinoceros 7, Breeze 8, Illinois 10, Atlas 16, Stammer 20, Realm 22, Precise 23, Peppermints 25, Inadequate 26, Silverside 28, Horrific 31, Lukewarm 32, Calmest 34, Nettle 35, Glory 39, Deny.

BACK PAGE ACROSS: 1, Gusto 5, Gasped 8, Error 10, Settee 11, Anon 14, Banish 15, Imperil 18, Pen 19, Rod 21, Rear 23, Meter 24, Seed 27, Dud 29, Pep 31, Suspend 32, Raised 34, Cite 35, Eleven 38, Laden 39, Tunnel 40, Edged.

DOWN: 2, Use 3, Tether 4, Ore 5, Grab 6, Sooner 7, Dither 9, Retired 12, Nap 13, Nine 16, Mode 17, Lotus 20, Deduced 22, Amen 24, Script 25, Epic 26, Design 28, Append 30, Pet 33, Dell 36, Lee 37, Ewe.

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TUE.29.08.2017

ACROSS 1 A form of cloth-headed nincompoop? (5) 6 Sit and fish (5) 9 Early racing car (7) 10 Pearl’s maternal parent (5) 11 As a rogue, he will not do well (5) 12 Place among the supper things (5) 13 Tardy and slow getting into bed (7) 15 Help in getting an excellent figure (3) 17 The apple man (4) 18 Sad at having made a mess of a sitter? (6) 19 Uncle’s red-headed birds (5) 20 Watch your heart! (6) 22 Former soccer star still in shape, let’s say (4) 24 Employment of an American egghead (3) 25 No mere king penguin (7) 26 Foolishly close to the bat? (5) 27 Flowery trade union mouthpiece! (5) 28 New romance? (5) 29 Weakness makes me tired (7) 30 Does nothing but slide around (5) 31 Friendly to all in extremes of poverty (5)

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evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017

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| Sport

Holder rapped after umpires report cursing

Broad on target as Anderson aims for 500 club

West Indies captain Jason Holder has been sanctioned for making inappropriate comments that were heard yesterday by the on-field umpires at Headingley.

Holder was furious when a catch was put down in the slips off his bowling in the 70th over of England’s second innings.

The International Cricket Council announced this morning that Holder had received an official reprimand and had one demerit point added to his disciplinary record for “using language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an international match”.

Holder admitted to the offence at the end of the day’s play and accepted the sanction. It is his first demerit point but should he reach four or more within a 24-month period, they will be converted into suspension points and he will be banned.

No wicket in Jimmy’s first spell but paceman’s partner grabs two early victims

Quiet chat: Jimmy Anderson and Kieran Powell exchanged words before the opener fell to Stuart Broad today, caught in slips by Ben Stokes

‘His record speaks for itself ... it is amazing to see some of the names that he has the chance to join’ Chris Woakes

the test series First Test (Edgbaston) England won by an innings and 209 runs Third Test (Lord’s) September 7-11 still not the most talkative character, he now has an aura, developed thanks to nearly a decade of excellence in Test cricket.

With West Indies resuming five without loss needing 322 to win, Anderson and Broad launched the early attack and West Indies opener Brathwaite was dropped at first slip by Alastair Cook off Broad when he had four. Broad was bowling well, and got his reward when Powell edged a drive at a full delivery and was out for 23.

Tom Westley then appeared to claim a catch at third slip when Anderson found the edge of Brathwaite’s bat, but replays showed the ball clearly bounced.

Anderson was not causing as much menace as Broad and showed his frustration during a verbal altercation with Powell, shortly before the opener was dismissed. Moeen Ali then replaced him from the Rugby Stand End. Chris Woakes said of Anderson: “Sometimes when he is in the zone, you don’t want to be going anywhere near him, as he is so focused.

“But there are times when he is very good and will help you with your bowling. You can bounce ideas off him and he is always willing to have that chat with you. His record speaks for itself.

You think of the greats who have gone on to get 500 wickets, and it is amazing to see some of the names that he has the chance to join.”

Find out if if Joe Root can seal his second Test series win of the summer and whether Jimmy Anderson can take his 500th wicket standard.co.uk/cricket

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IMMY ANDERSON began the final day of the Second Test needing three wickets to join the 500 club but it was Stuart Broad who made the early breakthroughs as England chased victory.

The priority for England’s attack leader was to help his team bowl out West Indies and seal the three-match Investec Series with a game to spare but history was tantalisingly close.

Anderson took five for 76 in the tourists’ first innings, taking him to 497 career Test wickets.

But the first two wickets to fall today went to his partner — Kieran Powell via a catch at slip by Ben Stokes, and one by sheer luck. Kraigg Brathwaite drove uppishly at Broad but the bowler failed to take the return catch — only to see the ball go through his hands, rebound off his hip and onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end, where Kyle Hope, stranded, was run out for a duck. It left the tourists 53 for two.

The only seamers ahead of Anderson in the all-time rankings are Australian Glenn McGrath, who took 563 between 1993 and 2007, and Courtney Walsh, who claimed 519 for West Indies between 1984 and 2001. The top three on the list — Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble — were spinners.

Anderson is such a master of his work that the younger players in the England dressing room are a little in awe of him, which is strange to say because when Anderson made his England debut 14 years ago, he would not say boo to a goose. Though he is

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Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

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Maria still the prime-time queen Sharapova returns to Grand Slam tennis after drugs ban in the most dramatic of styles.

Paul Newman in New York

M

aria Sharapova and New York were made for nights like this. Nineteen months after her last appearance at a Grand Slam tournament, the 30-year-old Russian pulled off a stunning victory when she beat world No2 Simona Halep 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in a first-round match of high drama here at the US Open.

Sharapova, who has been troubled by injuries since making her return from a 15-month suspension for a doping offence, needed a wild card to play at Flushing Meadows but proved that she has lost none of her ball-striking power or competitive spirit.

The former world No1 was in tears at the end. “It almost seemed like I had no right to win this match,” she said.

“Somehow I did. I think that is what I’m most proud of.”

Statistically, the US Open is Sharapova’s least successful Grand Slam tournament, but she loves this stage. In 18 night matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Russian has never been beaten.

Asked in her post-match interview how she always managed to deliver on such occasions, Sharapova laughed and said: “Prime time, baby!”

Halep, who covers the court better than any other player in the modern women’s game, has been on the verge of topping the world rankings ever since she reached the French Open Final in June, but once again the 25-year-old Romanian came up short on the big occasion.

For all her fluent movement, Halep can lack the brute force to find a way past the game’s very best. She hit only 15 winners, while Sharapova struck 60.

While Sharapova’s thunderous groundstrokes have always been one of her greatest strengths, what was equally impressive here was her movement. She was never going to match Halep’s remarkable speed and athleticism, but still chased down many of her

‘Beyond the Swarovski crystals and the little black dresses, this girl has grit and she’s not going anywhere’ Maria Sharapova

opponent’s best shots. “It’s about as good as we’ve ever seen Sharapova play,” Chris Evert said in her television commentary.

Ever the queen of tennis fashion, Sharapova played in a black lace d re s s a d o r n e d w i t h Swarovski crystals. It was a statement of confidence as much as style, while the crowd’s support was evident from the start.

Considering that this was a

player returning to Grand Slam competition after serving a ban for taking an outlawed performanceenhancing drug, it was a vivid demonstration of Sharapova’s enduring popularity here.

The match was tight from the start.

There were four successive breaks of serve in the middle of the first set, which ended when Halep dropped serve for the third time at 4-5. A double fault took Sharapova to set point, which she converted with a thumping forehand return winner.

Sharapova seemed to be heading for

Ratings winner: Maria Sharapova (above and left) created an electric atmosphere in her victory over Simona Halep (top right)

a speedy victory when Halep served at 1-4 and 30-40, but the world No2 won five games in a row to level the match as her opponent started to make an increasing number of mistakes.

However, just as quickly as Halep had appeared to turn the match around, Sharapova regained control. In the deciding set, a break of serve in the second game was all the Russian needed.

Having recovered from 0-30 down when she served for the match at 5-3, Sharapova went to match point with a backhand winner down the line and converted it when Halep hit a backhand beyond the baseline. “She was better,” Halep said later. “I gave everything I had.”

After securing her victory in two hours and 44 minutes Sharapova sat on her chair and wept before telling her on-court interviewer: “Behind all these Swarovski crystals and little black dresses this girl has a lot of grit — and she’s not going anywhere.”

Sharapova said the crowd’s support had been special. “It’s electric,” she said. “As much as I want to be in the zone, focus in on what I have to do, execution and all those things, I definitely felt the energy. I felt the crowd.

I felt it for both of us. That’s what makes this great. I love that feeling, that there’s fans cheering for both players, that it’s a great match.”

The Russian next plays Hungary’s Timea Babos and, on this showing, will be one of the favourites to go on and win her first Grand Slam title for more than three years.

“I’ll enjoy this for a little bit of time, but then I have to move on,” she said.

“This is a big win for me and I will enjoy it, then move on to the next one.”

Nadal staying in the moment Konta still hoping for good finish RAFAEL NADAl is having nothing to do with suggestions that he and Roger Federer have only to turn up to secure a meeting in the semi-finals, writes Paul Newman.

“There are a lot of points and games to play, so now is not the moment to think about that,” he said ahead of his first-round meeting tonight with Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.

Nadal pointed out that he and Federer would both have to win five matches to reach the semi-finals. “For me, I am thinking only about Lajovic,”

the world No1 (below) said.

“That’s my goal.”

In the absence of the injured Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka, even the tournament itself seems to be assuming that Nadal and Federer will automatically progress through to the second week.

Two days ago the US Open’s official Twitter feed informed fans that the Spaniard and the Swiss will play every other day until a semi-final showdown at the end of next week.

Nadal’s meeting with Lajovic will be the third match of the day session in Arthur Ashe Stadium, which starts at 4pm UK time, while Roger Federer’s encounter with Frances Tiafoe will be the second match of the evening session, which starts at midnight.

Federer, meanwhile, pointed out that there were 62 other players in the same half of the draw as himself and Nadal, who have never faced each other here.

“We have our work cut out,” Federer. “I don’t think either of us are thinking that far ahead.”

Johanna Konta can still qualify for the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore but there was no disguising the 26-year-old Briton’s disappointment after her 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat here by Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic in the first round of the US Open, writes Paul Newman.

Last month Konta (right) became the first British woman to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon for 39 years, but the world No 7 never found her best form.

“The goal is to stay healthy and play a full season, but to keep trying to get better,” Konta said when asked

about playing in the yearend finals. “I’ve got still a few tournaments left in the season and if Singapore is in the cards for me, then I will take it and be very grateful.”

On a day when Heather Watson also went out, losing to Alize Cornet, Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie provided cheer for British supporters by reaching the second round.

Aljaz Bedene faces Andrey Rublev today. Edmund was looking forward to a rest

after extending his fine run with an emphatic 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 victory over the No 32 seed, Robin Haase. Tomorrow he meets Steve Johnson, of the United States. “I’ve played a lot recently,” said Edmund, who was in the semi-finals of the WinstonSalem Open last Friday.

Norrie, 22, recorded his first victory at this level when Dmitry Tursunov retired with a knee injury and now faces the No 12 seed, Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.

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evening standard Tuesday 29 August 2017 in association with

Now Spurs think twice about deal for Barkley

Simon Johnson Football Correspondent

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ATHANIEL Chalobah today admitted that leaving Chelsea was the toughest decision of his career, but believes an England call-up has already proved he made the right call.

Chalobah, 22, came through Chelsea’s academy but made just one Premier League start for the champions. He turned down the offer of a new deal with the Blues this summer and joined Watford for £5.5million.

He has been in the first team three times already at Watford and has just been called up to England’s senior squad for the first time.

When asked by Standard Sport if leaving Chelsea had been the hardest choice he’d ever had to make, Chalobah said: “Definitely.

“It was very hard because I have been at Chelsea my whole life. I had been there for 12 years and Chelsea were all I knew, it’s the club that I loved and supported as well.

“For me it was a very hard decision but one I had to make to put myself in the best position that I could. That was for me to go out there and play games.

“I spoke to everyone, friends, family.

I spoke to the club as well. I had a few discussions with them but the final decision was down to me. I took some time to think about it but it was one I had to make.”

When pressed if playing for Watford and being called up by England had reassured him that he had made the right decision, Chalobah added: “I guess so. That was the aim, to leave and get game time somewhere else. At the minute I’m just very pleased that things are going well.

“I didn’t get a call (about the England call-up) straight away. I got a text off a liaison officer and I just remember freezing on the spot and smiling from ear to ear. It’s something I have always dreamed of. I was just so happy.”

Chelsea coach Antonio Conte wanted Chalobah, who is the most capped England youth international with 96 games at various age groups, to stay.

But Chelsea’s pursuit of Tiemoue Bakayoko is believed to have convinced Chalobah that he had to move on.

“I have a lot of respect for the (Chelsea) manager. I had a few discussions

Tom Collomosse Club and country: Nathaniel Chalobah in action for his new club Watford and, below, speaking to reporters today with England

Chalobah: Leaving Blues was tough but I know I’ve made the right decision with him and he was always honest with me, which for me is what I needed at the time.

“He gave me the opportunity that a lot of other managers hadn’t when I was at Chelsea and it is something I will be forever grateful for. I have no bad things to say about him.

“Was it about playing regularly? Yes. Last season was a good year for me in that I made my debut for Chelsea and we did good things together with the team.

“I was getting a taste of it but just not enough. I wanted to go out there and

experience the Premier League. ­[Chelsea] is a difficult place to get into the team. There is a lot of pressure to win games and sometimes to chuck a youngster in is not an easy decision for the manager.

“I felt as though I gave everything while I was there and did the best I could when I was part of it. Now I am at Watford I have an opportunity to really try and showcase myself.”

Chelsea are not the only club in the top flight that tend to play more experienced talent than using English players from their youth ranks.

“There are a lot of good young English players,” Chalobah said. “The average age for the Premier League did go up to 23 or something like that.

“It is very difficult being a young player, there is a lot pf pressure. Clubs have to be brave to play young players.

It’s the only way to gain experience.”

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Under-pressure Bilic handed ultimatum Ken Dyer

Losing streak: Slaven Bilic’s West Ham team have not yet won in the League

| Sport

WEST HAM manager Slaven Bilic has been given four games to save his job.

Bilic was called to a meeting with co-owner David Sullivan the day after his team’s 3-0 defeat at Newcastle and told results and performances must improve.

West Ham remain bottom of the Premier League table, having lost three successive League matches, conceding 10 goals.

Sullivan, co-chairman David Gold and vice-chairman Karren Brady remain reluctant to make a change this early in the season, especially with West Ham having played their first three Premier League games

away from home while the London Stadium is reconverted to football following the World Athletics Championships.

Three of the club’s Premier League matches in September are at home — against Huddersfield, Spurs and Swansea — and the West Ham hierarchy are looking for a significant improvement.

Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez remains the favourite to succeed Bilic, who is in the final year of his contract, if the board opt for change but West Ham would need to pay Newcastle £5million to comply with the conditions of the Spaniard’s current deal.

Benitez was close to joining West Ham two years ago, following the

departure of Sam Allardyce, and had agreed in principle to join the club before Real Madrid intervened and appointed him.

Benitez remains grateful at the way West Ham reacted to his decision to return to Spain and that could be a factor if things come to a head at the end of next month.

There has been no further progress on West Ham’s attempts to sign William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon. The clubs remain £5m apart on their valuation of the player, with Sporting wanting £38m for the Portugal midfielder.

Monaco meanwhile, could make a late move for Carvalho before the transfer window closes on Thursday.

TOTTENHAM are considering whether to delay their move for Ross Barkley due to the Everton midfielder’s injury problems.

Spurs today sold Kevin Wimmer to Stoke for £18million, a tidy profit after they bought him from Cologne for £4.3m only two years ago, and the deal is likely to spark more transfer activity at the club.

But Standard Sport understands there is now uncertainty about whether Barkley, a long-term target, will arrive this month. Tottenham have been interested in the 23-year-old since last winter but are aware that his hamstring injury is set to keep him on the sidelines for much of the rest of this year.

Barkley is out of contract next summer, and has also attracted interest from Chelsea. Spurs’s issue is whether to sign him now but be without him for a significant period while he recovers, or take a step back, possibly clearing the way for others to buy the England international.

Tottenham were also hoping to hear today whether the Home Office would grant a UK work visa to let them complete a transfer for Serge Aurier. The clearance for the Paris St Germain defender has been in doubt because of a conviction for assaulting a police officer last year. Aurier has appealed. Spurs have agreed the framework of a £23m deal, with a five-year contract for the 24-year-old.

Wimmer (above) is expected to be replaced by Juan Foyth, the 19-year-old Argentine centre-back, who is close to sealing a move from Estudiantes for about £10m.

Meanwhile, captain Hugo Lloris has broken ranks and admitted it is harder for Tottenham to play at Wembley than at White Hart Lane, saying the players are struggling to build confidence at their temporary home.

Spurs followed their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea by conceding another late goal in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Burnley, meaning they have now dropped five points in two League games at Wembley — one more than in the whole of last season at the Lane. Pochettino refuses to acknowledge any significance in playing at the stadium but goalkeeper Lloris said: “Wembley is a different place. It demands more effort in your mind, in your body, and we need to find the right feeling.

“We need to do better, we need to kill the games. We should have managed the chance better for the goal for Burnley on Sunday. It was a cruel scenario but if you don’t kill the game, 1-0 is not enough. You need to be very strong until the end of the game and that was not the case.”

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Tuesday 29 August 2017 evening standard

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Total football? It’s more like a

De Boer was meant to give Palace style but already the solid approach of Sam Allardyce is being missed at Selhurst Park, writes Giuseppe Muro

A

fter Crystal Palace had secured safety at the end of last season, Jason Puncheon and Wilfried Zaha joined supporters in a pub near Selhurst Park to celebrate their survival.

Puncheon, a local boy and the Palace captain, addressed fans at the Holmesdale with a passionate speech that seems significant in light of the problems facing Frank de Boer.

“We always have to realise we are Crystal Palace,” said Puncheon. “Never get carried away thinking we are a top team. We are not. We are a team that fights and never gives in.”

Sam Allardyce had just saved Palace with a return to the style that had kept the club in the Premier League for four years. Puncheon did not know then that Allardyce would leave but his message shows why the decision to fundamentally change that approach was a risk.

It is still early days but already there are signs the football being introduced

by De Boer, which is based on his success with Ajax, is not suited to a team used to fighting relegation.

The Eagles have lost their first three matches in the league, including home defeats to Huddersfield Town and Swansea City, and have so far failed to score a goal. They have no points going into the international break and De Boer is already facing doubts about his future.

Players have struggled to adapt to his demands and the squad does not look suited to the way the Dutchman wants them to play.

De Boer promised “evolution not revolution” when he was appointed on

a three-year contract in June but there are concerns he has changed too much too soon. The players do not look comfortable with the new system, which is based around a three-man defence and requires them to build slowly from the back.

Palace supporters are used to watching a hard-working, high-energy team who have plenty of success on the counter-attack, and many are now questioning whether it was wise to rip up the blueprint that brought the team success last season.

De Boer said his players lacked courage on the ball in their 2-0 defeat to Swansea on Saturday and has dismissed the idea his tactics are to blame for the disappointing start. Palace will now want to see how the 47-year-old plans to improve things.

De Boer was brought in to make sure Palace do not struggle against relegation again this season and chairman Steve Parish needs to see evidence he is willing to adapt. De Boer held talks with Parish yesterday and looks to have held on to his job for now.

‘Relaxing’ Allardyce rules out return to Eagles Giuseppe Muro Football Correspondent

Sam Allardyce today ruled out a return to Crystal Palace if the club part ways with Frank de Boer.

De Boer has held onto his job for now, following talks yesterday with Palace chairman Steve Parish, but the Dutchman is facing an uncertain future after making a terrible start to the Premier League season.

Allardyce could have been an option for Palace if they did decide to part with De Boer but the 62-year-old former England manager has ruled out a return to Selhurst

Park three months after announcing his retirement from the club.

Allardyce told talkSPORT: “I have been relaxing this summer, watching the interesting transfer market and being associated with any club at this early stage of the season would not be of any interest to me at the moment.

“I have just had a trip to Hawaii, watching from afar, and I went to watch Manchester United on Saturday. I would not associate myself with any job at this moment in time.

“Three games into the Premier League season, it is a little hasty

when people talk about you coming back into football.

“At this moment in time, I am very comfortable in my life. My time in the Premier League for many, many years has been tremendously exciting and I have enjoyed every minute, but having a break from football is the right thing for me to do.

“I am just watching Premier League football with great interest, watching how it is panning out, and not living under the pressures that every manager in the League is living under today.”

Palace have lost their first three

Premier League games under De Boer and the players have struggled to adjust to his more possession-based football. But Allardyce believes the Dutchman deserves to be given more time.

He said: “If you look at Stoke last season, I think it was seven or eight games in before Mark Hughes got his first three points on the board and they finished in one of the highest places they have ever done in the Premier League.

“It is early days and people need a little bit of patience. They have all got to work together to try and get it right.”

Feet up: Sam Allardyce retired in May

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total mess, Frank Parish felt the change in style could take Palace to the next level, but the gamble to turn perennial relegation battlers into a team who play like Ajax is so far not paying off.

De Boer is facing similar problems to the ones he faced at Inter Milan, where he was sacked after just 85 days in charge of the Serie A club.

He felt he was not given enough time to implement his methods and it remains to be seen if De Boer will be willing to adjust at Palace.

He has not been helped by the lack of signings at Selhurst Park. Palace have brought in only three players thus far and their only permanent deal has been defender Jairo Riedewald from Ajax.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Timothy Fosu-Mensah have arrived on loan but otherwise De Boer has had to work with the squad he inherited from Allardyce.

That squad did beat Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool last season but it is clear De Boer will need more players who are suited to the kind of football he wants to play.

He wants at least three new arrivals before the transfer window closes on Thursday and Palace are expected to be busy right up until the deadline.

They hope to sign Mamadou Sakho if Liverpool lower their valuation for the defender, and also want a goalkeeper as well as a forward as back-up for Christian Benteke.

De Boer deserves time to make his ideas work but Palace cannot afford to get into a similar position to the one they were in last season before Allardyce saved them.

Results need to improve quickly.

Palace are second from bottom in the table and face a trip to Burnley on September 10 in what already looks like a crucial game.

That trip to Turf Moor is followed by a home game against Southampton before a daunting run of backto-back fixtures against Manchester City, Manchester United and reigning champions Chelsea.

There was real optimism at Palace when De Boer was appointed but that has already been replaced by fears that this will be another season battling against relegation.

Time for change?: Frank de Boer and Orlando Trustfull suffer on the bench, while James McArthur and Jason Puncheon trudge off after Saturday’s loss, leaving their manager to worry that the clock is already ticking

The gamble to turn relegation battlers into a team who play like Ajax is not paying off Palace appointed De Boer to succeed Allardyce after a month-long process and a change so early in the season would be an acknowledgment the club made the wrong appointment.

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West Brom and Watford battle for Gibbs Continued from Back Page Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs. As revealed by Standard Sport on Friday, Watford revived their interest in Gibbs after the Gunners lowered their asking price and agreed a £7m deal over the weekend.

However, talks over personal terms have slowed and West Brom are ready to take advantage by making a renewed offer.

At the start of the summer, Arsenal wanted £15m for Gibbs and rejected two bids from West Brom, the first of which was £10m, before

an improved offer containing an extra £2m in add-ons.

Arsenal’s reluctance to budge from the valuation prompted West Brom to look elsewhere but Watford’s successful bid at a lower level has forced a rethink.

Talks are ongoing and Gibbs is certain to leave before Thursday’s deadline given he is desperate for first-team football.

Arsenal have prioritised streamlining their first-team squad in the last fortnight, with Wenger claiming the current group is “unmanageable”.

After Monaco rejected two offers

for winger Thomas Lemar earlier in the summer, the Gunners were not actively pursuing any other targets but the manner of their humiliation at Anfield could yet prompt Wenger into action.

Liverpool made at least one offer for Lemar yesterday in excess of £50m — a higher level than Arsenal reached — but were met with the same stance from Monaco.

Should Liverpool receive any encouragement from Monaco, Wenger will be under pressure to match their offer. The Gunners also retain an interest in Nice midfielder Jean-Michael Seri.

| Sport

Ready to leave: Diego Costa has refused orders to return to Chelsea

Atletico talks over Costa get serious as Chelsea close in on £40m Ox Simon Johnson Football Correspondent

CHELSEA have stepped up talks with Atletico Madrid over rebel Diego Costa as they attempt to complete a £40 million deal for Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Costa has been AWOL in Brazil for the past six weeks and has ignored Chelsea’s instructions to return.

The 28-year-old has complained about his treatment, claiming coach Antonio Conte first told him he was no longer wanted via a text message in June. Conte insisted Costa was informed in January that he would be sold in the summer and signed Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid as his replacement last month.

Atletico, who are unable to register any new players until January due to a FIFA ban, had hoped to capitalise on the situation to buy for a lower price. The La Liga club sold the Spain international to Chelsea for £32m in 2014 but until recently had been prepared to pay only £26m.

Chelsea have been demanding £50m and Atletico are finally ready to make a higher bid, with a fee of £41m likely to secure the move.

Atletico midfielder Koke hopes a deal can be concluded soon, saying: “We all want Diego Costa to come, but the situation is complicated. If Diego comes it would be very exciting.”

As Standard Sport revealed last week, Atletico face competition from Marseille and Monaco, but Costa has made it clear he only wants to return to his former club.

Both Ligue 1 clubs might be a loan option for Costa until January, when he would be able to officially start playing for Diego Simeone’s side.

Everton have also expressed an interest and Chelsea could use that as leverage in any bid for Ross Barkley, who is also a target for Tottenham.

Barkley is not an immediate priority for Chelsea, though, as they want to complete the signing of Oxlade-Chamberlain as quickly as possible.

The 24-year-old is with the England squad at St George’s Park preparing for the World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovakia.

While Arsenal have accepted a bid of about £40m, Chelsea are wary that

Liverpool could match it if they decide to give up on their pursuit of Monaco’s Thomas Lemar.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has just one year left on his deal at Arsenal and rejected their last contract offer of about £150,000 a week because he is so keen to quit Emirates Stadium.

Conte values his versatility, although he is being earmarked to compete with Victor Moses at right wing-back. However, the England international is keen to play more in midfield, a role Liverpool could be prepared to offer him.

Chelsea are keen to agree personal terms as soon as possible and are ready to at least match Arsenal’s offer.

It is believed the player’s decision to move is not motivated by financial reasons, but due to a desire to improve under another coach.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are still optimistic that they will agree a fee

Target: England midfielder Drinkwater with Leicester for midfielder Danny Drinkwater.

Conte is keen on Barkley, despite his hamstring injury, and the club also feel Swansea might be considering lowering their demands for forward Fernando Llorente.

The 32-year-old is keen on a switch to Stamford Bridge. Swansea initially asked as much as £30m, but now the Welsh club are looking at Wilfred Bony, Chelsea think they might accept £15m. The clubs are on good terms following the loan of Tammy Abraham to Swansea, and manager Paul Clement used to be assistant manager of the Blues.

Conte wants Llorente to act as a back-up to Morata, which could raise doubts over Michy Batshuayi’s future yet again.

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Rebel Costa is poised to complete Atletico return

£41m deal would end transfer saga Page 55

@standardsport

city to turn up heat in chase for sanchez

The pain game: Alexis Sanchez was a frustrated figure during Arsenal’s 4-0 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday

❚ guardiola ready to offer sterling plus cash to land unsettled arsenal striker James Olley Chief Football Correspondent

MANCHESTER CITY are set to test Arsenal’s resolve to keep Alexis Sanchez by making a formal bid before Thursday’s transfer deadline.

Manager Arsene Wenger has repeatedly ruled out a sale this month despite the 28-year-old entering the final year of his contract and continuing to reject an extension worth £300,000 a week including image rights.

One report today suggested City had offered Raheem Sterling to the Gunners in a player-plus-cash deal but Standard Sport understands that as of this morning the club had not received an official bid.

However, with just over 48 hours until the window closes, that is expected to change, with Sanchez keen on moving to City and Pep Guardiola determined to land his man.

Sanchez had joined up with his Chile international team-mates but reports in the country say he was allowed to leave the camp in order to deal

with personal business. Sanchez is believed to have informed Wenger of his desire to leave.

An offer worth in the region of £70million would seriously test the Frenchman’s public stance that the club are ready to take a financial gamble by risking losing him for nothing next summer.

The inclusion of Sterling (left) in a possible deal is an intriguing aspect, given Wenger closely monitored the England international at Queens Park Rangers prior to his Anfield move in 2012.

“We watched him but you miss obvious players,” said Wenger in December 2015. “The history of every club is full of top players that you missed. At the time, Liverpool were quicker.”

It is thought Sterling would consider a m ove aw ay f r o m C i t y, given firstteam opportunities are expected to be limited under Guardiola, especially bearing in mind his desire to retain a place in Gareth Southgate’s Eng-

quick crossword ACROSS 2 Showy (5) 7 Name (5) 8 Object (5) 10 Sharp (5) 12 Vehicle (3) 13 Fragrance (5) 15 Enciphered (7) 17 Sinew (6) 19 Iota (3) 20 Rested (7) 23 Pitcher (4) 25 Consider (4) 26 Eased (7) 30 Bed (3) 31 Delineate (6)

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Play our interactive puzzles online:

standard.co.uk/games Today’s double crossword plus Friday’s solutions: p42

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land team in a World Cup year. It remains to be seen whether Sterling’s addition to negotiations will tempt Wenger into selling but keeping Sanchez against his will appears more troublesome after Sunday’s 4-0 thrashing at Liverpool.

Sanchez made his first start of the season but was a frustrated figure as the Gunners ­ produced a dismal display. He was filmed smiling in the dugout following his second-half substitution.

Although a host of clubs including Chelsea, Paris St Germain, Juventus and Bayern Munich have been linked with a move for Sanchez, City are in pole position and are willing to significantly improve the contract offer ­Arsenal have made.

Sanchez could yet follow Alex OxladeChamberlain out of the door after ­Arsenal agreed a fee believed to be £40m with Chelsea. The 24-year-old is finalising personal terms and the Blues are confident of completing the deal despite interest from Liverpool.

As of this morning, Arsenal had not received a rival offer from any other club. Meanwhile, West Brom are attempting to hijack ­Watford’s bid to sign ­

Continued on Page 55

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